Released on = June 18, 2007, 8:53 pm

Press Release Author = PRHUB

Industry = Education

Press Release Summary = American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the
newly formed Indo US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) announced the
proceedings of the first of the two Action Planning Forums for Indo US collaboration
in engineering education

Press Release Body = Bangalore, June 19, 2007: American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE) and the newly formed Indo US Collaboration for Engineering
Education (IUCEE) announced the proceedings of the first of the two Action Planning
Forums for Indo US collaboration in engineering education. Hosted by Kris
Gopalakrishnan, Managing Director and CEO-Designate of Infosys at their Mysore
Campus, the forum saw leaders of engineering education and engineering businesses
from US and India, along with several government dignitaries. The 81 participants
included several directors, deans of engineering colleges, vice chancellors as well
as over 25 business representatives. Prof. N. Balakrishnan, Associate Director,
Indian Institute of Science and Dr. Frank Huband, Executive Director, American
Society for Engineering Education, welcomed the participants on behalf of the
organizers. Prof V.S. Arunachalam, Former Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister,
Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology and Dr. D. Acharya,
Chairman of All India Council for Technical Education, delivered keynote at the
event.

The goal of the Forum was to develop an action plan for improving the quality and
global relevance of engineering education in India and in the US. Of particular
concern to the participants was the lack of interest in science and engineering in
the US, the inadequate preparation of engineering graduates in India, the shortage
of students pursuing Ph.D. programs in engineering in India and the need to
encourage and support women and underrepresented minorities in engineering careers
in both countries. The participants discussed several successful and promising
models of collaborations which have potential for scaling up. The preliminary
recommendations from the Mysore Forum will be developed further at the second Forum
to be held at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington DC on August 29 to
31, 2007.

The US delegation led by Dr. James Melsa, President-Elect of American Society for
Engineering Education, visited New Delhi after the Mysore Forum. They met with
President Abdul Kalam as well as the US Ambassador David C. Mulford to brief them
about the recommendations from the Mysore Forum and to seek their advice. A small
team of the participants, led by Barbara Olds, Associate Vice President, Colorado
School of Mines visited Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh (alma mater of
Kalpana Chawla, the Indian born astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia
disaster), for the nomination a faculty member, Uma Bathra, as Member-at -Large for
Society for Women Engineers.

One of the key outcomes of these action planning forums could be the establishment
of an Indo US Engineering Faculty Institute with four thrust areas: curriculum and
delivery, quality and accreditation, research and development, and innovation and
entrepreneurship. Cross cutting themes for these thrust areas are industry needs and
global relevance. This Institute would help improve the preparedness of the large
number of faculty in engineering colleges in India and in the US to address the
needs of the global economy. Another outcome could be the development of an Indo US
Engineering Student Network for facilitating student internships and interactions as
well as providing students access to high quality learning materials. Expectations
are that the Student Network will be linked to the Global Student Forum currently
sponsored by ASEE and International Federation of Engineering Education Societies
(IFEES).

The resulting sustainable collaborations are expected to lead to clear mutual
benefits to India and to the US. Benefits to India include an increase in the
number of qualified engineering faculty, access to better curricular experiences
for students, better employability of engineering graduates with skills needed by
industry, increase in the research activity and increase in the production of Ph.Ds.
in engineering colleges. Benefits to US include opportunities for global experiences
for faculty and students, collaborative research, development and entrepreneurship
in emerging technologies of global relevance, as well as access for US universities
and companies to more and better prepared engineering graduates.

Initial support for the planning was obtained from Infosys, Deshpande Foundation,
Indo US Science and Technology Forum as well as the corporations Hewlett Packard,
National Instruments, Dassault Systemes, Microsoft, Autodesk, Agilent Technologies
and UGS. Faculty, administrators and alumni of Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITs) played a major role in initiating the collaboration at the Pan IIT 2006
Conference held in Mumbai in December 2006. The US Embassy as well as the
International Federation for Engineering Education Societies (IFEES) and the Indian
Society for Technical Education (ISTE) were also important partners.


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Contact Details = Saritha Shetty
sarith@prhub.com
PRHUB
080-22483007/8