Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Digital University has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with Manchester, Oxford, Edinburgh and Seigen Universities to collaborate on graphene research.
Addressing a press conference here, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a delegation led by him met with representatives from these Universities to discuss how their advanced science and technology research studies can help the State’s development.
In addition, Manchester University and Kerala Digital University have signed an MoU to collaborate in R&D activities on graphene and other 2D materials.
Manchester university is known for their advanced graphene research. Andrew Geim, 2010 Nobel laureate for the discovery of graphene, attended the event. He asserted that investments in graphene will propel Kerala to the forefront of the future global order.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with the University of Edinburgh for joint research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics.
The two universities will collaborate on projects and launch research labs in the areas of hardware, responsible AI, and digital health. Collaboration with the Kerala Digital Science Park is also being considered.
An MoU was signed with Germany’s Siegen Public University for collaborating on developing image sensors, microelectromechanical systems and neuromorphic VLSI. This MoU will pave the way for collaboration with Digital University and Digital Chip Design Initiatives such as Maker Village.
The LDF government has initiated steps to set up a graphene industrial park in Kerala.
As a result of the MoUs signed by the Digital University, the state will be better able to develop advanced research studies and build a knowledge-based economy.
Kerala intends to build a world-class ecosystem for research on graphene. Collaborations with such prestigious universities can make a significant impact on it.
Hence, the Kerala delegation’s foreign visit was full of concrete plans for building a future Kerala. All of our meetings were reported regularly in the media. Those events were planned with the intent of building a new Kerala and making positive contributions to the global Malayali community.
These are only a few snippets of the outcomes of these meetings. There will definitely be follow ups to the decisions taken in these interactions.
And all of them had concrete outcomes and plans for the next course of action. Many productive decisions came out of these meetings which will be beneficial for the state in the long run, an official said.
“The experiences of paying tribute to Karl Marx’s grave at the Highgate Cemetery in London and visiting the Marx Memorial Library by the delegstion were memorable. There are many memories of the great revolutionary V I Lenin kept in this library,” the press release said
“Monuments like these provide timeless inspiration for liberation struggles of humanity. The library was founded in 1933 after Nazis burned books with Marxist and progressive leanings in Berlin. The monuments were a special place to visit as they provided strength and inspiration to the anti-fascist movement.”
