IIT looks to work with Bangladeshi universities

Prof Devang V Khakhar

With the aim to enhance academic excellence and expand the horizons of research programmes on engineering and technical education, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, is mulling to work with different universities in Bangladesh.
"We have a plan to start student and faculty member exchange programmes between us. We want to make a linkage and chalk out how the IIT can collaborate with the colleges and universities providing technical education here," IIT Bombay Director Prof Devang V Khakhar said in an interview with The Daily Star yesterday.
"If we want to make the linkage sustainable, it has to be beneficial for both sides," he said.
Prof Devang, who arrived on a three-day visit yesterday, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (Buet) in the afternoon and is scheduled to sign another MoU with Dhaka University today.
About the aim of the MoU, he said, "This is mainly to express our intent to work together. This is the first step of cooperation and collaboration between us."
This is the first step to meet and know each other, then to understand each other and mutually agree on what to do, he added.
"We have a lot of experience of collaboration with overseas universities and currently we are working with more than 50 universities across the world," the professor said.
IIT Bombay is recognised worldwide as a leader in the field of engineering education and research.
About the current status of engineering and technical education in Bangladesh, he said, "The existing educational institutions here are maintaining very good quality, and the students coming out of here are contributing to the development of Bangladesh.
There are a number of good colleges and universities like Buet in Bangladesh, which are giving quality education, he added.
Prof Devang said, "Having highly technical institutions is, of course, very important for a developing economy like Bangladesh where there are many problems that require technical solution."
The IIT Bombay has been significantly contributing to the growth of India's IT industry for more than 50 years through producing highly-skilled manpower, he said.
The IIT Bombay director will meet the planning minister at the Planning Commission and the vice chancellors of different engineering universities outside Dhaka at the University Grants Commission (UGC) today. He will visit the Islamic University of Technology (IUT) in Gazipur tomorrow.