An industry-academia partnership earns its worth not in the signing of an agreement, but in what follows it. For SRM University-AP, a collaboration first formalised with Techno Smile, a Japanese technology enterprise, has in the space of a few months moved well past ceremony and into placement, giving eighteen of its engineering students their first foothold in a career abroad, with many more expected to follow.
 

Dr Vinayak Kalluri, Registrar, SRM University-AP, with TechnoSmile leadership, university leaders and students from the Placement Drive
 

Techno Smile conducted a two-day job fair on SRM AP campus, on September 10 and 11. Through this initiative, seventeen engineering students from the University’s 2027 Destination Japan graduating batch were selected for international career tracks, the first tangible milestone toward the fifty opportunities promised for 2028. This success stems from a collaboration formally set in motion on June 2, when a delegation from Techno Smile visited the SRM AP campus to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the University, signed on behalf of the institution by Dr Vinayak Kalluri, Registrar of SRM University-AP. It laid the foundation for what both sides described as a long-term collaboration, with Techno Smile setting out an ambitious vision, to create fifty career opportunities for SRM AP engineering students by 2028.

That commitment was carried forward on August 6, when Mr Sankar Karunanidhi, Country Manager at SRM Global Consulting Pvt Ltd, travelled to Techno Smile’s Aichi Head Office in Nagoya to meet Mr Ryoma Yoshinaga, Managing Executive Officer of the company’s Technology Business Division, and Mr Syuntaro Suzuki, Deputy Head of the same division. Their discussions centred on the practical steps needed to turn the partnership’s early promise into a functioning hiring pipeline for SRM AP students.

 

TechnoSmile’s senior management interacts with 1,000+ engineering students on career opportunities in Japan
 

On campus, the University’s Corporate Relations and Career Services team, led by Dr M S Vivekanandan, Director of Corporate Relations and Career Services, along with Mr Jotish Kumar, CEO of SRM Global Consulting, as part of the Destination Japan programme, undertook the task of preparing students for a recruitment process shaped by Japanese hiring conventions. Led by the CRCS team, the programme combines Japanese-style interview training, technical readiness, and communication coaching, equipping graduating batches to compete confidently for international placements and reflecting the University’s commitment to global careers. Over the following weeks after the visit, students were trained in the technical competencies the industry expects, and the finer points of self-introduction and communication, training meant to make them genuinely ready for these roles.

The partnership’s reach, however, extends well beyond those directly selected. During their visit on September 10th and 11th, Techno Smile’s senior management engaged with over a thousand first- and second-year engineering students, introducing them to the possibilities that a career in Japan might hold and encouraging them to weigh the option seriously as they progress through their studies, an exercise in early awareness as much as recruitment.

The University remains committed to building similar pathways that place its students within international industries and careers extending past national borders: from SRM University-AP to Japan, building careers without borders.