Annual Report 2014 -15
Tata Centre for Technology and Design IIT Bombay
Annual Report 2014-15 Tata Centre for Technology and Design IIT Bombay
CONTENTS About Us From the Desk of Dean ACR From the Desk of Prof. In-Charge
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Organizational Structures
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Committees
1
Research Activities
3
Project 2014 - 15
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Project 2015 - 16
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Academic Activities
7
Proseminar
7
Expert Lectures
8
Facilities
9
Product Realization Lab
10
Equipment
11
Other Activities
13
Workshop on Innovation, Fabrication and Entrepreneurship
14
Field Visits
15
Nirman, Gadchiroli
16
Swades Foundation
17
Muni Seva Ashram
18
Kalpana: “Imagine, Innovate and Create”
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Internship Program
21
Interaction with MIT
23
Key Highlights
25
People
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About Us
T
ata Centre for Technology and Design (TCTD) was established at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) in 2014 with support from Tata Trusts. Currently, TCTD is a virtual Centre for teaching and research, drawing faculty members and students from various academic units of IIT Bombay. TCTD aims to address the challenges faced by resource-constrained communities within India and across the world by developing appropriate solutions. The Centre emphasizes on affordability as well as performance of solutions and focuses on the areas of Agriculture & Nutrition, Education, Energy, Healthcare, Housing, Water and Waste Management, which predominantly address the major problems faced by the common people. In this view, the Centre undertakes various research projects in the above areas and trains future leaders in engineering and business to invent technologies and system solutions that serve human needs in the context of complex environment, social, and political factors. To this end, the Centre offers graduate level courses in Technology & Design and runs a state-of-the-art ‘Product Realization Lab’. The Centre closely works with its sister institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA and with other partner organizations and stakeholders throughout India.
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Prof. Ravi Sinha (Dean, Alumni and Corporate Relations) IIT Bombay
From the Desk of Dean, ACR
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he Tata Centre for Technology and Design (TCTD) at IIT Bombay has been seeded in the vision of Mr. Ratan Tata that the best brains in the country should be engaged in addressing the needs of the most deprived sections of the nation. The Centre has been established in 2014 through generous support of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. The vision of IIT Bombay is “To be the fountainhead of new ideas and of innovators in technology and science� and TCTD focuses on developing new technologies as well as training students to develop solutions for the unmet needs of society and industry.
It will contribute significantly in furthering the research and education at IIT Bombay and our contributions to society. The Institute is thankful to Mr. Ratan Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts for providing this opportunity and for their generous support. We are committed to fulfilling the vision of IIT Bombay and Mr. Tata through the achievements of TCTD.
TCTD is an inter-disciplinary research centre that leverages the expertise in all our academic units and fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations in its activities. A primary focus of the centre is to develop tools and methodologies to identify the unmet technological needs. The centre has also undertaken several projects to develop innovative solutions for the identified problems. TCTD has been privileged to collaborate closely with its sister centre at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The unique collaboration has led to several visits by students and faculty between both Institutions in order to exchange ideas and learn from each other. The collaboration is also expected to lead to joint projects by the faculty members of MIT and IIT Bombay in future. The students engaged in TCTD projects, known as Tata Fellows, represent several departments, schools and centres within IIT. Several joint activities of the students enable broadening of the exposure of these students and also enable them to learn from each other. In the coming years, I am hopeful that centre will play a key role in creating affordable solutions for masses and also producing leaders who can address the complex challenges faced by communities with limited resources.
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Prof. Sanjay Mahajani (Professor In-Charge, TCTD)
From the Desk of Professor In-Charge
I
t gives me pleasure to present the first annual report of the Centre giving the details of its various activities. The focus of this Centre has been to create human resources that are trained in developing innovative technological and design solutions for the resource constrained communities. It brings in additional components into the traditional learning process, towards the creation of end-to-end solutions. In addition to conventional research training, Tata Fellows are given exposure to the problem identification process, and to the deployment of developed solution in the form of a new product, process or system. In the first year, eighteen such Fellows were sponsored by the Centre. The Centre has introduced various activities which can be broadly divided in three parts i.e. curricular, research and ancillary activities. The Tata Centre office is staffed by project managers, lab manager, media team, administrative and technical staff to support these activities. On the curricular front, the Centre designed and introduced three Institute electives keeping in mind the aforesaid objectives. Two of these (Technology and Design: End-to-end Solutions, Parts-I and II) give students perspectives on need identification and research methodologies through case studies and experience sharing by successful innovators. The third elective, a “Technology and Design lab�, gives students exposure to various fabrication tools leading to prototype-design through project based learning. A state-of-the-art multipurpose Product Realization Laboratory, which is equipped with both digital and traditional prototyping facilities, has been built for this purpose. On the research front, various projects are being executed. In its first year, seed funding was provided to eighteen different projects in the areas of energy,
education, housing, healthcare, and nutrition. Research staff meetings are organized on a regular basis to obtain updates on the ongoing projects and to provide additional inputs if necessary. Among the other activities, Centre arranged field visits of Fellows and staff to various organizations in India and abroad. These include a ten days long stay in Gadchirolia remote place in Maharashtra. Apart from giving students an exposure to the outside world, the purpose was also to explore useful collaborations with these organizations in relevant areas. An internship program has also been introduced to attract talent from other colleges from all over India. Twelve interns spent their time in the Centre, developing prototypes this summer. A national level competition on product prototyping was also organized and the top seven teams worked in the Tata Centre for a week to reach their final goal. The interactions with the sister Centre at MIT have been extremely useful. It took off with a joint meeting between IITB and MIT students, staff and faculty at IIT Bombay. Faculty members and Fellows from IITB subsequently visited the MIT Tata Centre: the purpose was to learn from their experiences and to explore possibilities of collaborations in future. Two collaborative projects, one in Healthcare and the other in the area of Nutrition, are underway and few more are planned. Few long-duration visits of post-doctoral Fellows from either sides to their counterparts have been firmed up. Overall, it was a productive and eventful year. The focus in the coming year would be on upgrading the existing infrastructure, taking several of the promising project outcomes to the stakeholders, and on strengthening collaborations with MIT and other Institutes.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Organizational Structure T
he Tata Centre at IIT Bombay has a f lat organization structure. The funding and research activities are managed by the off ice of Dean Alumni and Corporate Relations (ACR), IIT Bombay. Prof. Ravi Sinha, of Civil Engineering Department, is currently the Dean, ACR. The Centre has four committees to provide guidance on various activities of the Tata Centre. The Centre is headed by Professor-In-charge, who is supported by various administrative, project, technical and media staff to run its operations.
Prof. Sanjay Mahajani, of Chemical Engineering Department, is currently the Professor-In-Charge of the Centre. He is supported by a team of faculty members from different Departments/Centres in IITB. The team, known as Executive Committee, was also involved in working on the structure of the program, takes decision on all executive matters including recruitment, collaborations and equipment procurement. The following are the committee members:
Committees
Executive Committee
Professor-Incharge TCTD, IIT Bombay
Prof. N.G.Shah CTARA
Prof. Santosh Noronha Chem. Engg.
Prof. Vivek Agarwal Elec. Engg.
Prof. Alka Hingorani IDC
Prof. Shishir K. Jha
Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar Mech. Engg.
Prof. Arti Kalro SJMSOM
SJMSOM
In addition to the above, the team includes visiting faculty, managerial & administrative and technical staff. Please refer page 26 for more details.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Steering Committee The Steering Committee is a guiding force for the Tata Centre and helps in planning the various programs and activities. The following are the committee members:
- Chair: Director, IIT Bombay - Dr. Ashok Khosla, Chairman, Development Alternatives Group - Mr. Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO, India - Mr. Jaithirth Rao, Executive Chairman, Value and Budget Housing Corporation - Dr. Robert Stoner, Director, Tata Centre for Technology and Design at MIT USA - Mr. R. Venkatraman, Executive Director, Tata Trusts - Dean Alumni and Corporate Relations, IIT Bombay - Professor In-charge, Tata Centre for Technology and Design at IIT Bombay
Research Activities Committee The Research Activities Committee provides recommendations in selection of research projects undertaken by Tata Centre. It further participates in half yearly and annual reviews of the projects. The following are the committee members:
- Convener: Professor In-charge , Tata Centre for Technology and Design at IIT Bombay - Dr. Sanjiv Phansalkar, Program Leader, Tata Trusts - Ms. Tara Sabavala, Associate Director, Tata Trusts - Dr. Robert Stoner, Director, Tata Center for Technology and Design at MIT USA - Prof. Santosh Noronha, Chemical Engineering - Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar, Mechanical Engineering
Academic Activities Committee The Academic Activities Committee provides recommendations in course work, introducing new courses and other curricular activities undertaken by Tata Centre. The following are the committee members:
- Convener: Professor In-charge, Tata Centre for Technology and Design at IIT Bombay - Prof. Arindam Sarkar, Chemical Engineering - Prof. Narendra G. Shah, Centre for Technological Alternatives in Rural Areas - Prof. Vivek Agarwal, Electrical Engineering - Prof. Shishir K. Jha, Shailesh J Mehta School of Management - Dr. Sanjiv Phansalkar, Program Leader, Tata Trusts - Ms. Tara Sabavala, Associate Director, Tata Trusts
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Research Activities
T Agriculture
Energy
Housing
Waste Management
Healthcare
Education
he research activities of the Centre revolve around various projects that it sponsors in identified thematic areas such as energy, water, healthcare, food, nutrition, housing etc. Most of the projects funded by the Centre, in the first year, were based on the fresh ideas (seed projects) and were limited to the proof of concept and prototype development as deliverables. Some of them are expected to graduate to the higher level (translational projects) wherein, activities such as business plan, close interaction with stakeholders and fine-tuning of designs would be undertaken. The projects are either initiated by the Centre (through brainstorming in different theme-based groups) or they are selected from the applications received through the open call for proposals within IITB. The proposals in both the categories are reviewed by domain experts identified by the Research Activities Committee of the Centre. Forty-five seed proposals were received in the first year (2014-15) and following is the list of the selected ones. More details of these projects may be found in a separate project-booklet published by the Centre.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Projects 2014 -15 (19 Projects)
Title
Project Investigator(s)
De-shelling of marking nut
Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar, Mech. Engg.
Ice-maker using nocturnal radiative cooling
Prof. K. Moudgalya, Chem. Engg. & Dr. Dipankar, Elec. Engg.
Low power transceivers for wireless communication
Prof. Jayanta Mukherjee, Elec. Engg.
Low cost and rugged solar PV microinverter
Prof. Vivek Agarwal, Elec. Engg.
Gasifier based cook-stoves to manage garden waste
Prof. Sanjay Mahajani, Chem. Engg.
Jaundice diagnostics in neonatal care
Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, BSBE
Functional nanohybrids for cancer treatment
Prof. D. Bahadur, MEMS
Point-of-care diagnostic for Osteoporosis
Prof. Santosh Noronha, Chem. Engg.
Product for voice prosthesis
Prof. Prasanna Gandhi, Mech. Engg.
Non-invasive delivery of non-steroidal drugs
Prof. Rohit Srivastava, BSBE
Low cost bone graft for bone reconstruction
Prof. Jayesh Bellare, Chem. Engg.
Low-cost point-of-care blood cell analysis
Prof. Debjani Paul, BSBE
Technology options in addressing malnutrition
Prof. N. Shah, CTARA
Exploring potential of mass manufacturing in housing
Prof. B. Chakravarthy & Prof. Kumaresan, IDC
Development of cool roof coatings
Prof. A. S. Khanna, MEMS
Housing in cubic feet
Prof. V. Bapat & Prof. Uday Athavankar, IDC
Pedal operated potable water filtration system
Prof. A. B. Rao, CTARA & Prof. Shireesh Kedare, DESE
Mobile technology based tools for English Learning
Prof. Alka Hingorani, IDC
Collaboration between craft and designers communities
Prof. Nina Sabnani, IDC
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Projects 2015 -16 (19 Projects)
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n the second year (2015-16), Centre received 40 proposals and following is the list of those 19 proposals considered for funding. In this year, the Centre has also introduced white-paper projects dealing with surveys and analysis, having a potential of giving birth to several other seed projects in the coming years.
Title Modular mass transit using platoons of battery assisted human powered vehicles Development of noise damping coatings Ergonomics assessment and design intervention on removing drudgery in jaggery making
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Project Investigator(s) Prof. Debraj Chakraborty, Elec. Engg. Prof. Arindrajit Chowdhury, Mech. Engg. Prof. A.S. Khanna, MEMS Prof. N G Shah, CTARA Prof. G G Ray, IDC
Ergonomics intervention in traditional brick making industry on removal of drudgery and developing safe work conditions towards enhancement of productivity
Prof. G G Ray, IDC
Hemosorb-Haemostatic dressing for trauma care
Prof. Rohit Srivastava, BSBE
Extraction of water from air for rural household drinking water requirements
Prof. Anil Kottantharayil, Elec. Engg.
Development of a cheaper and reliable method for concentration and detection of enteric viruses in potable water
Prof. Sumathi Suresh, CESE
Development of a point-of-care test for the detection of pathogens causing urinary tract infections
Prof. Rinti Banerjee, BSBE
Cervical cancer screening
Prof. Santosh Noronha, Chem. Engg.
Microcrystalline silicon piezo-resistive sensor for foot plantar pressure gauge
Prof. Rajiv. O. Dusane, MEMS
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Title Upliftment of nutritional status of vulnerable population in Rajur, Akole Taluka, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra Process design for the reclamation of waste sand from small foundries
Project Investigator(s) Prof. N G Shah, CTARA Prof. Gajanan N. Jadhav, CTARA Prof. Sanjay Mahajani, Chem. Engg.
Development of household or community composting system for food waste recycling
Prof. Anurag Garg, CESE
Conversion of plastic into fuel oil through pyrolysis
Prof. Seethamraju Srinivas, DESE
Development of a bioreactor landfill for IIT Bombay community
Prof. D. N. Singh, Civil Engg.
Home based nutrition counseling program
Prof. Mrinmoyi Kulkarni, HSS
Technology needs assessment in rural areas
Prof. K Narayanan, HSS
Innovative financing models for base of the pyramid products
Prof. Shishir Jha & Prof. Arti Kalro, SJMSOM
Municipal solid waste characterization and monitoring of existing solid waste management systems in IIT Bombay campus
Waste Management Group led by Prof. Anil Dixit, CESE
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Academic Activities
Proseminar
T
ata Fellows are required to go through two courses – MNG 629 (Technology and Design for End-to-End Innovation I, offered in autumn semester) and MNG 630 (Technology and Design for End-to-End Innovation II, offered in spring semester) to prepare them for engaging in projects either with faculty or on their own. Commonly referred as the Proseminars, these courses at the Tata Centre were initiated with the learning objectives: i) to introduce and sensitize students to the challenges of resource-constrained communities and ii) to examine how technology, design and management specifically influence End-to-End innovation (from conceptualization to market). The basic idea behind these two courses is to closely examine and understand several issues related to
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agriculture, energy, health, housing, sanitation, water and waste management. The Proseminar courses have been designed primarily to address issues related to people’s experience living at the bottom of India’s economic pyramid. The Tata Centre (through these courses) is organized around conceptualizing the practical and innovative solutions which are offered for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid – hence an End-toEnd innovation. The course has a perspective and skill building approach with a combination of unique blend of lectures, in-class and field activities.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Expert Lectures
T
ata Centre conducts interactive lectures, given by leading experts in the focus areas of Centre. The objective is to discuss and understand existing challenges, innovations and other similar efforts in their areas of expertise. These lectures are not only attended by the Tata Centre community but they also draw a participation from IITB community. Last academic year saw 12 such lectures by the following experts from academia and industry.
Mr. Jaithirth Rao, Chairman and Founder, Value Budget Housing Corporation Topic: Challenges in Affordable Housing
Prof. Milind Sohoni, Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay Topic: Engineering Solutions to Address Developmental Challenges
Dr. Mukundan Faculty member. NITIE Topic: Intellectual Property Rights for Frugal Products
Dr. Nevan Hanumara, Program Manager Tata Center for Technology and Design MIT Topic: Product Designing
Dr. Ritu Verma, Co-founder, Ankur Capital Topic: Social Entrepreneurship Dr. Ajith Basu, Chief Program Executive, Agastya International Foundation Topic: Innovative ways in Teaching Elementary Kids Mr. Karthik Reddy, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures Topic: Venture Capital & Scenario of Startups Prof. Anuradda Ganesh, Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay Topic: Challenges in Waste Management
Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Senior Lecturer Sloan School of Management MIT Topic: Poverty, Development Templates for Observations Prof. Amos Winter, Mechanical Engineering, MIT Topic: Designing Affordable & High Performance Products Prof. R C Anantheswaran, Food Science, Penn State University Topic: Innovations in Food Processing
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Facilities
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Product Realization Lab
T
he Tata Centre’s laboratory is best equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities where one could realize the end product or prototype and hence, named as Product Realization Lab. One would get to see many young, energetic and innovative minds busy developing solutions to some of the important challenges of the society in various sectors. The lab believes in “do it your self-philosophy� and there is no desired qualification except for the passion to learn and develop products. The tools and machinery in the lab are user-friendly and with little effort, one can acquire the desired expertise. The lab has a well-trained technical staff which is available for any assistance pertaining to the utilization of various facilities. The lab has been functioning effectively and is used by students since its establishment and has witnessed several prototypes within the short span of time. Tata Fellows have had an opportunity to utilize the lab facilities and have developed innovative products as part of the institute elective Technology and Design lab, we offer in spring semester. The prime focus of this laboratory based
course was to train the students on various fabrication and machine tools to build working prototypes. In addition to teaching the technical skills (i.e. fabrication, hand on skills), it also offers specialized tutorials on fundamentals of identifying the need, process of ideation and innovation along with the methodologies on how to design, develop related strategies for deploying the products into market. An assistive mobility device for visually challenged, portable baby weighing machine, dynamic water level sensor for extreme conditions, thermoelectric generator from conventional Chulhas and a vein finder are some of the prototypes developed by the Fellows. The lab has also witnessed the prototypes from summer interns from various institutions of the country. Tata Centre, through this lab, has proved that with the appropriate working conditions, freedom of thought and imagination and relevant guidance, an idea can be taken to the next level in realizing the solutions to the challenges faced by the society.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Equipment
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Sherline CNC Lathe
Band Saw
Vinyl Cutter
Tig Welding Machine
Sherline CNC Milling
CNC Router
Milling Machine
Mig Welding Machine
Shopbot
Roland Modula
Lathe Machine
Spot Welding Machine
Ultimaker 3D Printer
Circular Saw
Scroll Saw
Metal Shear Machine
Up 3D Printer
Laser Cutter
Sand Blaster
Arc Welding
Sherline CNC Milling
Shopbot
CNC Router
Laser Cutter
Roland Modula
Sherline CNC Lathe
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Band Saw
Circular Saw
Ultimaker 3D Printer
Up 3D Printer
Vinyl Cutter
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Other Activities
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Workshop on Innovation, Fabrication and Entrepreneurship
A
week long workshop titled ‘Innovation, fabrication and entrepreneurship’ was conducted in December 2014 to train the Tata Fellows and affiliated members in product design, fabrication and innovation. The workshop focuses on skill development activities and sensitizing Fellows to societal issues. Furthermore, it helps them realize the role of the technology in addressing these issues. The workshop was a mix of two sessions, first session conducted by Mr. Rajesh Nair, from Tata Centre, MIT was focused on innovation, fabrication and entrepreneurship and the second session was conducted by Mr. Amruth Bang and his team at NIRMAN, Gadchiroli with a prime focus on sensitizing the students on various societal issues, practical understanding of the life, challenges of rural/tribal sector. As a first step, the activity started with formation of teams, followed by an ideation for a mini project on conceptualizing a light source for various applications in day to day life. The students made small prototypes of light sources and then they were trained to design a temperature sensitive color lamp using thermistor, RGB LED and Arduino. This
activity was followed by the visit to NIRMAN, Gadchiroli to learn from the field. Learning aspects from NIRMAN, Gadchiroli are briefed in a separate section later. After returning from the field trip, students were provided with hands-on training on various machines and tools to familiarize with electronic and mechanical fabrication facilities while understanding the respective soft and hardware aspects. In addition to the fabrication skills, students were also taught about the development of a business plan and Bill Aulet’s disciplined-entrepreneurship methods. At the end of weeklong workshop, students developed prototypes such as ‘Buzzkill’- a device to kill mosquito larvae; ‘Kwikleen’ – a novel dishwasher to reduce water wastage; ‘Cycool’ – an innovative cycle pooling solution for IIT; and ‘Ricer’ – a device for rural farmers to reduce effort in rice transplantation.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Field Visits
C
onsidering the goal of Tata Centre to address the challenges faced by resource-constrained communities, the Centre’s staff often visits various places and organizations to identify the needs of the people. Centre also organizes visits to partnering organizations to strengthen the interactions which can open up the new avenues of research. Some of the previous visits include those to Swadesh Foundation at Ratnagiri, Nirman, Gadchiroli and Muniseva Ashram at Baroda. Following are some of the experiences shared by the visiting groups.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Nirman, Gadchiroli
T
ata Centre initiated a field workshop with an organization called NIRMAN. This organization was founded by a doctor couple, Dr. Abhay and Dr. Rani Bang to nurture the younger generation and inspire them to solve the societal issues that plagued societies. The main objective of the Tata Centre is to expose the Tata Fellows (M.Tech students), research engineers and people associated with Tata Centre to the real time challenges faced by the people living in the villages and remote locations. With this, it is expected that they learn from ground realities, identify genuine needs and see the role of technology in improvisation of people living in resource-constrained situations. This workshop was also aimed at understanding the philosophy of NIRMAN in a better way and to identify some commonalities for future collaboration with this organization. The hospital at NIRMAN was initially focused on gynaecological services to the tribal population. However, later they extended it to maternal, child birth and neonatal care. The doctor couple was successful in educating the local
people without having to disturb their beliefs. The Tata Centre team spent ten days in long rigorous workshops including a one day village stay in tribal and non-tribal parts. The purpose of the village stay was to understand the practical aspects of the people by living their life in their home for a day. The team identified various problems faced by the villagers and they prepared case studies in various domains such as healthcare, energy, water and sanitation, education (academic and adolescent), agriculture, livelihood and governance. Later, the case studies were presented with possible solutions to the problems to obtain further feedback. In addition to the great learning and experience, the main take home message was, as stated by Dr. Abhay Bang, ‘live in harmony with the nature’ in a simple way with minimal or no harm to the environment, and serve the people without leaving your core expertise, it may be a practice in medicine, engineering or any other profession.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Swades Foundation
O
ur team from Tata Centre, IITB visited Swades Foundation, which works basically on empowering the rural population. Their outreach Centres are located in Konkan belt, at Raigad, Mahad and other nearby districts of Maharashtra. The Swades Foundation focuses on Community Mobilization, Water & Sanitation, Agriculture & Livelihood, Education and Health and Nutrition to empower the rural community. The objective of the team was to learn about their activities in rural areas and to explore possibilities for collaborative work wherever technological intervention is desirable. During this trip, team visited Swades main office at Lonere, Mhasala (Rural hospital), Mahad (ITI) and the villages around Ganesh Nagar, Raigad district. Initially, the team met “Swaraksha Mitra (SRM)�, the healthcare members of Swades Foundation, who are involved in routine checkups, awareness campaigns such as AIDS, immunization, nutrition, tobacco, oral health and hygiene etc. in villages. The SRMs also closely work with Anganwadi and ASHA workers to look after the local healthcare issues. The team, later, had a discussion with practicing
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doctors at Mhasala Rural Hospital in understanding day to day operations of the hospital such as patient load, types of emergencies, maternal and child care, present diagnostic methods practiced in treating the patients etc. The team also looked at the need for technological intervention in improving the healthcare program. In addition, joint proposals are being prepared in the area of agro products. These include cashew apple processing and mushroom cultivation.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Muni Seva Ashram
T
CTD team visited the Muni Seva Ashram, a Public Charitable Trust founded by Anuben Thakkar in early 1980s, near a village called Goraj in Vadodara district, Gujarat. The main objective of the Ashram is to implement the integrated welfare programs for the population at the bottom of the economic pyramid. The Ashram focuses primarily on healthcare and education followed by family Centres and training activities. The team visited two hospitals at the Ashram’s campus which have state-of-the-art facilities with modern patient management systems such as electronic medical records, information desks, etc. The team visited the Multi-leaf Collimator (MLC) used in radiation therapy of cancer and learned about its operation, challenges and limitations while understanding the treatment plan from the radiologists. The team then visited the medical waste treatment plant, plasma pyrolysis and understood its technological relevance and problems. The team also had a chance to visit Sharda Mandir Residential Primary School, the Vivekanand Residential High School which possesses solar thermal based systems for
cooking purpose. The interaction with people working in the field and exposure to the real time conditions helped in understanding the ground realities better and to find out many areas where technology can play a pivotal role in changing/improving the lives of the people.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Kalpana: “Imagine, Innovate and Create”
“
Imagine, Innovate and Create” was the tag line of Kalpana, a national level competition, organized by Tata Centre in July, 2015. The purpose was to encourage youngsters to help them transform their ideas into prototypes which have an impact on societal needs. In addition, the competition introduced the participants to innovation and entrepreneurship. The event consisted of three rounds wherein teams were selected at each stage based on problem identification, ideation and providing pertinent solutions with the limited accessible resources. There were about 1100 registrants from all over India, of which 260 teams participated in the competition and 105 teams were shortlisted for the second round. In the final round, seven teams were invited to work in TCTD lab for making prototypes for problems identified by them in the second round. The participants were quite energetic and innovative as witnessed by the TCTD team and provided valid solutions in the form of prototypes for specific problems in the areas of Energy, Healthcare and Housing. The winning team made an easy-to-handle
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and cost efficient “Baby Weighing Machine” which gives body mass index (BMI) of the child, thereby helping in monitoring the child’s health to address the malnutrition problem. The runner up team made a safe shelf for storage called “Dyna-Rack” to effectively utilize the 3D space under the thematic area of affordable housing. Apart from securing certificates and cash prizes, the students were happy to be trained on various instruments at the Product Realization Lab and were assured the use of lab facilities at Tata Centre for continuing the work on their ideas. Following is the list of the projects presented in the final round by the participants from various institutes across the country.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Electricity generation on road using wind energy
Dyna Rack- safe shelf for effective utilization of 3D space in homes
Dhvani- a wearable assistive device for speech impaired and people suffering from diseases such as ALS and LNS
Project Title Electricity generation on road using wind energy Daksh Nikunj – a competent house Dyna Rack – safe shelf for effective utilization of 3D space in homes Piezoelectric burglar alarm Dhvani – a wearable assistive device for speech impaired and people suffering from diseases such as ALS and LNS Eye motion controlled wheel chair for elderly and disabled people Baby weighing machine for monitoring body mass index (BMI) of children
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Internship Program
A
s part of the Centre’s outreach activities, workshops and conferences are conducted on a regular basis; these activities engage the primary stakeholders of the Centre: the Tata Fellows, the Project Investigators, and the technology end-users. It is anticipated that a large number of students from all across the country would be interested in the themes and R&D activities of the Centre and it is desirable that the most talented of these be attracted and trained by the Centre. The Fellowship schemes at the Centre can engage only a limited number of Masters and Ph.D. students. It is felt that additional human resources, primarily undergraduates from IITB or outside, can be involved in the R&D activities of the Centre. In this regard, the Centre has introduced internship programme. It is also expected that the internship scheme will help identify future Tata Fellows.
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Benefits of a Tata Centre internship from student’s point of view: • • •
Access to advanced fabrication facilities at the Tata Centre. Access to an environment that is conducive to product development, design thinking and creative solutions. Participation in immersion programs, workshops, conferences and lectures at the Tata Centre during the period of internship.
Internships were offered during the summer (May to July) but would also be available during the Spring and Autumn semesters.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Projects by Summer Interns (May to July, 2015)
Project Title Pre-filled applicator which aids in carrying haemostatic discs Cervical cancer screening Improve working conditions of conservancy workers by designing of tools/ equipment for Municipal Solid Waste collection ‘Digital microscope’.-designing two prototypes, involving CAD, image processing and control systems Designing a micro-gasifier system (1 kg/hr) Cervical cancer diagnosis using biomarkers Overall branding, posters, visual design for card game User interface/web design for TCTD Device for non-contact body temperature measurement
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Interaction with MIT
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
T
ata Centre for Technology & Design has a sister institute at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA that was established in the year 2012. Both the Centres continuously work to foster collaborations between the institutes. This is achieved by creating various avenues to showcase the research and engage in discussions. To this end, the Tata Centres at IITB and MIT jointly organize an orientation program for new Tata Fellows in the month of August every year at IITB campus and also organize an annual conference to showcase research work that is being pursued at both the Centres. Faculty members and Tata Fellows from both the institutes often visit each other to understand the research methodologies followed in each institutes and create an ecosystem thriving on collaborative and innovative research.
MIT Tata Center, while doing their field work in India, visited IITB Tata Centre. IITB Centre facilitated few of their visits to organisations relevant their work. In May 2015, the Tata Fellows of IIT Bombay spent a week at MIT Tata Center to study research methodologies and projects undertaken at MIT Tata Center. The collaboration efforts by both the Centres have resulted in a joint project in the area of Nutrition led by Prof Narendra Shah at IITB and Prof Alan Hatton at MIT and others are being planned. In addition to the joint project, the IITB Tata Centre is sending one post doctoral fellow, Dr. Ramchander Chepyala, to MIT Tata Center in August 2015 to work in the area of Microfluidics under the mentorship of Prof. Patrick Doyle.
In August 2014, both the Centres organized a joint orientation for new Tata Fellows and a conference showcasing the research from either sides. In December 2014, a delegation of IITB faculty members visited MIT Tata Center to interact with MIT faculty and to explore collaboration opportunities. In January 2015, faculty members and students of
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Key Highlights
Key highlights in the inaugural academic year:
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The Centre offered Fellowship to 18 graduate students from various disciplines in 2014-15 and 16 Fellowships in 2015-16.
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The Centre took up 19 research projects in academic year 2014-15 and 20 research projects in academic year 2015-16.
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Hosted a convention of both Tata Centres at IITB and MIT, to showcase research work and explore opportunities for collaboration. As a part of it, a joint orientation was organized for both IITB and MIT Tata Fellows in Aug 2014.
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Designed and ran three new institute elective graduate courses: Technology Design & End-to-End Innovation – I & II, Technology Design Lab.
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Built and commissioned a ‘Product Realization Lab’ with advanced fabrication facilities.
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Conducted an Immersion program for IITB Tata Fellows through a week long program at NIRMAN, Gadchiroli.
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Conducted a week long Innovation workshop wherein Tata Fellows have identified needs and developed products to address them.
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Conducted visits to MIT Tata Center by IITB faculty members and Tata Fellows in December 2014 and May 2015 to learn about MIT’s research methods and explore possible collaborations.
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Actively engaged in dialogues with Tata Memorial Hospital, Hinduja Hospitals, Vigyan Ashram, Agastya Foundation, Swades Foundation, Gangotri Eco Technologies and Muni Seva Ashram to identify problem areas and to explore collaborations.
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Started a focus group on Waste Management with five faculty members and a project manager. The group would engage in field studies and identify various problems and brainstorm to explore ways of addressing them. More such theme-based groups are being planned.
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Conducted over fifteen guest lectures, two project based workshops (Affordable Housing and Bhil Art) and six field trips.
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Appointed Professor S. Ananteshwaran from Penn State University as a visiting faculty to guide Fellows on product development and initiate collaboration with faculty members in the areas of Food and agriculture.
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Offered summer internships to fifteen students from various engineering colleges from all over India to work on product/process development.
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Conducted a competition, Kalpana, wherein seven finalist teams spent a week at the Centre working on converting their ideas into products.
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The Centre engaged over 38 faculty members of IIT Bombay in its research and academic activities. The Centre is supported by 4 Managers, 3 Post-Doctoral Fellows and 10 Technical and Administrative staff.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
People Visiting Faculty
Prof. Ramaswamy C. Anantheswaran Professor of Food Science & Chair of the Cocoa, Chocolate and Confectionery Research Group Penn State University Ph. D: Cornell University Research Interests: Microwave processing of foods; Moisture and fat migration in confectionery products; Modified atmosphere packaging of fresh produce Prof. R. C. Annatheswaran spent few weeks in the month of May 2015 interacting with Fellows and staff at Tata Centre. He was also involved in setting up a theme-based group in the area of agriculture and food processing. While he was in the Centre he participated in few field visits and initiated project proposals on Improving the method of fermentation of cocoa beans, processing of cashew apple Juice to increase shelf life and reduce astringency, developing an appropriate drying technology to dry oyster mushrooms and processing of jack fruits and mechanical removal of jackfruit bulbs from seeds. He will make two more long durations visits to the Centre in this academic year.
TCTD Team Managerial Staff Dr. Suhas Zambre
Dr. Jibi Jacob
Lab Manager
Project Manager Suhas has PhD in Chemical Engineering from IIT Bombay, He has 15 years experience of research and development specialised in converting lab scale ideas into prototypes, scale-ups and commercial level SPMs and processes. He established Product Realization Lab at TCTD. Currently, he is working on creating Groups of focused activities and networking field organizations in the areas of Agriculture, Food & Nutrition and Education.
Jibi completed Ph.D in Cell Biology from Ludwig Maximillian University, Münich, Germany. She has experience in project managements prior to joining Tata Centre. She is currently looking after Waste Management projects and various Centre’s activities.
Mr. Chandrasekhar K.
Mr. Prabodh Gadkari
Project Manager
Project Manager Chandrasekhar completed Masters in Social Entrepreneurship from TISS, Mumbai. He was leading the Rural Technology Action Group at IIT Bombay, supported by office of the principal scientific adviser to the GOI, prior to joining Tata Centre. He also cofounded a startup that works in the area of renewable energies. Currently, he manages Tata Centre activities.
Prabodh completed his Masters in Renewable Energy Sources from Dr. BSKKV Dapoli. He has four years’ work experience in Project Execution in the field of Biomass Energy and Municipal Solid Waste Management. He is currently looking after Waste Management and Lab activities in the Centre.
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TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Post-Doctoral Fellows Dr. Ramchander Chepyala
Dr. Disha Bhanot
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Ram completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering and specialized in Microfluidics, Surface Science & Micro/Nano Fabrication, from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Currently, he is working on healthcare projects at Tata Centre, where he is developing microfluidic platform based diagnostic devices for early detection of various diseases.
Disha completed PhD from School of Management, IIT Bombay in the area of financial inclusion wherein she focused on sustainability of Self Help Group bank linkage programme in India. Her area of interests at TCTD are Microfinance, Rural Finance, Rural Livelihoods and Agriculture.
Dr. Sreekanth Mandati Post-Doctoral Fellow Sreekanth completed PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering from IIT Hyderabad. He was also associated with ARCI, Hyderabad during his PhD where he worked on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-films solar cells. He was a Visiting Research Associate at the Solar Energy Research Laboratory, Purdue University, USA prior to joining the TCTD. His area of interests are Materials and Devices for Energy applications.
Administrative Staff Ms. Yughabala
Mr. Ramesh Detke
Administrative Coordinator
Administrative Assistant
Bala completed M. Sc. in Life Sciences from Bombay University. She has worked on various projects as a project coordinator at IIT Bombay for over 10 years. Currently, she takes care of administrative activities of the Centre
Ramesh has over 12 years’ experience as administrative assistant. He worked with Math imitation technologies and CADD Centre at IIT Bombay prior to joining Tata Centre. He is currently an administrative assistant at Tata Centre looking after office activities.
Media Staff Ms. Mrunal Phansalkar
Ms. Pooja Bhawar
Design Associate
Web Developer Mrunal completed Bachelors in Designing from Symbiosis International, Pune. She has four years work experience as a design associate. Currently, she works in the media team at Tata Centre.
Pooja completed her Bachelors in Information Technology from Mumbai University. She has worked as a technical assistant at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay for three years. Currently, she is associated with web design and development team at Tata Centre.
Technical Staff Mr. Pratik Gadkar
Mr. Yatin Santosh Patil
Project Research Assistant Pratik Gadkar completed his B.E in Mechanical Engineering from Nagpur University. He manages the equipment in product realization lab.
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Project Assistant Yatin completed ITI from Centre of Excellence (ITI), Mulund. He has two years of experience at Crompton greaves. He is part of lab maintenance at Tata Centre.
TCTD Annual Report 2014 - 15
Mr. Sangramsing Patil
Mr. Akshay Goharkar
Lab Technician
Lab Technician Sangram has learnt Electronic Certificate courses. He has seven years of experience in KC College of Engineering, Thane. He maintains the lab equipment and assists various people in utilizing the instruments.
Akshay completed diploma in rural technology from Vignyan Ashram, Pabal. He operates and maintains the equipment in lab.
Mr. Sanket Kulkarni Lab Technician Sanket completed diploma in rural technology from Vignyan Ashram, Pabal. He is part of the lab maintenance at the Tata Centre.
Tata Fellows Akshay Subramaniam Dept: Chemical Engineering
Karan Vohra Dept: Industrial Design Centre
Deepak Gupta Dept: Chemical Engineering
Tirtha Sarathi Lodh Dept: Electrical Engineering
Sandeep Sharma Dept: Chemical Engineering
Umang Shah Dept: Electrical Engineering
Karan Vijaywargiya Dept: Mechanical Engineering
Aswathy Nandakumar Dept: Electrical Engineering
Ramprasad V. Dept: CTARA
Shefali Mittal Dept: BSBE
Sangeeth Sankar A. Dept: CTARA
Aayush Gupta Dept: BSBE
Ashish Kumar Paswan Dept: CTARA
Shwetha Hymavathi Dept: BSBE
Vishal Bhushan Jha Dept: Industrial Design Centre
Sayan Samanta Dept: MEMS
Gaurav V. Vaidya Dept: Industrial Design Centre
Vikram Singh Dept: MEMS
Tapan Kumar Dept: Industrial Design Centre
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Contact: Tata Centre for Technology and Design Second Floor, Lecture Hall Complex-2, Opp. KReSIT Building, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai - 400076, India Phone: +91-22-2576 5900/01 E-mail: office.tctd@iitb.ac.in Website: www.tatacentre.iitb.ac.in
Editor: Sreekanth Mandati
Design: Tapan Kumar
Tata Centre for Technology and Design IIT Bombay
Tata Fellow IDC, IIT Bombay