Minister for Higher Education M.C. Sudhakar said here on Friday that in the present era, education must go beyond theoretical learning and should strongly focus on practical exposure and skill development.

He was speaking after inaugurating the Mphasis AI and Robotics Laboratory at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangaluru. The laboratory has been set up at the college in association with the Mphasis Foundation, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), and the NASSCOM Foundation.

Highlighting the growing relevance of Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Sudhakar urged institutions to integrate AI across all domains for the benefit of the students.

Stressing the importance of quality enhancement in engineering education, he spoke about the government’s mandate on NBA accreditation for institutions offering engineering programmes.

Speaking on the occasion, Deepa Nagaraj, senior vice-president and head of ESG, Sparkle Innovation Ecosystem and Communications at Mphasis Foundation, said that the core objective behind establishing the laboratory is to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

She said that the laboratory would serve as a strong platform connecting educational institutions with industry requirements by enabling students to gain practical exposure, opportunities for innovation, and industry-relevant skills.

The long-term goals envisioned through the laboratory include the development of patents, research publications, and student-led start-ups, which would serve as key benchmarks for the success of the programme.

Highlighting changing industry expectations, she said that organisations today do not merely seek the best coders, but individuals who can apply Artificial Intelligence effectively to solve real-world problems. Referring to industry hiring practices, she mentioned that hackathons and innovation-driven problem-solving platforms are increasingly becoming important indicators of talent and employability.

Chetan Dixit, vice-president, KDEM, reiterated KDEM’s commitment towards supporting higher educational institutions in building innovation-driven and industry-oriented ecosystems.

Manjunath Bhandary, MLC, and chairman of the college, said that placements alone should not be considered the ultimate goal of education. Instead, students should emerge as job creators. “Academics are the passport, but skills are the visa to success,” he said.