The city-based National Institute of Engineering (NIE) has signed a series of MoUs with German-based companies to foster innovation in academics and exchange programmes.
The companies involved were Tec4Fuels Germany and OWI Germany and the MoU provides for cooperative agreement to facilitate innovation, academic exchange and entrepreneurial opportunities for students, and faculty.
A release said the MoUs were signed online on Tuesday and the main objectives are to create opportunities that can lead to education, training, research, innovation and consultancy in the fields of renewable energy, alternative fuels for domestic and industrial uses, synthetic fuels and hydrogen fuel systems.
It will also pave way for internships for students of NIE to enhance the overall competence in the above fields at under-graduate, masters and doctoral programmes. In addition, the MoU will help create sustainable and marketable products and develop any start-up that results from it, said the release. NIE and the companies involved will also work to establish centres of excellence in the above technologies and create a niche in the market.
S.Shamsundar, Head of Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CREST) NIE, said Tec4Fuels is a competence centre for conventional and alternative fuels and lubricants and as a research service provider, the company is active in the research and development of technical components and products, systems and energy sources as well as their application in the energy market for fuels.
Similarly, OWI researches and aims to develop technically mature, low-greenhouse gas and low-emission solutions for heat generation and mobility of future.
Those present during the virtual signing of MoU included Ranganath, NIE president, Mr. Udayshankar, secretary, N.V Raghavendra, principal, Ganesh Prasad, vice-principal, and Prof. Shamsundar
Tec4Fuels was represented by Klaus Lucka, Managing Partner, while OWI was represented by its Wilfred Plum, Managing Director, and Sangeetha Ramaswamy, Head, International Relations.