When I first spoke with Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Choudhary, founding Vice-Chancellor of the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV), Vadodara, his soft-spoken voice, filled with humility, insisted that I visit the campus to get a feel of the environment and see the huge campus surrounded by greenery. And what a campus it is!

Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) is a Central University under the Ministry of Railways (Govt. of India) and is focused on the entire transportation sector and logistics. In the morning, I met the Vice-Chancellor, who is currently on lien from IIT Jodhpur, where he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering. He is also the Finance Committee Chairman and a member of the Management Council of the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL, Ministry of Electronics & IT).

“There was a demand for a curriculum to meet the industry needs of the transportation sector, with an aim to accelerate development in the transport and logistics sectors. For this purpose, GSV was created, and I was specifically nominated by the ministry with a unique mandate to create a best-in-class resource pool for the entire transportation sector across technology, management, and policy,” said Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Choudhary.

To meet practical experience needs, GSV provides mandatory internships during each summer break. After the 1st year, students spend 2 to 3 weeks at railway establishments. After the 2nd year, they spend 4 to 6 weeks at any Railway PSU or private sector, and after the 3rd year, they spend 6 to 8 weeks at any industry.

GSV has signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs). “We have MOUs with 41 universities and organizations. Our recent tie-up with Airbus opens new possibilities for the Aerospace and Aviation Sector in India. Three working group meetings were held with priority on Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, Safety Engineering, Air Cargo Management, Drone Operations, Decarbonization, and Sustainability. The best part is they will provide scholarships for 40 B.Tech students spanning the entire 4 years of the program,” said Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Choudhary.

In addition to this, their MOU with Siemens includes providing scholarships for female students who meet the eligibility criteria (merit and needs). Their MOU with Nokia aims to build 5G, 6G, and AI use cases in transportation and logistics. Apart from this, GSV has MOUs with DPIIT (Ministry of Commerce & Industry), GIDB (Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board), and Karmayogi Bharat (for the capacity building of civil servants). GSV also has an Incubation and Entrepreneurship Cell (IEC), aimed at implementing entrepreneurship policy for students and faculty. While 5 patents were granted in 2023, 1 has been filed in 2024.

While talking with Professor Jitesh Thakkar, Dean of Academics, he highlighted an important point:

“For our M.Tech courses, we are only on the lookout for full-time employees with a minimum of two years of work experience who are sponsored by industry, R&D organizations, laboratories, government/private institutions, NGOs, banking institutions, or other academic institutions.”

GSV has separate hostels for boys and girls, and students have the option of choosing their roommates.

“We strive to make sure our students are comfortable. On arrival, they are allotted rooms but have the option of selecting different roommates and rooms of their choice, if available, within a fortnight. We also have a team of professionals to handle any student issues,” said Professor Edwin Raj, Dean of Students’ Welfare.

The Registrar, GSV, TV Ananthasubramanian, and Ex-Officio Secretary (Non-member), plays a pivotal role in addressing all non-academic issues at GSV, including the authentication of all documents and maintaining records on behalf of the university.