In September, Dr. Chaitanyamoy Ganguly, professor of nuclear engineering, and 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, the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M, the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI) and the Nuclear Power Institute.
At a ceremony on Sept. 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. 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 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.
“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,” said Chirayath.
NSSPI currently works with PDPU to deliver training workshops on nuclear security topics for Indian students and faculty.