IIT Kanpur to hold roadshows in US for global alliances, faculty hiring

Move part of the institute's ongoing drive to improve international rankings

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) is planning to hold roadshows this month in major US cities and universities. This is part of its efforts to improve the institute’s global ranking through international collaborations and faculty recruitment. 

It also seeks to tap into its alumni network in the US, by holding events in New York and San Francisco, apart from building international alliances to facilitate research in new-age technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), data sciences, and engineering in medicine. “An IIT-K delegation is touring the US for about 10 days. We will visit five or six leading universities, including the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Berkeley; Rice University (Texas); and New York University,” institute director Abhay Karandikar said.

“We are exploring alliance opportunities with US varsities, apart from networking with our alumni. For example, Shankar Subramanian, our alumnus and professor in the University of California, San Diego, has agreed to help us in setting up our proposed Centre for Engineering in Medicine,” he said.

Led by Karandikar, the IIT-K delegation will also comprise deans of research and development (R&D), faculty, alumni, and international relations. He said the institute was planning to hire faculty for different streams, and meetings would be held with students who were about to complete their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).  “If these students are thinking of relocating to India, we will apprise them as to what IIT-K has to offer in terms of faculty recruitment.”

The institute has also approached the Yogi Adityanath government and proposed setting up of a defence aerospace park in Kanpur, on land owned by the IIT-K near its campus. “We have already given a formal proposal to the state authorities.”

“Currently, we are firmly working on three projects of setting up of centres in engineering in medicine, data sciences/AI and centre for energy, which we think will be taken up within the next 12 months,” Karandikar informed.