Technopark to mentor students for industry interface

The Technopark Technology Business Incubation Centre (T-TBIC) is setting up a knowledge network and industry centre (KNIC) with a professed aim of bridging the gap between industry and academia.

A joint venture with leading industry bodies, the initiative will be kick started in engineering colleges in South India, an official spokesman said.

VARIOUS DOMAINS

The KNIC will have all necessary facilities to mentor and transform students with specialisation in various domains through real-time videoconferencing and smart classrooms.

The students will thus directly get mentored by industry experts to facilitate real exposure to industry processes.

All academic activities of the students and teachers will be shared, managed and achieved properly, so that knowledge can be achieved properly for effective reuse.

The proposed project will also facilitate the investment in technology upgradation at colleges to enable them set up an intelligent learning environment in the campus.

KNIC will conduct systematic interventions such as ‘industry-connect' classes and faculty development programmes to bring the corporates and the academia closer.

SKILLED POOL

The Technopark-TBI has sought to foster stronger industry-academia partnerships and alliances that will eventually contribute to the growth and development of a skilled supply pool in the partnering institutions.

As part of this programme, students of participating colleges will get trained in industry best practices, case-studies, technology content and behavioural competencies which help them develop and enhance capabilities.

It will also build core competencies in learning skills, communication and collaboration, leadership, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Mr Mervin Alexander, Chief Executive Officer, Technopark, quoted Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service companies) saying that various industry sectors require talents with solid domain knowledge blended with contemporary skills.

DEMAND VS SUPPLY

But only 25 per cent of the engineering graduates in the country are employable and this creates an imbalance in demand and supply.

The KNIC initiative seeks to address this problem, Mr Alexander added.

It is important to nurture a healthy industry-academia relationship to sustain the growth of the industry and enhance the contribution of academia.

The proposed industry-academia bridging initiative will primarily help educational institutions to align their curriculum with industry requirements.

STRONG FOUNDATION

It will help students prepare themselves early enough to take real world challenges head on while joining the corporate sector, he added.

The KNIC will help create a strong foundation for the emerging knowledge economy in India, said Mr K.C.C. Nair, Registrar, Technopark-TBI.

“This initiative will enable deeper understanding of technical subjects relating to real-life situations. Various behaviour skills such as communication skills, logical thinking, analytical thinking, intra and inter-personal skills are key elements required looked at by major industry recruiters,” Mr Nair added.

COMMENT NOW