University of Alberta and Tata Consultancy Services Announce Global Partnership

Newswise - The University of Alberta's global spotlight shines brighter as it enters into a five-year partnership agreement with Tata Consultancy Services, part of the Tata Group, India's largest private company and one of the world's largest multinational conglomerates. The agreement was signed June 11 at the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary.

The partnership agreement has three elements:
* to provide student internship and co-op education placements within Tata Consultancy Services
* to create research collaboration and exchange between the university and TCS researchers
* to expand Canada-India relations

The agreement encourages collaboration between University of Alberta researchers and students and the more than 110,000 employees of Tata Consultancy Services, which has operations in more than 50 countries across the globe. The agreement also further connects the U of A with India, a country with one of the world's fastest growing economies.

University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera calls this partnership truly exceptional for a Canadian university.

"Tata Consultancy Services is a key part of one of the most significant global business groups, and this commitment allows for countless research and learning opportunities for our students and researchers to work with and learn from TCS's worldwide pool of experts," said Samarasekera.

With this collaboration, the opportunity for international internships and training programs for U of A students will increase as they will now have access to TCS's operations in many business sectors, including engineering services, research and development, and information technology. There will also be prospects for research exchanges between TCS's industry professionals and the U of A's researchers and students.

"A memorandum such as this is an indication of Tata Consultancy Services' commitment not only to the University of Alberta, but also to the academic, social and business infrastructure of Canada as a whole," said Mukesh Gupta, head of the academic interaction program for TCS in Canada. "In particular, some of the joint research efforts already under way in areas such as nanotechnology and high-performance computing, are of special interest to the petroleum industry in Alberta.

"We are proud to partner with the University of Alberta in this way and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship that benefits our two institutions as well as the wider community."

Together, Tata Consultancy Services and University of Alberta will strive to enhance the relations between India and Canada and explore ways of expanding the U of A's India-based courses, including its newly created course on modern India. There will also be potential partnerships and opportunities for Edmonton's thriving and vibrant Indo-Canadian community.

"In India highly adaptable, collaborative partnerships have changed how post-secondary institutions and multinational conglomerates, such as the Tata Group, work together," said Samarasekera. "This partnership brings the University of Alberta, and also the province of Alberta, much closer to becoming a major centre of research excellence."

 

Source: University of Alberta

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