by: NavJeevan

Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates IIT Madras state-of-the-art Research Facility

NE EDUCATION BUREAU
CHENNAI, APR 24

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCWPC), IIT Madras – Discovery Campus in  Chennai, Tamil Nadu on Monday.

Under the Sagarmala Programme, NTCWPC has been established at IIT Chennai at the cost of Rs 77 crore. The institute acts as a technological arm of the Ministry. It develops cutting-edge technologies and application products to solve various challenges faced by the Ports and Shipping Sector.

  • This Centre acts as a unique vibrant centre for students, industry and academicians in the area of Sediment transportation, Navigation, Dredging and siltation, port and coastal engineering, autonomous platforms and vehicles, among other areas: Minister
  • Under the Sagarmala Programme, NTCWPC has been established at IIT Chennai at the cost of Rs 77 crore

According to an official statement issued earlier, the institute has world-class capabilities for undertaking 2D and 3D investigations of research and consultancy nature for the Port, Coastal, and Waterway sector across all disciplines.

“Modelling of Ocean, determining the Coastal and Estuarine Flows, Sediment transport and morphodynamics, planning of Navigation and Maneuvering, estimation of Dredging and Siltation, consultancy in Port and Coastal Engineering – designing the Structures and Breakwaters, Autonomous Platforms and vehicles, Experimental and CFD modelling of flow and Hull interaction, Hydrodynamics of multiple hulls, Ocean renewable energy coupled with port facilities are some of the areas where expertise had already been developed for the benefit of the country,” the statement said.

‘Discovery Campus’ is the 163-acre campus of IIT Madras, located at Thaiyur, about 36 km from the main campus at Guindy. It hosts state-of-the-art standalone Research Centres with large dedicated facilities and will have its own support infrastructure such as hostels for the research scholars and fellows, common instrumentation laboratories, and conference facilities, among other amenities.

The NTCPWC Researchers demonstrated the shallow wave basin equipment as well as provided an overview of the special projects underway at this Research Facility to Sarbananda Sonowal.

Addressing the inaugural function, Sarbananda Sonowal  said, “This Centre acts as a unique vibrant centre for students, industry and academicians in the area of Sediment transportation, Navigation, Dredging and siltation, port and coastal engineering, autonomous platforms and vehicles, among other areas.”

Further  Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Till date, more than 100 projects / products worth Rs. 200 crore have been developed and operationalized at major ports, waterways, atomic energy, state maritime boards, ALHW, Navy and many other PSUs and State agencies, among others. These products have provided tangible benefits and cost savings to the extent of more than Rs. 1,500 crore. This is a step in the right direction of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ of the Hon’ble Prime Minister”

Sarbananda Sonowal added, “The NTCPWC-IIT Madras, Discovery Campus spread over four acres, has about five state-of-the-art labs. Notable among these is the ‘Sedimentation Management and Test Basin,’ which is a large shallow water facility for ports and waterways and marine information and communication laboratory where iVTMS and e-navigation products are developed.”

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “We are committed to the service of the nation. The estimated savings from NTCPWC in the last five years is around Rs. 1,500 Crore of Foreign Exchange by indigenous technology. This is among the only such facility in India where we are looking at real-world deployment of all the naval-related Research and translational development projects where we move away from simulation and come closer to real-world so that we can actually implement these projects. This is also comparable with best facilities in the world including Europe. We are establishing ourselves as leaders and role models.”

Prof. Kamakoti added, “This whole set-up has been done indigenously in India at IIT Madras, which is a vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had mentioned in ‘Amrit Kaal’ as we march towards the next 25 years when we reach the 100th year of Independence, India needs to be a completely self-sustaining country – the ‘Atmanirbhar India.’ This is certainly a very important step as we move towards in the maritime sector.”

Highlighting the unique facilities at this Research Centre, Prof. K. Murali, Dean (Faculty), IIT Madras, and Head, NTCPWC-IIT Madras, said, “The NTCPWC, IIT Madras, has commissioned a large 360 degrees projection based Full Mission Ship Handling Simulator for conducting complex navigation feasibility studies for port development projects and including Inland Waterways. The state-of-the-art simulator will also be used for conducting R&D projects at IIT Madras.”

Prof. K. Murali added, “The Simulator installation is amongst the largest Simulator of its kind in the region, using the latest Marine Simulator technology available anywhere in the world. More than 25 navigational studies and training programs carried out for all Major Ports of India and abroad.”

Dr Malini V Shankar, I.A.S, VC IMU spoke about opportunities for synergy between IMU and IITM.  Sunil Paliwal, I.A.S, Chairman ChPA spoke about importance of industry academia interaction in the marine sector and how it could bring about effective solutions. Dr Venkata Ramana Akkaraju, Chairman NMPA spoke about important of cost effective solutions coming out of innovations.