Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has announced entering into a “Letter of Intent” (LoI) with University of Twente (Universiteit Twente (UT), Netherlands to combine strengths and enhance engineering education and research with the right blend of scientific excellence and societal benefit.
The LoI was signed by the Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amma and Prof. Joost Kok, Dean, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) on behalf of UT on October 16, 2019 in Houten, Netherlands.
The LoI proposes to offer ‘AMRITA-UT 3+2 Master I-Tech’ Integrated Programme (3+2 I-Tech program) to Amrita University and UT students, starting next academic year. Along with the agreement for student exchange, Amrita Live-in-Labs®, UT’s Curious U summer school, Amrita University is further expanding collaborative research work with UT in the areas of risk management, pervasive systems and now in Interaction Technology.
The 3+2 I-Tech program will involve the Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) program at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to be integrated with the Masters program ‘Masters in Interaction Technology’ at the University of Twente.
This integrated programme will offer students from both universities a unique platform to blend experiential learning through Amrita’s flagship academic program, the Live-in-Labs® and top-notch academic learning through UT’s I-Tech programme.
The program will guide them to understand the concept of sustainable development while trying to apply science and technology in the real world. Students from UT and Amrita University who wish to pursue their research in sustainable development will be offered to join a fully funded PhD program at Amrita University.
Further, the program will be set to cover a wide range of application domains in interactive technology such as:
- Communication technology for global activities
- Social robots
- Ubiquitous Computing
- Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications
- Artificial intelligence
- Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions
- Healthcare solutions, telemedicine and e-mental health solutions
- Design of persuasive health technology systems
- Mobility and autonomous systems (for example, self-driving cars)
- Interactive learning environments
- Cybercrime science
- Fashion (wearable tech)
- Energy, sustainability
Through this integrated wholesome learning, the students will develop broader knowledge and skills, preparing them for the role of either a researcher, a designer or an entrepreneur. Whichever the students may choose, they will be equipped to create exciting, meaningful interactive technology solutions that answer to the needs and wants of the target users.
S.J. MAATHUIS (STEPHAN), Managing Director Faculty EEMCS and DR. A.M. SCHAAFSTAL (ALMA), Programme Director Creative Technology / Interaction Technology from UT; and President Swami Amritaswarupananda Puri; Dr. Bipin Nair, Dean, School of Biotechnology; Dr. Maneesha V Ramesh, Dean, International Programs; Dr. Krishnashree Achuthan, Dean, Postgraduate Programs; and Dr. Shyam Diwakar, Associate Professor and Lab Director- Computational Neuroscience Lab, School of Biotechnology from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham were also present on the occasion.
Amrita is currently ranked 8th (in Top 10 Universities for 3 consecutive years) in India and recognized as No. 1 Private University in India by multiple World University Ranking agencies including THE and QS. With 22,000 students and 1600 faculty, Amrita University under Amma’s guidance as the Chancellor, is the youngest University to have achieved this distinction in the country.
Universiteit Twente – University of Twente is a leading international research university in the Netherlands and is ranked among the top 200 Universities in the world. At Twente, excellence in science is combined with an international orientation and commitment to unite social sciences with engineering education and research, whilst keeping a high bar on quality.
