IIT Guwahati's centre of excellence boosts nanotech, healthcare sector

NEW DELHI: The Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati in collaboration with the ministry of electronic and information technology (MeitY) has achieved its goals set for the centre of excellence (CoE) in research and development of nanoelectronic and theranostic devices that was established in 2014.

At the time of establishment, IIT Guwahati and MeitY set a few long-term objectives. The CoE has achieved these goals that included establishment of a brand-new centre for nanotechnology building spanning across 10,000 sq meters equipped with ISO 5 and 6 clean rooms and 23 laboratories having cutting-edge fabrication in lithography, CVD and PVD reactors, oxidation and diffusion furnaces, and printers, characterization. The labs also include facilities such as confocal and electron microscopes, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and AFM-Raman-TERS and testing – IV-CV analyzer, AC/DC/RF probe stations, network analyzer facilities, for a first in the North-eastern region.

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Another objective was to develop various healthcare devices to detect liver, kidney, pancreatic health, detect pathogens and cancer markers with commercial potential. In this process, the Institute made seven transfer-of-technologies, more than 280 publications in the high impact international journals, over 40 Patents, 30 prototypes, 50 PhD students, and manpower training.

The CoE also aimed to develop SAW, FET, microfluidic, MEMS, and NWFET devices integrated with indigenous nano biosensors. Some of these developments have already been translated into products by startup companies and ready to be in the market. The centre has developed low-cost point-of-care healthcare devices to detect liver/kidney/pancreatic health, detect pathogens and cancer markers (cervical, liver, and others), among others.

The initiative has supported multiple startups related to nanoelectronics such as M/S Primary Healthtech pvt. ltd., M/S Bioaptagen pvt. ltd. and M/S JSV Innovations pvt. ltd and has established partnerships with industry such as M/S Vivocon pvt. ltd., M/S Chemidist pvt. ltd., M/S RR Animal Healthcare, and M/S Avyantra Health Technologies. Lastly, the utility of the centre towards a number of future activities such as INUP- I2I, SWASTHA, and other CoEs sponsored by the funding agencies.

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IIT Guwahati is making efforts to support the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' initiatives of the Government of India. In line with this goal, to provide a boost to the healthcare facilities in the country, the Institute has signed an agreement to establish a centre for advanced research on diagnostics in cancer for providing a large-scale oncodiagnostic services with Assam cancer care hospitals across the state.

Speaking about the CoE at IIT Guwahati, department of electrical engineering, Ramgopal Rao, said: “A successful establishment of the Centre for Excellence is an epoch-making event in the North-Eastern region because the youth of the region can now utilize these world-class facilities available at their doorstep to pursue their lofty scientific and technological dreams. Importantly, the Nano Centre has already started delivering an array of technologies that will cater to the needs of the society. As the Chairman of the committee that has overseen the growth of the Center, it is indeed a very happy moment for me to be a part of this journey with the IIT Guwahati fraternity. The leadership that the faculty members have shown and the commitment the scholars, students and the IIT Guwahati administration have displayed in establishing the Centre is phenomenal and sets a new benchmark for all such activities to follow in the country.”