“The Academy” partners with industry to focus on innovation to address business & social challenges through research projects in engineering, science and technology
Around 100 CEO’s representing the leading businesses of the Indian industry, Government leaders and academics participated at the “The Future Challenges Summit” organised by the IITB-Monash Research Academy on Saturday, October 3, 2009 in Mumbai.
The Future Challenges
The Future Challenges Summit presented a strategic picture of the challenges confronting society and industry, particularly in India and Australia and identified responses that can be addressed through an innovation led agenda.
Some of the key areas discussed at the summit included the role of innovation in society; how innovation can be carried across national boundaries; the joint efforts of industry & academia in nurturing the innovation system; the role of state and private entrepreneurship in the national innovation system; the importance of balancing core strengths while exploring current and anticipated future needs in areas like stem cell science and nanotechnology and the likely return on investment on academic research for industry
The Experts
Speakers at the summit included Mr N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman, Research Advisory Council of The IITB-Monash Research Academy; Dr R A Mashelkar, Deputy Chairman, Research Advisory Council of The IITB-Monash Research Academy; Dr Alan Finkel AM, Chancellor, Monash University; Professor Ed Byrne AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University; Professor Devang Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay; Dr Shyam Saran, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister of India on Climate Change and Professor Mohan Krishnamoorthy: Acting CEO, IITB–Monash Research Academy
The IITB-Monash Research Academy
The IITB-Monash Research Academy, based in Mumbai, is a partnership between the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) and Monash University – amongst the world s leading educational and research institutions. The IITB-Monash Research Academy is a global research partnership that delivers innovative solutions through collaborative, multi-disciplinary projects in thematic areas of strategic importance to industry and to Australian and Indian society.
Located within IIT Mumbai campus, The Academy was formally opened on 26th November 2009 and operates as an independent, autonomous research institution. The key objectives of The Academy are to create a bank of innovative technologies; carry out research in areas of critical interest to global enterprises and establish The Academy as a leading provider of contract research services and collaborative research
Research Projects
The IITB-Monash Research Academy is committed to developing innovative solutions to complex research problems in the areas of engineering, science and technology. The Academy’s research themes are focused around 6 key areas that includes advanced computational engineering, simulation and manufacture; infrastructure engineering; clean energy; water; nanotechnology and biotechnology & stem cell research
Industry Linkages & Partnerships
The Academy’s research projects are targeted at both the industry & government and The Academy offers them
• Outsourced research and development (contract/sub-contract)
• Collaborative research
• Consultancy
• Support and incubation for start-up companies and spin-offs for established companies
• Customised research focusing on business requirements of industry
• Research training that can be provided on a cohort exchange or contract basis
The vision and research directions of The Academy are driven by The Academy’s Research Advisory Council. The members of the Research Advisory Council include Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chair, Founder and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies; Professor Ramesh Mashelkar, Former Director-General, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India; Dr Pawan Goenka, Chief Operating Officer - Automotive, Mahindra & Mahindra; Mr Prasad Menon, Managing Director, Tata Power; Dr Rao Aiyagiri, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India; Sir Professor Gus Nossal, Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Global Foundation and Dr Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Life Sciences Limited
Research Funding
In addition to the extensive support provided by both IITB and Monash University, significant financial and research support for The Academy is provided by principle sponsors BHP Billiton and the Australian Stem Cell Centre. The Academy is currently in advanced stages of discussion with over 10 companies for funding research.
Motivation
Speaking about The Academy, Professor Ed Byrne AO, Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University said, “An increasing number of corporations, governments and research institutes are turning to India for research and development that delivers effective, high impact solutions to many of the leading research issues in the world today from climate change and renewable energy to clean water, advanced engineering and biotechnology”
The view was expressed that The Academy is a pioneering effort in the sense that no one has attempted an institutional collaboration in research training to the scale that Monash University and IIT Bombay have, through The Academy joint-venture partnership. It is also a crucial effort that will add substantially to the research and innovation agenda of both India as well as Australia. With that in mind, from the point of view of strategic intent as well as design, it was important that The Academy reach its goals in terms of scale of effort as well as engagement with industry.
Professor Ed Byrne said, “The IITB-Monash Research Academy is an extremely important investment and development for Australia and for Monash University. Given the number of multi-national companies that have been recently interested in setting up R&D centres in India, it is important that Monash University is part of this activity. Moreover, this provides a unique opportunity for Monash University to train the next generation of rich talent that will be contributing to the global research agenda from within these R&D centres. From that point of view, I am personally extremely excited by the potential of this strategic joint-venture research venture.”
These views were echoed by Professor Devang Khakhar, Director of IIT Bombay, who said, “The IITB-Monash Research Academy ushers a new era of Indian and Australian scientific relations. This will lead to high impact research outcomes that will deliver a range of tangible economic benefits and long lasting societal benefits for both countries and the global community. It has the potential to be one of the most significant research institutions to have been established in recent times.”
Talking about The Academy’s approach to achieve key outcomes through a theme-based approach that made it easier to carry out multi-disciplinary research, Prof Devang Khakhar said, “Through our collaborative approach to multidisciplinary research The IITB-Monash Research Academy will effectively deliver high impact, integrated solutions to complex research problems for industry, government and the broader research community”.
Partnerships with The Academy
Around 100 CEO’s participated at the “The Future Challenges Summit”, and the summit attracted significant interest from Indian corporates to partner with The Academy for joint research projects, collaboration and funding of research themes and projects.
For more information on partnerships with The Academy, please contact Professor Mohan Krishnamoorthy: Acting CEO, IITB–Monash Research Academy at Mohan.Krishnamoorthy@adm.monash.edu.au or mohank@iitbmonash.org; 022-25769402, 9940042748, 022-25764744. For more information on The IITB–Monash Research Academy, please visit http://www.iitbmonash.org