ICFAI Hyderabad, Illinois Tech ink global collaboration pact

Hyderabad: The ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad, hosted a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Exchange Ceremony with the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), Chicago, marking an important milestone in ICFAI’s continued global engagement initiatives. The event was organised on November 20 at ICFAI Campus, Hyderabad.

The MoU was formally signed by Malllik Sundharam of Illinois Tech and Prof S Vijayalakshmi, Registrar of ICFAI, marking the official commencement of the internationally significant partnership. Prof T. Koti Reddy, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI, in his address highlighted the university’s research culture, case-based teaching approach, and its dedication to expanding international collaborations that enrich student learning and faculty scholarship. Raghunath Thota, Illinois Tech, in his talk, emphasised Illinois Tech’s commitment to global academic engagement and the many opportunities of the partnership that offer collaborative research, innovation-driven education, and student development.

The Directors of ICFAI Tech, ICFAI Business School and ICFAI School of Social Sciences highlighted the implementation opportunities from the perspectives of their schools during the interactive session. Present at the ceremony were the Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Directors, Deans and senior leaders of ICFAI, along with Raghunath Thota, representing Illinois Tech.

The MoU, signed by the two institutions, outlines several core areas of cooperation. These include joint research initiatives, faculty development opportunities, collaborative academic activities, and program-based partnerships that are expected to benefit both institutions.

The MoU also outlines the exchange of students for short-term study, research immersion and credit-bearing academic engagements, as well as faculty exchanges that would support teaching, curriculum development, and specialised research efforts. Additionally, the MoU encourages co-development of new academic programmes, further strengthening interdisciplinary learning pathways across engineering, technology, business, and allied fields.