IU, Salesforce Establish Faculty Fellows Program

Indiana University’s Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering is teaming up with Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) to launch a program for graduate students. IU says the Salesforce Faculty Fellows program will pair Salesforce executives with faculty and students in the Luddy School’s AI Development and Experience Lab, or LAIDEL.

The university says students are working in teams led by coaches from Salesforce who offer current business needs for students to solve. Salesforce Faculty Fellows receive guidance and mentorship throughout the project.

“The LAIDEL partnership is a great collaboration that allows our students to earn real-world experience while developing the skills they’ve learned in the classroom,” said Dennis Groth, interim dean of the Luddy School. “The establishment of the Salesforce Faculty Fellows is a fantastic investment in the future of our students and will help expand the recruiting pipeline for the next generation of information technology talent in the state of Indiana.”

IU says LAIDEL was piloted earlier this year with the overarching goal of using shared technology expertise to solve problems.

“Salesforce is committed to nurturing the next generation of AI talent and growing the tech ecosystem here in Indianapolis,” said Syam Nair, executive vice president of engineering at Salesforce. “Our employees are eager to connect with Luddy students and we’ve already seen incredible resilience, agility and creativity as our teams begin to work together.”

The university says the fellows will support Luddy faculty members over the next three years.