Our Bureau
Long Island, NY
On 26 June 2026, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) and the State University of New York at Old Westbury announced a collaborative partnership during a virtual meeting between IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare and SUNY Old Westbury President Dr. Timothy E. Sams. The announcement was made in the presence of India’s Union Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Vineet Joshi, and India’s Ambassador to the United States, Amb. Vinay Mohan Kwatra. Through this collaboration, the two institutions aim to establish innovative academic and research initiatives that will be offered at the SUNY Old Westbury campus on Long Island, New York, strengthening educational cooperation between India and the United States.
Through a letter of intent signed by Prof. Shireesh Kedare and Dr. Timothy E. Sams in the presence of Consul General Binaya S. Pradhan, the two institutions will begin work towards creating new academic offerings at all levels in science and engineering focused on emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, while also developing plans for collaborative research activities.
“IIT Bombay is excited to work with SUNY Old Westbury, whose leadership is committed to quality education and is forward looking in its outlook,” said IIT Bombay Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare. “Considering that our strengths are complementary, we believe that our partnership has the ability to scale great heights.”
“IIT Bombay is recognized as a world-class institution,” said SUNY Old Westbury President Timothy Sams. “We are excited to establish a direct partnership that advances teaching, innovation and excellence in disciplines like physics and engineering with a goal of creating a robust IIT Bombay presence on our campus so that together we can prepare the next generation of leaders who will fuel success across our region, state, nation and world.”
Early areas of cooperation are expected to include visits by and exchange of faculty members and researchers between the institutions, joint research activities, and the development of joint conferences or symposia.
These early-stage efforts will be conducted while the development of new degree programs takes shape.
Both President Dr. Timothy E. Sams and Director Prof. Shireesh Kedare expressed their sincere appreciation to the Government of India, the Embassy of India, the Consulate General of India in New York and especially to Consul General Binaya S. Pradhan for their continued support to facilitate this collaboration.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Vinay Kwatra underscored the importance of strengthening academic and technological collaboration between the two prestigious institutions and fostering deeper partnerships in research, innovation, and higher education. Secretary Higher Education of India, Dr Vineet Joshi, called the partnership between IIT Bombay and SUNY Old Westbury a new and proud chapter in the India-US partnership in higher education and research and one of the most consequential.
Welcoming the partnership as a living corridor of knowledge between India and the USA, Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Government of India noted that IIT Bombay’s partnership with SUNY Old Westbury will create win-win opportunities for students, academicians in both India and USA besides helping to develop cutting edge technologies in frontier science. He urged both IIT Bombay and SUNY Old Westbury to work towards developing students as well as technologies who could shape the future and contribute to global good.
