IIT Roorkee to get a new research centre for futuristic defence technology requirements

NEW DELHI: The ministry of defence has approved a new research centre at Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) in line with India’s mission for technological upgradation and self-reliance.

The IIT Roorkee research centre will be known as ‘DRDO Industry Academia-Centre of Excellence’ (DIA-CoE). This has also been intimated in a seminar on Atmaanirbharta in Defence R&D held at the recent DefExpo 2022, India, at Gandhinagar, chaired by the Union defence minister, Rajnath Singh.

It was announced that Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with its vision and new role towards nation-building has recently entered into an agreement with six IITs including IIT Roorkee.

With the establishment of the Research Centre, IIT Roorkee will have improved prospects and avenues to address critical and futuristic defence technology requirements of the armed forces. The facility will receive financial assistance from the DRDO, Government of India, IIT Roorkee said in a statement.

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Key research areas

The DIA-CoE IITR will facilitate and undertake multidisciplinary directed basic and applied research in the research verticals mutually identified by the DRDO and IITR.

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will also collaborate with the academic researchers and faculties at IIT Roorkee, startups, industries, and other institutes in the country in facilitating and progressing advanced defence technology research. It will include IITR faculty members and students, DRDO scientists, start-ups, industry, and other research organizations, it said.

The key research areas of the Centre include: Smart Infrastructure and Hardened Structures for Defence Applications; Energy Storage Devices; Landslide, Snow, and Avalanche Studies; Pulsed Laser and Specialty Fiber; Shock and Detonics; Thermal Management

IIT Roorkee director KK Pant said: “IIT Roorkee hopes that with the establishment of this CoE, the collaborative research and development activity will be able to further enhance our research capacity and make a meaningful contribution to society. This will not only facilitate self-reliance in defence technology but also cater to the needs of our defence personnel deployed in areas with extreme environmental conditions. The establishment of the Center will help utilizing the huge potential of IIT Roorkee to advance research and development under the six identified verticals.”

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Samir V Kamat, secretary Defence R&D and chairman DRDO said, “DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence at IIT Roorkee will provide a big leap in the scientific endeavours in the identified technologies. The CoE will enable structured engagement of DRDO laboratories with academic community for development of future technologies. In the context of IIT Roorkee.”

The vertical coordinators for the DIA-CoE proposal are Manish Shrikhande, Yogesh K Sharma, Vimal C Srivastava, Vipul Rastogi, and Andallib Tariq. The DIA-CoE IITR will enable collaborative research on these themes of verticals, which would lead to the development of new technologies for cutting-edge future defence systems as per the research and technology roadmap of the nation.

IIT Roorkee professor Vipul Rastogi, Department of Physics, was present to acknowledge the agreement exchange with DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamath at the DefExpo. Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri G Satheesh Reddy, Director General Technology Management (DGTM), Hari Babu Srivastava, and the Director, Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM), Kailash Pathak witnessed the event.