US-India State and Urban Initiative to partner with Madhya Pradesh, University of Central Florida

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The U.S.-India State and Urban Initiative, led by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Wadhwani Chair in the U.S.-India Policy Studies and the CSIS Energy and National Security Program have announced a partnership between the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the University of Central Florida as part of its ongoing work.

According to a press release, the government of Madhya Pradesh and UCF signed an agreement to cooperate on a range of research areas, including energy, and to develop joint educational programs, which was a result of Madhya Pradesh Principal Secretary Vivek Aggarwal’s visit to Orlando, Florida in April, and was facilitated by CSIS.

The agreement includes scope for research pilots on sensors, rooftop solar and energy efficiency; training courses on energy construction technologies; a potential wind turbine testing facility in Madhya Pradesh with design and support assistance from UCF’s Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research; and a training course for state-owned utility company professionals organized by the power systems team at University of Central Florida, according to a press release.

“This partnership will open the door to greater energy and smart city technology cooperation between the central Florida region and the cities in the heart of India,” Kartikeya Singh, deputy director and a fellow of CSIS’s Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies, is quoted saying in a press release.

In addition to energy, this partnership will facilitate student and faculty exchange programs focused on a range of disciplines including a one-plus-one master’s program; research on urban ecology and wildlife conservation in Madhya Pradesh; and a study on the feasibility of CATER deploying waste heat recovery technology suitable for cement plants in consultation with industry stakeholders based in Madhya Pradesh.

Another collaboration announced under this partnership is between B-Nest, an incubation center launched by the Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited in Madhya Pradesh, and UCF, which will allow UCF students to launch ventures in Madhya Pradesh and take advantage of the Madhya Pradesh Venture Fund.

A UCF delegation lead by Dr. Michael Johnson, dean of UCF’s College of Sciences and interim director of the India Center, will be visiting Indore and the Madhya Pradesh state capital of Bhopal, where they will visist the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal and the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, to facilitate working-level discussion under the agreement, according to a press release.

The UCF delegates will be hosted by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.