In what could be a first-of-its-kind collaboration in India by Airbus, it will establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) and a Chair Professor for aerospace studies at the Vadodara-based Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV). Airbus will also support the university to develop its full bouquet of aerospace curricula, including regular academic courses and executive programmes.
GSV was established in 2022 by an Act of Parliament to be a pioneer in the domain of transport and logistics education in India and caters to development of skilled professionals exclusively for the transportation and logistics sectors.
The Airbus-GSV partnership was announced recently in the presence of Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Civil Aviation, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Minister of State for Railways, Ravneet Singh Bittu along with senior officials from the Government of India.
Aiming to reshape the transportation and logistics landscape in India and beyond, the Airbus-GSV Centre of Excellence will promote organic research, innovation, and comprehensive capacity-building programmes for these sectors. Airbus will fund the centre’s infrastructure development and its critical equipment needs. Airbus will also deploy technology solutions to facilitate training and research programmes that will enhance employability of GSV students.
The well-rounded partnership with GSV is part of Airbus’ efforts to build a strong pipeline of skilled aviation professionals in India under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Airbus will provide scholarships to 40 meritorious and underprivileged students who want to pursue courses in aviation engineering and other related fields, covering their entire fees for the duration of the programme. 33 per cent of these scholarships will be reserved for female students to encourage gender diversity in the sector.
In addition, Airbus and GSV will appoint a Guest Chair Professor who will enable the establishment of the Centre of Excellence and also support the development of undergraduate and postgraduate aerospace programmes as well as short-term executive programmes such as – Safety Management, Flight Data Analysis and Air Cargo Management – for aviation professionals. Airbus shall also strive to enable collaborations for GSV with leading international institutions and industry forums. This collaboration is the execution of the memorandum of understanding signed between GSV and Airbus in 2023.
“This is a ground-breaking partnership between industry and academia that will support the development of a strong pool of professionals who will power the future of India’s transportation sector, especially aviation. This will be a unique success story of the Government of India’s ‘Skill India’ programme,” said Rémi Maillard, President and Managing Director, Airbus in India and South Asia.
Prof. Manoj Choudhary, Vice Chancellor, GSV, said, “This pioneering partnership with Airbus shall significantly advance GSV’s vision to be industry-driven and innovation-led university and I t also defines a template for industry-academia collaboration in India. We are thankful to Airbus for their very substantial contribution for regular education as well as executive education programmes at GSV, which will enable the growth of aviation sector in India through creation of superior human resources, skilling and cutting-edge research.”
