In September, Professor Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, professor of nuclear engineering, and Mr. Abhinav Kapadia, chief financial officer, from Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) in Gandhinagar, India visited Texas A&M University to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between PDPU and the Texas A&M College of Engineering, specifically the Department of Nuclear Engineering, the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI), and the Nuclear Power Institute (NPI). At a ceremony on September 28, Ganguly and Kapadia signed the agreement on behalf of PDPU and Dr. Sunil Chirayath, NSSPI director and associate professor of nuclear engineering, signed on behalf of Texas A&M. Dr. Maria Alvez, director of the Halliburton Engineering Global Programs, represented the Texas A&M College of Engineering at the ceremony. The agreement was finalized in November and follows from a Letter of Intent that NSSPI signed with PDPU in 2011.
The MOA formalizes collaborations between NSSPI and PDPU in the areas of nuclear security research and development, education, policy and technical analysis, and service as a resource for knowledge and skills to reduce nuclear threats.
According to Chirayath, “The renewed MOA for the next five years will allow us to continue the ongoing collaborations between Texas A&M and PDPU and to explore new possibilities of student and faculty exchanges as well as hosting study abroad programs.”
NSSPI currently works with PDPU to deliver training workshops on nuclear security topics for Indian students and faculty.
