Lord Paul gifts Jalandhar engineering institute

A "gift" from NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul to his birthplace, a school of excellence in manufacturing and materials technology opened in Jalandhar today.

Funded by The Ambika Paul Foundation, a charitable trust set up in memory of Lord Paul's daughter, the school is his first initiative towards fostering entrepreneurship in India by catalysing, accelerating and supporting the growth of manufacturing and materials technology.

"The Caparo School of Excellence is my gift to India in the name of my daughter Ambika. I am proud that I am in a position to give something back to Jalandhar, my birthplace," Lord Paul said.

The school will collaborate with selected UK and US-based universities to create what is being called a "Dream Team of Engineers." It is the only university in the region to offer such engineering courses, Lord Paul said.

For the first academic year, the school will offer three degree courses viz. B-Tech (Electronics) with specialisation in manufacturing electronics, a B-Tech (Mechanical) with specialisation in manufacturing technology and a B-Tech (information technology) with specialisation in process planning.

According to Lord Paul, who is also British Ambassador for overseas business, the courses will equip young engineers with the skills required to be absorbed in industry, including Caparo in India and abroad.

"The courses will place emphasis on the integration of modern engineering concepts with manufacturing processes and management. This will enable students to apply the theoretical aspects of their course enabling them to identify, formulate and solve real life engineering issues," he said.

Each course will start with an intake of 30 students. However, buildings and facilities are under construction to cater for another 200 students in 2008 and 300 new students by 2009. The school also aims to introduce Postgraduate Degrees and Research Degrees by 2009.

In addition to providing training to scientists and engineers, the Caparo School has identified a number of focus areas for research & development which include geometric modelling, design for manufacturability, computer aided manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics in manufacturing.