Engineering: Connecting Cosmos & Consciousness - Groep T

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International range continues to expand GROUP T off to a running start in India The Chinese president Wen Jiabao did not put too fine a point on things during his visit to India in late 2010. “The world is big enough for both of us. Our combined rapid economic growth is the driving force behind the world economy.” GROUP T – International University College Leuven is fully anticipating this development: after China and Southeast Asia, GROUP T is now also active in India. Prof. Dr. Johan De Graeve, President and Chief Executive of GROUP T, Prof. Patrick de Ryck, Director General of GROUP T, and the Professors Frank Dochy and Kumar Pinjala visited the country early April 2011. GROUP T has in any case made a successful running start in India,” Kumar says. “In a matter of less than a year we concluded very promising collaboration agreements with three leading universities for the exchange of students, faculty and know-how. The first students will arrive from India in late August.” In the meantime, two Indian professors have become members of GROUP T’s Board of Directors: Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University, and Dr. Satyanarayana Beela, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University. Twinning programs On 4 June 2010, GROUP T signed a Memory of Understanding with the prestigious Manipal University in Magalore (Karnataka state). “This university has 17,000 students and 19 different institutes, including the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) and the International Centre for Applied Sciences (ICAS),” Kumar continues. “While MIT offers engineering programs to local students, ICAS targets students who want to study abroad. Generally, they first study at ICAS for two years and the following two abroad, a twinning program in other words. Vice versa, many international students find their way to ICAS. They come from no less than 100 different countries.” “An agreement was reached with Manipal University to set up a 1 + 1 dual master program in Electronics Engineering,” according to Kumar. “That means one year in India followed by one year in Leuven leading to a dual degree. We are also examining the possibility of collaborating at the undergraduate level. That would be a 2 + 2 formula culminating in a bachelor degree. Not a dual degree in this case, legal regulations won’t allow for it.” In April 2011, Prof. Mohan Kumar J. arrived as a guest professor at GROUP T to teach and to give further shape and content to the collaboration and the arrival of the Indian students. In September 2011, the dual degree master program will take off.” Tradition and reputation The signing of the Memory of Understanding with the Andhra University in Visakhapatnam in the state of Andhra Pradesh took place on 8 June 2010. “This university has a long tradition and a strong reputation,” Kumar says. “Dr. S. Radhakrishan, the former president of India, was the Vice-Chancellor there. This university offers no less than 313 programs, from Arts to Management, Sciences and Technology. The College of Engineering is an independent institute that offers bachelor, master and doctoral programs in 16 disciplines. The Engineering College also has at its disposal various specialized research centers amongst which bioinformatics, nanotechnology, biotechnology, phase equilibrium thermodynamics, remote sensing and information systems and research and offshore structures.” More “GROUP T is the first higher education institute in the country that is setting up twinning programs with Indian partner universities at the bachelor and master levels.” than 600 engineering and other colleges spread out over five provinces are affiliated with the university. This affiliation guarantees excellent quality.” The collaboration with Andhra University relates first and foremost to the bachelor program in Electromechanical Engineering. “It is a 2 + 2 twinning program. Conversely, we also provide for the possibility for Flemish students to go there. Visakhapatnam is a coastal city where living and studying is very pleasant.” But there are also plans for the international postgraduate programs in Enterprising and in Logistics Management. “After graduating from Andhra University, our students can obtain a master in Management. Indeed, the same goes for Indian students in Leuven who have completed a postgraduate degree.” International orientation On 11 June 2010, GROUP T President and Chief Executive Johan De Graeve and Vice-Chancellor T.P. Ganesan from SRM University in Chennai (Tamil Nadu state) signed a Memory of Understanding. “SMR stands for Sri Ramasani Memorial and is quite new,” Kumar clarifies. “The Engineering College dates from 1985 but has meanwhile grown to become one of the largest universities. SRM is an institute with a strong international orientation that works closely with universities in the UK, the US and Australia. The Engineering College offers bachelor and master programs in 21 disciplines. With SRM, we’re working on setting up a twinning program in Electronics Engineering. Right now, we’re examining how we can gear the curricula to each other. Concrete agreements still have to be made about student recruitment.” Kumar has high expectations about the collaboration with his native country. “Most Indian students that stay in Belgium are here for a Ph.D. GROUP T is the first higher education institute in the country that is setting up twinning programs with Indian partner universities at the bachelor and master levels. That the language of instruction in India is English is very conducive to the collaboration and the exchange of students and faculty. There will be no difficulties at that level.” Y.P. GROUP T - LEUVEN ENGINEERING COLLEGE 4 jg. 20, nr. 3, 16 augustus 2011 Working meeting at Andhra University. Prof. Dr. Prasad Reddy, Registrar; Prof. Dr. K. Viswanath, director International Affairs; Prof. Dr. MMM Sarkar, Board of Studies – Director of the College of Engineering; Prof. Dr. Sundara Sira Rao, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Prof. Dr. Johan De Graeve, President-Chief Executive of GROUP T; Prof. Patrick De Ryck, Director General of GROUP T. 03183_INGENIEURS_Interview_3_20.indd 4 11/07/11 17:01
The GROUP T delegation at Dire-Dawa University. The delegation members were welcomed by Dr. Wagayehu Bekele, President; Dr. Fekadu Lemessa, Vice President for Academics and Research; Mrs. Ubah Adem, Vice President for Administration and Development and the department heads and professors of the Faculty of Engineering. Towards an academic network in Africa GROUP T cooperates with Ethiopia Since last academic year, a group of Ethiopian engineering students has been studying at GROUP T – Leuven Engineering College. They are students from four universities who have come to Leuven to improve their qualifications further so that they can build an academic career in their own country with a broader background. From May 23 to June 2, a GROUP T delegation led by President Johan De Graeve visited Ethiopia to intensify the cooperation further. Dr. Kaba Urgessa Dinssa, State Minister for Higher Education, welcomed the delegation. President De Graeve took this opportunity to describe his new ICE strategy: realizing projects in Ethiopia in cooperation with India and China. President De Graeve traveled to Ethiopia accompanied by Ingrid Ilsbroux, Administrator General of GROUP T, Luc Janssens, lecturer in the Information Technology unit, and Allison Windmiller, member of the Strategy & Communication unit. In the capital Addis Ababa, the State Minister apprised them of recent developments in higher education in Ethiopia and more precisely of the ‘70:30 policy’. This is a reference to the expansion of the university system away from social sciences towards natural sciences and technology with the goal of having 70% of the students enrolled in an engineering/science major and 30% in social sciences. The Ethiopian economy is evolving quickly from one based on agriculture to one based on industry. For this reason the number of engineers must increase. Capacity building in this regard is a major challenge and there is a great need for professors who can educate engineers who will be employable in the future job market. Currently, Ethiopia is experiencing a boom in many sectors (e.g., electronics, textiles, railways, highways, water, electricity, etc.). There is also a need for human resources development in the health sector, namely, biotechnology, microbiology, biomedical engineering, medicine, and so on. Student and staff exchange initiatives go a long way in supporting the expansion of higher education. India-China-Ethiopia During the talks, Minister Kaba Urgessa Dinssa and his staff showed great interest in GROUP T’s engineering education strategy based on the 5 Es of Engineering, Enterprising, Educating, Environmenting and Ensembling. GROUP T’s new ICE strategy was also well received. The strategy consists of GROUP T using its academic network in India and China to realize educational projects in Ethiopia. The talks with the State Minister were rounded off with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. During the Ethiopian mission, visits to two exisiting and two potential partner universities were also on the program. The first in line was Dire Dawa University (DDU) where the delegation was received by Dr. Wagayehu Bekele, University President, and Dr. Fekadu Lemessa, Vice-President for Academic and Research Affairs. DDU is a young university that originated from the technology campus of Haramaya University and is still in full development. GROUP T and DDU ran through a list of potential areas for collaboration, from building academic staff capacity and research capacity to setting up common programs and student and lecturer exchanges. Both parties agreed to collaborate in the field of electromechanics and electronics engineering, and possibly biochemical engineering in the future. Exchange Following the visit to DDU, we moved on to Haramaya University (HU). Our host was Prof. Belay Kassa, President of HU. He talked about the expansion of Ethiopian higher education and the history of the university, which shares the title of oldest in the country with Addis Ababa University. HU has 31,000 students, 953 academic staff members and 1100 administrative staff members. The following priorities for cooperation were suggested: staff member training and staff and student exchanges. Presidents De Graeve and Belay Kassa agreed that the dean of the engineering faculty would come to Leuven to become better acquainted with GROUP T. Gondar University (GU) was the third university we visited. Dr. Mengesha Admassu, President, and Dr. Desalegn Mengesha, Vice President for Academic, Research and Community Service, welcomed the delegation. GU was founded in 1954 as the first health institute in Ethiopia. The University has several campuses including one brand new campus with 1,200 students in 5 departments. However, it is contending with a shortage in course materials and equipment and also wishes to increase its cooperation with enterprises. President De Graeve proposed having a number of staff members visit Leuven to draw up an action plan. Both presidents agreed to exchange guest professors and to cooperate on the level of curriculum development and research (e.g., on solar and wind energy). Technology transfer The last university on the list of scheduled visits was Aksum University (AU). Dr. Aklilu Hailemichael, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Prof. A. Shanmuganathan, Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology, were the attending hosts. AU was founded in 2006 and is active in education, research and technology transfer. Its aim is to have a student population of 15,000 by 2014. The challenges currently faced by AU include the further professionalization of the teaching staff, library and laboratory resources and its ICT infrastructure. Collaboration proposals made included: staff exchange, visits by Belgian professors, guidance with research projects, scholarships and training of staff members. Dr. Aklilu praised the interdisciplinary approach of GROUP T’s engineering program and the 5E model that he would like to see implemented at AU. He believes it is the best way to train entrepreneurial engineers who are able to start or lead companies themselves. The visit was concluded with a meeting with female students of the Faculty of Engineering. Forty percent of the engineering students are female. A target we can only dream of achieving. Dr. Kaba Urgessa Dinssa, State Minister for Higher Education of Ethiopia and Prof. Dr. Johan De Graeve, President – Chief executive of GROUP T. Y.P. jg. 20, nr. 3, 16 augustus 2011 GROUP T - LEUVEN ENGINEERING COLLEGE 5 03183_INGENIEURS_Interview_3_20.indd 5 11/07/11 17:01
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Page 13 and 14: Dr. ir. Pauwel Goethals, winnaar va
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