The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and WMG will formally sign an alliance at the University of Warwick today. This new technology alliance will bring together two of the leading applied engineering and technology institutions in the UK and India. Composite materials, medical technology and hybrid vehicles are three of the key technologies that will be the initial focus.

 

IIT Kharagpur was founded by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, in 1951. It was the first institute of higher education and research in engineering and science established by the Government of India following independence. It established itself very quickly and since its foundation has been consistently ranked as India’s top engineering research institute. It has become an icon and model for such institutes. Six more have followed in its footsteps. Based on the superb quality of its carefully selected students, around one in a hundred applicants is accepted, and faculty, it has established a reputation second to none. This makes it a recruitment magnet for leading organisations around the world. Its alumni are now leaders in their chosen fields and head up the executive ranks in many companies and institutions around the world.

 

WMG is held in equally high regard in the UK and around the world. It is recognised as one of the UK’s leading research and innovation centres and  conducts its education programmes in many countries around the world. Its industry and research partnerships are extensive and unsurpassed.

 

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “Everywhere I go, whether it’s India, China, Malaysia, Thailand or South Africa, people talk to me about the success of WMG.” He added that WMG and the University of Warwick were “absolutely central to the industrial, scientific and technological future of our country and I want to pay tribute to everything that it does."

 

The alliance between WMG and IIT Kharagpur will pool their efforts in a number of research areas including:

 

 

The institutions will also work together to promote an Engineering Doctorate sponsored by IIT Kharagpur’s industrial partners and collaborate in numerous other ways in education.

 

The University of Warwick’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Nigel Thrift, currently with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the US, said: “I am delighted at this new alliance. WMG and IIT Kharagpur are each powerhouses of technology and innovation in their own right. This partnership opens up new opportunities to exploit those strengths to the benefit of both organisations but more importantly to the science and technology-driven sectors of both the UK and Indian economies.”

 

WMG Director Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya said: “IIT Kharagpur is the best in its field in India and their research interests are closely aligned with ours. This alliance can only enhance the already considerable ability of both organisations to offer leading edge technology solutions for both business and the public sector.”

 

Professor Damodar Acharya, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said: “We are very pleased to be working with WMG which has such a good reputation around the world. There are fantastic opportunities for collaborative research and for students from both countries to learn from their counterparts.”

 

·        More information on WMG at. www.wmg.warwick.ac.uk

·        More information on IIT Kharagpur at. www.iitkgp.ac.in

 

 

 

Photo caption (l-r): University of Warwick Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Stuart Palmer; Professor Damodar Acharya, Director IIT Kharagpur; Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive of HEFCE; Mick Laverty, Chief Executive of AWM; Professor Madhusudan Chakraborty, Deputy Director of IIT Kharagpur; Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Director of WMG; Jon Baldwin, Registrar, University of Warwick.