www.iitk.ac.in/dord

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IIT Kanpur to develop

National Block Chain

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National Technology Day Celebration

ITKanpurcelebratedtheNationalTechnologyDayonMay11,2018.TheeventwasorganisedbytheNationalCentreofFlexibleIElectronics (NCFlexE), IIT Kanpur. NCFlexEwas established in 2014with a grant from theMinistry of Electronics andInformationTechnology,Govt.ofIndia,andwithsupportfromtheinstitute.Prof.SiddharthaPanda,CoordinatorofNCFlexE,deliveredthewelcomeaddressintheeventdescribingthevisionandachievementofthecentre.Prof.AbhayKarandikar,DirectorIITKanpur,addressedtheaudienceandelucidatedaboutthetechnologicalneedsofthecountryandtheappropriatenesstohaveathemeonanemergingtechnologythatcanshapethefuture.Prof.Y.N.Mohapatradeliveredapopularlecturetitled,“WhatifElectronicsisFlexible”.Hementionedthattheemergingflexibleelectronicsbasedtechnologieshavethepotentialtoimpactallaspectsofourlifeandthiswasenabledbytheaspectsofprintabilityandflexibility.Hedescribedmanysuchnovelapplications,demonstratedseveraltechnologiesdevelopedintheCentreincludingsilverfilledpensandconductingtextilesanddescribedseveral other technologiesbeingdeveloped such as organic solar cells, organic light emittingdiodes, sensors, and thin filmtransistors.Over250schoolchildrenfromthecityparticipatedandgainedexposurefromtheevent.

ThedepartmentofAerospaceEngineeringreceivedresearchgrant Fund for Improvement of S&T infrastructure inuniversities&highereducationalinstitutions(FIST)witha

total support of Rs. 4.53 crores approximately, for 5 years forstrengtheningoftheresearchfacilitiesinthedepartment.Thefundsare to be used for the following equipment / facilities: i) FreePiston/ExpansionTubeFacilityandessentialinstrumentation ii)NdYAGLaser(forup-gradationofexistingequipment) iii)Multi-MaterialLaserSinteringsystem,iv)RayleighThermographysetupv) Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) setup. ThisfundingsupportfromtheDepartmentofScienceandTechnologyisbeingusedtohelpinitiate/expandtheresearchcapabilityofthedepartmentinthefollowingareas:highenthalpyhighspeedflows,advanced flow diagnostics, improving mechanical integrity ofaerospacematerialsandUnmannedAerialSystems.

Aerospace Engineering Department received FIST grant to Strengthen the Research Facility

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heobjectiveoftheprojectistodevelop .The33.4croresINRfundwillT indigenousblockchainplatformfore-governancebeusedover5yearstoresearchanddevelopprototypeplatformonwhichgovernmentagenciescanbuilddigitalledgersofvarioustransactionsandrecordswhichwillbecryptographicallysecuredwhiletransparenttostakeholders.

BlockChaintechnologyismostwellknowninthepopularpressastheunderlyingtechnologyforbitcoin–amuchcontroversialcryptocurrency.However,thisprojectwillnotdealwithcryptocurrencyapplicationsatall.Instead,theprojectwillleveragethetechnologyofblockchainthatprovidesadistributeddigitalplatformthatrecordsevents,records,andtransactionswhichneedtobetransparenttothecitizenrywhilebeingtamperproof,secure,andpreservesprivacyofindividualswhosedataresidesontheplatform.Inthisproject,IITKanpurwillworkwithtwogovernmentagenciestoprovideblockchainbasedE-governanceplatformwhichifsuccessfulcanbereplicatedthroughoutthegovernment,andothersectors.

Theprojectisplannedin3phases,firstafeasibilitystudyandidentificationofagenciestopilotwith,researchandprototypingphase,andfinallyanincubationphase.IntheincubationphaseaIITKanpurincubatedcompanywillproductivethesolutionandprovidesolutionengineeringtovariousagenciesforblockchainbasedtransparente-governance. Dr.GulshanRai,theNationalCyberSecurityCoordinatorhasbeeninstrumentalinconceivingandfundingtheproject.Prof.ShwetaAgrawalfromIITMadraswillbecollaboratorwithProf.ManindraAgrawalandProf.SandeepShuklaofIITKanpurinexecutingtheproject.

Development of National Blockchain and Demonstrate two Strategic ApplicationsPI: Prof. Manindra Agrawal ( @iitk.ac.in), manindra

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

Sponsor: National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).

Co-PI: Prof. Sandeep Shukla (sandeeps@iitk.ac.in),

Inthedevelopingembryo,aprocessknownasdifferentia-tion leads to production of specialized cells a pool ofundifferentiated stem/progenitor cells. Differentiated

cells belonging to different tissue types possess distinctphysico-chemical properties that correspond to the specificfunction that they perform. These differences in physico-chemical propertiesmaybe attributed to thedistinct reper-toire of metabolites present within the cell belonging to aparticular tissue. A special class of genes known asMetabolismRelatedGenes(MRGs)thatcodeformetabolicenzymes, transporters etc. are responsible for the uniquemetabolitesineachtissuetype.

Thisproposalstemsfromapreviousstudyconductedinthelaboratory of Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, where agenome-widescreenshowedthatseveralMRGsareexpressedinatissuerestrictedmannerinthedevelopingchickembryo.Thisobservation,gavefurthermotivationtoproposeastudywhereitisaimedtofunctionallycharacterizeandelucidatetheroleofasubsetofsuchMRGsinthedevelopingcentralnervoussystem,usingchickenandmouseembryosasmodelsystems.Theultimategoalofthestudyistodeterminewhetherany

oftheseMRGsexhibit'moonlightingactivity”alongwiththeirmetabolicfunctionduringdevelopment.Thisstudyislikelytoprovidenewinsightsintothemechanismsofverte-bratenervoussystemdevelopment.

Functional Characterization of Metabolism related Genes (MRGs) with Restricted Expression in theDeveloping Vertebrate Nervous System

Recent Project

PI: Prof. Jonaki Sen ( @iitk.ac.in),jonaki

Department of Biological Sciences & Bioengineering

Sponsor: Department of Biotechnology

Co-PI: Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay (abandopa@iitk.ac.in),

TwoMRGsshowingtissuerestrictedexpressioninthecross-sectionof the embryonic chicken forebrain: a)PHACTR1 (Phosphatase1andactinregulatorysubunit1),showingspecificexpressionintheventralregionofthechickforebrain.b) CNKSR2 (Connector Kinase Suppressor of Ras 2), showingspecificexpressioninthedorsalregionoftheforebrain,asindicatedbytheappearanceofpurplecolourationatthesiteofitspresence.

PHACTR1 CNKSR2

Cove

r S

tory

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Enhanced Coal-Bed-Methane and Shale-Gas Recovery from Underground Reservoirs aided by Permeability Enhancement and CO Sequestration – an Experimental Approach2

The project will explore and quantify the enhanced CH 4(Unconventional Energy Resource, UER) recovery fromselected Indian coal-basins, gas-rich-shale and tight-

sediment reservoirs by studying the stress induced micro-mechanisms to maximize the gas flow under complexThermal-Hydrological-Mechanical environment coupledwith CO injection2 . It will characterize the controlled anddirectionalfracturegenerationusingtheintrinsicpropertiesofcoalandshale,particularlytheanisotropy,natural-fracturesandregionalstress-field.Anadditionaleffortwillbegiventounder-standadsorption-desorptioninteractionofCH andCO tofurther4 2

extractCH fromthereservoir.Hydraulicpressurealonganarrow4

channel (analogues to bore-hole) will be used to create thefracturenetworkintherepresentativesamples.Acousticemis-sion(AE)andpulsetransmission(PT)measurementswilltrackthe fracture propagation and seismic property variations,respectively,duringthefracturing.Ahighpressuretemperaturetri-axial load frameequippedwithPTandAE facilitieswill beinstalledasmajorinstrumentation,whichcanalsobeemployedtocharacterizegeothermal-reservoirsinfuture.

Fromstrategicpointofview,theproposalaimstodevelop sustainableresearchcollaborationbetweenONGCandIITKanpurincontinuingeffectiveresearchdirectionsofUERexploration,RockPhysicsandGeo-Mechanics.

CH₄CH₄

CH₄

CH₄

CH₄

CH₄CH₄

H₄

Desorption from the surfaceof porous coal grins

Diffusion throughfine pores in matrix

CO₂

CO₂ CO₂

CO₂

Flo

w o

f C

O₂ Flow of CH₄ABSORPOTION OF CO₂

Recent Project

PI: Prof. Santanu Misra (smisra@iitk.ac.in),

Co-PI: Prof. Malay K. Das (mkdas@iitk.ac.in),

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Sponsor: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)

A schematic illustration suggesting the micro-mechanics andprocesses during CO injection mediated enhanced CH recovery.2 4

[Mukherjee&Misra,EarthScienceReviews,2018]

The research work of Mr. DiproSarkar, a Ph.D. student under thesupervision of Prof. Rajiv Sinha,

Department of Earth Sciences hadbeen highlighted in a televisionshowon"MightRivers"broadcastedonAnimalPlaneton8thApril2018in the USA. The British filmmakerJermey Wade, the maker of thefamous series on River Monsters,made this film. He visited IITKanpurin2017andfilmedtheworkcarriedoutbyDiproSarkar.

The work involves the innovative

use of remote sensing techniquesparticularly the UAVs for waterqualitymappingintheGangariver.I n t h i s w o r k , o p t i c a l a n dhyperspectral remote sensing isbeing used fromairborne camerasformappingandcharacterizingtheeffluents into theGanga river.ThisworkwaspartiallysupportedbytheIMPRINTprogram.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iUF2Dl1tC8k_wTPtxhZup0rEXK0nQkKK

Department of Earth Sciences

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sn ippets

Intenseinvestigationsareinprogressgloballytowardstheuseofhydrogenasanalternatefuel.Hydrogenstorageisanimpor-tantsteptowardsrealizingthisvisionandsolidstatestoragehasemergedasthepreferredmethod.Monolithicmaterialsoftensufferfrommorethanonelacunaewithregardtohydrogenstorageandhybridshavetakencentrestagetotakethistechnology

towardswidespreadapplications.MicrostructurallyengineeredMg-basednanohybridshaveshownpromiseviagoodstoragecapacityandfastkinetics.

Traditionallyusedmaterialsstorehydrogenprincipallyinoneform.Thehydrogen is stored either in molecular form (MOFs or carbonaceousmaterials)orinhydrideform(LaNi ,Mg Ni,Mg).Thematerialsstoring5 2

hydrogeninmolecularformtypicallydosobyadsorption,whichrequireslowtemperatures.Someofthematerialswhichstorealargequantityofhydrogen (e.g. sodium alanates) do so in non-reversible fashion andrequirehightemperaturesfordesorption.Ifthematerialisnotnaturallyacatalystforthebreakdownofthehydrogenmoleculeintoatomicform,hightemperaturesarerequiredevenforabsorption.Thecurrentworkfocuses on a multi-mode hydrogen storage philosophy usingnanocontainers(Figure1).

Theobjectivesofthecurrentinvestigationsaretotranscendtraditionalapproachesandtodeviseanovelstrategyforhydrogenstorageinnearlyallconceivableforms;i.e.,(i)inacontainer;(ii)inatomicformas(a)solidsolution,(b)asacompound;(iii)inmolecularform(a)adsorbedonthesurfaceand(b)freegaseousform.Thisistobeachievedusingsingleandmultilayernano-hybrids.

Theprojectwillattempttoaddressthefollowingimportantscientificissues:(i)Canthecatalyticlayerinthehybridplaya'doublerole'(dissociationattheoutersurfaceandrecombinationinthe

innersurface)?(ii)Canhollowhybridsbeusedasnano-reactors?Howtounderstandthediffusion?(iii)Whatformisthehydrogenpresentinsidehollowhybrids(adsorbed,absorbed)andatwhatpressure?(iv)Inhybridswhereisthenucleationofthehydride/secondphasepreferred?(v)Inhybridswithcarboncanstoragebeachievedunderambientconditions?

Nanohybrids for Hydrogen StoragePI: Prof. Anandh Subramaniam (anandh@iitk.ac.in), Department of Materials Science & Engineering /

Sponsor: Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB )

Co-PI: Prof. Sri Sivakumar (srisiva@iitk.ac.in),

Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering

Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering

Co-PI: Prof. Pratik Sen (psen@iitk.ac.in),

Hydrogen storage

MaterialContainer

Gaseous

LiquidSolid solution Compound

Atomic

Molecular

Surface

Absorbed

Entrapped

Interior

Figure1:Multi-modehydrogenstoragephilosophytoexploitstorageofhydrogeninvariousphases

Department of Chemical Engineering /

Department of Chemistry

Figure.2.Processingandstructureofnanohybrids.|5

Recent Project

Hip Joint Replacement System

urrent research emphasizes on understanding basic mechanisms of strengthening, to elicit interfacial interactions,Cdevelopmechanisticmodels to explain toughening, assess biological aspects to obtain cytocompatibility, and in vivoevaluationofsystemicbiocompatibility.

Hip-jointreplacementinvolvesmainlythreecomponents:(I)femur,(ii)acetabulum,and(iii)interlayercartilage.

Materials that replace the femoral componentsare: (i)metal/alloys for femoral stem, (ii) a ceramic femoralhead, and (iii)polymericacetabularcuplinertoserveasarticularcartilage(withametallicbackingtoserveasacetabulum),Fig.1.Ingeneral,arevisionsurgeryonyoungpatientsmaybeexpectedafter10-15yearsofimplantationduetoitsloosening,whichiscostlierandmorepainfulthanthefirstone.Herein,anattemptismadeto:(i)designingpolymericlinermaterialswithenhancedtribologicallifeandlimitedasepticloosening,and(ii)creatingmulti-functionalporouscoatingonfemoralstemforensuringrapidbonegrowth.

Themainobjectivesofprojectare:

(i)To fabricate antibacterial acetabular cup liner(UHMWPE-Al O -Ag/ZnO-based) with enhanced2 3

tribologicalresistance

(ii) Deposit functionally graded and multi-lengthscale porous coating of hydroxyapatite (HA-CeO -2CNT-Ag/ZnObased)onfemoralstem(withenhancedfracturetoughness,uncompromisedbioactivityandantibacterialresistance)

(iii) Ceramic processing for completely dense andantibacterial femoral head (YSZ-Al O -CNT based2 3

ceramiccomposites)(UHMWPE : U l t ra h i gh mo l e cu l a r we i gh tpolyethylene, HA: Hydroxyapatite, CNT: carbonnanotubes,YSZ:Yttriastabilizedzirconia) Fig.1:Bird'seyeviewofthechallengesassociatedwiththedesignofhip-joint

components (images from self-research & https://www.molteno.com/m-sphere-natural-hydroxyapatite-orbital-implants www.exac.com & ). Theseaspectsaretargetedinthecurrentresearch.

ArecentpaperofProf.J.N.MoorthyandhisstudentsfromtheChemistrydepartmenttitled"Photochromic2DMetal-OrganicFrameworkNanosheets(MONs):Design,Synthesis,andFunctionalMON-OrmosilComposite"hasbeenpublishedinthejournal,CHEM.Theworkshavedemonstratedthat2-dimensionalmetal-organicnanosheets(MONs)constructedfrom photochromic building blocks can be used for the desired optical properties in photochromic polymers. Thisresearchwillhavemanyapplicationsnotablyinophthalmiclenses.CHEMisaprestigiousjournalpublishedbytheCellPress.

moredetailsaboutthepublication:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451929418301268

PI: Prof. Kantesh Balani (kbalani@iitk.ac.in), Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Sponsor: Department of Science & Technology, DST

The project is awarded as Swarnajayanti Fellowship

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Recent Project

sn ippets

Indigenous 5g Test Bed DesignPI: Prof. Rohit Budhiraja (rohitbr@iitk.ac.in),

Department of Electrical Engineering

5GtestbedisbeingbuilttoenableIndianindustryandAacademiatoachievethe5Gtechnologydevelopmentand implementation plans. This testbed will be

designedandcompletelybuiltinhouse.

Theprojectgoalsareto:Provide an open test bed that can enable R&D teams in

Indianacademiaand industry to validate theirproducts,prototypesandalgorithmsforthe5Gnetworks.

Developanendtoendtestbedtodevelopanddemonstratevarious 5G services and technologies, e.g, IoT, massiveMIMO and millimeter wave (MMWave) communicationsystem.

Providea testbed toworkonnewnovelconcepts/ideasholdingpotentialforstandardizationinIndiaandonglobalscale.

DevelopatestbedavailableforIndiantelecomoperatorstounderstandtheworkingof5Gtechnologiesandplantheirfuturenetworks.

Other than IIT Kanpur, this multi-institute project hasparticipationfromIITBombay,IITDelhi,IITHyderabad,IIT

Madras, IISc Bangalore, CEWiT and SAMEER (both fromChennai).IITKanpurisdesigningthehardwareandsoftwarealgorithms for the 5G massive MIMO, MMWave and full-duplexaccessnetwork.Asapartofthistestbed,astate-of-the-art 5G testbed lab is being developed in the Electricaldepartment,consistingofwirelesstestequipmentssuchasvectorsignalanalyzers,spectrumanalyzers,logicanalyzersandhigh-speedoscilloscopes.Thelabwillalsohaveprintedcircuitboardsimulationanddesignsoftwares.

A block diagram of the massive MIMO base station (BS)consistingof32antennasbeingarchitectedatIITKanpur,isshownbelow.ABS consists of an antenna array, a remoteradiohead(RRH)andabasebandprocessingunit(BBU).Theantennaarraytransmitsandreceivestheradiosignals.TheRRHupconvertsanddownconvertsthetransmitandreceivesignalsrespectively.BBU,theBSworkhorse,consistsofhigh-end FPGAs which executes both transmitter and receiveralgorithms. TheRRHandBBUareconnectedusingopticalfiber.

Co-PI: Prof. Adrish Banerjee (adrish@iitk.ac.in)

Remote Radio head

BaseBand processing unit(s)

Antenna array

Sponsor: Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications

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Recent Project

sn ippets

Prof. Aditya K. Jagannatham, Department of Electrical Engineering, with his students Mr. Suraj Srivastava and Ms. Saumya Dwivedi, have been selected for the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship (QInF) 2018-2019. The fellowship is an award for an innovative idea entitled "Sparse Signal Processing for 5G mm Wave MIMO Technology."

In2016,ProfessorRRKSharma,Mr.VinayakA.Drave,andDr.JyotiKainthhavepublishedaconceptualpaperon“StrategyandSupplyChainStructureofE-TailersinIndia.AfterextensiveDatacollectionandanalysistheworkgotrecognizedbytheRetailersassociationofIndiaandpublishedasacoverstory(ThechanginginterplayofStrategy,supplychain&Retail)intheirquarterlymagazineStorai(Vol9|Issue3;March_April2018).

Dean, Research & Development

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Kanpur 208016

dord@iitk.ac.in

Phone: +91-512-259 7578

Address for Correspondence

Feedback/Suggestions

dord@iitk.ac.inchitrab@iitk.ac.in

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Search expertize by Technology Domain and/or by PhD/ M.Tech. Thesis Title

Short term Industry Oriented Courses

http://www.iitk.ac.in/dord/query-form

https://www.iitk.ac.in/dord/industry-oriented-courses

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Inauguration of Centre for Energy Regulations

IIT Kanpur establishes India’s firstCentreforEnergyRegulation(CER).CER is an endeavour towards

comprehensive and sustained institu-tionalstrengtheningintheIndianpowersector. It is an initiative led by theDepartment of Industrial ManagementandEngineering.Mr.PKPujari,chairper-son Central Electricity RegulatoryCommission (CERC), inaugurated thecentreonMay17ataceremonyheldonNew Delhi. The centre’s logo and webportalwereunveiledattheceremonyinthe presence of other dignitariesincluding secretary, ministry of powerAK Bha l i a , Cha i rman , Board o fGovernors IITK, Mr. RC Bhargava andGavinMcGillivray,Head,DepartmentforInternationalDevelopment,India.

TheaimoftheCentreistostrengthentheIndian power sector working closelywith key stakeholders particularly theElectricity Regulatory Commissions(ERCs), electric utilities and academia.The Centre and its activities are partlysupported by the UK Governmentthrough a project on ‘StrengtheningRegulatory Research Network in thePower sector’ under the SupportingStructuralReformsintheIndianPowerSector”program.

esearchers at IIT-Kanpur have signed a Rs 15-crore MoU with VTOL Aviation India Pvt Ltd to develop functional prototypes of Rwhich have the potential to be used as flying taxis. The Aerospace department of IITK has one of the country’s leading state-of-the-art facility when it comes to research in aerospace and propulsion. It houses wind-tunnels and flight labs capable of testing

aircraft. VTOL aircraft can be used for surveillance, rescue mission, combat situations, paramedics, and civil aviation. These aircraft will also be very useful for rapid medical evacuation of troops from difficult terrains. The development of such a prototype could be quite revolutionary if realised effectively, bringing in drastic changes to our transportation systems and connectivity.

IIT Kanpur to develop VTOL Aircraft Prototypes

moreat:http://cer.iitk.ac.in/

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