Amrita University Launches Amrita Automotive Research & Technology Centre (AARTC) to bridge Industry and Academia

chennai, February 2, 2015 (Newswire.com) -  Amrita University, one of the premier institutions of higher learning in India today inaugurated the Amrita Automotive Research & Technology Centre (AARTC), a joint venture between Amrita University and Automotive Test Systems. The facility Rs.15-crore, one- of- its- kind facility established in the university headquarters at Coimbatore was inaugurated by Dr.K.Tamilmani, Director General, Aeronautical Systems, DRDO and the Guest of Honour  Ms.Rashmi Urdhwarshe, Director ,  ARAI Pune.

The centre will assist the automotive industry in areas like vehicle evaluation, vehicle cooling and HVAC Studies, Road Load Data Acquisition, Emission, Simulation – Structural and CFD, Multibody dynamics etc. AARTC along with graduates will also support the M Tech and PhD Students to use this facility for Applied Research and other sustainable technology researches.

Besides building a close rapport with the automotive industry, AARTC will facilitate the Doctoral and Postgraduate students of the university to gain hands - on experience by giving them an opportunity to participate in live research projects aimed at developing technologies for the government and industry as well.

Prof Parameswaran, Director – Corporate & Industry Relations stated that “The Amrita Automotive Research and Technology Centre (AARTC) is a clear manifestation of the university’s focus on research and innovation that would enhance the quality of teaching and learning experience of faculty, researchers and students.  The Centre would also enable the automotive industry to get valuable data on their products and facilitate decision-making on performance and target improvements.  On the whole, an excellent initiative from the Department of Mechanical Engineering”

In its first phase, a 4000 sq. m building has been completed with complete infrastructure for Vehicle Evaluation, Engine Testing and Development and basic NVH facilities. The second phase that is scheduled to be complete by the year end will cover a Hemi-Anechoic room, Reverberation rooms, Listening Studio and complete NVH facilities.

Speaking on the this occasion, Dr.K.Tamilmani, Director General, Aeronautical Systems, DRDO lauded the efforts of the Amrita University for being a great source for producing talents that is helping India to achieve technological leadership.

The Guest of Honour, Ms.Rashmi Urdhwarshe, Director, ARAI Pune said the creation of the right research environment in an university is a great step. The facility inaugurated today has a great potential to work in the areas of environment, road safety and energy efficiency. She also agreed to extend full support from ARAI, Pune.

Dr.Venkat Rangan, Vice chancellor stated, “Automotive Systems is of immense importance to people of all walks of life in all parts of the world. Our Amrita Center aims to impart state of the art learning and research to aspiring students, transforming them to brilliant engineers for industry and scientists for academia. Our Chancellor and world renowned humanitarian leader, AMMA, gives particular importance to transportation solutions that preserve the purity and safety of our living planet for future generations. It is our wish that the Centre comes up with several breakthrough innovations in this regard. The students are encouraged to participate in research projects right from their second year apart from their final year projects.” He added that Amrita is set to launch dual specialisation courses with a package of electives with major & minor options starting next academic year. Dr.Venkat Rangan, Vice chancellor also spoke about the live-in labs where students get to stay for two-months in rural villages every summer and come up with solutions for practical problems involving inter-disciplinary researches.

Mr. Ramanathan, Managing Partner, Automated Test Systems well appreciated the efforts of Amrita in supporting a great and fruitful Industry-Academia Initiative and promised to extend full support in making the AARTC the most sought after research centre in world.  

Dr. Sasangan Ramanathan, Dean Engineering, highlighted that Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham is extremely excited in setting up AARTC, and being able to provide high quality research driven initiatives in developing greener technologies in India

Dr. Thirumalini, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Prof.S.Raju, Advisor AARTC envisage that this facility will be in the forefront to nurture creativity and talent and provide the right ambience for disruptive technologies to evolve.

The lieu with the launch of AARTC, the department also organized for Panel Discussion on “Building successful partnerships between Academia and Industry”  with representatives both from the Industry and academia, followed by  three concurrent workshops/Technical sessions on Road Load Data Acquisition and Analysis & Vehicle Handling,  Vehicle Simulation including Hardware In Loop (HIL) and Power Plants including Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (EHV) on the afternoon of 28th, and a full day session on 29 Jan 2015.  

The Technical session on Power plant including Electric and Hybrid Vehicles will be handled by Dr.P.A.Lakshminarayanan - Simpson, Mr.Nakhwa - ARAI, Dr.Mark Peckham - Cambustion UK, Mr.Yogesh Bolar - Ashok Leyland Technical Center, Mr.Sajid Mubashir - National Automotive Board, Dr.S.Dhinagar - TVS Motors, Dr.Andreas Bartola - Kistler, Dr.Andreas Knetcht - Testo Group Germany and Mr.Umesh Krishnappa - Mahindra Reva.

The session On Road Evaluation of Vehicles was handled by Mr.Saurab Citnavis, - ATS,  Dr.Karuppiah – Natrax,  Daniel Foerder - IMC, Germany,  Klaus Weimert, Kistler, Germany, VivekLakhera, Tata Motors, Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Bosch and Prof.Raju, AARTC.