The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) on Saturday organised the National CSR Summit - ‘Building India 2047 – Technology for Better Tomorrow’ with a focus on ‘Technology-Driven Social Impact’.
The event saw participation from industry, Public Sector Undertakings, corporate firms and business leaders from across the country. “Events and initiatives such as these from the research institutions where innovations are to be really developed are as vital if not most vital. If we are really looking for long-term investments, then, these kinds of (CSR) channels are extremely important. It is not surprising that an institution like IIT-Madras has understood this early, created a lot of relationships and leveraged it over the years, and has come to the point where they can afford to give awards for their best partners,” said Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, government of Tamil Nadu who delivered the keynote address.
V. Kamakoti, director, IIT-Madras, said, “Today, within five years in the low earth orbit, we need close to 1,00,000 satellites. These satellites have a lifetime of five years. So, they have to be retired and new satellites have to replace them.”
He further asked, “Where are rocket engines for such huge numbers? From here came the challenge, can we 3D-print rocket engines? It takes two months to make a rocket engine now, which has several soldering points that actually reduce the overall reliability of the system.”
“Our students have now developed 3D printing of rocket engines with no soldering intervention. Four rocket engines can be 3D printed in 72 hours. This is going to be a revolutionary change,” he added.
IIT-Madras along with its associated entities, raised ₹231 crore in funding from alumni, industry and individual donors during the financial year 2022-23. In a statement, the institution said: IIT Madras stands as the preferred partner for over 160 leading corporates, PSUs and institutions, driving projects worth over ₹450 crore via CSR initiatives across India over the past five years.
