‘To support product development, set up innovation centres at varsities’

A professor from IIT-Madras has stressed on the need for research innovation centres at the university level.

Speaking at the inauguration of a conference on ‘Physics of materials and nanotechnology’ at Mangalore University on Thursday, Ramachandra Rao MS, professor from the Department of Physics, IIT-Madras, said that such innovation centres will help students to explore ideas with small funding. Such ideas can generate useful products for society, he said.

Stating that India stands third in terms of publishing research papers, he said such research works done at the laboratory-level should be translated into product development.

Quoting the examples of the US and Japan, he said the countries that are producing various products are not making them out of the blue. Everything is coming from laboratories, he said.

He said the decision of IIT-Madras to establish a research park has completely revolutionised the way the people start thinking about research. Till 2007, nearly 85 per cent of the students from the institute were going abroad for higher studies and greener pastures. He said that today 10 per cent or less students are going abroad for higher studies.

Rao said that nano science has removed the boundaries between different fields, including chemistry, physics, biology and electrical sciences. Nano science has enabledinterdisciplinary research, he said.

Urging the faculty to focus on patents, PS Yadapadithaya, Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University, said the university is planning to set up a patent cell. It will help the faculty members in filing of patent, and helping them technically and financially.

Stating that Mangalore University is starved of patents, he said the world is waiting for research outcome and not research output.

JS Bhat, Director of the Surat-based Indian Institute of Information and Technology, inaugurated the conference.

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