Georgia Tech campus to come up in Andhra

Atlanta-based Georgia Tech University signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday to set up its international campus in the state, making it the first foreign university to set up such a centre in India.

Focusing on systems engineering and research, the Georgia Institute of Technology would aim to help meet the requirements of global corporations with large operations in the country, such as IBM, according to Gary Schuster, provost of Georgia Tech.

The university, which has been scouting for a suitable location to set up a campus in India since 2004, finally zeroed in on Andhra after visiting eight cities.

It will first set up its facility near Hyderabad on over 20 acres of land and later expand its academic and research activities on a much bigger campus that will come up on 70 acres of land in Visakhapatnam.

The state government is giving the land. The first academic courses at the Hyderabad campus are expected to begin in 2009.

Apart from offering foreign degrees, Schuster said, the university would look at developing customised courses in partnership with local universities to suit Indian requirements.

It also aims to produce up to 20 per cent of the total PhDs from Indian institutions in fields of technology.

With regard to faculty requirements at its proposed campuses in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, he said the faculty from Georgia Tech would take care of the teaching requirements in the initial years.

"In the long term, we aim to hire 80 per cent of the faculty from India, while Georgia Tech faculty members will spend 20 per cent of their time here," Schuster said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said he wished more such international academic institutions and companies find Andhra a suitable destination in days to come.