Andhra University will set up two major innovation and skill development centres this year.
The first one to come up will be the innovation centre which is being built at a cost of Rs. 2 crore in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley.
The MoU has already been signed and the centre will facilitate as finishing schools and act as a mentor for start-ups. It is being set-up at the AU College of Engineering and is basically designed to provide entrepreneurship training, said Registrar V. Umamaheswara Rao.
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The other major centre that is coming up is the Siemens Centre.
Andhra University has already tied-up with the German conglomerate and the company will invest Rs. 300 crore in phases, according to the Registrar.
“Work has already begun and Siemens has already supplied a number of heavy equipment. Right now the equipment has been kept in the labs of mechanical, instrumentation and electrical engineering. This year, we intend to build an exclusive block to house all the equipment under one roof and formally name it as the Siemens Centre,” Prof. Umamaheswara Rao said.
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He further said both the centres will focus on making the students industry ready and sow the seeds of entrepreneurship in their minds.
Work is in full swing to refurbish the historic TLN Sabha Hall that housed the first Cabinet meeting of the AP in June 1954, when Tanguturi Prakasam was elected first Chief Minister.
The hall was badly damaged during the Hudhud cyclone and AU is spending about Rs. 54 lakh to give it a facelift.
“This is the oldest hall on the campus. It was built sometime in 1939 and many great speakers adorned the stage. Even the priceless portraits that adorned the walls of the hall are being restored,” said the Registrar.
AU is all set to receive about Rs. 20 crore from Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan in phases, and it will be utilised to upgrade the facilities in the hostels and classrooms. Each department will have at least two E-Classrooms.
This apart, a 1500-bed hostel for women in the women’s engineering college is being planned.
Evening courses
For the first time AU is also contemplating starting B. Tech evening courses. It will be self-financed course and will be self sustainable and the existing infrastructure will be used, said Prof. Umamaheswara Rao.