At a brief ceremony held at Udyog Bhawan, the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), an organisation under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), signed four separate Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with Tamil Nadu Physical and Sports University in Chennai, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in Chennai, Woxsen University in Hyderabad, and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in Bhubaneswar.
Dr. Sumeet Jarangal, Managing Director of FDDI, stated that this innovative initiative, which emphasises collaborative research, will greatly benefit all parties involved, including educators, students, business owners, and labourers, particularly those involved in the footwear and leather industries, by enabling them to enhance their skills through joint courses and training programs offered by these partner universities and institutions. A thorough rundown of the various CoE locations and their specific areas of concentration was also provided by him.
Along with outlining the goals of the partnership, he also mentioned the faculty and student exchange, collaborative research projects, and product development initiatives spanning all of FDDI’s campuses, which include Chennai, Hyderabad, Patna, Kolkata, Rohtak, Noida, and Jodhpur.
He did, however, add that if these relationships are turned into real, workable initiatives with the correct seriousness, they will further propel the growth and development of footwear and leather apparel/accessories to the top of the charts nationwide.
Dr. Madhusudan Pal, the Director of CoE, highlighted the concrete measures implemented to guarantee that the Memorandum of Understanding fulfils its commitments. These measures include arranging campus visits to various FDDI institutions, forming public-private partnerships (PPP), and developing internship programs in association with academic institutions such as Woxsen University. Apart from these, he also stressed the need of IPR protection, prototype development, and commercialization of innovative goods, emphasising the commitment to not just academic collaboration but also generating industry-relevant ideas.
