Collaborations between Assam and PU discussed

Chandigarh, March 31, 2019

        Professor Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University held a meeting with Sh Maninder Singh, Principal Secretary, Govt. of Assam, here today at PU. 

        Assam Government has offered Shrimanta Sankardeva Chair to Panjab University.It was discussed to link Research  of various saints during Bhakti movement with the teaching of Shrimanta Sankardeva. 

        Digitization of sculptures/literature related to Shrimanta Sankardeva and spreading its messages through social media and technology was also considered. 

        In the field of Bio-Technology, mutual collaboration for translating the same into economic benefits through its application in the development of products, processes and services exploiting the rich flora and fauna of Assam entailing field of agriculture, fisheries, healthcare, animal studies, energy and environment was discussed in details. 

         Some selected local varieties of Rice, banana, ginger and turmeric will be analyzed for their medicinal potential. Adaptation of selected varieties for growing in Northern India

        Biotechnology intervention for generation of energy, generation of petroleum products. Biotechnology solutions for Pollution control mechanisms 

        Transfer of Enabling technologies pan India industry by collaborative research projects, Hand holdings, Twining arrangements, students internships and Faculty exchanges were discussed. 

        Hotel and Management Department is to explore exchange ways of preparation of local Cuisines. 

In the field of Dental Science, it was felt thatDental education and health state of Assam is not as advance as in Chandigarh. PU has been providing a good platform to achieve that through its Dental Institute. So a collaborative initative can be planned where in expertise of PU Dental institute can be utilized to propagate dental education in Assam. 

        Another area of this arrangement can be outreach in the form of facilitation of dental health provision in remote and difficult to reach areas. Existing model of dental treatment of needy population at their respective places can be replicated/ referred in AssamEngineering. 

         Also, exchange programme for Assam Dental students can be organized to give them the opportunity to use facilities of Dental College. Such exposures will benefit the state of Assam in the long run. 

        It was also deliberated that educational and practice workshops on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cyber Security, BioMedical, IoT, Telecommunication etc. be organized for faculty/ students of various technical institutions in Assam. Tejpur University can also be involved in the initiatives. It was discussed to prepare collaborative research projects along with Assam researchers and be executed. A meeting with Director, Technical Education can be fixed to explore the collaborations.

        Possibility of providing internship to UIET students in Assam Government departments and vice-versa for cultural exchange to be explored in addition to possibility of providing internship to Chemical Engineering students in Petroleum Industry. The department is already mentoring Engineering Institute in Dibrugarh under TEQIP-III programme. 

Under the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, following were considered :

• Students start-up can be mentored

• Short term skill courses can be offered to students

• An off-shoot of various centers like Cyber Security can be extended to Assam

Training and Placement

• Students of various courses of Panjab University go for two/six month internship programme in various corporate, Government funded projects, Government institutions etc. They can be offered these internships in various Assam Government or Government funded projects.

• Similarly, students from Assam Universities and institutes can also offered such internship/training programmes in various government funded projects in different University departments during the months of June-July every year.

        In the field of Languages, collaboration with EFLU, PU can offer the English Proficiency Course to students and citizens of Assam. This course involves twenty hours of face to face teaching and one year of online instruction and interaction. The Department of English and Cultural Studies can tie up with North East Universities for research in Cultural Studies on Assam-Specific topics and topics relating to Sikh Culture and History of Assam.

        The meeting discussed regarding Internship in all the fields, especially in Engineering, Science, Dental, development of curriculum as per the changing times and collaborative research. 

        A meeting of  the Vice-Chancellor, Directors of institutions of Assam will be planned with the Vice-Chancellor Panjab University and other officials after completion of general election process to carry the collaborations forward.

        Those present from PU included Professor Shankarji Jha, Dean University Instruction, Professor Devinder Mehta, Dean Sciences,Professor Deepti Gupta, Dean Alumni,  Professor Nandita Singh, Dean International Students, Professor Jagat Bhushan, Director-Principal, Dental Institute, Professor Meena Sharma, Director, Placement Cell, Professor Savita Gupta, Director, UIET, Professor Sanjiv Puri, Director, CIIPP, Professor Harish Kumar, Director, Skill Development and Professor Ashwani Kaul, Department of Bio-Physics.