Microsoft sets up technology center at VTU

Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd has ann-ounced the opening of a Microsoft
Technology Center at Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Karnataka.
The center has been launched as a part of the Academic Developer Program
introdu-ced by Microsoft in Septem-ber 2002.

The technology center will function as a one-stop-shop; a research lab for
faculty and students, a training center for faculty, and a valuable e-lear-ning
resource center for the university. In addition to this, the university is also
introduc-ing a four-semester M Tech program in .NET techno-logies, developed in
colla-boration with Microsoft. The program will start in the next academic year,
and will be available to students in 118 VTU affiliated colleges across the
state.

The center will include hard-ware and software support and will impart
training to faculty and students on a range of topics including .NET - a set of
Microsoft technologies for connecting information, peo-ple, systems and devices.
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) can also avail the facilities of the center
to test their applications.

Commenting on the alliance, TN Chaturvedi, Governor of Karnataka and
Chancellor of VTU said, "In line with our mis-sion to become an outstanding
university by producing world class engineers, we strive to offer our students
and faculty with the cutting edge techno-logy in step with the global
advancements. We realize that the next computing wave will be that of Web
Services. This partnership will help students and aspiring developers leverage
the immense oppor-tunity in building Web Services based applications."

Elaborating on the benefits of the center, Sheila Gulati, Developer and
Platform Evangelism Director, Microsoft India said, "With this invest-ment,
we hope to empower over 1,40,000 students with the skill, tools and resources
required to develop next generation applications using Web Services."

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