Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Budget boost for TREST park

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The process of establishing the Trivandrum Engineering Science and Technology (TREST) Research Park at the College of Engineering has shifted into top gear following the allocation of Rs.10 crore in this year's budget. The inauguration of the park's activities has been scheduled for February 16.

The fact that a handful of companies have informally expressed willingness to be associated with the park has come as a shot in the arm for the Directorate of Technical Education.

Director of Technical Education Kuncheria P. Isaac told The Hindu that Mahindra and Mahindra, Infosys, Accenture and Hindustan Latex had expressed readiness to make use of the facilities to be offered at the park.

“To begin with, we will allot to the park a floor in the building for the MBA department, which is nearing completed inside the CET. The current thinking is to bring the park under the management of the Centre for Engineering Research and Development (CERD) at the college. We will now have to start marketing the park to the industry,” Dr. Isaac said.

Labs as USP

The directorate is banking on the CET's well-equipped laboratories to act as the park's USP. To add sheen to its laboratories, the college is already working to get them accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibrating Laboratories. Already the electrical lab has been accredited for the testing and calibration of electrical meters.

The TREST project document prepared by the directorate notes that the park will have to offer sufficient air-conditioned built-up space, office space, incubation modules, shops, cyber cafes, restaurants, food courts, guest rooms, conference facilities, exhibition space, gardens and landscaped yards.

The park should have facilities for water recycling, rainwater harvesting, water-based air-conditioning system. Its buildings should be energy efficient.

Education Minister M.A. Baby told The Hindu that the functioning of the park could be modelled on the Stanford Research Park in the United States - the first hi-tech research park in that country. It would also draw inspiration from the functioning of Technopark, here.

The project document - which describes the park as a “happy mix of corporate and campus lives” - points out that the teachers at the CET can be used by the industry as research consultants and that companies can employ students on a part-time basis for specific projects.

This can also lead to the identification of the most promising engineering talent and their subsequent recruitment by a company, the document points out. Companies at the park can also allow their employees to teach part time at the college and participate in doctoral programmes and in other research work, the project document adds.

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