CHENNAI: Anna University’s College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG), will soon get a research park similar to the one in IIT-M at a cost of Rs 50 crore. The university has received building committee approval for the research park and is likely to start construction of the seven-storeyed building in the next two months. “We have plans to make the research park operational by next year,” said varsity vice-chancellor R Velraj.
Varsity officials said the higher education department will allocate funds for the construction of the research park soon. A patch of land has been identified near the Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) campus, near the university, where the research park will come up.
The objective of the research park is to promote innovations and industry-related research in the university. The research park will also provide much-needed exposure to engineering students of the State’s premier technical university.
According to varsity officials, two floors of the seven-storeyed building will be earmarked for innovation and product development-related work, that will be carried out by the university’s faculty members and students. Another two floors will be allotted to startups, from where they can operate. The university also has plans to accommodate a few of the established corporate companies in the research park to ensure that student and faculty members get good research projects to work on.
“We will sign MoUs with the corporates which will be provided space in the research park. As per the MoU, they will have to provide some research projects to our faculty members and students and will also provide internships to our students,” said Velraj.
The idea behind the Research Park is to propel innovation through incubation and joint research and development (R&D) efforts between academia and the industry. The research park will help in the development of students and motivate their professional growth, said a faculty member of the university.