JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY HAS TIED UP WITH THE UK’S LARGEST PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING BODY TO ENSURE A SLEW OF BENEFITS AMID SUSPICIONS  OF THE ‘GAME BEING AFOOT’, WRITES DEBAMEETA BHATTACHARYA

aving raised several questions on a set of draft rules of the University Grants Commission under the Union human resource development ministry to allow foreign institutes to operate as not-for-profit organisations by the Union law ministry, the game, as Sherlock Holmes was credited with having said, “is afoot”. Kolkata&’s Jadavpur University has joined hands with the UK&’s largest professional engineering body, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, to build a strong ecosystem and address employability in eastern India.
Through this partnership, the students and faculty of the university will benefit from a rich portfolio of offerings that will help them raise the bar and gain access to essential engineering knowledge to help them compete on a global platform. The IET will also work with faculty members to enhance their academic publication with its Academic Publishing workshops that will provide guides on necessary nuances that involve grants in areas pertaining to the setting up of student chapters, organising event and activities, knowledge-sharing, professional development, networking and exposure, international recognition and image, account management and promotional support.
During a recent meeting, JU vice-chancellor Professor Abhijit Chakrabarti said, “This collaboration will definitely bring extra benefit to our students and faculties, an added edge will unquestionably raise our chance of triumph in competitive scenarios. We look forward to work with the IET. We also plan to unleash industry required knowledge support to different academically weak institutions with our host’s help and experience.”
Shekhar Sanyal, director and country head of IET, said, “India is the home of millions of engineers who pass out of colleges every year but lack the requisite industry-ready skills and expertise. The IET, as a global professional body, has pledged to streamline the engineering talent pool in India and this partnership is a step forward in our journey. This association will help us maximise our collaborative engagement with eastern colleges and institutes and help curb the issue of unemployability in the years to come.:
       KC Mukhopadhayay, chairman of the IET Kolkata local network, said, “I am delighted with this collaboration and look forward to working closely with Jadavpur University to reach our mutual goals.”
The IET provides several programmes like accreditation, “graduate advantage” and “IET Advantage Job Fair” to their academic affiliates and partners to share knowledge, strengthen professional development of engineering students and other professionals and bridge the knowledge skill gap.
Niladri Chakraborty, former dean, JU faculty of engineering and technology, said that through this partnership the students and faculty of the university would benefit from a rich portfolio of offerings that would help them raise their profiles and gain access to essential engineering knowledge that would help them to compete on a global platform. The IET would also work with faculty members to enhance their academic publication with the Academic Publishing workshops that afforded light on necessary requirements.
So, was JU collaborating only with IET? Dr Pradeep Kumar Ghosh, registrar, said, “Education has no boundaries. Transcending the boundaries of international borders, JU has established collaborations on strategic services with various universities all over the world. The fundamental and applied research projects, unless made usable and viable to the industry, would not make much sense. Collaborations on the growing needs of an ever-expanding industrial circuit and research conducted in the contours of the laboratory are necessary.”
JU has collaboration programmes with Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK for faculty exchange and human resource development in coastal zone management and Leeds Metropolitan University for faculty exchange and research on web-based distance education. Completing the picture are Bolzano University, Italy, where they will have a student exchange programme, Brunei University, UK, for faculty exchange and research, Shastri Indo-Canadian Foundation for faculty and student exchange and research, Staffordshire University, UK, and, finally, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, for research.
However rich this might seem, sources who don’t wish to be identified say the list of collaborators don’t add up to scratch.

debameeta.bhattacharya@gmail.com