S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Madras turned centre of attraction on 14 February when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated its Discovery Campus.
The Discovery Campus of IIT Madras is located at Thaiyur near Chennai to accomodate the growing research infrastructure requirements of students and faculty.
IIT Madras’s Discovery Campus was held on virtual mode in the presence of Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
The land for establishing this unit of IIT Madras was possible thanks to generosity of late J. Jayalalithaa.
A land of 163 acres at Thaiyur was allotted to IIT Madras in 2017.’
IIT Madras gets great Discovery Campus, PM Modi inaugurates
This satellite campus of IIT Madras will host state-of-the-art standalone research centres with large dedicated facilities.
This campus of IIT Madras will have its own support infrastructure such as hostels for the research scholars and fellows, common instrumentation laboratories, and conference facilities, among other amenities.
Research activities at IIT Madras have grown exponentially during the last decade.
These activities got a boost after it was declared an ‘Institution of Eminence’ in 2019. Fuelled by the research successes in several fields, large research centres are being funded by various ministries and agencies of the Government of India as well as industry sponsors.
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Many of these centres require dedicated facilities to be created, which in turn require space.
Given the rapidly expanding research footprint of IIT Madras and the need to create world-class research facilities quickly over the next decade, the satellite campus at Thaiyur has been planned primarily as a research campus.
After the pioneering IIT Madras Research Park established in 2010-2017, the IIT Madras Discovery Campus will be next iconic facility to be created by IIT Madras.
Two research centres have already been planned for the Discovery Campus of IIT Madras and would be operational by end of 2021.
These include the National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts, which is funded by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India.
It will house the country’s first large (95mx65m) ‘Shallow Water Basin’ facility for coastal and estuarine research and industrial applications.
This basin can emulate the entire Gulf of Kutch or the mouth of the River Hoogly, for example.
The Centre will also have a 360-degree (ship’s) bridge simulator dedicated for studies involving operations at all major Indian ports.
The second research centre to come up in the Discovery Campus of IIT Madras is the ‘Solid Propellant Combustion Modelling Facility’ of the Centre of Propulsion Technology, which is funded by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
This Modelling Facility will be the first facility to be established under the Centre of Propulsion Technology at IIT M.
These research infrastructures will make the Discovery Campus a magnet for the most exciting advanced research being carried out anywhere, and a beehive of discovery.
The campus will see a steady stream of international scientists and students.
Along with the unique Main Campus and the IIT Madras Research Park, the Discovery Campus of IIT Madras will take IIT M to the top of the league among the universities of the world.
About IIT Madras
Indian Institute of Technology Madras was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an ‘Institute of National Importance.’
The activities of the Institute in various fields of Science and Technology are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary research academic centres.
The Institute offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes leading to B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations.
IIT M is a residential institute with more than 580 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here.
IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell.
IIT M has been ranked No.1 in the ‘Overall’ Category for the second consecutive year in India Ranking 2020 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
The Institute has also been ranked No.1 in the ‘Engineering Institutions’ category in the same Rankings for five consecutive years – 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
It was also adjudged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the country in Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) in 2019 and 2020. ARIIA Ranking was launched by the Innovation Cell of Ministry of Education.