Ferozepur: In a groundbreaking initiative, Akal Academy, a chain of 130 schools in rural Punjab, delivering value based education, has teamed up with renowned US-returned AI expert, Dr. Sandeep Singh Sandha, to impart Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills to its students. This new age program was blessed by Dr. Davinder Singh, President Kalgidhar trust at village Jiwan Arian
From the new academic year 2025-26, students of grade VII to XII across over 100 Akal Academies in Punjab, will have the opportunity to learn from Dr. Sandha, an IIT Roorkee alumnus who did his doctorate in AI from the University of California, Los Angeles.
“We are grateful to Dr. Sandha for agreeing to mentor and skill our students in AI, ML, Robotics, Drones, and 3D Printing,” said a spokesperson, of Akal Academies, Dr Neelam Kaur, Advisor Education and Health, Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib. “This shall benefit over 15,000 students and aligns with our mission of providing value-based education,” she said.
Having led AI research at Abacus.AI, Amazon, ARM, Teradata, IBM, and Oracle,Dr. Sandha’s expertise in AI has been recognized globally, with his research being implemented in production, ranging from controlling robots to designing precision agriculture strategies.
It was at California that his research work on Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically the Mango library, is used in designing commercial CPUs powering billions of devices, including Samsung and iPhone smartphones.
Dr Sandha serves as a program committee member for top AI conferences and as a reviewer for leading journals in the field, and has over 50 research papers and articles in prestigious computer science journals.
He has devoted himself to giving-back to his motherland and has returned from US in January this year to settle in his village home in Punjab, and has initiated Punjab AI-Excellence Programme and is not only mentoring school students but also guiding the IITs across the country on AI.
In his meeting with Dr. Davinder Singh, President Kalgidhar Trust, at his residence Dr Sandha shared that it’s time that we bring the advancements in AI to our middle and senior school students for making them and the state of Punjab future ready. World wide AI is now a routine may it be agriculture, healthcare, education, industry and research. It is time that we gear-up to reap its benefits
Both, Dr. Sandha and his life partner, Dr. Inderjot Kaur, who did her Masters from North Carolina State University and Ph.D. and post-doctoral from Mississippi State University, who also empowers the students of Punjab for acquiring higher education in Universities abroad, have left their well paying jobs in USA to give back to their birthplace, Punjab, and the country.
