A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the National Fire Service College (NFSC), Nagpur, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (IIT Bhubaneswar) on Tuesday at IIT Bhubaneswar, to strengthen collaboration in education, research, and capacity building. The MoU was formally exchanged between Dr A R Sontake, Professor & Director, NFSC, and Prof. Shreepad Karmalkar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar. The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Prof. Arun Kumar Pradhan, Head, School of Mechanical Sciences; Prof. P Dinakar, Dean (SRIC); Prof. Mihir Kumar Pandit Dr Prasenjit Rath, Associate Professor, Dr Amrit B Sahu, Assistant Professor from the School of Mechanical Sciences and N Aravindan, Assistant Professor, NFSC. The MoU establishes a comprehensive framework for academic, research, and technical collaboration between these two premier institutions.

 

The collaboration includes joint research and development projects, faculty and student exchange programmes, joint supervision of student projects, theses, and dissertations, as well as collaborative submission and execution of externally funded research and consultancy projects. It also enables the sharing and common utilization of laboratory facilities, testing infrastructure, and research equipment, and promotes the joint organisation of workshops, conferences, seminars, training programmes, and short-term courses. The agreement has been guided and approved by Sunil Kumar Jha, DG (FS, CD & HG), MHA, Government of India, reflecting the commitment of the Ministry of Home Affairs towards strengthening academic and research collaboration in fire engineering and safety. This strategic collaboration is expected to significantly enhance academic excellence, research innovation, and technical capabilities.