Vice-Chancellor claims he set base for Cusat

Kochi: Keeping a low-profile and avoiding controversies, he did his bit to give the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) the leg-up it needed.

Dr Ramachandran Thekkedath, whose term as Vice-Chancellor ends on January 3, is leaving satisfied that he has been able to lay the foundation for an improved Cusat, a one of its kind university in the state.

“When I took over in January 2010, the atmosphere in the university was one of distrust. I could turn it round for the better by taking people into confidence,” he says, looking back at his four years in office.

Completing several infrastructure projects that had been delayed for years, he was also able to make sure that Cusat utilised the Rs 10 crore sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) for research. “And because of this it has now become eligible for another Rs 50 crore from DST,” he notes.

“The ministry of human resources development( HRD) is now positive about granting Rs 100 crore for setting up an Intellectual Property Research Centre at the university. Also a stratosphere-troposphere radar is being installed at a cost of Rs 30 crore. The university has gained so much in reputation that those passing out of it and attending interviews for jobs as faculty in other universities automatically get a five percent weightage. The varsity is now on the radar of 500 companies and an equal number of universities,” says the VC.

Dr Thekkdath, who came to Cusat from the US where he had enjoyed stints as an academician, entrepreneur and researcher, plans to go back to Salt Lake City in Utah and join his family there.