IU’s India Gateway recently welcomed Interim Vice President for International Affairs Hilary Kahn and a delegation of faculty and colleagues from the Office of International Affairs in Indianapolis. The gateway was thrilled to coordinate visits to Dehradun, Bengaluru, Mysuru, and Kochi with a focus on strengthening existing partnerships and exploring collaborations for future projects that will drive transformative research, student success, and global collaborations that drive economic development at home and abroad. To quote Kahn, “International delegations allow IU to extend its primary strategic priorities to our vast global network. Pursuing experiential learning, interdisciplinary global research, and connections with businesses and alumni in India is critical in strengthening IU’s commitment to students, research, and serving our state and beyond.”
Visiting IU’s university partners like the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) in Dehradun heavily emphasized internationalizing college campuses and advancing shared goals. For faculty like Sharon Kandris, Executive Director of the Polis Center, who was visiting India for the first time, this visit, “expanded her worldview to new opportunities, to learn from and collaborate with colleagues in other parts of the world.” On campus, she presented a lecture on Crisis Informatics: Innovative Solutions for Disaster Resilient Communities to students at UPES and looks forward to opportunities to collaborate and share expertise and data resources to tackle computing challenges associated with the use of data for community good. Conversations over the last few months led to the signing of an agreement for mutual cooperation around joint degree programs between UPES and the Luddy School of Informatics Computing, and Engineering, IUPUI.
Ian McIntosh, who leads a joint 14-week virtual exchange program between the IUPUI Honors College and UPES on the UN SDG agenda with a specific focus on how their chosen professions make a difference in the world, met in-person with UPES students with whom his students have been connecting all semester. McIntosh shared that it was a sheer delight learning about the life and times of students, including their favorite foods, music, movies, sports, and holidays through these meetings.
The second stop of the delegation explored new partnerships and potential industry collaborations in the southern state of Kerala. The team met with faculty and Dr. Rajiv Dharaskar, director and vice-chancellor of The Indian Institute of Information Technology Kottayam (IIIT), to discuss areas of common interest and exchange ideas for partnerships focusing on business, cyber security, and data sciences. IU professor of finance and Kelley Venture Fellow Ken Carow shared that, “The meetings at IIIT on areas of mutual interest including research and programs was important so that Indiana University Indianapolis can better serve students from India as we develop joint academic programs.” Visits to Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, and Amritapuri initiated exciting multidisciplinary discussions around sustainable futures with a focus on establishing a joint SDG research and science center on the Amrita Campus. The visits also created the opportunity for IU faculty visitors to present lectures in person. Pratibha Varma-Nelson spoke on PLTL: student-faculty partnership for transforming the learning environment and was encouraged by the faculty interest in improving teaching in STEM courses in India. Many faculty also expressed interest in collaborating with IUPUI’s STEM Education Innovation & Research Institute. At the Amrita campus, other faculty lectures were led by Ian MacIntosh on Pilgrimage and Sacred Journey, Mathew Palakal on Health Informatics & Biostatistics and Kenneth Carow on Hype and Venture Waves: Examining Early Mover Effects for Ventures and Investors.
Connections were also made outside of the realm of higher education, with a focus on the informatics industry with a visit to Infosys worksites. The team learned about various action plans and efforts to make Infosys carbon neutral as well as leaders in the industry to achieve various SDG goals. Ken Carow says that meetings with Infosys representatives at their educational facilities in Indianapolis, Bengaluru, and Mysuru will pave ways to how IUPUI and Infosys can work together to provide professional development for their employees as well as enhancing career opportunities for IU students.
Woven within the institutional visits and industry explorations were the individual connections that exemplify IU’s “Hoosier hospitality.” IU continues to cultivate global connections and strengthen ties each year through Indiana University Alumni Association (IUAA) engagements across chapters in India. During this delegation visit, IUAA and the India Gateway organized gatherings in Bengaluru, Kochi, and Hyderabad. The Indiana University spirit was particularly high for one delegate member who was able to meet with a former student. Professor Carow reconnected in-person with Mukund Krishna, a current entrepreneur who serves as founder, CEO, and Chair for Suyati Technologies, a leader in the technology business. By nurturing existing connections and seeking innovative collaborations in India, the world’s most populous country, IU maintains its presence as an international powerhouse creating the leaders of tomorrow. This delegation connected alumni and future students with the data and business expertise that make IU’s Indianapolis campus a key resource for central Indiana and the world.
Are you a member of the Indiana University community ready to connect with India? Learn how the IU India Gateway can help.
IUPUI Delegation:
- Associate Vice Chancellor for International Affairs, IUPUI; Interim Vice President for International Affairs, Indiana University, Hilary Kahn
- Director of International Partnerships, Office of International Affairs, IUPUI, Ian McIntosh
- Professor Emeritus, Informatics & Senior International Fellow, Office of International Affairs, IUPUI, Mathew Palakal
- Professor, Founding Executive Director of SEIRI, IUPUI School of Science, Pratibha Varma-Nelson
- Professor of Finance, Kelley School of Business, IUPUI, Kenneth Carow
- Executive Director and Director, Community Informatics, The Polis Centre, IUPUI, Sharon Kandris
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