MoUs Chart Pathway to SoE Partnerships with Leading Indian Schools
MoUs Chart Pathway to SoE Partnerships with Leading Indian Schools
Rutgers School of Engineering Dean Alberto Cuitiño and Hao Lin, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and associate dean for graduate and international education traveled to India in November to formalize Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between four leading Indian engineering schools: KMV College; Plaksha University; IIT Madras; and Vellore Institute of Technology.
These MoUs officially strengthen institutional ties and lead to productive partnerships between Rutgers Engineering and each of the Indian schools. The establishment of academic collaborations, student and faculty exchanges, and research opportunities will heighten Rutgers Engineering’s growing reputation as an international leader in academic excellence and innovative research and discovery.
“We are stronger together. These exciting new relationships signal the School of Engineering’s commitment to fostering productive and collaborative international educational and research opportunities that lead to engineering innovation,” says Cuitińo. “Establishing joint global education learning and research exchanges will create and support cooperative, multi-disciplinary research initiatives that will spur technological advances to address some of today’s most pressing worldwide challenges.”
At 140 years old, top-ranked Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (KMV) College, located in Jalandhar, Punjab, is India’s oldest and largest women’s college. The MoU between KMV and Rutgers will lead to establishing future partnership agreements focused on student and faculty exchanges; exchanges of documentation and research materials; cooperation in efforts to commercialize technologies developed by both schools or their partners; and the eventual development of a dual degree program.
Private engineering school, Plaksha University was established in 2015 in Mohali, Punjab, India by industry and entrepreneurial leaders wishing to change the engineering education model in India and beyond. Former Berkeley University Engineering Dean Shankar Sastry is the school's current chancellor. Its MoU with Rutgers Engineering stipulates the same priorities for academic exchange and cooperation as KMV’s.
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (ITT), located in Chennai, is rated the leading engineering school in India. The MoU between ITT and Rutgers Engineering aims to promote cooperative relations and collaboration between the two schools, with visiting scholar exchanges focused on research collaborations with the host university. While the MoU outlines future graduate student exchanges, undergraduate student exchanges would undergo a separate approval process.
The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in Vellore is India’s top-ranked private engineering school, and #6-ranked engineering school in the country. Working together, SoE and VIT will set the stage for future partnership agreements for faculty and student exchanges, as well as for coordinated cooperation collaborative research projects. As with KMV and Plaksha University, a future partnership agreement could spur the development of a dual degree program.
“The MoUs with KMV College, Plaksha University, IIT Madras, and VIT identify and support our shared commitment to and vision for truly global academic and research opportunities,” says Lin. “I am certain that together, we will achieve innovative and impactful results.”
