IIT-Delhi, Log9 Materials tie up for research and development on battery, energy storage solutions

MUMBAI: Advanced battery-tech start-up Log9 materials has collaborated with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to promote superlative research and development in the areas of developing advanced battery and energy storage solutions, including battery packs for electric vehicles, according to a statement released on Thursday.

The strategic three-year collaboration between Log9 and the Centre for Automotive Research and Tribology (CART) at IIT Delhi has been established and finalised through an umbrella MoU (memorandum of understanding), which was recently signed between Delhi Science and Technology (S&T) Cluster and Log9 Materials Scientific Private Limited, it said. Delhi S&T Cluster is managed by the Delhi Research Implementation and Innovation (DRIIV) Foundation, which is an initiative of the office of the principal scientific adviser to the Government of India. As part of this initial pact, DRIIV has agreed to facilitate the long-term collaboration that is planned between CART and Log9, who will be working together on multiple academic and industry-oriented projects in the upcoming months and years, Log9 Materials said.

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"We are proud to announce the strategic collaboration with a prestigious player like IIT-Delhi's CART, which is facilitated and enabled with the active support of DRIIV. "With the electric mobility and energy sectors in India growing rapidly over the last few years, a dire need has been felt for industry-academia partnerships to promote innovation, research and talent in these sectors," Akshay Singhal, founder and CEO of Log9 Materials, said.

This forward-looking agreement will not only address these issues but also go beyond to provide breakthrough research and solutions and thereby an overall much-needed boost towards the EV and energy storage ecosystems in the country, he said. Additionally, the implementation of this initial pact can go a long way in achieving self-reliance in terms of electric vehicles by driving local innovations at scale, he added. Log9 looks forward to working on a number of academic, research-related and other types of industry-enabling projects with the key stakeholders at CART in the near future. "(We) also have plans to replicate this model with other reputable institutions and industry bodies as well," Singhal said.

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B K Panigrahi, professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering IIT-Delhi and head of CART and the lead PI of E-mobility Cluster of DRIIV, said: "It is a great opportunity for us to collaborate in various research fronts along with Log9 Materials. I look forward for the implementation of various research projects by the IIT-Delhi faculty, as well as the training and internship opportunities for the students and research scholars to make this collaboration productive."