MIT Partners With Various Companies To Upskill Working Professionals

Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), partners with Schneider Electric, IBM and NXP Semiconductors to promote industry focused learning at the university and to upskill working professionals and acquire higher qualifications themselves.  

Through these partnerships the university aims to focus on research, internships, and workforce development; thereby bridging the skills gap between academic learning and market requirements. Through the collaboration with Schneider Electric, which addresses the current working professionals’ cohort, MIT will provide on-the-job post graduate programs to Schneider’s employees. This initiative enables employees to upskill without leaving the organisation and receive an M.Tech degree.  

On this initiative, Dr. Manohara Pai, Program Designer, Professor of ICT and Former Head of Innovation centre and MUTBI, MIT Manipal said, “The master’s program offered to Schneider Electric R&D India is unique in many respects. It is physical and the full course is delivered in the industry campus. The program curriculum has been framed to meet the upskilling requirement of Industry 4.0 in general and Schneider Electric in particular”  

Another initiative is the MoU with NXP Semiconductors in electronics, VLSI Design, Embedded Systems, and Software. Through this initiative, the aim is to expose engineering students to industry-specific practical use cases, research opportunities, internships, and collaborative project work, along with jointly guided degree programs. The partnership also includes faculty training, participation in design contests, and access to special initiatives such as NXP Campus Connect. 

Speaking about the initiatives, Dr Sriram KV, Associate Director - Industry Liaison Placement and Practice School, Manipal Institute of Technology, said “Such industry-academia partnerships serve as a catalyst to augment the tenet of learning in India. Collaborations like these help universities to stay at the forefront of innovation and technology and eventually provide more placement and recruitment opportunities to students. In addition, such partnerships bridge the gap between academia and industry, enabling students to get hands-on experience and practical knowledge.” 

The university has also collaborated with companies such as Cerner Health Care, IBM, Signify, Ingersoll Rand Technologies and Sciences, Forbes Marshall, Everest Blowers to offer subject-specific open electives as well as has formed an industry advisory committee with experts from various fields to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the professional requirements of the ever-changing industry landscape. In addition, MIT also invites industry experts to join the institute as adjunct faculty, which further helps in bridging the gap between industry and academia.