SRM University, Chennai and SRM University AP – Amaravati have entered into a strategic partnership with the College of Engineering, UC Berkeley, through global partnerships with the Dado and Maria Banatao Centre for Global Education and Outreach from Berkeley Engineering (GLOBE), the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology [SCET], and the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. The partnership will entail bi-directional information exchange in the areas of engineering education, particularly in the areas of technology-based entrepreneurship and design innovation..

This partnership seeks to establish centers of design, innovation and entrepreneurship at SRM that will embrace the study and practice of “technology-centric” innovation, bringing together technical depth, design methodology, and a focus on societal impact. “We aim to bring a confluence of international ideas, technological innovation, and social impact to the region. Thus creating an ecosystem of innovation for the entire cities of Amaravati and Chennai and building a second Bay Area”, says Dr. P. Sathyanarayanan, President of SRM University. Faculty members are to be the backbone of this culture; UC Berkeley will provide support in the design and development of courses to bring the concepts of design thinking and innovation to SRM. UC Berkeley will also facilitate SRM faculty visits to the US for capacity building.


SRM Students will be immersed in and propagate this culture. They will be given the unique opportunity to spend a semester abroad to learn engineering at the Jacobs Institute and SCET. A few selected students with entrepreneurial ambitions will attend bootcamps at the Jacobs Institute and SCET. They will return and pass on this knowledge to the students present at SRM University, Chennai and SRM University AP – Amaravati, thereby creating the culture of design and innovation.

“Technological innovations and engineering designs are ingredients that inspire young minds. Through this strategic partnership between Berkeley Engineering and SRM, we will focus on design and innovations to create an environment for advancing knowledge in students that will impact a diverse society,” says Dr. Shankar Sastry, Dean of Engineering at UC Berkeley.

“Many of India’s challenges are different from those of the west, and the planet has many in common, with much to learn from each others’ experiences. It is the young folks who will find the clever long term solutions—not band-aids— that will make life sustainable and fulfilling for all. Engineering and science education, which keeps the role and effect of technology, designs for the long term, and creative and multidimensional viewing of scientific problems, is central to the university making the world a better place. This partnership founded on east-west harmony that is so essential today” says Dr. Sandip Tiwari, from Cornell University, the newly appointed Vice Chancellor of SRM University, AP – Amaravati.

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