FICCI mounted a high level 17- member delegation to the US with the heads of the leading Indian Higher Educational Institutions/Universities along with Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resource Development starting. The delegation is a prelude to Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to the US in November where he is expected to sign MoUs with various US Universities to give a new fillip to higher education in India.

The 6-day visit from October 25, 2009 to October 30, 2009, gave a new thrust to the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry's vision to set up 14 "Innovation Universities" in the country from 2010 to build "Multi Disciplinary Focus" in research and development. The objective of the delegation was to identify areas and partners to set up such universities, each focusing on a particular area which would be multi-sectoral. Members of FICCI delegation such as Delhi Technological University, Manipal University, Symbiosis International University and Thapar University are exploring possibilities of signing MoU's with various leading US universities like MIT, Harvard University, Yale University, Washington University and Houston University. FICCI is also exporing to have MoU's with organizations like Institute of International Education, New York Science Academy etc. to provide industry linkages and cross mobility to facilitate faculty for training and research, technology transfer through Universities etc. Some of these may fructify during the Prime Minister's visit to USA on November, 24 & 25, 2009.

Profile of Institutions participated in delegation:

MANIPAL UNIVERSITY, MANIPAL

Manipal University is a unique example of a private university that over the last 50 years has developed in to a center of global excellence in biomedical, engineering and other areas of technical education. It is also a perfect example of private/ public / industry partnership as well as International collaborations in the area of education. MU has campuses in India, Malaysia, Nepal, Dubai and Antigua with affiliation and dual programmes with many universities in UK, Australia, Netherlands, USA etc. We currently have students from over 53 countries including hundreds from the USA mostly in medicine , dentistry

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Established in 1941 Delhi College of Engineering is now upgraded as the Delhi Technological University by the Govt. of Delhi in 2009. The mother of IIT Delhi and School of Planning and Architecture, this University is one of the premier institutions of engineering and technology in India. The troika of education, research and innovation at DTU attracts highly talented student community for its UG, PG and Research programs in varied disciplines ranging from core engineering to multi-disciplinary areas like Bio-technology, Nano-technology, VLSI Design and Optical Communications. Thrust areas for research include Clean Energy and Environment Technologies, Smart Materials and Composites, Photonics, Nano-scale Devices and Systems, Innovative Automotive Solutions, Smart Grids, Broadband Over Power Lines and Info Security. The University is known for its enlightened alumni presence worldwide and for its innovations which have received high international acclaim.

BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE (BITS), PILANI

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (India) is a deemed university established in the year 1964 under Section 3 of the UGC Act. It is privately supported, fully residential and admits purely on merit both male and female students. Currently it has campuses in Pilani, Goa and Hyderabad in India, spread over 700 acres of land area and an international campus at the Academic City in Dubai, UAE. It offers programmes in Engineering, Sciences, Pharmacy and Management disciplines at first degree, higher degree and doctoral levels. Structured linkages with industries in the form of Practice School and Work-Integrated Learning Programmes are its innovative features. In India BITS is rated among the top Ten engineering and technology institutions combining both private and government institutions and among the private educational institutions it is at the top position. The total student strength in all the campuses of the Institute is about 10,000 and the faculty strength is above 700. Besides this there are about 19,000 students in the Work-integrated Learning Programmes offered by the Institute for various process, power, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, software and other industries and organizations in India. The Institute had a collaboration with MIT, USA in its formative years and currently it has collaborations with more than 25 international institutions/universities. Research in the areas of Robotics, Flexible Manufacturing Systems, VLSI design and embedded systems, Software engineering, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutics, Structural engineering, etc. is being carried out at the Institute. The alumni of the Institute are well placed in academia, industries, entrepreneurship and many other spheres of activities throughout the globe.

SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, PUNE

Established as an organization for the welfare of foreign students in India, Symbiosis International University has, over time, blossomed into an educational complex of repute with 36 institutions, a student strength of 27,000, from all States of India and from 75 countries abroad, imparting education in varied fields such as Management, Law, Arts & Commerce, IT, Telecommunications, Design, Health Care, Media etc. The University is well known for its international initiatives like the Study India Programs which attract American & European students, as well as the Scholar-in-Residence program offering senior visiting faculty from abroad the opportunity to teach and conduct research on campus. The National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NAAC) appointed by the University Grants Commission, Government of India to perform a quality assurance check on Indian Universities has awarded Symbiosis International University with an 'A' Grade. Symbiosis International University is truly a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, multi-lingual university.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, PUNE

The International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT - pronounced I square IT), rated amongst the top Technology Schools in India is a new generation Graduate School that offers research driven graduate level programs in Science, Engineering, Technology, Management and Humanities.

I Square IT is the creation of Mr. Pralhad P Chhabria, Chairman, Finolex Group with a turnover of US$ 850 million and Padmashree Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, a distinguished scientist and creator of PARAM series of supercomputers. It is their vision to create a graduate school par excellence that is empowering India's future inventors, innovators and leaders.

Within 5 years of its inception, I2IT emerged as one of the leading graduate institute that offers a bouquet of courses. There are totally 6 Graduate Schools that offer 20 different Programs:

• School of Information Technology
  
• School of Biotechnology
  
• School of Interdisciplinary Science & Technology o School of Management Technology o School of Engineering & Technology (in association with University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, UPES, Dehradun) o School of Humanities
  Collaborating with universities and educational institutions from all over the world I2IT offers programs that are internationally recognized and industry relevant.
  I2IT attracts and trains some of the brightest students from all over India as well as other countries. Some of our international collaborators are:
• USA - Cleveland State University / Lawrence Technological University / North Dakota State University / Carnegie Mellon University / Dominican University o Canada - University of New Brunswick o Russia - Gubkin Russian State University of Oil & Gas / Russian New University
  (ROSNOU) / Moscow State University
• France - ESEO, Angers / EPITECH / ESIGELEC School of Engineering o UK - Leeds Metropolitan University o Mexico - Techologico de Monterrey o Italy - The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics o Israel - Technion Institute of Information Technology / Ben-Gurion University of the Negev o China - China Changzhou College of Information Technology o South Korea - Hanyang University / Woosong University o Thailand - Mae Fah Luang University o Malaysia - University College Sedaya International
  One of the prime objectives of I2IT is to create industry ready, productive professionals in the field of IT, Management and Emerging Technologies in the global context. In this pursuit the Institute has fostered several academy - industry alliances, such as:
  * AirTight Networks, ALTERA, Ansys Fluent, EMC Corporate, Cadence, Computer Associates, Inlingua, IBM, Intel, Nokia Siemens Networks, SAP, SAS, and TIBCO
  Through these alliances students are exposed to the state-of-the-art hardware and software tools and real life projects in their academic pursuits.

BALDEV RAM MIRDHA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (BMIT), JAIPUR

BMIT is approved by AICTE & affiliated to Rajasthan Technical University. It has become one of the most sought after destinations for the young minds planning to shape their future in the ever growing field of Engineering and Management. The institute has two campuses located in export zone of Jaipur very close to airport & now received a letter of intent to open a state university called BMU (Baldev Ram Mirdha University) in the state of Rajasthan, India.
Baldev Ram Mirdha University plans to offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in more than a 100 fields of study, with a student/faculty ratio that averages 15:1. To appeal to the special interests and enhance educational experience, BMU also plan to offer a variety of special programs and activities ranging from freshmen learning communities, to Honors College, to international seminars, to programs for students with disabilities. In its first phase of inception, BMU plans to introduce following institutes under its watchful umbrella to promote various courses.

BLS INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, GHAZIABAD, UP

BLS Institute of Management was established by BLS Group of Industries in 1997 with a mission to provide world class management education and to emerge as a centre of excellence in management consulting, training and research.

Operating from its modern Wi-fi Campus in NCR for the past 12 years, the Institute offers PGDM (120 seats), PGDM-Marketing (60 seats) & PGDM-HR programme (60 seats), approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. BLSIM has been placed in 'A+' Category and ranked among 25 Best B-Schools in India as per the surveys conducted by Business India and Indian Management published by All India Management Association.

A rigorous curriculum delivered by highly qualified and experienced faculty, backed by interactive pedagogy, case studies, guest lectures by industry leaders, live projects, summer training and company visits ensure that PGDM students are equipped with latest conceptual knowledge and skills required by future managers in the emerging global scenario.

The institute is keen to diversify, add new courses and explore collaboration opportunities with reputed foreign universities/institutes to make a difference in meeting the growing need for managerial talent in India and abroad.

SRM UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI

SRM University was established almost 4 decades ago and is the most preferred universities in India by majority of the students and parents. The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) has awarded B+ grade which is the highest for any private universities in India. The university has also been awarded ISO 9001: 2000 quality certification by BVQi. The motto of SRM University is to prepare the students to "Learn, Leap and Lead".

The University offers programs in Engineering, Management, Architecture, Medicine, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Education, Science & Humanities leading to diploma, undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral degrees. SRM University is one of the few universities in the country with an international network of advisors from varsities and industries worldwide. These alliances give the university access to the latest curriculum of global standards. The teaching models too are formulated in such a manner that the students are made to learn through experiments and projects, rather than stick to "Chalk and Talk". Learning through discovery concept is also being actively pursued for imparting fundamental knowledge to the students.

Nearly 22,000 students from within and outside India are studying in undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral programs in different faculties of the University. SRM provides a stimulating campus life and academic environment. The University campus has a 16 storey IT park, a huge administrative building accommodating in it the central Library in nearly 130,000 sq. ft area, hostel blocks for men and women catering to nearly 6,000 students, an International Hostel, a 750 bed Hospital with state-of -art facilities for diagnosis and treatment, staff quarters, sports arena, a sprawling auditorium with a capacity of around 4000 people, a star rated Hotel, restaurants and eat-outs, banks, department stores and other amenities. Well furnished and air-conditioned rooms of the International Hostel cater to the needs of the international students.

To make the campus environment truly international, visiting professors from foreign universities like USA, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Australia etc have been recruited. This provides ample opportunities for both the students and faculty members to enrich their knowledge and skills to international standards and undertake joint research. SRM sends many students and faculty members to foreign universities for one semester under exchange / twining programs. Recently around 48 students were selected, under Semester Abroad Program (SAP), and sent abroad to study one semester in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, SUNY Buffalo, North Eastern University all from USA, Lille Catholic University in France, Dundee University, Scotland, University of West of England, UK etc. Under this Semester Abroad Program, SRM has been sending 100 students every year to foreign universities.

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