The Office of International Relations Newsletter -Jan. - June 2014

Dear friends,  Greetings from the office of International Relations !  We  are  pleased  to  connect  with  you  after  quite sometime. This issue is unusual   in that it presents the activities of IR during the first half of the calendar year as  against  our  monthly  updates.  Hence  it  is  more comprehensive  in  its  content.  As  you  can  see  in  this issue,  the Office  of  International  Relations was  agog with activity during Jan. to June, 2014.  The visit of Vice‐President (UA) and Vice Chancellor to China  is  significant because  it has brought many new and  exciting  developments  in  VIT’s  partnerships with Chinese universities.  Alongside  this  the  issue  carries  our  regular  features such  as  faculty  and  student  visits  abroad,  visit  of international delegates to VIT and events organized by the International Relations team.  

Wish you happy reading!  

Thank you  -Team IR 

In this issue:

• VP (UA) and VC’s visit to China

• International promotional activities

• Students from Deakin University on a study tour

• Good news from Darmstadt University

• Workshop on Transgenic Plants

• Project Abroad Program

• VIT Faculty’s visits abroad

• The Chinese Bridge ‘14

• Training the Trainers Workshop

• The Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

• Presentations on Higher Education Opportunities Abroad

• Celebration of Spring Festival

• A Hearty Congrats to ‘Team Vimanas’

• International Activities on Chennai Campus

• Visiting Faculty from Universities Abroad

• Visitors from Abroad

• Hearty welcome to student Interns, NRI and Foreign students- 2014

• MoU signed

VP (UA) and VC’s visit to China: Mr. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President (UA)

and Dr. V. Raju, Vice Chancellor, visited our

partner universities in China during April, 2014

to discuss on the possibilities of academic ex-

change and research collaboration.

Mr. Sekar Viswanathan, VP (UA) and Dr. V. Raju, VC with Dr. Zeng Yixin, Party Secretary, Wuhan University, China

International Promotional Activities:

• UAE: Dr. C. Vijaya Kumar, Director, International Relations and Dr.

K. Manivannan, Director, UG Admissions visited UAE from the 05 to 11

January 2014. They held seminar cum counseling sessions for prospec-

tive students and their parents at Dubai and Sharjah.

Dr. Vijaya kumar also visited the ministr of Higher Education at Abu

Dhabi and interacted with the authorities on the courses and facilities

offered at VIT University.

• Kuwait and Qatar: Dr.M.Subaji, Deputy Director & Dr.J.Karthikeyan,

Coordinator visited the Indian Schools in Qatar and Kuwait during the

first two weeks in January 2014, as a part of promotional activity to

guide Parents and Students seeking admission to our University. They

met the students counselor and Principals and updated information

about our University. They also participated in the Educational Fair con-

ducted in Kuwait.

• Mauritius: Dr. Ms. Beverly David, International Students Counsellor,

IR, visited Mauritius on promotional activities from 12 -19 February,

2014. She attended the International Education Fair that was organized

by the Rotary Club of Great Bay at Mauritius from 14 to 16, February,

2014, followed by counseling sessions from the 17 to 19.

Dr. Rajesh Jeetah, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science, Research and

Technology, Government of Mauritius inaugurated the Fair. There were

87 institutions in all that participated in the event.

• Thailand: Dr.J.Karthikeyan participated in the Great Indian Fair con-

ducted in Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok. He vis-

ited Bangkok University and had a meeting with Dr. Panadda Unyapho,

Director, Foreign Affairs Office and Dr.Vincent Ribiere, Managing Direc-

tor, The Institute for Knowledge & Innovation. Bangkok University

agreed to accept ten of our SAP students and they invited our Research

Scholars and Faculty from SENSE, SCSE, SELECT to be a part of ongo-

ing research works.

During the visit to Bangkok, he also visited The Indian Embassy and

identified the scholarships and sponsorships given by the Embassy for

Thailand students who preferred to study in India and Indian teachers

who prefer to work in Thailand and for one semester.

• Zimbabwe: Dr. C. Vijaya Kumar, Director, IR, visited Zimbabwe on

promotional activities from 24 Feb 1 March 2014. He conducted Semi-

nar cum counseling sessions for three days from 25-27th February 2014.

The sessions were attended by several students who were interested in

various undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

During this trip, he visited :

• Harare Institute of Technology, our partner institution and held dis- cussions with Mr. Quinton C Kanhukamwe, the officiating Vice-Chancellor and Registrar and Deans of Schools regarding “capacity building of their faculty” at VIT. The Vice Chancellor informed that they would identify 10-15 faculty to be sent to VIT for their Masters pro-gramme this academic year.

• University of Zimbabwe and met the Director of International Relations Mr. Daniel Chihombori. The University of Zimbabwe was interested in sending their students and faculty for a short exchange to begin with in the coming academic year.

• The Embassy of India and met the ambassador, Mr J. K. Tripathi to ap-prise him of VIT university and to seek his support to promote VIT uni-versity.

• Rwanda and Uganda: Dr. M. Subaji, Deputy Director and Dr. R.

Seenivasan, Assistant Director , IR visited East African Countries

Uganda, Rwanda for International Student Admissions-2014 during 6-

19 March 2014. During their visit they participated in the International

Education Fairs at Kampala, Kigali and Nairobi organized by our local

representatives and educational consultants.

• Kenya and Namibia: Dr. C. Vijaya Kumar, Director, IR, visited Kenya

during 11-16th March 2014.He held a Seminar and counseling session at

The Best Western Hotel at Nairobi on the 12 March. He attended an

Education fair at Nairobi from the 13-16 March and was joined by Dr. R.

Seenivasan on the 16 March. Dr. R. Seenivasan co-ordinated the fair

and the two-day couselling on 17th and 18th march 2014.

He then visited Namibia from the 16 to 22 March 2014, where he had a

meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, the Di

rector of the Scholarship Division and the Director of Vocational Educa

tion programmes , Government of Namibia to discuss the possibilities

of including VIT to the Bursary programmes of Government of Namibia.

He held a Seminar and counseling session at Namibia Polytechnic on

the 18-19 March. On the 20 March, he had meeting with Skorpian Zinc

officials and also met the Head of Chancellery of Indian Embassy at

Namibia.

• South Korea: Dr.J.Karthikeyan participated in the Korea Study Abroad

Fair conducted in Busan and Seoul.

He visited Dongseo University in Busan and had a discussion with

Dr.Chan Chung- Dean-International Cooperation and Dr.Seung-woo Cho

- Professor-Division of Digital Contents. The meeting resulted in Train

ing SITE Faculty in Advanced Animation Design and Tools, Establishing

Joint Research Center and visit of Dongseo students to VIT.

He also visited Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul and met Dr.Soo

Young Song-Program Coordinator-International Affairs Team to finalize

their students visit to VIT and take VIT students under Korean govern

ment scholarship. He met Mr.Mijito Vinito, Third Secretary and Colonel

Ajay Chandpurai, Education Sector, Defence Attaché from the Indian

Embassy South Korea to know more about the scholarships given for

students and other support given by the Embassy for Higher Education.

• Ghana: Dr. C. Vijaya Kumar, Director, International Relations visited

Ghana between 20 April and 01 May, 2014. He conducted seminars and

counseling sessions at Takrodi, Kumasi and Accra that were arranged

by ‘Astro Links’ , our representatives. He also met Mr. Amar Singh, an

Official at the Indian High Commission at Ghana and the Chairman of

IPMC, a group providing IT specialized training who were looking at the

feasibility of establishing co-operation between VIT University and their

institute that they plan to set up in Accra.

• Zambia: Dr. M. Subaji, Deputy Director, International Relations visited Zambia from 22nd - 29th April 2014 for International Students admis-sions. He organised seminars and counselling sessions in Lusaka and Chingola for the prospective students and parents. He also visited Kon-kola Copper Mines and met with their Vice President and other officials of their HR department with regard to the new batch of Zambian stu-dents that were to be sponsored by Konkola Copper Mines for their study at VIT and other issues pertaining to the existing students.

• Tanzania: Dr. C. Vijaya kumar, Director and Dr. R. Srinivasan, Assis-tant Director visited Tanzania from 21 May to 29 May 2014. They par-ticipated in the education fair organized by the Tanzanian Commission of Universities (TCU) at Dar es Salaam from 21 to 24 May 2014. The fair was well attended by students and parents. From 25 to 29 May 2014, they had personal meetings and discussion with parents and stu-dents at the hotel. Dr. Vijayakumar visited Arusha and Moshi for promo-tional meetings with parents and students.

• Nepal: Dr. R. Seenivasan, Asst. Director, Office of International Rela-

tions, visited Kathmandu, Nepal from the 15 to 21 May during which he

represented VIT University at “The Great Education Fair” held on the 16

and 17 May, 2014. The fair was attended by more than 1000 students

on both the days.

• China: Dr.M.Subaji, Deputy Director & Dr.J.Karthikeyan, visited China in June 2014 and triggered VITGCU joint programs in Guangzhou College of South China University of Technology. Under this cooperation lot of exchange will happen between the universities in near future. They also commenced cooperation with Xian Siyuan University & Shanxi Weinan Teachers University. Their meetings with Higher officials in Guangzhou Vocational College of Science and Technology led path for student exchange in the next academic year. They gave a presentation to Jiangmen Polytechnic & Zhongshan Educational Group in Zhongshan and created platform for the students from these zones to undergo top- up programs at VIT.

Good news from Darmstadt University, Germany:

This year's "Professor Doehrer Award" for excellent thesis work is

shared by two students from VIT, Ms. Dona Liz Peter and Ms. Devi

Padmavathi Alagarswamy. Ms Dona Liz Peter performed her Master Thesis

entitled "Analysis of Multi-Conferencing Capabilities Needed in Space

Mission Control Room Conferencing and Implementation of a Prototype for

Practical Evaluation of the Idea" at the German Aerospace Centre and was

supervised by Prof. Dr. Heinz Schmiedel. Ms. Devi Padmavathi

Alagarswamy performed her Master Thesis entitled "Person Detection using

Image Transformations and New Feature Extraction Methods" at Robert

Bosch Co. and was supervised by

Prof. Dr. Manfred Goetz.

The awards were given during

the convocation ceremony of the

Department of Electrical

Engineering on March 21st.

The appended picture shows the

two award-winners with their

supervisors. Besides this, the

two ladies were honored for

achieving the highest ranks in

their Master’s degrees.

L-R: Dr. Heinz Schmiedel; Ms Dona Liz Peter; Ms Devi Padmavathi. A; Dr. Manfred Goetz

Workshop on Transgenic plants:

An International laboratory course on ‘Plant Transgenic Technology’ was

held at VIT University between 08 to 17 February 2014.This course was

jointly organised by the Indo-German Centre for Excellence in Bio Sciences

(IGCEB), School of Bio Sciences and Technology (SBST) at VIT University,

Vellore and The Institute of Plant Genetics, Leibniz University of Hannover,

Germany.

Dr.Hans-Joerg Jacobsen, Head of the Institute of Plant Genetics and

Dr.Fathi Hassan, Scientist, Institute of Plant Genetics, Leibniz University

of Hannover, Germany were the resource persons for the International

Laboratory Course.

Students from Deakin University on a study tour:

9 students and 3 faculty from Deakin University, Australia visited the Uni-

versity on a short term study tour from 16 to 23 January.

They visited the various labs and interacted with the faculty in-charge; At-

tended classes with the regular students of Civil and Mechanical Engineer-

ing and also interacted with them. They also visited the Golden Temple at

Vellore, the Fort, the market place and temples at Kancheepuram where

they witnessed the art of silk processing and weaving of sarees; the shore

temple at Mahabalipuram, Dakshinachitra and the beach and were treated

to a fare of authentic Indian cuisine all through their stay here. The IR Of-

fice hosted a Valedictory function on the eve of their departure from VIT.

Project Abroad Programme: A group of students and Prof. Mercy

Mathew visited Institut Supérieur de

Commerce In te rna t i ona l de

Dunkerque (ISCID), France and

University of Leuven, Brussels,

Belgium during 07-30 June 2014 on

Project Abroad programme.

They also visited various industries

and institutions during this trip.

VIT Faculty’s visits Abroad: • Prof. Dr. Shampa Sen, School of Bio-sciences and Technology, visited

INHA University, Incheon, South

Korea to deliver a guest lecture on

“ Functionalization of Magnetic

Nano- particles for Water

Treatment", in the Environmental

Engineering Department on 17

February, 2014.

She also received a funded project

With Prof. Dr. C.G. Kim (Principal

Investigator) of Environmental En

gineering Department from Korean

National Research Fund.

• Dr.K.Ravi, Associate Professor,

School of Electrical Engineering,

presented a research paper enti-

tled “Solving Optimal Power

Flow Using Modified Bacterial

Foraging Algorithm Consider-

ing FACTS Devices” in the sixth

Asia Pacific Power and Energy En-

gineering Conference in shanghai,

china from14 to 16 April, 2014.

Dr. Shampa Sen (third from right ) with faculty and students Environmental Engi-neering, INHA , South Korea

Dr. K. Ravi, presenting his research paper

At Institut Supérieur de Commerce Interna-tional de Dunkerque (ISCID), France.

At University of Leuven, Brussels, Belgium

• Dr. Vivekananda Shanmuganathan , Professor, Robotics Laboratory,

School of Mechanical and Building Sciences, visited Verl, on invitation

from Beckoff Automation GmbH. He was also a part of the VIP+ 2014

meet of Beckoff Automation. He also attended the progress meeting of

the Erasmus Mundus Partnership Asia-Europe (INTERWEAVE) at Ecole

Centrale de Nantes, France on 10 and 11 April.

• Dr.M.Shivashankar, Associate Professor, School of Advanced Sci-

ences, VIT University, Vellore cam-

pus, Vellore, Presented a research

paper entitled “Effect of Chitosan

molecular weight of Chitosan-

citrate film on site specific in-

vitro release of Ofloxacine in the

International Conference on

chemistry for sustainable devel-

opment”: Indian perspective held at

Dubai & Abu-Dhabi on 11 to 13 June

2014.

The Chinese Bridge -2014:

India’s first Chinese Proficiency competition was held on 24 and 25 May at

the university, Vellore campus. This competition was open for the students

from any Indian Universities or Colleges and Public who were exposed to

Chinese Language and Culture.

The competition was organized for two categories of participants :Students

including research scholars aged between 18-35 were included under

category-1 and Public aged between 18-60, under category-2. The winners

of category-1 would represent India in the International competition at

Changsha, China and their entire trip sponsored by Hanban (Office of the

Chinese Language International, Beijing, China) and The winners of

category-2 would represent India in the Summer and Winter camps.

Delegations from the Embassy of the People Republic of China and Hanban

were specially invited to witness this magnificent event.

The Chinese Language centre at the University has also planned to start a

Forum of Chinese Teaching in India (FCTI) which would be supported by

the Embassy of the People

Republic of China. Institutional

Deans whose Departments,

Schools or Divisions involved in

Chinese teaching would be the

members of this forum that

would pave the way to explore

better opportunities in China in

terms of education and cultural

exchange.

Dr. M. Shivashankar presenting his paper at the conference in UAE

Training the Trainers Workshop on Essential Technologies:

“Training the Trainers Workshop on Essential Technologies” was

organized by the School of Information Technology and Engineering in

collaboration with the Office of International Relations between 10

November, 2013 and 05 January, 2014.

Twelve participants which

included Professors and Research

scholars from Jilin Technology

College of Electronic Information ,

Jilin Province, Peoples Republic of

China attended the workshop.

Facilitators of the workshop

included experts from the faculty

of SITE and SCSE of VIT

University; EDUCKINECT- Microsoft Partner, Dimension Data India Ltd.-

CISCO Partner and IBM.

Prof. P. Karthikeyan, SITE, coordinated the training programme and Prof. J.

Karthikeyan, IR Co-ordinator, co-ordinated the entire programme.

Presentations on Higher Education Opportunities Abroad:

• Prof. Igors Tipans, Pro-Rector, Riga Technical University (RTU),

which is one of the ten European Universities that have entered into

partnership with VIT University under the Asia-Europe Erasmus Mundus

Partnership Programme, INTERWEAVE, visited the university on 30

January, 2014. He made a presentation on SAP and Higher Study Op-

portunities with Erasmus Mundus scholarships offered in Riga Technical

University and held discussions with the officials at the Office of Inter-

national Relations and the Dean of SMBS on academic co-operation.

The Semester Abroad Programme: The Semester Abroad Programme (SAP) has gained significance over

the years, with several students opting to pursue their final semester pro-

ject in universities abroad.

In an endeavour to brief prospective students on the process of applying

for the SAP and acquaint them with the opportunities, the Office of Interna-

tional Relations organized a presentation on the Semester Abroad Pro-

gramme at Dr. Channa Reddy Auditorium on 25 March, 2014. The Director

of International Relations, Dr. C.Vijaya Kumar, welcomed the students.

Our Hon’ble Chancellor and the Vice-President, Mr. Sekar Viswanathan ad-

dressed the students. Prof. R.Srinivasan made a power-point presentation

on SAP, which was followed by an active question-answer session.

The event was well attended by around 400 enthusiastic students.

Online application for SAP was made available on the intranet to help the

students apply for the programme.

• A delegation from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of

Strathclyde, UK, visited VIT University on the 21 February and held a

meeting with the students on their participation in the challenge “

Reach the Stars” and win an all expenses paid, month-long trip to the

UK in June / July 2014, during which they would have the opportunity

to meet and interact with NASA astronauts, like-minded international

students, visit Hi-tech. Scottish companies and undertake Internships.

• A delegation comprising of Ms. Patricia Martinez, International Mar-

keting Manager, Faculty of Science and Technology; Prof. Jim Hogan

and Mr. Sriee from Queensland University of Technology, Austra-

lia, visited the University on 10 February, 2014 and made a presenta-

tion to the students in the fourth semester of Mechanical, Civil and Elec-

trical Engineering on higher study opportunities.

• Mr. Venkat Narasimhan, Advisor, “Make it in Germany”, Deutsche

Gessellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbert (GIZ), New Delhi

made a presentation to the students on Wednesday, 19 March at Rajaji

Hall on opportunities for study in Germany.

• Dr. E. Porpotham and Prof. T. Vijayakumar, represented VIT univer-

sity in response to the invitation for a presentation on “Sustainable

Motorsports” by Dr. Steven Maggs, Principal Teaching Fellow, WMG,

University of Warwick, UK at Chennai on 01 May, 2014. Dr. Steven

Maggs and Mr. C. Venuprasad, Regional Advisor, visited the univer-

sity on 02 May and made a presentation to the faculty and students of

the Automobile Division, SMBS.

Celebration of Spring festival-2014: In China, it is also known as the Spring Festival as it denotes the onset of

the Spring season. Chinese New Year celebrations traditionally run from

Chinese New Year's Eve, the last day of the last month of the Chinese cal-

endar, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first month, making

the festival the longest in the Chinese calendar. Because the Chinese calen-

dar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar

New Year".

2014 is the Year of the Horse.

The Spring Festival Gala was held on 30 January, 2014 at Dr. M. Channa

Reddy Auditorium. Our beloved Chancellor, Dr. G. Viswanathan; Vice Presi-

dent, Mr. Sankar Viswanathan; Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. S. Narayanan;

Director, International Relations, Dr. C. Vijaya Kumar; Foreign Director of

Chinese Language Centre (CLC), Dr. M. Subaji; Chinese Director of CLC,

Dr. Sun Peng, the staff of the Office of International Relations, faculty and

several of the Indian students were as a part of the grand celebration. The

events were hosted by Dr. J. Karthikeyan, Asst. Director of CLC.

Both Indian and Chinese students sang and put up graceful dances that re-

flected the culture and tradition of China. Later through the evening, live

shows from China were telecast, followed by a scrumptious dinner.

Our Hon’ble Chancellor Wishing the Students H A P P Y N E W

Year -2014

International Activities on Chennai Campus: • The Lantern Festival:

The Chinese Language Centre (CLC), VIT Chennai campus organized

the first of its kind - A spectacular celebration of the Chinese Lantern

Festival on 14 February, 2014. The festivities were carried out on a

grand scale marking the year of the Horse.

The festival comprised of several attractions such as the captivating

Fan dance and Peacock dance performed by talented students in tradi-

tional style. There were several Chinese games in which several stu

dents took part and enjoyed playing. The winners of these games were

awarded elegant Chinese knots prepared by our skilled Chinese stu-

dents and chocolates . Dr. Saradha Rajkumar, Co-ordinator, Chinese

Language Centre had organized this spectacular celebration.

• Visitors from Metropolitan University, UK:

A team of delegates from Metropoli

tan University, UK, visited the cam-

pus on 06 January, 2014, led by Ms.

Shravanthi.

A Hearty Congrats to Team Vimanas:

Team Vimanas has secured an over all 7th position and 5th position in

Design and 5th position in micro- class maximum paylod class in the SAE:

2014 Aero Design west competition at Fort Worth, Texas held on 30th and

31st March, 2014.

A total of 25 teams that participated in the event were rated. We stood sec-

ond in the over all rating among Indian universities/colleges and first

among all the Indian universities in the micro class design segment.

Congratulations to the students and the faculty co-ordinator.

• Students of Deakin University’s visit to VIT Chennai:

The students of Deakin University, Australia visited VIT Chennai

campus on 16 January, 2014, as part of their study tour to VIT,

Vellore. The day was filled with activities such as interaction with

students and faculty of VIT, campus tour and even a flash mob was

organized for their benefit.

• Special lecture on “Learning Spanish Language”:

Ms. Madelyn Petrovich, Appalachian State University, North

Carolina, USA, visited VIT Chennai campus on 22 January and

delivered a lecture on “Learning Spanish Language”.

• Higher Education Opportunities Abroad:

Ms. Meline KORUK, International Relations Manager from Koc

University, Istanbul, Turkey vistied VIT Chennai campus on 20

March to enlighten students on programs offered at their university

and also had discussions with faculy of School of Advanced Sciences

on possible research collaborations.

Visiting Faculty from Universities Abroad:

• Dr. Yulia I. Gubelit, Laboratory of Freshwater and Experimental

hydrobiology, The Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia,

Universitetskaya Embankment, Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA , organised

course on Algology for Post graduate students of Biotechnology during

her visit from 20 January to 09 February, 2014.

• Dr. Bulent Bozdogon, Adnan Menderes University, Turkey, is on a

visit to the university from the 01 February to 15 September, 2014. He

delivered special lectures to the students of the School of Biosciences

and Technology.

• Prof. Peter Stamp, Senior Professor, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, visited

the University from 17 February to 03 March, 2014. He met the Dean

and the faculty of the School of Biosciences and Technology and offered

special lectures to the students of the School of Biosciences and

Technology.

• Prof. Vassiliki T. Galvão Boulomytis, Professor, Infrastructure and

Natural Resources, IFSP, Brazil, visited the university from the 26

February to the 09 March, during which he met the officials of the

university and the Dean of the School of Mechanical and Building

Sciences and delivered special lectures to the students of the School.

Visitors from Abroad:

• Prof. K. Baskaran, Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Science

and Technology, Chair in Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and

Ms. Gordon Eloise, Lecturer, Civil Engineering, Deakin University, Aus-

tralia, visited the university from the 16 and 23 January, 2014. They

met and held discussions with the officials at the University and the Of-

fice of International Relations.

• Dr. Mohit Kumar Gupta and Prof. Per Nylen, University of West

Sweden visited the University on 04 February, 2014. They met and held

discussions with the officials of the University and the Office of Interna-

tional Relations and also with the Dean of the School of Biosciences and

Technology on academic co-operation.

• Prof. Balakrishnan and Prof. Demitri Perouris, Purdue University,

USA, visited the University on 14 February. They met and held discus-

sions with the officials at the University and the Office of International

Relations. They also met the Dean of the School of Biosciences and

Technology and held discussions on academic co-operation.

• Dr. Melur “Ram” Ramasubramaniam, Department of Mechanical En-

gineering, Clemson University, USA visited the University on the 18

February, 2014. He met the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Dean

of the School of Mechanical and Building Sciences and officials at the IR.

• Dr. Rama Jeyaraj, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, Health

Sciences and Environment, The Charles Darwin University, Australia

visited the university from the 19 to 21 February, 2014. He met and

held discussions with the officials at the University, the Dean of the

School of Bio-sciences and Technology and the officials at the Office of

International Relations on the feasibility of establishing academic co-

operations.

• Ms. Gladys Luo, Marketing Assistant, Henan jincheng International

Education Co. Ltd. Zhengzhou, Henan, China, visited the university from

the 19 to 20 February, 2014. She met and held discussions with the

officials at the University and the Office of International Relations.

• Prof. Balasrinivasan, Department of Information Technology, Monash

University, Australia visited the University from the 23 to 25 February.

He specially met the Chancellor, Vice-Presidents and Vice-Chancellor,

the officials at the Office of International Relations and the Dean of the

School of Information Technology and held discussions on academic co-

operation.

• Ms. Brittany G. Wright, International Programs and Admissions,

School of Engineering and Applied Science, George Washington

University, USA, visited the University on 25 March, 2014. She met the

Vice-Chancellor, the Dean of the School of Mechanical and Building

Sciences and officials at the Office of International Relations and held

discussions on the feasibility of academic co-operations.

• Dr. Sanjay Kumar Shukla, Associate Prof., Discipline of Civil

Engineering; Prof. Mel Ziman and Prof. Judith Blake, School of

Medical Sciences and Nursing, Edith Cowan University, Western

Australia, visited the University on 28 March, 2014. They met the

officials of the university and the Dean of the School of Mechanical and

Building Sciences and held a seminar for the students of SMBS on

higher education opportunities in their university.

• Prof. Sanjay Swarup, Associate Professor, National University of

Singapore Environmental Research Institute (NERI) visited the

university on 02 April, 2014. He met the officials of the university and

made a presentation.

• Dr. Ipsita Roy, Head of Applied Biotechnology research group, School

of Biosciences, University of Westminster, UK, visited the university

from 03 to 04 April, 2014.She met the Dean and interacted with the

faculty of the School of Biosciences and Technology and offered special

lectures to the students of the school.

• Prof. DUTTA Abhishek and Prof. TRIPS Jaak, Group T, University of

Leuven, Belgium, accompanied their students for a short term

programme from the 09 April, 2014. They visited and interacted with

the faculty of SMBS, SENSE, TBI and TIFAC CORE during their visit.

• Ms. Patricia Peppendick, University of Applied Sciences, Saxion,

Netherlands, visited the university on 11 April 2014. She interacted with

the officials at the Office of International Relations and visited the VIT-

Business School where she discussed on the feasibility of academic

collaboration.

• Ms. Angela Watkins, Director, International Admissions, The

Australian National University, Australia, visited the university on 25

April, 2014. She met and the officials of the university. • Dr. Siti Salwa Salim, Professor; Dr. Abdullah Gani, Associate

Professor; Dr. Ms. Laiha Mat Kiah, Associate Professor; Dr. Rafidah

Md. Noor and Mdm. Nafsiah Ab Rahim, Department of Computer

Systems and Technology, University of Malaya, Malaysia, visited the

University from 28 to 29 April, 2014. They met the officials of the

university, the office of International Relations and visited and

interacted with the Dean of the School of Computing Sciences and

Engineering and School of Information Technology and Engineering. • Prof. Dato’. Dr. Mohd. Noh Bin Dalimin, Vice Chancellor; Dr.

Shamsulkhairi Bin Md. Salleh, special officer to the Vice-Chancellor

and Dr. Muhammad Mahadi Bin Abdul Jamil, Associate Professor,

Department of Electronics Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn

Malaysia (UTHM), visited the university on 02 May, 2014. They met the

officials of the university and held discussions with the Deans of SAS,

SENSE and VIT-BS on academic co-operation

• Mr. Sam Flynn, Recruitment Co-ordinator, RMIT University, Australia

visited the university on 09 May, 2014. He met the officials of the

university and the Office of International Relations and held discussions

on the feasibility of articulation programmes.

• Dr. David Jenkins, Senior Faculty Professor, Plymouth University, UK,

visited the university from 12 to 17 May, 2014, during which he met the

officials of the university and the IR office and held discussions on

academic co-operation.

• Prof. Dr. Roland Eils, Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular

Biotechnology (IPMB), University of Heidelberg, Germany, visited the

university on 22 May, 2014. He met the officials of the university and

held discussions with the Dean, SBST on academic co-operation.

• Mr. Ali Mohsen Al Hashmi, Manager-Admissions, Registry and

Records; Dr. Susamma Chacko, Head of Quality and Mr. Fayis

Hussain, Assistant Manager, Caledonian College of Engineering,

Muscat, Oman visited the university from 02 to 06 April, 2014. They

met the officials of the university and interacted with the Dean of SMBS,

Dean of Academics, the Controller of Examinations and the officials of

International Relations.

• Mr. Antoine Millet, Campus France, Chennai, visited the university on

03 June, 2014 and met the officials of the university and the

International Relations.

A Hearty Welcome to VIT University:

The Office of International Relations extends a very Hearty Welcome to :

• 61 Student interns:

• 2 students from The Bhayangara University , Surabaya, Indonesia • 1 student from ENSCCF - Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie

de Clermont-Ferrand, France

• 3 students from ESIGELEC – School of Engineering , France

• 1 student from Harare Institute of Technology, Zimbabwe

• 2 students from Université de Technologie de Compiegne, France

• 1 student from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

• 44 Foreign students from 17 countries

• 114 NRI students from different parts of the Middle East, Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway,

Prague, Russia, Singapore and the USA.

MoU Signed: Memoranda of Understanding were signed with the following universities: • Binus University, Indonesia on 16 January, 2014 • Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia on 29 January, 2014 • Charles Darwin University, Australia on 03 March, 2014 • Instituto Federal de Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia de Sao Paulo-IFSP,

Sao Paulo , Brazil on 07 March, 2014 • University of West Trollhattan - Sweden on 20 March, 2014