- (photo signing session left to right: Dr. Ian Rowlands, Associate Vice-President International (University of Waterloo), dr Vivek Goel (President University of Waterloo), Prof. Vinod Subramaniam (President UT), Prof. Tom Veldkamp (Rector Magnificus UT)
On Tuesday 5 July, the Presidents of both universities signed the strategic partnership agreement. The Canadian University and the University of Twente have been partners for some time but by signing the agreement, further arrangements were made. Together, the two parties aim for more intensive collaboration in several fields of research and education.
The universities have already had a Memorandum of Understanding since 2016. This is a kind of declaration of intent for intensive cooperation. It was initiated at the time by Prof. Lisette van Gemert-Pijnen and Dr. Catherine Burns. A next step in the cooperation is a strategic partnership. On Wednesday 5 July, the presidents Prof. Dr. Vinod Subramaniam (University of Twente) and Dr. Vivek Goel (University of Waterloo) met each other for the first time live. The University of Twente organised a tour of the campus together with all Deans and the directors of Novel-T and Strategic Business Development. The tour led past BMS lab, MESA+ NanoLab and TechMed. At TechMed, the tour ended with a hybrid meeting at which officials from Waterloo and the UT spoke to each other about the celebration of the strategic partnership.
Areas of cooperation
The universities want to cooperate on the topics of health, bioengineering and biotechnology, nanotechnology and water. The strategic partnership makes student and staff exchange easier, in research and education. The first students will visit the University of Waterloo for a working visit in September.
Further expansion of cooperation
From now on, the cooperation will be further elaborated. By establishing a vision and broad direction, a joint strategic roadmap can then be drawn. A roadmap to ultimately achieve the intensified cooperation and develop a 'Waterloo-Twente ecosystem'. In addition to a network with Waterloo, the Country/ISP coordinator at the University of Twente, Margriet Dekkers, has developed an external network with industry and government partners (including Oost NL, WTC Twente, Embassies, and the Netherlands-Canada Chamber of Commerce).
