Padma Shri awardee and Zoho Chief Scientist Sridhar Vembu inaugurated the new Thiruvanmiyur Campus of VELS Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies (VISTAS) on Monday. The institution describes it as India's first AI-integrated vertical university campus, designed to create a technology-driven higher education ecosystem.

A key highlight of the event was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between VISTAS, Aspin Holding LLC Group and MH Cockpit to establish a flying school in the United Arab Emirates. The partnership will focus on aviation education, pilot training, faculty exchange, internships, research collaboration and international career opportunities for students.

The university also announced plans to sign an MoU with Zoho Corporation to collaborate on artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and industry-academia initiatives.

The new campus houses Industry-Academia Centres of Excellence developed in collaboration with Intel Unnati, TCS iON, Microsoft and Oracle Academy, providing students with hands-on exposure to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, high-performance computing and other emerging technologies. The curriculum will emphasise experiential learning through live projects, internships, startup incubation and interdisciplinary research.

In his inaugural address, Vembu highlighted the importance of developing indigenous technologies to strengthen India's innovation ecosystem.

"India must build technologies from the ground up, from atoms to bits, to remain globally competitive. We must aspire to build next-generation technologies and strengthen our innovation ecosystem," he said, adding that Zoho looks forward to collaborating with VELS in the near future.

Following the inauguration, Vembu interacted with students on topics including artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, research, rural innovation and nation-building, encouraging them to build deep technical expertise and develop solutions to real-world challenges through innovation.