UST, a leading digital-transformation solutions company, has entered into an agreement with with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, for an academic-industry collaboration. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed at UST’s Thiruvananthapuram campus.
The partnership will promote innovation, nurture talent, and also encourage joint research to bridge academia and industry for creating solutions with real-world impact.
The objective is to focus on advanced research and co-creation in various domains such as photonics, quantum computing, VLSI, humanoid robotics, artificial intelligence, and medical technology. Through joint research programmes, patents, proof of concept (PoCs) projects, and commercialisation-ready products will be developed under the shared guidance of UST’s engineering experts and BITS Pilani’s academic leadership.
The collaboration will witness UST co-developing research programmes aligned to pressing industry problems, providing technical mentorship, enabling prototyping infrastructure, and supporting commercialisation of innovation outcomes. Areas of cooperation also include semiconductor testing, data-driven engineering, cloud computing, sustainable technologies, and AI-powered industrial solutions. UST will additionally engage with the BITS Pilani placement cell to recruit emerging talent while participating in curriculum design and faculty development efforts.
Meanwhile, UST is committed to advancing engineering R&D on a global scale. With deep expertise across semiconductor design, software-defined mobility, smart manufacturing, and immersive technologies, UST delivers AI-integrated solutions from chip to cloud. With expertise in AI/ML for semiconductor validation, automotive predictive maintenance, autonomous driving simulations, and robotic actuators, UST can drive applied research by sharing real-world datasets and industry challenges. This partnership will leverage BITS Pilani’s AI ecosystem to co-develop market-ready solutions, upskill talent and advance India’s automotive and robotics sector.
Gilroy Mathew, senior vice president and global head of engineering, UST, believes, “This collaboration will offer a platform for students and faculty to engage in meaningful and industry-aligned innovation. At UST, we’ve built deep capabilities across semiconductor design, intelligent mobility, and AI-driven digital engineering, and we’re excited to bring that expertise into this partnership. More than developing cutting-edge solutions, we believe that this MoU will help nurture talent, exposing them to next-generation technologies and translating research into real-world outcomes”.
According to Sanket Goel, dean –research & innovation, BITS Pilani, “Collaborating with UST will give our students and faculty valuable exposure to real-world challenges and emerging technologies. We believe this partnership will not only foster innovation but also enhance the practical learning experience for our students, equipping them with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.”
The MoU was exchanged in the presence of Alexander Varghese, chief operating officer, UST; Gilroy Mathew, SVP & global head of engineering, UST; Shilpa Menon, centre head – Trivandrum; Sarath Raj, senior director & head – HR BSE-APAC; Ashok G Nair, Bhavesh Sasirajan, Deepti Sujatha, and Nikitha Bahadur from UST. Sanket Goel, dean (R&I) and Praloy Mondal, programme manager, CREST, were present on behalf of BITS Pilani.