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Vishwakarma Institute of Technology Pune, along with State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University) and Anveshak Technology and Knowledge Solutions, recently hosted the first international conference on 'Research Trends in Design, Analysis and Manufacturing of Mechanical Systems' at the VIT Pune campus. This conference provided a platform for industry and academia to collaborate on an International level, to discuss research trends as well the need and challenges of industry- academia collaboration in the manufacturing sector.

Commenting on the discussion Dr Rajesh M Jalnekar, Director Vishwakarma Institute of Technology highlighted "It was an insightful session today, and we at VIT welcome the various perspectives which were addressed by the dignitaries. One of the points; which I would like to elaborate on is the multi disciplinary approach and is an important aspect for especially grooming the engineering students across all the institutes. VIT has a special programme which includes the Knowledge Comprehension of understanding, Synthesis Application as well as knowledge creation which we inculcate in the students from the beginning of their curriculum; ensuring a multi career growth opportunity in India and globally."

VIT also plans on providing internships in India/Outside India during their tenure of 4 years in the institute for 3-6 months for the selective courses and students. Eventually would like to spread the concept to all the courses being offered by the institute.

Speaking about partnership with Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Prof. Bahgat Sammakia, VP for Research at Binghamton University said, "Today the world has become a small place to live in. We no longer work with organisations, which are bounded by boundaries. It has become increasingly important for students to be equipped with diverse skill sets in order to serve the global economy. Hence; we are pleased to partner with Vishwakarma Institute of Technology in their endeavour to provide the students with enhanced academic experience by providing them an opportunity to work on cutting edge projects made available by our industry partners in US and Europe"

The conference included an exciting panel discussion on the 'Needs and Challenges for Industry-Academia Collaboration in India' with distinguished panellists including Dr Bala Bharadvaj (MD of Boeing Research and Technology - India), Prof K Srihari (Distinguished Professor and Dean of Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at SUNY Binghamton), Mr Devdutta Chandavarkar (Director at Mercedes-Benz India), Mr Sanjay Sharma (CEO of MESTECH Services) and Prof Nitin Afzulpurkar (Dean of Engineering and Technology at Asia Institute of Technology).

The panel discussion was followed by technical sessions on 'Design and Analysis' and 'Manufacturing Execution Systems' by senior researchers and managers from GM India Science Lab, MESTECH Services, TATA Motors, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, ANSYS respectively.

Apart from industry experts, the conference included students from VIT and renowned engineering colleges from Pune. This gave them a chance to interact with industry professionals, while helping them understand the practical applications of concepts generally taught to them in classroom environment.