How to enthuse students, universities and manufacturers to seriously pursue a critical area such as microwave technologies?
The microwave community is taking a hard look at this issue so that India does not lose out in yet another hardware-related area. After all, microwave goes into devices ranging from ovens and mobile phones to satellite antennas and military radars, speakers at the International Symposium on Microwaves 2016 said here on Wednesday.
ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar said the synthetic aperture radars and TWTAs (travelling wave tube amplifiers) developed by it would reduce import and be used in future spacecraft.
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Sudhir Kamath, symposium chair and Director of DRDO's microwave technologies lab, MTRDC, said while Space and Defence are big users of microwave expertise, it must spread into other domains too.
Veterans in the area would be looking at the conundrum of improving basic education; ensuring jobs for young microwave professionals; and generating suitable manpower for the few industries that make microwave products, he said at the two-yearly gathering of defence, space and industry veterans..
Established players in the field such as ISRO and DRDO and Bharat Electronics Ltd are exploring rewards and incentives to budding talent, Dr. Kamath said.
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"The core competence in design is now with the US and China. The basic designers have to come in. Youngsters should be encouraged to work in hardware, basic electronics and mechanical engineering," Dr. Kamath said.
Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, has started offering intensive courses in the area, said Surendra Pal, DIAT Vice-Chancellor and an ISRO veteran.