Highlighting that innovation in various fields, importantly in defence, could be achieved only with active contribution from educational institutions, G. Satheesh Reddy, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, urged Indian educational institutions to improve themselves to international standards.
Speaking at the 59th College Day celebration at Thiagarajar College of Engineering here on Saturday, Mr. Reddy pointed out that not even a single institution from India was among the list of top 100 educational institutions in the world.
Acknowledging the contributions made by Indian educational institutions in the advancements made by India in the last two to three decades, particularly in the field of atomic energy, space research and defence, he said that the country could achieve a lot more with increased contributions from these institutions.
“In defence, today we possess indigenous technologies in certain areas that only four or five countries in the world have. Yet we remain the second largest importer of defence equipment in the world,” he said, adding that the situation can be changed in the next decade with active collaborations from academia.
Pointing out that technological breakthroughs in the western countries happened mainly from its academia, Mr. Reddy said that a similar trend was needed in India if the country had to become a ‘technology leader’ from ‘technology follower.’
He also heaped praises on TCE for its active collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation. “A number of antenna technologies used in our defence equipment originated from TCE. When DRDO awards a project to a college, the college generally submits only a research paper as output. However, with TCE, DRDO always gets a product,” he said.
Karumuttu T. Kannan, Chairman and Correspondent, TCE, advised the outgoing students not to be concerned about the stringent restrictions likely to be imposed by the USA in terms of job opportunities since tremendous opportunities awaited for them in India. V. Abhai Kumar, Principal, TCE, presented the annual report. Best outgoing students and retiring staff members were felicitated.
