Delegation led by L&T CEO & MD visits top engineering colleges, signs MoU, launches an experience centre

Coimbatore : A team of delegates from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) led by its CEO & Managing Director, Mr. S N Subrahmanyan, visited some of the premier academic institutions in Coimbatore to meet their leadership and take pro-active steps to develop an industry-relevant engineering education ecosystem in India.

Apart from Mr Subrahmanyan, the distinguished team comprised Mr. Sabyasachi Das, CEO, L&T EduTech (the Edtech arm of L&T) and Mrs MF Febin, Head of CollegeConnect business, L&T Edutech.

The delegates visited KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology (KPRIET) to launch the KPR Experience Engineering, a joint venture immersive learning centre between L&T and KPRIET. Established in the KPR college campus, this experiential centre will enable students to learn the fundamentals of engineering materials and their manifested products focusing on interdisciplinary projects and real-time applications. L&T EduTech is working with KPR College for the initiative to offer intellectual and mentoring support and to give digital contents for AR/VR, mobile QR code and multitouch applications, 3D creation of artefacts and content management systems.

Looking at the strong potential, L&T EduTech and KPRIET signed an extended agreement for future engagement. The occasion was marked with a Presidential Address by Dr KP Ramasamy (Chairman, KPR Group) and felicitation addresses by Dr M Akila (Principal, KPRIET), Mrs Febin and Mr Das.

In his special address, Mr. S N Subrahmanyan, CEO & Managing Director, L&T remarked “We believe our responsibility is to ensure that students are excited about what they learn and become technologically sound. Having built some of India’s landmarks that are among the largest, tallest, and most complex, we are a knowledge repository. Since as an organisation, we have always focused on skill-building activities, it is only natural that we want young engineers to learn by experiencing our expertise.”

On the occasion, Mr. Das explained how an experience centre can work as an extension of traditional classroom lectures and case studies. He said, “It opens the minds of students to the concept of ‘learning by doing’ and ‘reflecting on that experience’. Students would be able to work on real-world exercises and self-defined projects which will help them put course learnings into practice.”

Our country is one of the largest producers of engineers in the world. Engineering education now demands students to be equipped with various skill sets to meet the demands of rapidly changing technology and societal expectations of engineers. A lot of work needs to be done to bring India’s engineering education system on par with international standards. There is need to improve facilities, infrastructure, and quality of teaching, as well as upgrade the curriculum to make it more equitable and accessible for everyone irrespective of their social and economic background.

To discuss these challenges further and identify solutions to enhance the entire educational ecosystem, the delegates visited Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore, one of India’s top NIRF-ranking universities, where they met the Vice Chancellor Dr P Venkat Rangan and the Principal Director, Corporate and Industrial Relations, Prof Parameswaran.

The delegates also visited PSG College of Technology, one of the oldest and most prestigious educational institutions in Tamil Nadu and met the Managing Trustee of PSG & Sons Charitable Trust, Mr L Gopalakrishnan and PSG Group principals and faculty.

Mrs Febin and Dr K Prakasan (Principal, PSGTECH) signed an MoU to offer industry-relevant courses and related educational services in core engineering disciplines.

Speaking on the development, Mrs Febin remarked, “Our programmes will improve the technical acumen and professional understanding of the students, to make them job ready. In addition, the L&T EduTech, Skill Exchange platform will showcase talented students to an array of employers. We are not here to offer courses but to have a meaningful engagement to handhold students in learning, assessment, certification and employment.”