Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, expert consultant on US – India higher-education partnerships speaks to Jagran Josh about US-Indian University partnerships in STEM fields and the opportunities it is providing to both countries.
Excerpts from the Interview
Tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in enhancing greater people-to-people connections between India and the US.
Dr Lakhtakia: I received a B.Tech. and D.Sc. degrees from IIT (BHU) as well as M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Utah. I am now Evan Pugh University Professor and Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Pennsylvania State University, which has been my academic home for more than 40 years. This year I am also a Jefferson Science Fellow with the India Desk in the U.S. State Department as well as the Chair of the U.S.-India Higher Education Partnerships Committee, a G2G organization.
Today, India and U.S.A. are the largest and the oldest democracies, respectively. Despite their imperfections, they are vastly preferable to autocracies and totalitarianisms. The people of both countries have had warm relationships for over 80 years, the Indian diaspora in U.S.A. is 5 million people. The governments of both countries are also moving ever closer to each other from 2007 onwards, to create an ever more coordinated relationship against autocracies and totalitarianisms.
University partnerships between the U.S. and India are the keystones of this closeness. Indian students, researchers, and faculty members at U.S. universities create intellectual bridges through research and scholarship. Many have gone on to impressive careers in finance and industry that span both countries, and several are successful entrepreneurs creating new sources of wealth and prosperity. At the same time, numerous Americans have benefitted from the syncretic dynamism of diverse Indian cultures brought to U.S. shores by Indians.
What are the prospects for Indian students keen to study in the United States in the year 2024?
Dr Lakhtakia: In early November 2023, the Open Doors report of the Institute of International Education counted 268,923 students from India at U.S. Universities, with 84% enrolled at doctoral universities. A year earlier, the number of Indian students at U.S. universities was 199,182. So, the number grew by 35% in one year. This growth rate is likely to exceed next year, for several reasons. First, the U.S. Government is cognizant of the fact that Indian students enrich U.S. campuses with their perspectives and experience and currently contribute about $8 billion to the U.S. economy each year. Second, the U.S. consular resources made available to process Indian applications for visas are being expanded. Third, rising prosperity and smaller families in India are financially enabling Indian students to study at universities outside India. Fourth, with Indian Americans leading many U.S. universities, these institutions are naturally attracting Indian students. Fifth, U.S. universities are actively wooing Indian students.
What are the opportunities for Indian higher education institutions to explore bilateral cooperation and possible partnerships with US higher education institutions, especially in disciplines such as Critical Thinking, Emerging Technologies and STEM fields?
Dr Lakhtakia: When I became a Jefferson Science Fellow in 2022, I was asked by the U.S. State Department to acquaint myself with India’s National Education Policy of 2020, become an expert on the restructuring of post-secondary education modalities in India, and identify ways in which U.S. universities could vigorously engage with their Indian counterparts in both instruction and research from the Bachelor to the Doctoral degree programs in STEM disciplines. After reading the NEP 2020 documents, examining government and private data on education infrastructure and delivery in India, and interviewing colleagues at Indian, U.S., Canadian, British, and Australian universities, I became confident that twinning and dual-degree programs envisaged in NEP 2020 are attractive to both U.S. and Indian universities. But there is more.
There is a global demand for STEM talent in the emerging and/or critical fields of unmanned micro vehicles, nanoscale engineering, quantum engineering, photonics and electro-optics, experimental genomics, food processing technology, bioprocess engineering, renewable energy, telemedicine engineering, wireless technologies, and so on. I was asked by the U.S. State Department to devise a pathway whereby self-funded Indian students will acquire practical expertise in these and other industrially attractive fields to become super-specialized high-tech workers immediately after finishing a degree program at a U.S. university.
After discussions with colleagues and Indian students at universities in both countries, I devised the following pathway. An annual cohort of engineering undergraduate students enrolled at a specific Indian university would be jointly selected by that university and a collaborating U.S. university at the beginning of the fourth year of the undergraduate program, for a 12-month, on-campus, Professional Master’s degree program offered by the U.S. partner. This program would be designed to deliver a 360 view of an emerging and/or critical field and make the student industry-ready. Every student in the cohort would be self-funded, possibly through a loan not exceeding $60,000 for the fifth year on the American campus. After receiving the Professional Master’s degree from a U.S. university at the end of the fifth year, that student would become eligible for three years of practical training with a U.S. industry. Income during those three years should enable the student to pay off the $60,000 loan substantially.
I am glad to note that within the last four months, several U.S.-Indian university collaborations have emerged or are in advanced stages of negotiation, thanks in large part to many Indian-American professors at U.S. universities. The first cohorts of Indian students will arrive at U.S. campuses in Fall 2024, for the super-specialized Professional Master degree programs.
The Professional Master pathway can open at least three new doors within a short time. First, it will benefit the Indian university’s faculty members in collaborating with faculty members of the U.S. university partner. Project work for the Professional Master’s degree could be co-supervised by an Indian and a U.S. faculty member. That will lead to collaborative research including possible co-supervision of Ph.D. students, and bidding for research funding from U.S.-India joint programs.
Second, the Indian university could create 10-15-day STEM camps for undergraduate and postgraduate students from the U.S. partner to visit India. Every weekday for about 4 hours, every U.S. student shall work with an Indian buddy and the Indian faculty members on the specific STEM topic chosen for the camp, with about 50% of the time spent on hands-on activities. The remainder of the weekday should be allocated for student activities, sports, local tourism, visits to local industries, social and cultural experiences, etc.
Third, to learn best practices for internationalizing the Indian campus, faculty and staff members of the Indian university could be provided online instruction by the U.S. university partner. Successful completion of various modules should result in a diploma.
How do you view the University Grant Commission’s (UGC) recent regulation (in keeping with the NEP recommendations) facilitating the entry of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions (FHEIs) into India?
Dr Lakhtakia: This is a welcome step. Science, and therefore humanity, thrives in an atmosphere of plurality and academic freedom. That is what I have learned from examining the contours of scientific progress during the eight centuries before the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. That is what I experience every day on the campus of my university.
The entry of FHEIs will commence the transformation of the Indian educational ecosystem because students in India will have the opportunity to choose between diverse pedagogical styles in diverse atmospheres. Such opportunities are likely to be considerably less expensive than going abroad. Furthermore, a student could spend some time at the Indian campus of the FHEI and the remainder at the parent campus of the same FHEI. Indian faculty members shall work side by side with non-Indian faculty members at the Indian campus of the FHEI. The Indian research ecosystem will be invigorated by discussions between diverse ways of thinking.
What are your views on the setting up of the India-US Working Group on Education and Skill Development that was launched on the sidelines of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held between India and the US in Washington DC in April 2022?
Dr Lakhtakia: India is the largest democracy and the U.S.A. has experienced almost 250 years of democratic evolution. It behooves both to cooperate deeply on converging interests. The arena of Education and Skill Development is perfect for sustainable cooperation. By identifying best practices as well as structural impediments, the four committees of the Bilateral Working Group will help to ensure the capacity of higher education institutions to partner and facilitate their matching, especially in the STEM fields that are so important to our countries’ futures. I am looking forward to the first meeting of both Indian and U.S. members of the Higher Education Partnerships Committee chaired by me, probably in January 2024.
What overarching message would you like to give to the Indian students keen to study in the US and the Indian Higher Educational Institutions seeking to partner with US Higher Education Universities, respectively?
Dr Lakhtakia: The world will be very different by the time you are middle-aged. Therefore, do not limit yourself. Be bold when choosing the major field of your study and supplement it with at least one minor.
About the Expert
Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia
Expert consultant on US – India higher-education partnerships with the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
Dr Akhlesh Lakhtakia is an expert consultant on US – India higher-education partnerships with the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. He is Charles Godfrey Binder Professor of engineering science and mechanics at the Pennsylvania State University. He is also supporting the launch of the bilateral US-India Education and Skills Working Group that was announced by the leaders on the sidelines of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue held between India and the US in Washington DC in 2022.
