Soon, R&D centre in your campus

Technical colleges will soon become research hubs for companies. The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is bridging the gap between industry and institutes by allowing them to set up research and development (R&D) centres in colleges.

Technical colleges will soon become research hubs for companies. The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) is bridging the gap between industry and institutes by allowing them to set up research and development (R&D) centres in colleges. To begin with, 50 colleges across India will be part of the initiative.

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“It will be beneficial to both. While college faculty and students will get hands-on experience, industry can get R&D done much cheaper,” said SS Mantha, officiating chairperson, AICTE.

The council is the apex governing body for institutes that offer courses in management, engineering, pharmacy, architecture and hospitality.

According to AICTE, colleges will provide about 2,000 sqft area for the R&D centre on their campus and faculty and students will be involved in projects. “We have already spoken to industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the project should take off by June and then to extended to more institutions,” added Mantha.

Colleges think this is a great opportunity to move forward. “Such an initiative will ensure our theory goes into practice. Also, research funding is a great revenue model and will benefit all stakeholders,” said Seema Shah, acting principal, Vidyalankar Institute of Technology in Wadala.

The council is also creating an online platform where faculty and research scholars can put up abstracts of their work and companies can put up their research needs.