Wichita State announced a partnership with India-based company Tech Mahindra, a supplier of tractors, information technology and other engineering services.

The company will collaborate with WSU in the areas of aerospace engineering, certification, information technology and information technology.

“We are eager to leverage the local talent pool by working with WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) as it takes a leadership role in supporting the global aviation industry with its research, development, testing, certification and training services,” Krishna Balasubramaniam, Tech Mahindra head of Americas, aerospace and defense tech, said in a press release.

Sushantn Paun, a WSU graduate student studying electrical engineering, said opportunities like this are unique to WSU.

“I think it’s good,” he said. “For graduate students, they have a wide open range of opportunities. Now  [students] will have more opportunity as undergraduate students.”

John Tomblin, interim vice president of technology transfer and executive director of the National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR) said he didn’t know how many jobs the deal could create.

“It’s not that easy,” he said.

Instead, he said it is about working with an international company to create opportunities at Wichita State. Because of WSU’s position, Tomblin said the “chances of success are pretty high.”

While Tech Mahindra may seem like it can only offer opportunities to engineering students, Tomblin said this is not the case.

“These companies I have here on campus are not just looking at engineering,” he said. “Innovation doesn’t just have to be about engineering.”

Tomblin said there will be opportunities for business students as well as liberal arts and sciences and fine arts with graphic design.

Tech Mahindra will likely open up office space on campus when the first Innovation campus building is built in February, but Tomblin said they could move into temporary office space sooner.

Tomblin said WSU is the number-one industry-funded aerospace research university in the United States.

“That pops us up on a lot of companies’ radars,” he said.