Mahindra Group has launched Mahindra University (MU), an institution seeking to focus on offering a world-class, futuristic education and integrating the study of science and technology with Humanities, Ethics and Philosophy, and Design.
The sprawling 130-acre, multi-disciplinary campus of the University in Hyderabad will offer undergraduate, post graduate and PhD courses. MU will also include the Ecole Centrale School of Engineering that was set up in 2014 and with which the well-diversified Mahindra Group made a foray into higher education sector.
The university was launched by Telangana Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao, a virtual event in which Mahindra Group Chairman and MU Chancellor Anand Mahindra participated and read out a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion.
Part of the Mahindra Educational Institutions (MEI), a not-for-profit subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, MU will operate as an autonomous university and offer a contemporary, new-age curricula curated to fully leverage emerging technologies such as Data Science, Blockchain and Data Analytics. Government of Telangana had in May notified Mahindra University.
A release from the Mahindra Group said “MU will uniquely enable the holistic development of the students, combining the Emotional Intelligence (right brain) and Artificial Intelligence (left brain) paradigms.”
Addressing the event, Mr.Rao urged MU to encourage innovation, strive to get the best academicians and explore the prospects of combining education and apprenticeship. The Mahindra Group, which has a tractor manufacturing facility in Zaheerabad, Telangana, can consider setting up an Advanced Institute of Manufacturing for the students.
Mr. Mahindra said high quality education has transformative powers for individuals and nations, alike. The University will strive to deliver a more balanced education, combining the latest technology with Liberal Arts, to create next generation leaders that have a holistic world view.
Mahindra University has drawn up a roadmap as part of which it will launch the School of Management (2021-22), School of Law (2021-22), Indira Mahindra School of Education (2021-22), School of Media & Liberal Arts (2022-23) and School of Design (2023-24). An estimated 4,000 students and over 300 faculty members will be in place across the various Schools at MU over the next five years. The release said MU will also to bring the corporate and industrial ecosystems together through its Centres of Excellence. Students will have access to the Mahindra Group’s expertise through a CoE, visiting faculty and other strategic engagements.
MU has a Supercomputer Lab with an advanced NVidia GPU-based supercomputer, the DGX-1. Also, it has a Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI), a Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) and a Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure and Systems (CSIS).
CoEs under consideration include, the Centre for Computational and Experimental Mechanics (CCEM), the Centre for Research in Optics and Photonics (CROP) and a Centre for Executive Education (CEE).
