SFU joins Surrey India mission
Contact:
Nimal Rajapakse, dean of applied sciences, 778.782.3826; rajapakse@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210; marianne_meadahl@sfu.ca
Note: plans are to begin travel on Thursday, Feb. 10
A trio of representatives from Simon Fraser University will accompany Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and an entourage of civic and business leaders to India later this week.
Among 24 companies represented are Nexterra, Powertech Labs, Ballard Power Systems, Westport Innovations Inc., B.C. Film, and FinancialCAD Corporation.
For SFU’s part, the goal of joining Surrey's business mission to India is to further academic and industry ties to advance the university’s India initiative unveiled in 2006.
Nimal Rajapakse, dean of applied sciences, says the visit will help support the university’s agenda of building strong ties with India. “It is our interest to further develop relationships in India that are long-term, productive and meaningful,” he says.
“We also have a strong presence in Surrey and a good relationship with the community and will be pursuing opportunities of benefit to all.”
Rajapakse will be accompanied by Erik Kjeang, an assistant professor in Mechatronics Systems Engineering (MSE), a program based at SFU’s Surrey campus.
Mario Pinto, SFU’s vice-president, research, will join them for the first four days in Mumbai. There, the group will visit the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and meet with a senior executive from Research in Motion (RIM), the designer and manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones. SFU hopes to pursue internships and opportunities for co-operative education (co-op) students.
Rajapakse and Kjeang will carry on to Delhi for the signing of a Letter of Intent supporting a clean energy initiative that will potentially involve SFU, Surrey and a key Indian technology firm.
They’ll continue on to Chandigarh and will visit a new IIT campus outside the city, at Ropar, where SFU will sign another Letter of Intent to collaborate on research and teaching fronts.
Rajapakse says the institute is in its early stages of development with plans approved for a large expansion over the next five years. A key contact for SFU is Daya Gaur, who completed his PhD at Simon Fraser and is head of computing science department at IIT - Ropar.
Rajapakse will carry on to Bangalore and Hyderabad for two days of meetings with representatives from Infosys, a large global operation focusing on software and product management in IT, seeking further collaborations for SFU researchers and students.
During a trip to India in 2007 with B.C. government officials, SFU previously signed Memoranda of Understanding with institutions in India, including the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the Public Health Foundation of India and the Village Life Improvement Foundation in Chandigarh.
The Mayor’s Surrey delegation will visit seven cities over 11 days while in India. The mission is aimed at facilitating business deals between Surrey and India to boost investment and job creation and develop market opportunities for local companies in India.
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