KONE Elevator India, one of the leading elevator companies in India, along with Chitkara University in Punjab offers a diploma programme in Mechanical Engineering with specialisation in Vertical Transportation. This unique program is the first of its kind offered by an elevator company and sets the path for the growing demand in the Vertical Transportation Industry to come with the right qualification, skill, and knowledge. The purpose of the programme is to have the flow of knowledge, experiences, resources, and connections for the development of capable, qualified workforce and domain knowledge for the Elevator and Escalator sector. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on April 2018 between KONE & Chitkara University (Punjab).

Amit Gossain, MD, KONE Elevator India

Explaining what the course entails, Amit Gossain, Managing Director of KONE Elevator India says, "Elevators and escalators are even more complex than cars, which use horizontal transportation. The vertical transportation industry can also be very innovative. A lot of Research and Development goes into it. So a lot of manpower is required. There are a lot of courses on Electrical, Mechanical and Automobile Engineering. But if you look at elevators, there's no programme as such to train people."

He adds, "As the industry is growing, there's a lot of demand and we're trying to tie up with institues to provide the basic training required to enter the vertical transportation. We are the first in the country to start the course. Our team has helped the institute develop the course from scratch. It's a three-year diploma, after which they get into an internship with KONE, become trainees, and then go into a very technical line of work like installation engineers, safety and quality managers, technical line managers and continue growing in the company." 

The programme is a three-year full-time Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Vertical Transportation for students after class. Presently the course is covering a total of 8 courses, which includes a combined approach of classroom, lab and assignments. During the final year of the program, students are be entitled to an internship for 5 months with KONE India. The internship will ensure practical immersion by allowing students to learn manufacturing, installation, commissioning and maintenance.