Promod Vohra
NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology might be located in the heart of the Midwest, but the ties of the brand reach out over continents through global initiatives.
A new global organization – the Indo US Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) – is aiming to improve the quality and global relevance of engineering education and research globally and to find solutions to global challenges, starting with India and the United States.
The IUCEE was conceptualized in 2007 with the help of more than 150 leaders in engineering education and businesses from those countries. As of March 2013, the consortium has 74 member colleges.
Dean Promod Vohra was asked to serve on the U.S. board of executives in order to help bring structure to the organization.
“India is an important global partner for NIU. I am pleased that many Indian students have chosen NIU in the past, and their choice is important to us,” Vohra said. “Engineering is one of the chosen fields in India and we hope to bring more students from India to the United States.”
The IUCEE programs are offered through networks of U.S. faculty and industry experts, along with Faculty Leadership Institutes that help connect the U.S. colleges and faculty with more than 100 Indian colleges.
Membership in IUCEE provides global networking, branding, faculty development, research guidance and student/leader development. The goal of membership is to connect each nation to combine the research, growth and development into one mutually beneficial package.
So far, more than 200 webinars on teaching and research topics have been conducted online by U.S. faculty to more than 20,000 Indian faculty and students during 2011-2012.
Vohra will serve on the IUCEE Chapter of Global Engineering Deans Council, which was launched with 17 members from universities all across the country.
“I am delighted to serve as the member of the board of this important organization,” he said. “It will enable me to be in touch with the Indian universities and also provide me with an opportunity to represent NIU as an excellent place to pursue higher education.”
The IUCEE also provides and facilitates leadership activities for students of consortium colleges through Student Platform for Engineering Education Development (SPEED).
Plans are in the works to provide dual-degree agreements from programs between Indian and U.S. institutions with dual programs in different variations, but nothing is definitive yet.
