Months after Anand Mahindra announced his Mahindra University in Hyderabad amid the pandemic — a decision that was questioned — Shiv Nadar Foundation, from the founder of HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar, is also set to launch a new university in Chennai. The Shiv Nadar University in Chennai is set to admit students as early as April 2021.
Launching with four undergraduate courses — two in engineering and two in commerce and management studies — Shiv Nadar University, Chennai is separate from the foundation's first university in Uttar Pradesh. It is also the second higher education venture by the foundation in the state of Tamil Nadu after the much successful and prestigious SSN College of Engineering.
The engineering courses offered at the university will, however, be different from those being offered at SSN College of Engineering. The two courses include an undergraduate degree in Computer Science with a special focus on Internet of Things and another course in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. The commerce and management courses have regular courses like Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Commerce (Professional Accounting). The university also plans to launch a four-year undergraduate course in Business Management from the academic year beginning in 2022.
Speaking at the virtual press conference, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Technologies and Trustee, Shiv Nadar Foundation said, "Shiv Nadar University Chennai will be a catalyst for new research, novel discoveries and creation of new forms of expression. It will eventually help create responsible, well-rounded citizens."
The e-press conference was also joined by R Srinivasan, Founding Chancellor and Dr Kala Vijayakumar, Pro-Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, Chennai. "The university will strongly focus on the holistic development of students through an approach that blends academic rigour, a culture of research and sustained industry engagement. While we are announcing the university today with two schools, our hope is that over the next five years, the university will significantly expand its offerings, including establishing a School of Law. We also want to take this opportunity to invite acclaimed academicians and scientists to join us in this venture," said Srinivasan.
Answering a question about the decision to launch the university with engineering courses, Vijayakumar said, "We have experience with engineering at SSN and we wanted to start with a strong foundation before building on it. Our prior experiences will help and eventually, we will be able to start more courses." There are plans to launch courses in Arts and Social Sciences in the future.
Dr C Rangarajan, former Governor of Reserve Bank of India and one of the most eminent economists and policymakers of the country, and Dr Raj Reddy, acclaimed computer scientist, University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University and winner of the Turing Award will be mentoring the students of the university. The university has also appointed a renowned academician from one of the IITs as the Vice-Chancellor, who will take over the role in December. Additionally, the university announced the appointment of Dr T Nagarajan as Professor and Head of Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Dr S Gurusamy as Professor and Head of the Department of Commerce, School of Commerce and Management.
