HP adds two Indian organizations to its global HP Catalyst program and awards them US$150,000 each to foster innovation in sciences education

Bengaluru: HP has announced the addition of two Indian organizations, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University and Learning Links Foundation to its global HP Catalyst Initiative. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University joins the Measuring Learning consortium while Learning Links Foundation joins the newly formed STEM-preneur consortium, which will explore novel ways to combine science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education with the skills and passion of entrepreneurship. They will each receive more than US$150,000 in technology, cash, and professional services from HP.

This year, 21 additional organizations from 12 countries are joining the HP Catalyst network of leading institutions transforming STEM teaching and learning worldwide. The HP Catalyst consortia are focused on a range of issues, from teacher preparation and student-driven learning models to student assessment. Each consortium is tasked with investigating how emerging technologies can fuel learning experiences that inspire students and promote creative thinking, open-ended problem-solving and cross-cultural collaboration.

“Social entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming a critical area of focus in developing countries. These organizations were chosen to be part of our HP Catalyst Initiative as they demonstrate in-depth expertise in STEM based learning approaches that combine global theory with local entrepreneurship best practices, knowledge and resource use”, said Jeannette Weisschuh, Director- Education, Office of Global Social Innovation, HP.

The six HP Catalyst research themes are The Multi-Versity, Pedagogy 3.0, Global Collaboratory, The New Learner, Measuring Learning, and the new STEM-preneur. The new STEM-preneur consortium will be led by a team of distinguished faculty from Tsinghua University, School of Economics and Management (SEM) Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.