In a significant milestone toward expanding IOE’s global academic reach, IOE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in June 2025 with the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), a world-renowned institution consistently ranked among the top engineering universities globally.

This strategic partnership aims to promote joint research programs, student and faculty exchanges, advanced laboratory training, co-advised graduate research, and collaborative project development in areas of high national and international priority.

As an early outcome of this collaboration, Mr. Haribansha Timalsina, an IOE Pulchowk Civil Engineering alumnus (Batch 073) and current Ph.D. student at UIUC, is undertaking a semester-long research project (Fall 2025) in the Environmental Engineering Laboratory at Pulchowk Campus. Under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Shukra Raj Paudel, he is leading a research initiative focused on decentralized wastewater treatment systems for agricultural water reuse, with an emphasis on urban farming in developing countries like Nepal. The project, framed within the broader theme of global food security, directly aligns with Nepal’s and the world’s pressing environmental and resource-management challenges.

The MoU reflects IOE’s commitment to elevating its academic ecosystem to global standards, creating pathways for Nepali students and faculty to engage with world-class research infrastructure, international mentorship, and cutting-edge scientific discovery. This collaboration is expected to serve as a strong foundation for long-term academic diplomacy and joint innovation between Nepal and the United States.

Some photographs of the student activities in our lab: