Stevens and Indian Institute make cooperative agreement

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Mutually beneficial links with educational institutions outside the United States are ushering in a new era of global understanding and cooperation for many American universities, including Stevens Institute of Technology.

Stevens and the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (IIITM), located in Gwalior, India, recently entered into a cooperative educational pact that will allow for student and faculty exchanges as well as many opportunities for cooperative projects, particularly in the academic areas that the two institutions have in common.

Dr. Joseph J. Moeller Jr., Stevens’ Vice President for The Graduate School and Research Services (shown right), and Dr. D.P. Agrawal, Director of the IIITM, have signed a joint letter of understanding that begins what both hope is a long relationship with a bright future. The two met in June with faculty and administrators on Stevens’ campus in Hoboken, N.J., to finalize the understanding and discuss ways to work together.

"Stevens has been active in seeking and establishing substantial linkages with other institutions outside our national borders," says Moeller. "Obviously, there are benefits for all involved. For Stevens, which wants to attract extremely high-quality students, these linkages have the potential of increasing our pool of excellent student applicants, among many other important advantages."

Moeller notes that approximately 260 of Stevens’ graduate students and about 70 undergraduates are Indian citizens, and the numbers have been steadily increasing in the last few years.

Through such cooperative arrangements, internationally diverse educational institutions can benefit from each other in many ways, particularly when their interests are as well matched as those of Stevens and the IIITM.

During their recent meetings, Moeller and Agrawal explored various possibilities now available to them, including: joint internships for students, World Wide Web links between the institutions, joint research by faculty and students, collaborations involving the two institutions with multinational corporate partners that have offices in the U.S. and India, joint seminars on special academic topics of interest to both institutions, web-based distance learning programs, and the possibility of pooling resources to provide customized technological business solutions to industry problems in both the U.S. and India.

The IIITM aims to produce business leaders who will shape the future of the Indian economy and business environment with unique integrated skills in information technology and management. More about the institution may be found at its web site at www.iiitm.ac.in.

Stevens seeks to foster leaders in many professions through an educational environment called "technogenesis," a term trademarked recently by the university. The term refers to "the educational frontier wherein students, faculty and industry jointly nurture new technologies from concept to realization." This new model for higher education is already distinguishing Stevens among the nation’s top universities in technological education.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research.  The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.

Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts.  Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world.  Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.