Sabari Raja is business development manager (India) of the education technology business of Dallas (USA)-based Texas Instruments Inc (TI) — one of the worlds largest semiconductor manufacturers. An electronics engineering graduate of Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Raja pressed on to acquire a Masters from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Cox School of Business, Texas prior to signing up with TI in 1999. After rising steadily within TI in the US, in 2010 she was given the task of promoting TIs education technology solutions — branded Nspired — in India.

Newspeg. On September 28, TI and the Mumbai-based CORE Education & Technologies Ltd. (CORE, estb.2003), announced a collaboration to roll out a portable STEM (science, technology, engineering & maths) classroom in India branded STEM power. TIs senior vice-president, Melendy Lovett who doubles as president of TI Education Technology made this announcement together with Anshul Sonak, president (India) of CORE Education.

Texas Instruments Inc, a Fortune 500 multinational (revenue: $13.97 billion or Rs.72,644 crore in 2010), is a big name in semiconductors and education technology around the world. The latter division manufactures electronic calculators, science tools, software and interactive ICT (information and communication technology) solutions for classrooms worldwide. In India, TI entered the education sector last year. CORE (annual sales revenue: $242 million or Rs.1,258 crore) provides ICT, content development, teacher training and assessment services to over 85,000 schools worldwide with an aggregate enrolment of 31 million children.

Direct talk. STEM skills are vital for success in the 21st century, in which societies and nations will need to become STEM literate to prosper. Through this strategic partnership between TI and CORE, we will address teaching, learning and assessment needs in Indias classrooms. The combination of TIs technological prowess and COREs phenomenal market reach will make the latest technology available for math and science labs in schools countrywide. Our portable STEMpower classroom has low overheads, few infrastructure needs and can be shared by many classrooms. On a broader plane, our Nspire range of solutions about to be launched in India, are ICT driven and aligned with NCERT and CBSE syllabi, says Raja.

Future plans. After linking up with CORE Education, Raja expects TI, which is a familiar brand in the IT industry, to become more visible in Indias high-potential K-12 education sector. Given our leadership and vast experience in USA and other parts of the world, we are keen to roll out our Nspired Learning suite of products and services in India. We are here to stay, says Raja.

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