- AIT (Thailand) and VIT (India) sign MoU to strengthen collaboration in education, research, and semiconductor technology
- Graduate Pathway Programme in Semiconductors, dual-degree options, student/faculty exchange, and Centres of Excellence planned
- Partnership aims to train skilled engineers for India’s $100–110B semiconductor industry and drive innovation across STEM and interdisciplinary fields
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), a global institute of higher education in Thailand, and Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India, signed a strategic agreement to enhance collaboration in education, research, and emerging technologies with significant emphasis on the rapidly growing semiconductor industry.
The collaboration was cemented with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Prof. Pai-Chi Li, AIT President, and Dr. Sekar Viswanathan, VIT Vice President. The MoU opens up possibilities for student exchange and faculty mobility, joint research, double-degree programs, and creation of Centres of Excellence in priority areas.
One of the features of the partnership is the Graduate Pathway Programme in Semiconductors, which offers VIT students an uninterrupted academic path. The programme starts with a bridging semester at VIT in Electronics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, followed by higher studies at AIT and Taipei Tech (National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan).
Apart from semiconductors, the co-operation encompasses joint academic programs, overseas seminars and conferences, jointly authored research publications, and the introduction of dual-degree and twinning programs in interdisciplinary areas. Science, engineering, technology, management and humanities centres of excellence will also be set up to further the partnership.
Dr. Pai-Chi Li, AIT President, said, "Today is a milestone moment when we make this partnership official through the signing of the MoU. The Graduate Pathway Programme in Semiconductors and other programmes will enhance academic exchanges, research, and collaboration. This timely move in engineering education and research provides the cornerstone for a long-standing and successful partnership".
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Dr. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President, VIT, further said, "The common vision of VIT and AIT makes this partnership a natural choice. Our collaboration presents thrilling opportunities for students, and this is just the beginning. With India's fast-evolving semiconductor industry, the partnership is timely and important, and we hope to undertake several more meaningful initiatives together in other fields like water, energy, agriculture, AI, and management, where there are complementarities".
Prof. Sidhharth K. Jabade, Vice President for Administration and Development at AIT and lead of this initiative, added: "This partnership is not just a signing; it is the inauguration of a talent and innovation engine for the India-ASEAN region and well beyond. Together with VIT, we will lead the way in semiconductor engineering education at scale, integrating student pathways, faculty exchange, industry collaboration, and collaborative research. By connecting academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems, we are laying the groundwork for a bold goal of 10,000 employment-ready engineers and a new generation of technologies with the capacity to transform Asian societies".
The collaboration comes at a pivotal moment for India’s semiconductor industry, which is projected to reach USD 100-110 billion by 2030. The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has already approved multiple major projects across six states, with investments from leading companies such as Tata Electronics and Micron Technology. With a target of training 85,000 semiconductor engineers over the next 10 years, partnerships like AIT–VIT are vital to bridging talent and research gaps.
