Having forging ties for offering various courses for armed forces personnel, the Andhra University is now all set to foray into the research in the defence sector.
Already, the nine-decade-old uni university is imparting as many as 117 courses for defence personnel, after signing MoUs with Indian Navy, Air Force, ITBP and Director General Resettlement.
Focus areas
In December last year, President Ramnath Kovind laid the foundation for the Defence Research and Development Centre (DRDC) which is taking shape now. Initially, four areas of research were identified with the cost of the centre being pegged at ₹60 crore, funded by the Union Ministry of Defence entirely.
“Now, the Indian Navy has come forward with 10 new fields and the cost of the centre has been scaled up to ₹80 crore. We will be getting an additional ₹20 crore for the new projects,” says AU Vice-Chancellor G. Nageswara Rao.
According to him, the new areas of research include cyber security, corrosion, radar technology, nano materials, fuel cells and hull technology among others.
Further, the fields of research and the additional funding has been approved in principle by P. Hari Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, who visited the university recently.
Giving details about the research project, Nageswara Rao, said, “The DRDC is an independent research body, but it will work in coordination with the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Indian Navy.”
The DRDO is already working in some areas and AU has the expertise. The Centre will work as the convergence platform, he said.
“We have to first understand the needs of the Indian Navy and Air Force. Then it has to be assessed as to what the DRDO and its affiliates are doing in the areas concerned. Only then AU-DRDC will fill the gap,” Mr. Rao said. On the funding aspect, he said that a major part of the grant would be spent on equipment and fellowships. “We will invite fellowships from research scholars from the respective fields,” he added.
