The agreements mark the beginning of a long-term collaboration focused on enhancing academic excellence while providing students and researchers with practical industry exposure.

Key Objectives and Areas of Collaboration 

Student Development:

Students will benefit from internship opportunities, industrial exposure, and placement support.

Technology Advancement:

ULTS will collaborate in the areas of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and digital technologies, while Matterlab will provide support through its testing facilities.

Research and Startups:

The partnership will promote joint research, technology transfer, startup mentorship, and knowledge sharing.

Shaju S., Managing Director, ULCCS, said: “At ULCCS, we believe that strong partnerships between academia and industry are essential to preparing future-ready engineering talent and driving meaningful innovation. Our collaboration with NIT Calicut, ULTS and Matterlab brings together academic excellence and industry expertise to create opportunities for students, accelerate applied research, and support technology-driven solutions for real-world challenges.”

Prof. Prasad Krishna, Director, NIT Calicut, said that sustained collaboration between educational institutions and industry is crucial to creating an innovation-driven ecosystem. He added that such partnerships would help students gain exposure to real-world work environments.

The MoU signing ceremony, held at NIT Calicut, was attended by Prof. Prasad Krishna, Director; Sunil Jacob John, In-charge Registrar; Dr. Murali K.P., Chairperson, CIIR; and Dr. Rakesh R.T., Vice Chairperson, CIIR, representing NIT Calicut.

Representing ULCCS were Shaju S., Managing Director; Arun Babu, Chief Operating Officer; and Rohan Prabhakar, Chief General Manager (Projects). Representing ULTS was Harishankar R., Chief Executive Officer, while Freddy Soman, General Manager; Anil Pottekkatt, Deputy General Manager; and Sreelakshmi S.B., Senior Compliance Engineer, represented Matterlab.

Both institutions stated that this joint initiative would help nurture engineering talent equipped to meet the future demands of the infrastructure and construction sectors while advancing sustainable technological progress.

Cmde Amit Rastogi (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director of NRDC, signed the document. Shri Vinay Kumar, Director (Technical) of NMDC, represented his organization. The exchange happened at NRDC Headquarters with both teams present.