New Delhi, Jan 19 : Two technology-driven institution have emerged as winners for best industry-academia linkage at the 'AICTE-CII survey of industry-linked 'Technical Institutes 2020 awards. Salem, Tamil Nadu-based Sona Group -- Sona College of Technology and Thiagarajar Polytechnic College -- emerged winners at the awards for exceptional industry linkage, presented by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' at a virtual event. While Sona College of Technology's Department of Fashion Technology was conferred the mentor institution award, its Department of Mechanical Engineering won the best industry linked institute title for the second time. "Working with industry in normal times is ok, but working in Covid times to develop machines that India needed made this even more meaningful. The fact that we designed, developed and built the seam sealing machine during a lockdown is a remarkable achievement and a testament to our resilience," Chocko Valliappa, Vice Chairman, Sona Group of education institutions, said in a statement on Tuesday. The 63-year-old Thiagarajar Polytechnic College (TPT), a winner every year for the AICTE-CII awards since 2014, has been conferred the mentor institution status since 2019. This status will continue until 2021 and enjoins upon the college to share innovative practices and learnings in building industry-academia partnerships with other institutes, the institution said. As part of the award assessment, the AICTE-CII survey assesses the current status of partnership between technical institutions and industry on six basic parameters, such as curriculum, faculty, governance, infrastructure, placements and research and projects, and skill development. /IANS