CHIDAMBARAM: The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras is developing a research park near its campus where it will train students to come up with innovative ideas, according to M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT-Madras.
The research park would be ready soon and the institute has invited 50 companies for interaction. The aim of setting up the park is to bring unlike minds together, such as industrialists, marketing people, professors and students.
Mr. Ananth was speaking at the inaugural of the “Students’ Indian chemical engineering congress, SCHECON-2007”, jointly organised by the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Annamalai University here.
Mr. Ananth said fundamental knowledge was no more the exclusive property of the universities and many industries were good at it. It was the age of partnership and hence, the universities ought to keep an open-minded approach to adopt new ideas. At the age of 20, ignorance was an asset. In other words, students in that age would come out with ideas that others could not. Chemical engineering because of its spectrum and depth could provide a versatile base for all careers.
Quoting Albert Einstein he said, “Character in a scientist is more important than his mental capacity.” Universities were at their wit’s end on how to inculcate character among students.
Range of applications
Chemical engineering had many applications that the chemical engineer could look at. For instance, the bio-products and biotechnology markets were worth over $ 15 billion a year, in which the chemical engineer with right application could have his share of the pie.
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