During September, the SIUE School of Engineering sent two representatives to Hyderabad, India, with an interest in strengthening relations between the School and colleges in Hyderabad.
Hosted by Guru Nanak Institutions (GNI), Dennis Bouvier, associate professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science, and Gary Mayer, assistant professor of computer science, spent a week visiting with GNI, the Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT) and the Teegala Krishna Reddy Educational Society (TKRES).
“Our trip helped us to recognize the similarities between our two educational systems and the differences,” said Mayer. “From that, we can work toward developing a partnership that enables student success and benefits all universities.”
Bouvier and Mayer spoke with administrators, faculty and students about establishing programs that would enable Indian students with opportunities to attend SIUE. Such an initiative also would provide the School of Engineering with the ability to strengthen its international presence in its master’s programs. Many of the discussions centered on computer science programs, but there is the potential for programs in electrical and computer engineering as well.
“The visit of the two professors is a gesture to our Indian partners that we value their collaboration,” said Hasan Sevim, dean of the School of Engineering. “We recently signed an MOU with GNI and hope to do the same with CBIT and TKRES.”
The School of Engineering founded the relationship with GNI and CBIT when Sevim and Ron Schaefer, director of International Programs, visited the schools during a conference in Hyderabad.
Harvinder Saini, Managing Director of GNI, brought five students to the SIUE campus last May to meet with faculty from SIUE’s Schools of Engineering and Business.