- Anna University signed an MoU with Autodesk to establish a ₹1.28-crore Design and Innovation Lab at CUIC, enabling 30,000+ students and 400 teachers to access advanced design technologies and AI-based tools like Generative Design.
- Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) introduced a QR-based feedback system across government colleges, allowing students to report facility-related issues directly to institutional dashboards.
- Draft e-governance policy for higher education was released, with guidelines across 12 focus areas including recruitment, research, and skill-based learning, aimed at enhancing institutional quality and enabling eligibility for state grants.
Anna University inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Autodesk, a multinational technology and design firm, to establish a Design and Innovation Lab at the Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC) on the University campus in Chennai.
With the setup of the lab, more than 30,000 students of Mechanical, Civil, Architecture, EEE, and Media Sciences will be able to utilize the education version of Autodesk's technology products. Apart from that, at least 10,000 students of polytechnics and ITIs will be trained in future technologies free of cost every year. Moreover, approximately 400 teachers will be trained annually as trainers for skilling, upskilling and reskilling.
The firm has contributed ₹1.28-crore to the University to carry out year-long training courses in the lab, as per CUIC Director K. Shanmugasundaram. J. Prakash, Registrar, Anna University, and Conway Goh, Director-Asia Pacific and Japan, Autodesk Education Experiences, have signed the MoU in the presence of Govi. Chezhiaan, Minister for Higher Education.
Mr. Goh added recent data in the company's State of Design and Make Report indicated talent crunch was hindering business growth and industry leaders were having difficulty filling positions with the right technical skills while not having adequate resources to develop good internal training programs. The growing skill gap, he said, was compelling the leaders to reconsider workforce strategies. At the Design and Innovation lab, students would be able to test Autodesk platform solutions and have hands on one of the most advanced AI technologies: Generative Design. QR-based feedback for students
During the same event, the Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education (TANSCHE) introduced a QR-based feedback system for students in government colleges and universities. QR code will be provided at all government institution campuses and students would be motivated to raise issues or provide feedback regarding facilities like drinking water, sanitation and canteen. Feedback would be logged on a dashboard which would be operated by respective institutions with oversight from the Higher Education department. Guidelines for educational institutions
Mr. Chezhiaan also published a draft policy on e-governance for higher education institutions in the State published by TANSCHE. M.P. Vijayakumar, vice-chairman, TANSCHE, informed that the Council was preparing a series of policies in 12 different areas, such as recruitment, research, affiliation, university-industry interaction, outcome-based education, skill-based education, and usage of the internet. These would initially be published as draft policy and inputs would be solicited from all the stakeholders. The ultimate form of these would be model policy, compliance with which would grant institutions certain privileges, such as grants.
J. Innocent Divya, Commissioner, Directorate of Technical Education, and E. Sundaravalli, Commissioner, Directorate of Collegiate Education, attended.
