Virginia Tech sets up Research and Learning Centre at IIT Madras Research Park for collaborating India

CHENNAI: A collaborative research and learning centre has been set up at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Research Park by leading tier-one research institute Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech) headquartered in the United States of America.

Virginia Technology has multiple locations across India for research and education. The opening of the VT India Centre at IIT Madras Research Park depicts the
university’s commitment to collaborate with other leading research entities around the world.

A leadership team from Virginia Tech led by professor Cyril Clarke, Executive Vice President and Provost; Dr Guru Ghosh, Vice President for Outreach and International Affairs; Professor Azim Eskandrian, Nicholas and Rebecca Des Champs Chair/Professor, Department Head of Mechanical Engineering, professor Dan Sui Senior Vice President, Chief Research and Innovation Officer, Professor Aimee Suprenant, Dean, Virginia Tech Graduation School; Professor Vishwanath Venkatesh, Eminent Scholar and Verizon Chair of Business Information Technology Director.

Virginia Tech has been preparing scholars to be international leaders and problem-solvers since its inception in 1872. The university offers more than 280 majors to a
diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. Committed to enhancing the quality of life throughout the world, Virginia Tech is also a leading global research institution that conducts more than $530 million in research annually. The university boasts world-class research institutes and facilities around the world dedicated to supporting research, technology commercialization, collaborations with corporate research partners, and entrepreneurial ventures.

VT India is part of the international reach of Virginia Tech – providing access to research, education, and innovation opportunities to American and Indian partnerships. VT India has a presence in Chennai and Patiala and partnerships with TOPRE, NMIMS, and IIT stretching from Kolkata to Mumbai. VT India’s activities envelop research, advanced education, and outreach. The research focus broadly envelops advanced functional materials, autonomous systems and healthcare technologies. More specifically, faculty, students, and post-doctoral researchers are studying electronic materials, water, energy, robotics and wearable devices.

Throughout all of its locations and through all of its partnerships, VT India explores fundamental science with the goal of propelling research and future applications of advanced materials. The significant thrust by Government of India in the broad area of health care and associated technological interventions has motivated VT India in foraying into research and innovation in health care challenges.

Outreach and International Affairs is a division of Virginia Tech that is charged with building cross-sectoral partnerships, providing professional development programs, and developing community engagement initiatives across the world.OIA is a spearhead for the university’s international mission to enrich the global community through research, discovery, and student learning.

Through strategic partnerships around the world, OIA connects Virginia Tech’s faculty, staff, and students to opportunities for learning more about complex societal challenges and for helping to improve the quality of life for people throughout the world.

Later speaking to the press, Cyril Clark ,Executive Vice President, Virginia Tech University said that Virginia Tech University is not only doing education but also doing high quality research. He mentioned that we have tied up with IIT Madras as this international university needs quality alliances in the right places.

Professor Vishwanath Venkatesh, Verizon Chair of Business Information Technology Director.said that Virginia Tech University, USA, with its 150-year heritage, is one of the top 20 research institutes in the world, has moved its research center to IIT in Asia. He said that it has started in collaboration with Madras. Through this, the United States and India should jointly carry out researches needed by the world on various platforms, he said.

IIT Madras Research Park India’s first university-based research park, IIT Madras Research, epitomizes what can be achieved by a confluence of bringing unlike minds together. It has become a paradigm for innovation ecosystems across geographical boundaries. Five individual towers interconnected by skywalks situated on 11.42 acres, provide over 1.2 million square feet of workspace with several formal, informal, theme-based meeting and networking lounges. Aptly named, the Industry-Academia Bridge links IITMRP to IIT Madras – a globally renowned Technology Institute.