Kharagpur (West Bengal), Aug 22 (IANS) Indian American
scientist Pradeep K. Khosla, who heads one of the world's largest
public research universities, plans to strengthen ties with India in the
area of hospital management and hopes the Indian government will bring
in policies to ease the commercialisation of research.
"I want to
first work with IIT-Kharagpur because this is an opportunity to
influence a new medical hospital here and bring the best thinking in
hospital management out here," Khosla, the eighth chancellor of the
University of California, San Diego (UCSD), told IANS in an interaction
here.
Khosla has been named one of the 50 most influential Indian
Americans by Silicon India, an international magazine focussing on
business and technology developments in the US, India and Britain.
The
internationally-renowned electrical and computer engineer explained
that the collaboration between UCSD and IIT-Kharagpur - his alma mater -
would be research-oriented as well as entrepreneurial but would not
cramp the style of medical education here.
"We cannot impact the
medical education here because it is different from the American pattern
but we can share ideas on hospital management," he said.
Citing an African example, he said the collaboration between UCSD and IIT-Kharagpur would be a win-win situation for both.
"I
created a campus in Rwanda. This was way before UCSD, but now we (UCSD)
have an interest in building stronger relations with Africa," Khosla
said, adding that based on his experience here, he would work out a
roadmap for other parts of the country.
Khosla, who graduated in
1980 from IIT-Kharagpur's electrical engineering stream, left India in
1982 for an MS and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania, and pursued a distinguished career in robotics and
cybersecurity.
An elected fellow of the National Academy of
Engineering and the American Society for Engineering Education, he has
been feted for contributions to leadership, education and research.
He
said that earlier, whenever he had spoken to Indian government
officials about some concepts that could be introduced here, the
bureaucracy got in the way.
"Whenever I used to talk to somebody
about an idea, I was told this was not in the Five-Year Plan or this was
in the plan but was not executed well. I don't know... somehow there
was this bureaucracy out there that was a parallel bureaucracy to the
Prime Minister's office and parliament," said the Honorary Fellow of the
Indian Academy of Science.
In this context, he noted that the
burial of the Planning Commission would usher in a brand new way of
thinking and speed up new ventures in India.
"I think you will
see now a brand new thinking and I feel very positive about what I see
here. Things will become faster...new ideas, new people," he said.
Khosla
also pointed out the government needs to step up on helping scientists
to get most out of their research and innovation. This would encourage
scientists to stay back in India and also make money.
"They
should see that whatever's going on (scientific research) has an easy
path to commercialisation. It would encourage them to stay back and also
give them a chance to make some money and create opportunities which
are beyond working for large multinationals.
"So right now you
have to work for large multinationals. The government should frame new
policy to encourage entrepreneurial activity that would expand
research," Khosla said.
UCSD is one of America's Public Ivy
universities, which refers to top establishments that provide Ivy League
educational experience at a public school price.
(Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in)