Microsoft launches Academia Accelerator at leading engineering colleges

PUNE: Microsoft today announced the launch of the Microsoft Academia Accelerator, a program aimed at building a long term association between academia and industry. Microsoft, in collaboration with the faculty at 10 leading Indian engineering colleges, will aim to enhance the Computer Science curriculum in selective areas and foster greater student-driven innovation and entrepreneurship.

Vinod Anantharaman, Head of Business Management, Microsoft India (R&D) said: “By adding a layer of cutting-edge industry know-how on top of the existing Computer Science curriculum, the Academia Accelerator program aims to expose students to critically important technology trends and practices earlier, during their formative years, thereby preparing them with vital skills and experiences that will enrich their careers and fuel innovation and impact from India.”

The program will have two components – a series of workshops across a wide spectrum of topics relevant to the modern-day high technology industry, and a series of student hackathons which give all students at these campuses an opportunity to work collaboratively in team environments to build modern, real-world applications that leverage the latest Microsoft platforms including Mobile and Cloud.

Topics of recently delivered workshops include Agile Practices in Software Engineering, Smartphone Trends, Cloud Computing, Online Advertising,Big Data and Web Mining. “We are really excited about this program. We strongly believe that efforts like the Microsoft Academia Accelerator which connect students and faculty to the very latest in the industry will accelerate the impact of India’s amazing talent. Our effort is made possible because of great sponsors and collaborators in academia—we are truly fortunate to have some amazing partners among the faculty of the colleges that we work with,” said Anil Bhansali, Managing Director, Microsoft India (R&D).