October 31, 2008
Purdue's president to expand, build partnerships in India, China
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - |
Córdova's trip, a year in the planning, will include time in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Hong Kong and will feature visits to educational institutions and businesses as well as meetings with alumni, parents and major donors.
"Purdue is truly a global university," Córdova said. "Many Purdue alumni are now leaders in China and India. Our faculty members partner with universities in both countries. Many of our students hail from these nations as well. Through this trip, we'll look for new opportunities to build on this substantial foundation."
Purdue has the second-largest number of international students (5,479) of any public university in the United States. Purdue's students come from more than 120 countries, and the largest number of those students - 1,256 - come from India. Students from China are Purdue's second-largest population, with 975 on campus this fall. Scores of Purdue faculty and staff also are Indian- or Chinese-born.
In Bangalore, Córdova will meet with key city and country leaders at the Indian Institute of Science and with officials at Infosys Technologies. She also will travel to the General Electric Technology Research Center to review a nanomaterials partnership opportunity and other projects in General Electric's global research division.
At Cummins India in Mumbai, a five-year memorandum of understanding will be signed between Purdue, Cummins Inc. and the Cummins College of Engineering for Women. The college and company, which has its main headquarters in Columbus, Ind., have partnered with Purdue since 2003 to send Indian graduates to the West Lafayette campus for master's and doctoral studies. The memorandum calls on the three to expand these efforts, particularly with research and development; student and faculty exchange; a fellowship program; and support for mechanical engineering curriculum at the Indian campus.
In addition, Córdova will meet with officials at IIT Bombay, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, the University Institute of Chemical Technology and the S.P. Jain Institute. Córdova will visit a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Hyderabad and a cellular and molecular biology research facility.
In Hong Kong, Córdova will discuss joint research efforts, student internships and research fellowships with officials at the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Inc. She also will discuss partnerships and research with Alexander Tzang, deputy president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Paul Chu, president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Alumni receptions will be held in Bangalore, Mumbai and Hong Kong, providing opportunities for alumni as well as parents of current students to meet Córdova.
Purdue alumni from India and China, many of whom Córdova will meet with, include:
* Peter K. Ho - managing director of Morroll Investment Ltd., a real estate company. Ho earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1964 and his master's degree in civil engineering in 1965.
* Satish Reddy Kallam - managing director of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. He earned his bachelor's degree from the School of Pharmacy in 1991.
* Habil F. Khorakiwala - founder and chairman of Wockhardt Ltd., a biotechnology and pharmaceutical company. He earned his master's degree from the School of Pharmacy in 1966.
* Charles Mok - director of Computancy Ltd., an information technology consulting company. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical and computer engineering in 1985 and 1987, respectively.
* G.V. Prasad - executive vice chairman and CEO of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. He earned his master's degree in industrial administration from Purdue's Krannert School of Management in 1983. (The degree is the equivalent of today's master of business administration.)
* C.N.R. Rao - honorary president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He earned his doctorate from Purdue's School of Science in 1958 and received an honorary doctorate from Purdue in 1982. Rao has been awarded honorary degrees from 26 universities around the world and is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences in the United States and the Royal Society of London.
* Sanjay Reddy - vice chairman of GVK Industries Ltd. He earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1987.
* Sowmyanarayanan Sadagopan - director of the Indian Institute of Information Technology/Bangalore. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Purdue's School of Industrial Engineering in 1977 and 1979, respectively.
* Pooja Shetty - director at Adlabs Films Ltd. She earned her bachelor's degree from the Krannert School of Management in 2000.
* Venu Srinivasan - CEO of TVS Motor Co. He earned an MBA from the Krannert School of Management in 1977. Srinivasan was named a "Star of Asia" by Business Week International in 2003.
* Ravi Venkatesan - chairman of Microsoft/India. He earned a master's degree in industrial engineering in 1986. Venkatesan was awarded Purdue's Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award in 2000 and was named by Business Today as one of India's 25 top young executives in 2002.
* Kenneth Wai - managing director of Hinds International Ltd., a plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractor. He has designed and managed manufacturing environments for Coca Cola, PepsiCo and other food-related businesses. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the College of Pharmacy in 1961 and 1963, respectively.
* Patrick Wang - chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Electric in Hong Kong.
Writer: Tanya Brown, (765) 494-2079, tanyabrown@purdue.edu
Source: France A. Córdova, (765) 494-9708
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
To the News Service home page