Calcutta, Nov. 26: Hewlett Packard and Jadavpur University will join hands in the field of mobile computing with the aim of improving industry-academia exchanges.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the university to focus on areas such as Wi-Fi systems, distance education, cellular networks and satellite communication. “We had not been able to collaborate with academic institutions in a structured way so long and this is a step towards changing that,” said Biswanath Bhattacharya, director (public sector) of Hewlett Packard India.

Students and faculty of the university would have the opportunity to do research work at HP’s Bangalore labs.

“Often, publishing a paper is the ultimate aim of students. This should change and the knowledge created during research should be utilised in product development,” said Manoj Mitra, the dean of JU’s faculty of engineering and technology. “We look forward to a product jointly developed by JU and HP,” he added.

The two have already set up a digital library, which HP is keen on taking to educational institutions across the country. The company also plans to utilise the mobile computing lab on the varsity campus to work in areas such as language, affordability and communication. This would include developing multi-lingual systems (including Bengali) reducing cost of IT products and improving the communication infrastructure.