Strong vibes of US-NEHU collaboration

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Date: Apr 11, 2022

On her maiden visit to NEHU campus, Miss Melinda Pavek, the US Consul General at Kolkata expressed her deep satisfaction at wide ranging discussions on mutually beneficial cooperation and collaboration in some of the most cutting edge areas of science and technology, American studies, indigenous culture and literature- all of which can go into a prospective people to people collaboration, per the Consul General.

She very fondly recollected her Wyoming country home in the US and Meghalaya’s undulating green landscape that had set the background NEHU-US Consul interaction on multi lateral subjects touching upon research and academic exchange in the fields of space, energy, quantum computation, literature, language and social sciences etc. Miss Pavek gave her ears to NEHU academia where a large number of students, research scholars, scientists and professors elaborated upon possible areas of long term collaboration within the integrated country strategy currently drawn up between India and United States. As part of the ongoing India-US exchanges at various levels, Miss Pavek announced QUAD fellowship for four countries namely, India, Japan, Australia and the US in areas that enhances existing University to University interaction, think-tanks, NGOs and all other such partners. Miss Pavek particularly emphasized on the role of block chain technology in resource sharing and managing HR, health care and wide ranging genomic research. 

In his inaugural address, Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, the honorable Vice-Chancellor exhorted the newly established International Affairs Office of NEHU for setting up and over-arching framework of NEHU Indo-US educational partnership. Prof. Shukla specifically mentioned luminaries of NEHU Prof. Temsula Ao, Prof. David Reid Syiemlieh and many other present scholars and teachers who not only got a meaningful stint in the United States, but contributed to building up solid foundations for NEHU and United States partnership. Prof. Shukla pointed out the synergies already existing between a range of disciplines starting from Management, Bioinformatics and Nanosciences to Humanities and Social Sciences with advancement of research in various US laboratories and Universities.

In the interactive session, students were particularly interested to know prospects of online access to various research and study materials. The US team pointed of the role of American libraries located in various parts of India in providing easy access to such resources. Prof. A. S. Dixit, Director IQAC, wanted to know specific areas of priority for US educational entities in India which can develop collaborations with NEHU. The US team pointed at the similar geographies of research that NEHU shares with a state like Michigan and advised that NEHU can always interact with ‘Education USA Advisor’ to strike up strategic deals so that joint graduate and research programs can be carried out between NEHU and particular US Universities. 
Emphasizing on the role of supply chain management and block chain technology for pursuing a sustainable path of development, both the sides have agreed on the need for creating mindsets of creative combinations. The US embassy in Delhi, it was pointed out runs an IPR cell as well as coordinates with venture capitalists and entrepreneurs of India, which could be of much help for NEHU’s nascent program of building up innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship. 

Earlier in the day, Dr. Davidson Pyngrope, the Public Relations Officer of NEHU, introduced the colourful diplomatic career of Miss Melinda Pavek until she assumed the chair of Consul General of Kolkata. The office of International Affairs, NEHU shall follow up on the entire brief of the discussion to disseminate the broad agreement and the focus on areas of mutual interest and benefit.  The meeting was attended by a large of number of Fulbright scholars, Professors with a strong US academic background and students and research scholars. Dr. Laitpharlang Cajee, an alumnus of International leadership program of US government offered his kind vote of thanks to the visiting US dignitaries.