Alva’s Institute of Engineering and Technology (AIET), Moodbidri, on Wednesday, launched an artificial intelligence (AI) lab developed in collaboration with IBM Software Labs.

A release from AIET said this is the first-ever IBM AI Lab in an engineering college in India. The lab has been set up with the objective of strengthening industry-academia collaboration and providing students access to enterprise-grade AI technologies.

Powered by IBM watsonx.ai, watsonx Orchestrate and AI-assisted developer tools, the lab will provide hands-on exposure to enterprise AI platforms and real-world applications. IBM experts also began a two-day training programme covering foundation models, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), AI agents, workflow orchestration and AI-assisted software development.

The lab will serve as a centre of excellence for innovation, research, and skill development, providing students with direct exposure to enterprise AI platforms and real-world applications.

IBM India programme director and leader of watsonx, Ratheesh Muraleedharan, said the initiative is IBM’s first university-level AI programme in the country. “AI has democratised knowledge by making powerful tools accessible to everyone. The key differentiators will be curiosity, adaptability, and the ability to solve meaningful problems,” he said.

Alva’s Education Foundation Managing Trustee M. Vivek Alva said AI should be viewed as a means to enhance human potential rather than replace it. “AI, when combined with human common sense, can create powerful solutions. Technological shifts have historically transformed the nature of jobs rather than eliminated them, and AI will be no different,” he said.

AIET alumnus and AI specialist at IBM India Manoj B. Shetty, AIET Principal Peter Fernanadies, Computer Science Department Head Manjunath Kotari and others were present.

Published - July 22, 2026 07:43 pm IST