New Delhi: IHFC (I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics), the Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) of IIT Delhi has received 12 out of 35 research projects launched under DST-NSF Joint Research and Development program. A total of 35 projects are being jointly funded under this program with an outlay ofRs. 46 cr (approx. USD 6 mn).

A DST- NSF Joint Research and Development Project Kick-off Workshop was organised by the IHFC on August 8th and 9th, 2022 in association with the DST, Government of India, and five other TIHs. The workshop was the first milestone towards USA-India Bilateral Research Collaboration program, which was initiated in February 2022. Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, National Science Foundation (NSF), US; Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Adviser, DST; Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi and Prof S.K Saha, Project Director, IHFC were present on this occasion along with other senior officials.

The workshop was organised to discuss how the projects to be implemented by the six Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) identified under NM-ICPS for collaborative research and development with NSF-supported institutions would leverage unique resources, such as testbeds and datasets available in India and in the US, expand collaborations on critical technologies like AI and advanced wireless, and encourage student and researcher exchange programs.

“US is committed and proud to partner with India for prosperity and opportunity for all. These projects shall be aspirational and should be able to solve the societal problems,” Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director, NSF, said while addressing the workshop.

“US is our natural partner. Especially in science we have traditionally partnered and through collaborative projects the engagement will be deeper at the institution level, government level and even people level,” Dr Akhilesh Gupta, Senior Adviser, DST, said.

During the kick-off workshop, all the six TIHs presented their project ideas and plans to the major stakeholders as well as their immediate peers.

The six TIHs include TIH of IIT Delhi (I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics); TIH of IIT Bombay (Foundation for IoT and IoE); TIH of IIT BHU-Varanasi (IDAPT Hub Foundation); TIH of IIT Jodhpur (iHub DHRISHTI); TIH of IIT Madras (Pravartak Technology Foundation) and TIH of ISI Kolkata on Data Science, Big Data Analytics and Data Curation.

While speaking about the 12 projects IHFC-IIT Delhi would be working on along with research institutions from the USA, Prof S.K Saha, Project Director, IHFC said, “We are delighted to have about 1/3rd of the sanctioned projects whose PIs are not only from IIT Delhi but also from several other institutes, e.g., Tezpur University, IIT Jodhpur, Roorkee, Mandi and Kanpur, IIIT Allahabad, CSIR-CMERI Durgapur. That shows national involvement of IHFC-IIT Delhi”.

During the workshop, Dr. Panchanathan along with the DST officials also released the compendium made by the IHFC, which summarizes all the projects at a glance in a booklet form for ready reference. This will help all the TIHs to learn from one another and collaborate better for future projects.

(Press Release Issued on:14-08-2022)