The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), WB has opened a new horizon of cooperation in the field of research through digitization.

A joint meeting was convened by the University in its Salt Lake campus with Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST), Kashmir on 17th April, 2019. to discuss on joint research activities between the two Institutes as a part of the twining activity under TEQIP-III programme. The mentor Institution is MAKAUT and IUST the mentee.

The entire session was conducted via video conferencing in which the University was represented by Dr. Debashish De, Director, School of Computational Sciences, Dr. Debashish Giri, Associate Professor and Head of the Department, Information Technology and Dr. Somdatta Chakravortty, Associate Professor in Information Technology and                         also MAKAUT's research scholars.

 IUST, Kashmir was represented by Prof. Ayaz Hassan Moon,TEQIP-III Project Coordinator, Prof. Mohd Ashraf Mir, Head of the Department of Food Technology, Prof. Assif Assad, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and faculties, research scholars of other departments as well. Discussion took place on joint research projects, student exchange programmes, research in Internet of Things (IoT), Network Security, Machine Learning and Image Processing etc.

An interesting aspect of the discussion was on the problem of ripening and wastage of apples in Kashmir. Prof. Assif pointed out that a grading of apples can be done, based on their shapes, sizes and colour. Prof. Debashish De suggested the development of 'Internet of Trees' in line with Internet of Things (IoT) for solving the problem of ripening and wastage of apples. A 'Fruit Ripening Quality Index' can be calculated for IoT based assistance. Drone technology can also be used for spreading of pesticide.

Prof. Somdatta Chakravortty suggested collaborative research in the fields of Machine Learning and related areas. Prof. Debashish De said that the two Institutes can collaborate more by writing research papers together, by developing products jointly and then patenting such products and so on.

In this context Prof. P. N. Dutta  mentioned of a number of Certificate and Diploma Courses introduced by MAKAUT in collaboration with various industries and Institutes for skill development of the students. These are in the areas of Cyber Security, IoT, Optician, Digital Marketing etc. He said that MAKAUT will send a list of such courses, so that IUST can have a idea too regarding such initiatives.

The meeting ended successfully with stress on more research interaction between the mentor MAKAUT and mentee institution IUST.