Industry Day at IIT Delhi: Industry-led Research Projects to be in focus

Industry Day 2019 is the flagship event of IIT Delhi that aims to harness and promote the power of Industry-Academia collaboration, kindle ideas for cogent partnerships and showcase cutting edge research by the IIT Delhi researchers.

V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog will be the Chief Guest at the 3rd edition of "Industry Day" on 21 September 2019.

The event will showcase more than 200 innovative product prototypes and posters by IIT Delhi researchers.

The five themes for Industry Day 2019 are Clean Energy for Sustainable Economy and Environment, Sustainable Medical Technologies, Emerging Nano and Advanced Materials, Sustainable Environment, and Make in India.

"Research Café" sessions have also been planned on the sidelines of this year's event to facilitate interaction between IITD research scholars and CXOs of Industry.

Another special feature will be a session on 'Women in Science' that will discuss the need for gender parity in various science disciplines by women personalities from various fields.

On Wednesday, a Press Conference was organized in which IIT Delhi Director Professor V Ramgopal Rao, Professor Anurag S. Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations and other senior functionaries spoke about the forthcoming event.

Prof. V Ramagopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, "To become an economic powerhouse, we as a nation, should work on our challenges and build on our strengths. AI-based innovation in the area of healthcare, clean energy solutions to propel sustainability and efficient waste management solutions will be at the forefront of collaboration to deal with our current challenges. Industry driven research will also focus on creating jobs for our youth, and achieve our ambition of USD 5 trillion Indian economy. IIT Delhi's Centres of Excellence are working with multiple Industrial partners towards this national vision".

Speaking about the event, Professor Anurag S. Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations further adds, "A productive academic-industry relationship is a necessary foundation for the long term development of India. Academia needs to step up to demonstrate their scientific and engineering capabilities as well as their ability to channel their ability into focused development of products and technologies. Industry too needs to play a critical role in partnering on the co-development and later in the commercialization of these outcomes. Government has been and needs to continue playing their role in seeding such relationships."

On this occasion, a live demo of some research-based products developed by IIT Delhi researchers was also given.

• Scrambled egg based on plant protein, which has the potential to address protein deficiency nutrition among the large population that avoid consuming meat or egg protein
• State-of-the-art research work on Personal Body Armour by Joint Advanced Technology Centre
• UAV (Aerial Vehicle) and RoV (Underwater Vehicle) by FITT Incubated BotLabs Dynamics.
• Waterless shampoo, waterless body bath by Clensta International (a FITT incubated startup)

Industry Day 2019 promises to be an engaging event with the presence of over 30 elite speakers and 73 faculty members and more than 50 hands-on products that will be showcased.

The event will also highlight the role of the two newly formed Centres of Excellence dedicated to the cause of sustainability. They include Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART) for the promotion of interdisciplinary research in electric vehicle and related areas and 'Waste to Wealth Technologies' wherein the long-term goal is to create circular economic models for waste management.

Industry Day 2019 will witness discussions and deliberation by illustrious speakers like V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS; M.S. Unnikrishnan, MD & CEO, Thermax Ltd.; R.V. Jasra, Sr. V.P., R&D, Reliance Industries, Ajit Manocha, President & CEO, SEMI and many other thought leaders.

In the last 5 years, faculty at IIT Delhi has initiated 890 sponsored research projects. These projects cover myriad research topics including air pollution, water contamination, affordable healthcare, energy saving in households and offices, recycling of natural disposable, alternate to reduce water usage and even addressing nutrition issues that plague the large population. At Industry Day 2019, the institute will be showcasing these to the visitors.

Key Highlights:

• A Diagnostic tool for detecting cancer tissues
• Flexmotiv Technologies: Flexmo crutch to assist the specially-abled.
• A way to convert rice straw into cellulosic pulp for making cups and plates which can be a substitute for currently used plastic-lined or Styrofoam plates.
• Water-activated powerless heating system.
• UAV (Aerial Vehicle) and RoV (Underwater Vehicle) by FITT Incubated BotLabs Dynamics.
• Bioresorbable Cardiac Stent - First of its kind!
• Scrambled egg based on plant protein, which has the potential to address protein deficiency nutrition among the large population that avoid consuming meat or egg protein
• State-of-the-art research work on Personal Body Armour by Joint Advanced Technology Centre