Macquarie University signs MOUs with VIT University and BITSWed 25th February 2015
Macquarie University signed memorandums of understanding with VIT University and the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) – two of India’s leading engineering institutions.
The MOUs will support a range of activities that will strengthen collaboration between the institutions, including a scholarship program, student and staff exchange, joint research collaboration and co-supervision of PhD students.
During his recent visit to India as a part of the Australia Business Week in India, Prof. Jim Lee signed an MOU with the Vice Chancellor of BITS Pilani, Prof. Bijendra Nath Jain on the 16th of January at their Hyderabad campus. Both institutions expressed their interest in pursuing a collaboration of mutual benefit with a focus on research activity. Professor Iain Collings, delivered a lecture on “from sensing to decision making” to students at BITS which was well received and showcased the quality of teaching and research at Macquarie University.
The MOUs will support a range of activities that will strengthen collaboration between the institutions, including a scholarship program, student and staff exchange, joint research collaboration and co-supervision of PhD students.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, International, Professor Jim Lee said “Indian Institutions offer industry oriented and innovative programmes with a track record of excellent career outcomes for their students. Macquarie University prides itself on its world-class facilities, its internationalised curriculum and research achievements particularly in science and engineering. Students, teaching and research staff in India and Australia will benefit from this engagement.”
The Department of Engineering at Macquarie University is committed to excellence in research, learning & teaching, and industry engagement. We offer an integrated cross-disciplinary engineering program, with particular focus on electronics, communication systems, mechatronics and mechanical engineering. There is an emphasis on supported learning in both the undergraduate and graduate programs, with a high ratio of tutors per student, and state-of-the-art facilities. Our research staff are internationally recognized and leading in a number of areas including antenna design, next generation wireless communication systems, and microelectronics. Recent growth has been into the areas of biomedical, mechatronics, and nano-materials engineering.
BITS is an all-India Institution declared as deemed to be university established under Section 3 of the UGC act. The institute was established in its present form in 1964. It is privately supported, fully residential. It BITS has campuses at Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai. Established in 2008, BITS’s Hyderabad campus is spread over an area of 200 acres. The campus is fully residential, housing over 2800 students and over 140 faculty members. It currently houses 13 departments spanning the gamut of pure science and applied science. Like Macquarie, BITS too completes 50 years in 2014.
BITS ranks in the 201-250 range in ‘The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2014’. BITS consistently ranks among top 5 Engineering institutes in India.
Macquarie University signs MOU with VIT University, Vellore campus.

During his recent visit to India as a part of the Australia Business Week in India, Professor Iain Collings, Head of the Department of Engineering at Macquarie University visited VIT University, Vellore campus where he attended the 30th Anniversary celebrations of VIT, which included a conference on Internationalisation of Higher Education and Quality Assurance. As a part of the conference, he was a keynote speaker and presented on Internationalisation at Macquarie University.
Following the conference, Prof. Collings signed an MOU with VIT University Chancellor, Dr. G. Viswanathan. The MOUs will support a range of activities that will strengthen collaboration between the institutions, including a scholarship program, student and staff exchange, joint research collaboration and co-supervision of PhD students.
Professor Iain Collings, Head of the Department of Engineering at Macquarie University said “the agreements will provide the next generation of Australian and Indian researchers and innovators with access to outstanding research and training opportunities in both countries”.
The Department of Engineering at Macquarie University is committed to excellence in research, learning & teaching, and industry engagement. We offer an integrated cross-disciplinary engineering program, with particular focus on electronics, communication systems, mechatronics and mechanical engineering. There is an emphasis on supported learning in both the undergraduate and graduate programs, with a high ratio of tutors per student, and state-of-the-art facilities. Our research staff are internationally recognized and leading in a number of areas including antenna design, next generation wireless communication systems, and microelectronics. Recent growth has been into the areas of biomedical, mechatronics, and nano-materials engineering.
Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, VIT University is an Indian institute of higher education and a Deemed University under Section 3 of the UGC Act. It is spread over two campuses in Tamil Nadu (South India) - 360-acre eco-friendly campus at Vellore and a 170 acre eco-friendly second campus at Chennai.
VIT has over 29,000 students, 1400 faculty and 1413 staff. It offers 18 undergraduate and 34 postgraduate programs and draws students from 47 countries as well as from every state in India.
The university has been consistently placed in top 10 lists of Indian colleges by leading magazines like India Today and The Week.