Building on TU Dresden's successful engagement in India, a delegation led by Prof. Ronald Tetzlaff, Chief Officer for Technology Transfer and Internationalisation (CTIO), visited New Delhi and Chennai November 28-30, 2022 to meet with key university partners at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and the Indian institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The visit also provided an opportunity to connect with our alumni and the German science community in India, while introducing TUD to new stakeholders in policy and industry.  

Partnerships for sustainable development

The delegation visit took place on the occasion of partner meetings hosted by our two high-profile collaborative projects in India: the ABCD Centre and COMPOLL. The ABCD Centre (DAAD Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre) is a global centre initiative on water security in the Global South linking the TUD School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the FLORES Institute of the United Nations University in Dresden (UNU-FLORES) with IIT Madras, RWTH Aachen and AIT Bangkok. COMPOLL is a joint, DAAD-funded project between the TUD Institute of Lightweight Engineering and Polymer Technology (ILK) and IIT Delhi, which raises environmental pollution awareness through research and teaching and promotes sustainable design strategies.  

Building on the momentum of these prominent partnerships for sustainable development, Prof. Tetzlaff led TUD delegates to both IITs to meet with senior leadership and faculty and to discuss emerging opportunities for strategic engagement between our institutions. He was joined by colleagues from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the School of Engineering Sciences, and the International Office.

Visit to IIT Delhi

Hosted by Prof. Naveen Garg, Dean of International Programs, discussions at IIT Delhi focused on current opportunities for internationalisation in Indian Higher Education to encourage more postgraduate student and staff mobility, and to foster interdisciplinary education and entrepreneurship.

During meetings with faculty from the departments of Civil Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, both sides confirmed their commitment to identifying new areas of joint research aligned with institutional strengths and ambitions.

Visit to IIT Madras

At IIT Madras, delegates were welcomed by Prof. Koshy Varghese, Dean of Administration, and Prof. Raghunathan Rengasamy, Dean of Global Engagement, who shared priorities in internationalisation, especially for joint PhD and Masters training. They also invited TUD engagement with new institutional initiatives, including in medical education, sustainability, and collaborative virtual learning.

© Maike Heitkamp-Mai

Delegates also had a chance to tour the impressive IIT Madras Research Park adjacent to the main campus where they learned more about the integrated infrastructure and services established for R&D, technology transfer and incubators across disciplines such as water engineering, transport, and manufacturing. 

© Danish DR

Connecting with the German science and research community in India

The visit further provided an invaluable opportunity to connect with the German science and research community in India. Earlier this year, TUD joined the German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) New Delhi as an Associate Supporter, creating new avenues for engagement and network building. Managed by DAAD New Delhi, DWIH promotes connections between German and Indian research and innovation ecosystems, with support from a growing number of German universities, research organisations and funders. Following a meeting with DAAD and DWIH New Delhi Director, Dr Katja Lasch, a roundtable event and reception brought together representatives from other German university liaison offices in New Delhi, the German Embassy, and funding organisations like the German Research Foundation (DFG), Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGST). The event provided a platform to share opportunities and challenges for academic partnerships and student engagement between Germany and India.

As part of their visit, both COMPOLL and the ABCD Centre organised project activities to strengthen their collaborations with IIT New Delhi and IIT Madras.

COMPOLL Mini-Conference at IIT Delhi (21-26 November 2022)

The COMPOLL team, led by Prof. Maik Gude, celebrated the opportunity of holding their first joint on-site workshop. Hosted by Prof. Ashish Darpe (Department of Mechanical Engineering) and his colleagues on the IIT Delhi campus November 21- 26, 2002, the workshop included a busy week of academic meetings, student engagement and interactive sessions with local schools on plastics recycling, Student tandems provided a chance to promote student mobility and exchange opportunities.  

After the successful conclusion of the conference, Prof. Gude said:

Our Joint COMPOLL Conference at IIT Delhi has shown us once again that international cooperation is essential for addressing global challenges such as air, noise, water and waste pollution in order to gain a mutual understanding of specific local perspectives and approaches. It is now particularly important for us to further integrate the COMPOLL activities into the strategic framework of TU Dresden and to create synergies with similar projects such as the ABCD Centre and the activities of the Heritage Network.

The ABCD-Centre at IIT Madras and at the Water Security and Climate Change Conference (WSCC) in Bangkok (1-3 December 2022).

© Firas Al-Janabi

The ABCD Centre, led by Prof. Jürgen Stamm, convened with colleagues from the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras before the team travelled onwards to Thailand for further partner meetings at AIT Bangkok and to represent the Centre at the Water Security and Climate Change Conference (WSCC): Adaptation for Sustainable and Resilient Development in Bangkok, December 1-3, 2022. A flagship event for water-related climate adaptation approaches with partners in the Global South, the conference was framed by keynote addresses by HE Mr. Varawut Silpa-Archa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Government of Thailand; HE Mr. Georg Schmidt, German Ambassador to Thailand; and Prof. Saleemul Huq, Director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.

“We need more adaptive adaptation measures provided by a reliable platform for the exchange and transfer from science to policy and practice to come up with effective implementation approaches,” Prof. Stamm appealed to the audience during the closing ceremony. He announced that the next WSCC will be organised by the ABCD-Centre and hosted by IIT Madras in Chennai in late 2023.    

Further information on all WSCC panels and sessions are available here.

Contact at the International Office of TU Dresden
Dr Tina Schilbach
Tel. +49 351 463 36121