Chris Hodges, U.S. Consul-General in Chennai, inaugurated the Centre for Clean Environment at VIT campus in Vellore.
According to a press release, Mr. Hodges said the Consulate has a long relationship with VIT.
“What we are doing here today is not just building education, but we are strengthening a relationship. And we have an opportunity together to do some amazing things,” he said.
‘Resolve issues’
Further he said that in order to take forward the U.S.-India relationship to the next level, it was imperative to iron out differences between two countries on education systems including research and work. “Students should open up for new collaborations that involve multi-disciplines like social science, physics, computer science, chemistry and architecture,” he said.
In his address, VIT founder-chancellor G. Viswanathan said that a large number of Indian students study various courses in Universities in the U.S. “All of us know that the US is the ultimate destination for higher education abroad. Once it was dominated by European countries, then in the 20th century it was taken over by the U.S.,” he said.
About the new centre, he said the Centre has been launched to associate with the Global Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations (UN). The Centre for Clean Environment focuses on finding innovative technologies and sustainable solutions for environmental issues from local to global scale, he said.
The centre addresses environmental concerns by collaborating with government, industry, non-government organisations, and leading academic partners through national and international research networks, the release said.