Aerospace university may come up in Bangalore

[Deletedid1]

It is not just giving a big push to the ambitious aerospace industry in the state, the Aero India show is promising to do much more, for Bangalore, in particular. If all goes well, Bangalore will get Asia’s first aerospace university that could catapult the city into the league of global aerospace hubs.

The state government has set the ball rolling to set up a university exclusively for aerospace as part of its Aerospace Park project, in Devanahalli, near Bangalore International Airport. “We will face huge shortage of skilled human resources in realising the ambitious plans in aerospace sector. We do not have a holistic organisation to provide trained manpower for this high-tech industry,” state chief secretary SV Ranganath said at a conference with a delegation of US India Business Council (USIBC), chaired by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.

Ranganth appealed to aerospace industry giants of the US to look into the issue and participate in a big way in setting up this university.

Director of industries and commerce department said, “We will hold discussions with major aerospace industries like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Rolls Royce to seek their participation in establishing the university. Presently, only a few countries including the US, UK, Canada and Australia have aerospace universities. It is high time Bangalore gets Asia’s first aerospace university to emerge and join the big league.”

Talks would be held with representatives of Cranefield and Wolverhampton University of UK on Thursday, in this regard.
Leader of the USIBC delegation Admiral (Retd) Walton F Doran assured that the recent delivery of C-130J long-haul military transport aircraft by Lockheed Martin is just the beginning. “I assure you full co-operation in knowledge-sharing and setting up of the university.”

He expressed the confidence that it had all the potential to emerge as not just aerospace industrial hub of Asia, but even beyond. “General Electric has already set up a research and development centre in Bangalore. Texas Instruments has a huge presence in the city; Boeing has a tie-up with Indian Institute of Science and Raytheon has been associated with Isro in its lunar mission,” Walton F Doran pointed out stating that the US aerospace companies have already recognised the importance of having a presence in Bangalore.