By Meng Fanrong

SHANGHAI, Aug. 28, (China Economic Net) - When Mansoor Alam first arrived in China in 2015, he carried with him a pressing question from his homeland: how to fix a power grid that could not keep up with demand. Almost 11 years later, the Pakistani engineer is helping to answer that question. He is also building bridges between the two countries through his daily work with wires and circuits and through joint mastery of advanced IoT applications that are reshaping the global electricity industry.

Mansoor Alam receives recognition for his contributions, photo provided to CEN

Mansoor Alam’s journey was born of necessity. Back in Pakistan, electricity shortages were a daily reality — demand far outstripped production and load shedding was routine.

His motivation was straightforward: to acquire advanced knowledge that could help him grow professionally and eventually address the deficiencies back home.

After completing his master’s degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Mansoor decided to stay in China, moving to Shanghai and joining several domestic companies, where he applied his expertise to real‑world projects. Currently he serves as technical manager for low‑voltage products at Holystar, a listed Chinese firm. In this role, he focuses on improving miniature circuit breakers and developing smart breakers capable of withstanding harsh environments, areas where he sees a global gap that Chinese technology is rapidly filling.

Yet what truly drives Mansoor Alam is not just hardware, but the vision of a connected, intelligent and green grid ecosystem. He has witnessed China’s leap from traditional metering to IoT‑enabled systems, where circuit breakers can be controlled via mobile apps, voice assistants, or 5G networks.

“China’s grid is much more advanced, systemised and intelligent,” he observed. The shift to IoT‑based systems, he added, has revolutionized the industry. A decade ago, linemen had to trudge door‑to‑door in sweltering heat or rain to read meters and issue bills. Today, smart grids enable remote monitoring and instant payments from a computer terminal.

The growing global demand for IoT‑enabled meters and breakers, he believes, represents a huge future market and a prime opportunity for cross‑border collaboration. Looking ahead, Mansoor’s immediate priority is to develop projects specifically tailored to the Pakistani market, taking into account local utility budgets and conditions.

In Shanghai, Mansoor Alam has also been an active volunteer and has received recognition for his contributions. He highlights the city has given him the opportunity to both grow and give back to his homeland. “This is where I grew, and this is where I can contribute back,” he said, expressing his determination to help Pakistan adopt smarter, more resilient grid solutions, turning the expertise he gained in China into a durable bridge of energy cooperation between the two countries.