Pune, January 27, 2015: Danfoss India, a leading provider of climate and energy and Mobile Hydraulics, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) as part of its University Engagement Initiative. As per the agreement, Danfoss India will establish a Centre of Excellence at the college, which will enable students and teachers to get hands-on experience of Refrigeration and Cooling technologies prevalent in the industry.

Danfoss Centre of Excellence will help students gain knowledge and experience on new technologies in the Climate and Energy space. More particularly, they will focus on Cold chain, Refrigeration & Heating, Climate Controls, Variable Frequency Drives. Danfoss will also conduct technical sessions for students.

This Collaborative effort is an initiative by Danfoss India to expand its industry academia initiatives across Maharashtra given the need for skill development in the State's cold chain scenario. To put things in perspective, besides being the largest exporter of grapes in the country, Maharashtra also has the largest installed base for banana and fruits ripening chambers. There are about 600 registered cold storage facilities in Maharashtra which shows the need for skill development of the workforce which will also double as a rural employment generator.

Addressing students and faculty of CoEP, Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India said, "The push for sectorial development from the government coupled with the need for adoption of smart technologies increases the need to train and equip the engineers of tomorrow with industry relevant knowledge, skills and competencies. Also With the growing need for cold chain in Maharashtra, we are directly reaching out to stakeholders to provide the necessary technical skills and practical knowledge, which will facilitate growth of the sector in India. The Centre of Excellence will have a positive impact on students and will help them inculcate a keen interest towards energy efficiency as a practice and encourage them to innovate and develop energy saving solutions for the future."

Taking into account the power challenges that India faces, it is imperative for various other industries to adopt energy efficient applications as an alternate source of fuel. This would require industries to adopt automated technologies that rely on power and contribute to their operational profits.

Stressing on the importance of tapping engineering talent, Mr Upinder, Managing Director, Danfoss Power Solutions, said "Innovation forms the core of Danfoss Hydraulics solutions which assist in implementing automation in the agriculture sector. This requires a fresh influx of engineering expertise where the Centre of Excellence can play a key role in spurring innovative thinking among mechanical and electronic engineers who will play a key role in furthering energy efficient power solutions in India. Skilling students at the college level with the desired industry expertise will improve their employability by making them job ready."

Also launched on this occasion was the Danfoss Innovator Project Award, an intercollegiate competition designed for final year students in Under Graduate (UG) and Post Graduate (PG) courses, who have an interest in creating innovative solutions in the areas of Climate, Energy and Power Solutions. In addition to benefiting from working on innovative solutions, students who win also stand to gain prize money.

"Industry academia initiatives play a crucial role in expanding practical knowledge of students. We are grateful for the support that Danfoss has given for improving and expanding the academic resources of the college. The Danfoss University Engagement Programme will open new vistas for students and definitely provide them hands-on training to make them industry ready." said, Dr A D Sahasrabuddhe, Director, College of Engineering Pune.