Why an all-women university in Delhi will incubate Sabre’s next QA Center of Excellence

In an ongoing effort to develop an ecosystem of industry-ready test engineers, Sabre will develop a Quality Assurance Center of Excellence at Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW). The technical university facilitates and promotes study, research and innovation  among women with a focus on engineering, technology, applied sciences, management and related areas. In announcing the new partnership, Shail Maniar, Sabre India’s Vice President and Managing Director, sees this novel approach as a step towards deeper understanding of the role that quality assurance and test engineering has in software development:

“The incubation center within an all-women technical university is first-of-its-kind in India. It will bring awareness of test engineering practices and processes, as well as the critical role QA plays in the software development lifecycle.”

Maniar also emphasized just how vital new recruits are to a thriving workforce. Without a steady pipeline of talent, the business cannot achieve its goals of high-performance technologies:

“With complex and mission critical software products being built at Sabre’s development center in Bangalore, we see an increased demand for trained test engineers in automation, performance engineering and Big Data testing.”

Bringing awareness to test engineering

Sabre and IGDTUW have set up the knowledge center specifically to nurture student skills on industry-standard test engineering practices. In order to develop the desired knowledge base, there will be a program of workshops and webinars at IGDTUW, as well as a 6-month internship program at Sabre’s development center in Bangalore. On successful participation in the CoE program and completion of the internship, Sabre will also facilitate International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification for students based on performance. Nupur Prakash, Vice Chancellor, IGDTUW, sees the partnership as instrumental in expanding students’ marketable skills and position them well for a good job after graduation.

“I am very happy that Sabre is establishing a Quality Assurance CoE at IGDTUW. The center provides hands-on training to the Masters in Computer Application (MCA) students in using QA tools effectively, while developing an insight into the latest software testing techniques used in the IT industry. This gives the students an opportunity to learn QA tools from industry experts, which in turn enhances their knowledge and skills. This makes them employable and industry ready.”

A day before the announcement, Sabe visited the IGDTUW campus to bring awareness among the student community on test engineering as a career. Standing in front of 100 students, Sunaina Tickoo, Senior Manager of Human Resources at Sabre, India kicked off the event by sharing Sabre’s commitment to building a diverse workforce with excellent test engineering skills. As an all-women university, IGTDUW is a special area of focus for Sabre, often visiting the campus for its internship program. Mitali Chawala, who is an alumni from IGDTUW working as Sabre test engineer, shared her work and culture experience. She talked about how inclusive she felt being a part of the Sabre family and her plans to build a career in Quality Assurance. Manjunath Muniappa, Manager, Global Test Engineering, Sabre India, who has been instrumental in building the curriculum of the program, gave deeper insights on the program.

“Test engineering is generally perceived to offer fewer career opportunities among university students in India. The fact is that test engineering plays a critical role in the software development life cycle, and offers great career growth from an associate to senior leadership levels.”

IGDTUW, the first engineering college for women established by the Government of Delhi in 1998, and attracts more than 2000 students into its various engineering programs.