Education Briefs

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the newly formed Indo-US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) launched their two Action Planning Forums for Indo-US collaboration in engineering education at the Mysore campus of Infosys Technologies Ltd on June 15. Leaders in engineering education and businesses from the US and India were among the 81 participants present on the occasion.

The goal of the first forum is to develop an action plan for improving the quality and global relevance of engineering education in India and the US. The preliminary recommendations of the Mysore Forum will be debated at the second forum to be held at the National Academy of Engineering, Washington D.C on August 29-31.

"One of the key outcomes of these action planning forums could be the establishment of an Indo-US Engineering Faculty Institute with four thrust areas: curriculum and delivery, quality and accreditation, research and development, and innovation and entrepreneurship. Cross cutting themes for these thrust areas are industry needs of global relevance. This institute will help improve the preparedness of the large number of faculty in engineering colleges in India and in the US to address the needs of the global economy. Another outcome could be the development of an Indo-US Engineering Student Network for facilitating student internships and interaction as well as providing students access to high quality learning materials," says Dr. James Melsa president-elect of ASEE.

IUCEE is being supported by several blue-chip, high-performance corporates in India and the US. Among them: Infosys Technologies, Deshpande Foundation, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum as well as Hewlett Packard, National Instruments, Dassault Systems, Microsoft, Autodesk, Agilent Technologies and UGS.

The Bangalore-based Chrysallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged — an NGO working for people with disabilities — inaugurated the second phase of its ‘The Chrysallis Power of One — Know Your Special Friend’ campaign on June 14. "This is a nationwide campaign to make the public aware of the need to encourage children with and without disability to study and play together. In school, challenged children usually attend special institutions. But when they finish their board exams and enter college, they suddently experience the challenge of interacting with adults. The Chrysallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged, has conceptualised and conducted events which are unique and help differently abled children cope with new challenges in higher education," says Diana Tholoor founder-director of the centre.

On the occasion of the Know Your Special Friend campaign, the campus of Bangalore’s Mount Carmel College came alive with the exhibition of placards and posters designed by children across the country. Know Your Special Friend campaigns will also be held in Pondicherry, Hyderabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi and Bhubaneshwar. "Our campaign integrated over 1,500 children who have created amazing visuals on special friendships. These placards are their voices for peer acceptance and illustrate their concept of integration and special friendship," said Tholoor speaking on the occasion.

Established in 1999, the Chrysallis Performance Arts Centre for the Challenged is committed to the cause of integration of people with disabilities in the performing arts, education and other areas. Thus far it has enrolled and trained over 5,000 children with disabilities.

ZICA invites admission applications

The Mumbai-based Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA) which provides practical training in pre-production/visualisation, production and post-production education in design of classical/computer-based animation and gaming, invites admission applications.

ZICA is a division of the Zee Network Education Group and the nation’s first full-fledged training academy in animation (classical and digital) and gaming. ZICA is located in the serene and green environs of Esselworld, Mumbai, India’s pioneer entertainment theme park.

"In the entertainment industry, for those with flair and interest in the audio-visual industry, radio and television media provide immense career and growth opportunities. The number of professionals employed by the Indian animation industry in 2006 was 16,500. This number is forecast to increase at a compound rate of 14-15 percent and exceed 26,000 by 2010," says Arun Khetan, the Mumbai-based chief executive of ZICA.

Thirty-two students of the Chinmaya International Residential School (CIRS) met with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi on May 7. The selected students were accompanied by four teachers and Anurag Sangal, principal of CIRS.

This interaction was the culmination of a project assignment initiated by CIRS based on President Kalam’s Vision for India 2020 monograph. In November 2006 the assignment was given as a vacation project to students with the brief to make it more personal and relevant to CIRS students from 19 countries. The project was designated ‘My Vision for Myself, my Family, my School and my Country — 2020’.

"The response and quality of students’ work was phenomenal! Selected projects were forwarded to President Kalam for his perusal and he expressed interest in meeting and interacting with student representatives of CIRS," says Sangal. On May 7, 32 selected CIRS students had an enriching interaction with India’s much loved scientist-president. "We learnt why President Kalam has been able to inspire the young generation and has captured the imagination of the nation," he adds.

Earlier, the students presented the President with a bouquet of flowers and a CIRS memento as well as several books published by the Chinmaya Mission.