IIT Delhi to host industrialists

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi will hold its first ever Industry Day on Saturday where industry leaders will apprise the faculty of their needs and expectations from the premier technology institute.

"Our faculty will listen to what these industrialists are saying and will see to it what are the opportunities in the industry, what are the challenges they must meet," Anurag Rathore, Associate Dean, corporate relations, IIT Delhi, told reporters at a preview held at the institute on Wednesday.

"There will be posters competition... 250 posters will be displayed. The projects which will be displayed have been screened for their value to the industry."

At least 25 industry leaders including former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chief and current NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat and Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Birla group are slated to speak at the event.

The academics and student researchers will also display their inventions and projects, which are "available for transfer" at the industry-academia rendezvous.

The event will see projects, ongoing and finished, based on five themes -- defence, environment, affordable healthcare, smart cities and energy.

Some of the projects which are scheduled to be displayed or briefed about at the event include bio-artificial skin substitute for second degree burn injuries and mini-buses fitted with a modulated internal combustion engine conducive for using bio-fuel such as hydrogen, methanol, ethanol -- causing almost zero emission.

"It is important that the research which is being done in the labs should benefit industries. The industry must know what is happening in our labs," M. Balakrishnan, a professor at the Computer Science and Engineering department of the institute, said.

He said although many students are building projects in association with industries, it will be some time before the real start-up boom comes about here.

Around 200 firms have registered so far for the event.

--IANS

vn/him/bg