Chennai, Nov 11 (PTI) The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) announced on Monday that it is collaborating with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to establish a Centre of Excellence for research in fluid and thermal sciences.
This centre will serve as a nodal hub for ISRO’s thermal management research activities related to spacecraft and launch vehicles. Thermal challenges concerning the design, analysis, and testing of various components will be addressed by leveraging the expertise of IIT Madras faculty, the institution said.
“This proposal was assessed by ISRO and found that the proposed facility can support ISRO’s R&D activities in areas such as spacecraft thermal management, combustion instability in hybrid rockets, and cryo-tank thermodynamics studies, among others,” the release stated.
The facility will be utilised to expand the research activities of the Department of Space and ISRO in fluid and thermal sciences. ISRO will provide seed funding of Rs 1.84 crore for the establishment of the centre, IIT Madras added in the release.
An MoU for the collaboration was signed at IIT Madras today by Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), IIT Madras, and Victor Joseph T, Director, Directorate of Technology Development & Innovation (DTDI), ISRO, in the presence of project coordinator Prof Arvind Pattamatta from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, along with other stakeholders from both IIT Madras and ISRO.
The project will cover critical areas, including spacecraft thermal management, combustion instability in hybrid rockets, and cryo-tank thermodynamics. The Centre will enhance collaboration between ISRO scientists and IIT Madras faculty, fostering innovation in fluid and thermal sciences.
“This Centre of Excellence will foster a unique industry-academia interface, allowing ISRO scientists and IIT Madras faculty and students to collaboratively advance research in critical areas of thermal science,” said Prof Arvind Pattamatta.
He further stated, “By addressing complex thermal engineering challenges, we aim to contribute significantly to the nation’s space program and strengthen India’s self-reliance in space technologies.” PTI JSP SSK ROH
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