early times report
Dehradun, Sept 12: UPES announced a landmark partnership with Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, marking Kyndryl’s first-ever academic collaboration with a university in India. Through this collaboration, the UPES School of Design has established a Centre of Excellence (CoE) to drive innovation, research, and global industry integration at the convergence of design and technology.
The Centre of Excellence will provide live global project exposure, promote joint research and innovation labs, enable faculty thought leadership, and develop future-ready talent pipelines. Students and faculty at UPES will gain access to Kyndryl’s vast global client ecosystems across FinTech, Aviation, HealthTech, IT.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ram Sharma, Vice Chancellor, UPES, said, “At UPES, we believe in forging meaningful collaborations that expand the horizons of learning and innovation. This partnership with Kyndryl sets a new benchmark for academia–industry integration in India. Guided by our transdisciplinary approach, we are nurturing talent at the intersection of design and technology, ensuring our students and faculty gain exposure to live projects, future-facing mentorship, and opportunities to co-create solutions with real-world impact.”
As part of the MoU, Ms. Shaon Sengupta, Country Leader and Head of Design Strategy, Kyndryl India, delivered a Service Design Workshop and interacted with students and faculty. Highlighting the significance of the partnership, she said, “This collaboration between UPES School of Design and Kyndryl marks an important milestone in ecosystem thinking where academia, faculty, and industry come together to co-create. By harnessing student talent within this ecosystem, we are not only fostering growth but also charting new tracks to design transformative experiences at scale, true to the spirit of Kyndryl Vital.”
Beyond academic immersion, the MoU carries an umbrella vision of forging large-scale strategic collaborations between Kyndryl, UPES, and global stakeholders. This includes advancing community impact, enabling sustainable digital growth, and contributing to India’s ambition of becoming a global hub for innovation under the National Education Policy 2020.
With this first-of-its-kind partnership in India, UPES and Kyndryl are poised to redefine the boundaries of design education—where industry-led innovation, academic rigour, and social impact converge. |
