IIT Madras partners with technology firm Altair for e-mobility lab

Agreement will support the premier college's research in electric vehicles

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Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has partnered with Altair, a company providing solutions in simulation and high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, to start a laboratory for e-mobility.

The eMobility Simulation Lab at the department of engineering design, IIT Madras, will have the latest tools along with financial support from Altair. More labs and facilities for research and training in e-mobility will be set up at the institute later.

“Given the government's focus on e-mobility and the rapid expansion of the market that is expected, there is a need for IIT Madras to play its role in the academic space. E-mobility-related initiatives in academic programmes, research, and policy are all managed and offered with multiple departments contributing with the Department of Engineering Design acting as the nodal department," said V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras.

“In the coming years, we will be seeing a cluster of initiatives, facilities, and programmes in eMobility from IIT Madras to equip Industry and Government to address the challenges in ramping up the market for EVs," he said.

The laboratory will host Altair’s modelling and simulation tools that will support academic work IIT Madras will carry out other e-mobility labs for batteries, charging, power electronics, motors and controllers, and vehicle engineering.

Vishwanath Rao, managing director of Altair, said: “I am confident that the creation of the eMobility Simulation Lab at IIT Madras represents a pivotal stride in advancing research within the electric vehicle domain and advocating for sustainable transportation solutions. We are thrilled to join forces with IIT Madras in this endeavour, turning this forward-thinking initiative into reality.”

The Department of Engineering Design has in three years launched initiatives and programmes in e-mobility. C S Shankar Ram, head of the department, said, “We have been doing this in close partnership with different stakeholders - other IIT Madras departments, government of India, industry experts who are professors of practice here, policy experts, industry and businesses as well as with philanthropy. The vision is to have these initiatives make the department a hub for all e-mobility-related matters.”