The Indian Institute of Technology Tirupati (IIT-T) is all set to establish a ‘Technology Innovation Hub’ with the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), a wing of the Union Department of Science and Technology (DST), selecting it as the host institute.
As the DST invests about ₹100 crore over a period of five years in the hub, the premier institute will now focus on ‘Positioning and Precision Technologies’ (PPT) and act as a national resource centre for technology and skill development and create an ecosystem for startups and entrepreneurs, besides nurturing international collaborations in the area of PPT.
According to IIT Director K.N. Satyanarayana, these technologies are at the core of the application areas like precision agriculture, navigation, timing and sensing, precision manufacturing, disaster management, water resources management, transportation, surveillance and survey, satellite communication, guided defence technologies and logistics. The TIH will be a Section 8 company, a non-profit organisation monitored by the Hub governing body, which has the IIT Director as the Chairman and comprising members from industry and academia.
Laying stress on ‘Make in India’, the hub will promote translational research and development of cutting edge next-generation technologies.
Commenting on the development, Prof. Satyanarayana called the award of the TIH under a national mission to IITT ‘a major achievement’ for a nascent institute of less than five years old. He attributed the accomplishment to the prowess of the faculty members and excellent infrastructure coming up on the campus.