IIT-B to start National Centre for aerospace research

In order to give a fillip to its ongoing efforts to step up research and development as well as engage more with the industry, IIT-Bombay is going a start a National Centre for Aerospace Manufacturing and Research.

“The centre will be jointly sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Boeing,” said IIT-Bombay director Devang Khakhar.  A formal approval is still being awaited for the centre, which will be located at the IIT-Bombay campus. It will be a standalone centre and the aim is to build up an ecosystem for the manufacture of aerospace components, which have a high degree of reliability.

Several members from the industry will be connected with the centre, which will work on problems faced by the industry. “The centre will help in production development and testing for the industry. However, a major focus area will be research,” said Khakhar.

Apart from faculty, students will also get an opportunity to do research here. They may be able to work on industry-specific problems under the guidance of faculty members. While the exact funding for the centre is being worked out, it is expected to cost around Rs15 crore. The centre will start functioning from this year.