ABB India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with K.K. Wagh Institute of Engineering Education and Research to offer hands-on industry exposure to selected engineering students at their Nashik campus. The 10-week program aims to bridge the skill gap between campus learning and corporate implementation and produce industry-ready graduates, widening the pool of skilled engineers in core fields.
For the pilot, a cohort of thirteen engineering students, selected by the college, will be undergoing hands-on training in a phased manner at ABB’s Nashik campus. The students will be supported by senior leaders who will also review and monitor their progress on the ground. ABB India has a long-standing association with the K.K. Wagh Institute of Engineering Education and Research and has been regularly recruiting students from the institute since 2017.
Speaking on the MoU, Ganesh Kothawade, President, Distribution Solutions Division, ABB India said, “We strongly believe in collaborating with the academia to develop talent that is future-ready and understands the dynamics of a workplace. By complementing their existing knowledge with hands-on training within the campus, we aim to equip them with the practical skills required in the workplace. The industry, at large, should also benefit from the wider pool of skilled talent.”
The program design necessitates working with multiple stakeholders across levels and getting acquainted with all stages of a product lifecycle. In the process, the students naturally pick up soft skills such as stakeholder management, business communication and pitching a business idea. With rapidly changing talent requirements, today’s academia is looking to adapt its curriculum and look for new ways to meet the emerging trends and needs of the industry. Such industry-academia collaborations play an instrumental role in supporting the needs of the students in such colleges and imparting technical skills to future talent.
“We are thankful to ABB India for offering an opportunity to the students to understand the practical aspects of the industrial environment within their Nashik campus. ABB being an industry leader, our students will get a chance to be trained by the best in the sector and get themselves ready to join the industry right after finishing their courses,” added Dr. Keshav Nandurkar, Principal, K.K. Wagh Institute of Engineering Education and Research.
ABB aims to absorb a part of the talent based on their acquired skills, competencies, and performance during the placement process, at the end of the academic year.
ABB India has been focusing on education and up-skilling as a part of their community outreach programs. The organization also runs a holistic program in partnership with the Lila Poonawalla Foundation (LPF) to support women engineers in taking up STEM careers. This holistic program supports the higher education of meritorious girls from economically challenged backgrounds, providing them with an opportunity to pursue their ambitions in the field of technology. Globally, ABB also sponsors a scholarship program called the Jürgen Dormann Scholarship, which aims to encourage students from underserved backgrounds to pursue careers in engineering by removing impediments that prohibit them from doing so.
ABB is a technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. The company’s solutions connect engineering know-how and software to optimize how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated. Building on more than 130 years of excellence, ABB’s ~105,000 employees are committed to driving innovations that accelerate industrial transformation. www.abb.com
