CHANDIGARH: A delegation from the American Society of Engineering Education visited Punjab Engineering College Thursday to officially nominate Professor Uma Batra as a woman engineer representative to the U.S. Society of Women Engineers.

The American Society of Engineering Education, along with academic and business leaders from U.S. and India, has launched an initiative to strengthen U.S.-India collaborative efforts aimed to make engineering education and research more relevant to the global economy. The initiative's ambitious efforts will focus on quality and accreditation, curriculum and technology enhanced learning, research and development, and innovation and entrepreneurship.

The U.S. delegation participated in a workshop June 3-5 in Mysore to develop an action plan on future collaborations in engineering education. On June 6, they participated in a Technical Education Roundtable, co-hosted by the All India Council for Technical Education and the Confederation of Indian Industry. They also met with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and several members of India's science and  technology leadership.

Significantly, Punjab Engineering College is the alma mater of the late Indo-American astronaut and aeronautical engineering student Kalpana Chawla.