Chennai, October 31, 2018
With focus on attracting the best talent from the available engineering talent pool, Valeo, the global automotive technology supplier, has launched the Industry-Academia Connect program. As part of the initiative, Valeo has signed Memorandum of Understanding with multiple premier educational institutes – Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and Loyola, ICAM College of Engineering & Technology (LICET) and Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) – IIT Bombay, in India.

Commenting on the Industry-Academia connect initiatives, Ashok Belani, Group President & Managing Director, Valeo – India, said, “I am happy that we would be able to nurture bright young engineers and support them to become industry-ready professionals through direct exposure to Valeo’s latest international processes and technology and mentoring provided by our experts. India is a key market for Valeo and the R&D facility set-up in Chennai is emerging as a global R&D hub, contributing significantly to all Valeo customers across the world. We are scaling up our R&D operations and will be increasing the R&D headcount to 5,000 engineers by 2023. I am confident that through these Industry-Academia Connect initiatives, Valeo would be able to recruit the best from the engineering talent pool available in the country.”

The program will help Valeo to tap into the bright engineering minds for innovative ideas to address emerging mobility needs. Through experiential learning opportunities and mentoring, Valeo will also support them to become industry-ready professionals, by the time they step out of the university.

Valeo’s collaboration with VIT will see the company establishing a Center of Excellence at the VIT Campus to support students and research scholars in automotive research, especially in power train, safety, power electronics and infotainment. In addition, Valeo will initiate joint research projects along with VIT on emerging technologies. Valeo will also work closely with the students to identify and nurture new ideas and develop workable solutions to address industry specific needs.

The MoU between Valeo and LICET will enable both the organisations to work together in areas of common interests such a mechanical engineering, electrical & electronics engineering, electronics & communication engineering and computer science & information technology. Valeo will provide the students with hands on experimental learning opportunities and equip them with the right skill-sets to work with the emerging auto technologies. As part of the MoU, select students will be given opportunities to work at Valeo sites across the globe.

Valeo has joined hands with the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE) – IIT Bombay, for the second edition of “Plugin”, a collaborative accelerator program. Plugin is a joint initiative of SINE-IIT Bombay, Intel India and Department of Science & Technology and it provides mentoring, training along with networking opportunities for start-ups. As Plugin’s “Corporate Collaborator”, Valeo will get early access to SINE’s start-ups and innovators working in the transportation domain and it will support these chosen start-ups with technical training, technical expertise, access to the proto-suppliers and manufacturing process expertise.

In addition to the above, Valeo, along with ShARE, has initiated a “Student Ambassador Program” in India. As part of the program, students from premier Indian institutes – Indian Institute of Technology Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Roorkee and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad are chosen as student ambassadors, who will work specifically to create awareness for Valeo and its technologies among the student community. In return, Valeo will provide content and consulting missions to the students. ShARE is a global organisation that connects students from best colleges and universities and chosen students are trained and mentored by corporate executives.

Globally, Valeo is in the epicenter of three automotive revolutions (electrification, digital mobility and autonomous cars) and developing a wide range of innovative products that are positioning the company as a technological leader in the global marketplace.

Present since 1997 in India, Valeo has developed a very strong Indian footprint in the last 20 years. Valeo today has seven production sites, one global R&D center, two distribution platforms, two front offices to serve clients. Valeo employs more than 4,000 people in India, of which nearly 50 per cent are engineers. India is a global R&D hub for Valeo. Started in 2010 at Chennai, today the R&D hub employs over 1000 Indian engineers, leveraging their skillsets to provide efficient support in the areas of mechanical design, simulation, embedded software development, computer vision, machine learning and hardware & functional safety design to Valeo’s global customers.