Myself and my colleague Dr. Bhooshan Kelkar who now heads IBM University Relations in India were in Bangalore a couple of weeks ago to discuss the revamp of IBM University Relations Portal . The plan is to extend it to schools and colleges other than engineering.. In general use it for collaboration with any academic institution - not just universities and engineering colleges. The Corporate Citizenship Initiatives will be driving adoption of this portal with schools and non engineering colleges, going forward.
There was another reason why Bhooshan had traveled to Bangalore with me- he accompanied my friend and mentor, Amol Mahamuni to collect the Zinnov Award tha IBM UR bagged for its contribution in building the ecosystem. It was a moment of pride for all of us at UR team when the IBM University Relations bagged the Zinnov 2011 Award for "Eco-system Contribution"... Here's an extract of one of the report
Zinnov Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd, a leading management consulting firm, recently hosted a first-of-its-kind awards ceremony for the MNC R&D Industry in India, to recognize their contribution to the entire R&D ecosystem. Titled, 'Zinnov Awards & Recognition Program 2010', this event brought together important stakeholders from the global R&D community and recognized their contribution thereby facilitating peer-learning.
Award Category: Eco-system Contribution
In the category, 'Eco-system Contribution', IBM bagged the 'Ecosystem (University) Connect & Development Award', while NVIDIA won the 'Accelerated Ecosystem (University) Connect Award'. The two companies were recognized for their significant contribution in developing the R&D ecosystem in India, specifically through collaborations with universities. R&D Centers have realized that in order to deliver value from India it is imperative that they leverage the supporting ecosystem - i.e. Universities, Government, Service Providers and Start ups for the purpose of research.
The various dimensions used by Zinnov to assess MNC R&D centers across their interaction levels with tier-1 and tier-2 universities in India included: Awareness building initiatives at universities - fairs, seminars; Involvement initiatives at universities - curriculum influence, affiliate programs; Support to universities - grants, lab setups; Strategic Research with universities - specific research projects with a monetary value; assessment of whether the research domain is common or niche. Mr. Amol Mahamuni, Program Director IBM India University Relations, received this award on behalf of IBM India.
Three Cheers to "IBM India University Relations"
