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Leader of Indo-US Science, Technology Group Addresses IALS Faculty
During a two-day visit to campus this month, the executive director of the binational Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) gave a presentation to faculty of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) explaining the mutual benefits of Indo-U.S. collaborations.
Rajiv Kumar Tayal, who was on campus Aug. 5-6, had been one of the prominent governmental leaders who met with UMass Amherst officials and faculty during Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy’s visit to India in February.
During his visit to Amherst, Tayal also met with campus leadership as well as faculty and deans from the College of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences.
In addition to providing overall leadership to IUSSTF, Tayal personally drives innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives for startups to translate new ideas in tangible business opportunities
In his IALS presentation, Tayal illustrated the far-reaching benefits of coordinated partnerships between India and the United States under the aegis of IUSSTF, which builds networks to foster long-term collaborations between scientific communities in both countries and funds research and development opportunities in areas of mutual strategic interest.
Among the projects IUSSTF has supported are women’s entrepreneurship, affordable blood pressure management technologies, real-time river and air quality monitoring, clean energy and more.
IUSSTF was established under an agreement between the governments of India and the U.S. in 2000 and is an autonomous bilateral organization jointly funded by both governments promoting science, technology, engineering and innovation through substantive interaction among government, academia and industry.