IIT Delhi launches software to design cheaper, durable glass for medical equipment

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 2: IIT Delhi Researchers have launched a first-of-its-kind software that enables the design and production of cheap glass-based products with high damage tolerance. It will positively impact hospital and technological settings by acting as a design guide in making the manufacturing of medical equipment cheaper and more durable.

The machine learning-based software named Python for Glass Genomics (PyGGi) predicts and optimizes glass compositions for creating products for specific purposes.

Elaborating on the project, one of the project investigators, Prof. Anoop Krishnan of the Department of Civil Engineering said, “Understanding and predicting the composition, structure, property relationship is the key to developing novel glasses such as bulletproof and scratch-resistant glasses. Data-driven approaches such as machine learning and artificial intelligence can exploit our existing knowledge to predict glasses for tailored applications.”

The researchers are focusing on three fields for the application of the software. One area is related to smartphones and similar technology. Another is the use of glasses in the immobilisation of nuclear waste using glass compositions. The final area of focus will be in the biomedical field for the manufacturing of medical equipment.

The software package was launched at an event held at IIT Delhi which was attended by Dr K. Annapurna, Senior Scientist, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI) and Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, Country Manager, BSA Software Alliance among others from the industry and academia.