When I joined Micron’s India operations as its managing director, one thing was immediately apparent — our success depended on attracting and keeping engineering talent.

While experienced professionals knew about Micron and its legacy, a lack of awareness on campus made it a challenge to recruit the best talent from colleges. With hundreds of brands vying for top engineering talent, we had to put in place a framework of engagement that would help not only build Micron’s brand but also educate students about possibilities on the frontiers of memory design.

Micron India’s University Research Alliance of Micron (URAM) is the next step in our ongoing engagement with India’s top engineering campuses. At its core, URAM brings together academic institutions and key faculty experts, advanced research labs, student communities, industry associations, startups and government agencies to further research, education and innovation in memory design. I am pleased to report that 12 of the country’s very best engineering colleges have already signed on to the program.

URAM’s engagement framework gives partner universities an opportunity to construct courses around advanced memory design and technology as well as data sciences. Students can access Micron’s labs, international internships and fellowships, and a wide range of learning resources, while faculty and their research groups can use Micron’s expertise and infrastructure to collaborate on open problems in memory design, storage technologies and systems. Dedicated agreements cover the different aspects of these engagements, and memoranda of understanding have already been signed with some of the above partner institutions.

The alliance receives active mentorship from the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog, Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge, National Association of Software and Service Companies, and Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association to work on grassroots skilling programs. 

As Micron’s operations in India continue to grow at an accelerated pace — with plans to reach a critical mass of 5,000 employees over the next four to five years — URAM will play an important role in engaging with talent early to establish Micron and memory design as viable career options.