Tag: product development

DST Secretary Prof. Abhay Karandikar inaugurates SATHI facility at IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology (DST) visited Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institute (SATHI) facility, a flagship programme of DST, GOI, hosted at IIT Kharagpur and inaugurated the highly sophisticated R&D infrastructure: Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and High-Resolution Aberration Corrected Transmission Electron Micron (HRTEM), one of its kind, on 12th April, 2024 in the presence of Prof. V K Tewari, Director; Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director; Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean, R&D; Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee, Chairman, SATHI of IIT Kharagpur along with the students, faculty and staff members of the institute and other officials of DST.

During his opening remarks, Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST emphasized about the strategy entails of SATHI establishment, which sustains with shared equipment within a collaborative framework and networking with near-by MSMEs, start-ups, industries & academic organizations, guided by a self-sustaining roadmap. Spearheading the establishment of the SATHI facility, emphasizing its pivotal role in propelling the development of new materials, innovative products, and cutting-edge technologies in advanced materials characterization. By adopting this approach, DST strives to foster the convergence of diverse expertise, regional vigor, and institutional eminence to lead the vibrant scientific eco-system.

“It is a delight to visit the first and the largest IIT of the country which shares a profound historical significance and laid the foundation for the technical studies in India. IIT Kharagpur has always stood at the helm of transforming technologies and sustainable reforms of technical prowess. This initiative extends a warm invitation for active engagement to various entities within the region, including Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), industries, and start-ups and scientist to hand hold to gain better societal outreach. With such compelling proposition, the SATHI program has the potential to fortify the R&D infrastructure landscape of the nation,” quoted Prof. Karandikar.

Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur elaborated the various initiatives the institute is taking in making its Central Research Facility available to masses. He said that one of the instruments HRTEM, is only of its kind in the country and 14th in the world and added, “SATHI is a flagship programme of DST, GOI to promote the culture of deep technology based cutting-edge research not only within academia but also involving industry particularly MSME & start-ups. As a part of the SATHI Facility at IIT KGP, two world class instruments: High Resolution Aberration Corrected Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) & a Time of Flight – Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (ToF_SIMS) was inaugurated today. I am grateful to Prof. Karandikar that he came to IIT Kharagpur and inspired us with his presence.”

Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean (R&D) highlighted the need for government funded projects for industry interactions. Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director expressed that SATHI like facility will ignite the spark in the young minds.

Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee, Chairman, SATHI stated, “The HRTEM allows clear direct visualization of atom & molecules and will be extremely useful for many factories on advanced material based industries. On the other hand, the ToF_SIMs allows determination of self composition and defects and is vital for the semi-conductor industry.”

Faculties and students of the institute explored the immense possibilities of SATHI facility for extensive usage. Prof. Karandikar announced that three new SATHI centres are coming up in the country. He stated that efforts are being made to simplify the fund utilization and other administrative procedures to support ease of doing scientific & technological research. He also delivered an institute lecture on “Connecting the Unconnected in 5G and a Vision for 6G Architecture, a session on future communication system of 6G and beyond in the Netaji Auditorium of the institute.

About SATHI, IIT Kharagpur:

  • Sophisticated Analytical and Technical Help Institute (SATHI) center at IIT Kharagpur would be offering services such as Characterization, Testing, Fabrication, Scientific analysis/interpretation, generation of data & knowledge dissemination and so on to various external users including start-ups, MSMEs, large scale industry and academia.
  • The National Centre will give access to unique instruments and facilities to various types of users, which are not readily accessible or available in the country, to inculcate the culture of high-end science-based research, product development and innovation
  • The key theme of the SATHI center at IIT Kharagpur, which will be managed by SATHI Foundation at IIT Kharagpur (a section 8 company) is Advanced Materials
  • Currently, SATHI facility at IIT Kharagpur is hosting state of the art High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope (HRTEM) and Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (ToF-SIMS) instruments. Very soon, a high temperature Universal Testing machine will also be installed.

Inputs by: Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee,Chaiman, SATHI & Dr. Avinash Joshi, Chief Operating Officer, SATHI Foundation
Email: rabibrata@che.iitkgp.ac.in; coosathi@iitkgp.ac.in

By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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IIT Kharagpur has set “Specialty Friction Reducers” in motion

  • IIT Kharagpur researchers have contributed to product development and commercialization of specialty friction reducers for challenging unconventional oilfield environments.

Recently, IIT Kharagpur researchers have contributed towards a new domain of indigenous innovation, “Specialty Friction Reducers” for unconventional oilfields and most significantly, this technique has led to commercialization of this product by an Indian Manufacturer, for the first time, for the global oil and gas industry.

“We have developed the technique for characterizing the specialty friction reducers involves a unique combination of drag reduction and viscometric measurements, specifically replicating the complex oilfield environment. The work further enabled correlation between the fundamental polymeric structures of the friction reducers and its performance in challenging unconventional oilfield environments (extremely high salinity/ hardness and high shear conditions)”, said Prof Sandeep D Kulkarni, the lead researcher and the Associate Professor of Deysarkar Centre of Excellence in Petroleum Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

The research scholar, Navneeth Kumar Korlepara along with Prof Sandeep D Kulkarni, has worked and contributed extensively on this project as well as Prof Kiran Gore, the Assistant Professor of the Department of Chemistry and his group put invaluable inputs into this project. This research work was mainly sponsored by Dr. Asoke Deysarkar, Chairman of PfP Industries, USA who is also an eminent IIT Kharagpur alumnus. The automatic flow loop built by the team for drag reduction evaluation is first of its kind in the country and it was showcased at National Conference on Upstream Petroleum Engineering 2019 held in IIT Guwahati.  Several journal publications in this domain are underway.

To ensure practical impact of the above innovation, Dr. Kulkarni had initiated synergistic product development in collaboration with the US industry professionals (sponsor) and Indian manufacturers which has led to a first container of 18 tons of the developed specialty friction reducer being readied by the Indian manufacturer, MSME, Envitech Chemical Specialties Pvt. Ltd., for shipment to the US oil and gas industry.

 Congratulating the whole team, the IIT Kharagpur Director, Prof Virendra Kumar Tewari added, “Potentially, this Make-in-India exercise based on above indigenous innovation is expected to scale up, in the long run. The researchers need to work hard and make it a reality particularly for the MSME sectors to get benefited”. 

 Dr. Deysarkar said, “R & D efforts at IITs should ensure tangible value addition for the society and the country. Such innovations would strengthen Make-in-India and could make India Inc. part of global supply chain for a range of specialty products”.

Media Contact: Prof Sandeep D Kulkarni, Associate Professor

Email: sandeep.kulkarni@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. no.: +91-3222-284882

Contact: Paramita Dey, Junior Assistant

Email: media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282004

ERP Software Developed by IIT Kharagpur Adopted by other IITs

The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software developed and extensively used by IIT Kharagpur is now to be adopted by IIT Ropar and IIT Jodhpur for institutional use. IIT Kharagpur has signed MoU with both the IITs for customization, installation and deployment of the ERP system.

“This indigenously developed software was deployed across all major functions of the Institute, to improve organizational administration and shifting operations to e-management, through both intranet and internet as well as desktops and mobiles. Close to 2000 of our teaching and non-teaching staff and more than 14000 students are using this software regularly; additionally, a large number of external people also access various modules for applications to our academic programs, guest house services, collaborators etc., achieving another milestone of Atmanirbharta,” remarked Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

The modules covered in the commercial version of the software include Academics (including new Admissions), Career Development, Accounts, Human Resources, Purchase, Hall Management Centre, Continuing Education, Guest House and also Institute Works. The modules are menu-driven with role-based access and delegation facility, rule engine-based approval process and data-oriented based process definition.

The perpetual license cost of the software has been estimated at ₹ 2.5 crore including initial customization and installation support. That is followed by an annual consultancy cost of ₹ 50 – ₹ 75 lakh. The duration of the project is 18 months.

Prof. Chittaranjan Mandal, who is heading the ERP division at IIT Kharagpur said, “Our software is uniquely designed to provide circumspect support institutional function covering admissions, academics, placement, hostel management, recruitment for faculty and non-faculty positions, research and consultancy activities, accounts, institutional works, guest house management. Necessary end-user customization, training of staff to support operation and further customization and the user end is included within the scope of the MoU. We are enthused with the positive reception to our ERP by IIT Ropar and IIT Jodhpur.”

IIT Kharagpur has also been approached by other institutions for similar adoption of its indigenously ERP.

Contact:

Project Info: Prof. Chittaranjan Mandal, Email: chairman.erp@adm.iitkgp.ac.in; Media: media@iitkgp.ac.in; 

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