OCAD University partnership activities in India

November 9, 2010

As featured on OCADU's homepage, President Sara Diamond is in India this month as part of the largest delegation of Canadian university presidents ever to travel abroad, coordinated by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). OCAD University is building strategic R&D relationships in India with academic institutions and private sector partners.

A range of undergraduate and graduate (post-graduate) programs engage OCADU faculty members, researchers and students in digital media design and research. Two of the institution’s flagship research endeavors deserve particular mention: the Digital Futures Initiative and the Inclusive Design Research Centre. But digital tools and knowledge permeate the OCAD University learning and research environment.

Initiatives pursued in India include:

Institute of Apparel Management
OCAD University is signing an MOU with the Institute of Apparel Management, Gurgaon, India. The MOU lays out plans for exchange of teaching staff and students, academic publications and material exchange, research and training, reciprocal visits, and joint academic conferences. Research will include innovation studies and wearable technologies. The agreement resulted from a “letter of intent” signed between both institutions in February, 2009.

National Institute of Design
OCAD University is partnering with the National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier institute of design, to establish the OCADU – NID Centre of Excellence in Digital Media Research in Bangalore. The Centre’s focus will be on R&D projects in:

• mobile content, design and applications (entertainment, education and health)
• data visualization
• online and mobile gaming
• digital media content

The OCADU delegation met with Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary to Government of India, Department of Science and Technology and Harkesh Mittal, Advisor and Head of the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board to discuss the creation of a research lab between our two institutions, which will result in commercialization of the outcome and joint IP creation.

The plan is to link Canadian and Indian researchers/developers with each other and with relevant industry partners from both countries, to create an ongoing relationship. In short it will focus on creating a pilot project on complementary relationships in the area of digital design/ICT, where our countries need each others' skills to be successful in each market.

R&D projects involve industry partners from both countries, such as: Microsoft India, HP Labs India, Nokia Research Lab India, Antiz Corporation Bangalore, IBM India (through the NID) and OpenText, IBM, RIM, and SME gaming and application companies (through OCAD University). In addition, faculty-led industry initiatives are planned, where faculty members from both the NID and OCAD University will offer specialized programs for industry in the partner country – in this case, OCADU faculty members in India and NID faculty in Canada. The series is expected to begin in February 2011 with programming about OCADU’s Strategic Foresight and Innovation research at NID in a joint academia/industry workshop.

Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology
An MOU is expected to be signed between OCADU and Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology with a focus on student and faculty exchanges in education and collaborative research on digital media for social impact and inclusion.

Manipal University
A partnership dialogue is in process with Manipal University. The focus for this partnership is on linking one of OCADU’s flagship programs in Digital Media, the Digital Futures Initiative, with programming at the Media & Entertainment Education Division, Manipal University. A two-year cohort-based postgraduate program will begin with a 2-week digital media workshop, planned in Toronto for the summer of 2012.

Follow Dr. Diamond in India on Twitter @OCADUPresident, or visit the AUCC India blog.