L-R: Dr Ajay K Sharma, vice chancellor, IKGPTU; S Charanjit Singh Channi, Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab; Anand Bhade, president, APAC Sales, Global Marketing and Communications, Tata Technologies.

Tata Technologies, a global engineering services provider, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKGPTU) to promote technical education by setting up 5 Centres for Innovation, Invention and Incubation (CIIITs) in Punjab.

Tata Technologies says the objective of establishing these CIIITs is to facilitate innovation and skill development of students and industry professionals who can eventually be absorbed as skilled resources in the industry. The MoU was signed by Anand Bhade, president, APAC Sales, Global Marketing and Communications, Tata Technologies and Professor Dr Ajay K Sharma, vice chancellor, IKGPTU at Chandigarh in the presence of S Charanjit Singh Channi, Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab.

The company says that with the aim of establishing Punjab as a preferred manufacturing investment destination, this collaboration is oriented towards bringing about qualitative improvements in technical education. This will be done by strengthening industry-academia partnerships, training students with industrial experiential learning to improve employability and enhancing the reputation of technical institutions with modern equipment and state-of-the-art technologies. The long-term goal is to create a skilled manpower pool and increase the employability quotient for Punjab’s manufacturing sector.

The initiative is said to be undertaken across two phases starting from January 2019 and March 2019 and a hub, which will have four centres namely ‘Product Design and Development’, ‘Domain Exploration’, ‘Mechatronics and IoT’ and ‘Advanced Integrated Manufacturing Centre’.

The phase 1 will include CIIITs at IKGPTU main campus in Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi and in Phase 2 the CIIITs will be established in Chamkaur Sahib and Jalandhar.

Speaking at the announcement, S Charanjit Singh Channi, Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training, Punjab said, “We are extremely happy to have Tata Technologies support I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University to facilitate the development of CIIITs to impart and increase the skill sets required to bridge the skill gap and enhance employability prospects of students in the manufacturing sector.”

Anand Bhade, said, “We are delighted to partner IKGPTU for this skill development program. Once operational, it will help close to 40,000 students in Punjab to impart practical knowledge and become industry ready. The students and faculty will get a unique opportunity to engage in collaborative research, get access to new technologies and industry content. I am also pleased that our partners such as PTC, MSC Software are supporting us with this industry-academia initiative.”

D K Tiwari (IAS) Secretary  - Technical Education and Industrial Training  emphasised on the importance of this collaboration adding that these CIIITs will enable a large number of youth from Punjab to take up industry-relevant skill training which will help them in securing a better livelihood. These CIIITs will cater to various skills needed in the manufacturing centers catering to both high and low end skilling.

Professor Dr Ajay K Sharma, said: “At IKGPTU, we are committed towards promoting technical education in the state at the degree level and beyond. As a leading engineering services provider, Tata Technologies is perfectly aligned with our goal of propelling Punjab to a prosperous knowledge society. The setting-up of the CIIITs will enable improved employability, entrepreneurship and availability of skilled resources in the state.”