With students from over 135 nations, Arizona State University is undoubtedly one of the top public universities for international students in the United States, while the Ira A Fulton School of Engineering alone has over 1,000 students from India. A delegation from the school recently visited Chennai to prep admitted students for what they could look forward to at the university. Excerpts from a conversation with Dr Tirupalavanam Ganesh, Assistant Dean, Engineering Education:
In light of the recent attacks on Indian software engineers, how safe is it for Indian students to live at ASU?
We are conscious, aware and concerned about the safety of our students. We have about 83 full-time police officers who are very active throughout the day in all the campuses and several measures are taken to ensure their safety. We have apps like SafeLive, where students can inform the police about the route they're taking, especially if it's late at night, and they will walk with them till they reach their destination. We also have e-cards with the required helpline numbers that students can call in case of emergencies.
Dr Tirupalavanam Ganesh, Assistant Dean, Engineering Education, ASU
With regard to the growing animosity towards immigrants and the travel ban policies, to what extent would it affect students who are looking for jobs in the US after their graduation?
Companies are going to look for talent. As employers, people would have to go to wherever the talent is. The need for talent never goes away. So if you have talent, you should really be employable anywhere. You can't tell Google not to hire people. If they really want to hire someone, they will find a way.
Why would you encourage Indian students to apply at ASU, while there are so many prestigious engineering institutes in India?
Firstly, the number of seats in India is limited. There are plenty of students looking for opportunities abroad. Secondly, students who want to have good employability skills should be able to distinguish themselves from the others. They should have creativity, which is one of the thing we focus on. Our interdisciplinary approach sets us apart. In terms of entrepreneurship, ASU is way ahead of MIT and Stanford.
It seems like most of your programmes are very socially relevant.
Yes, we always encourage our students to give back to society. Very often, we think our problems are only our problems, but that's not true. There are so many challenges across the globe like water, sanitation and electricity and if engineers put their heads together, they can come up with solutions to address all this. We have several funding opportunities for start-ups and we provide all the support in terms of resource and guidance.
