China trick: Tech institute lab to develop cheap gadgets

Taking a cue from the way the Chinese have flooded markets with low-cost useful products,the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology is gearing to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory,where such products can be designed for mass production.

Taking a cue from the way the Chinese have flooded markets with low-cost useful products,the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) is gearing to set up a state-of-the-art laboratory,where such products can be designed for mass production.

MNNIT Director Professor P Chakrabarti said: We want to shift the focus,which is primarily academic,towards producing low-cost device prototypes that can be refined further and produced by the industry on a commercial basis.

For instance,we would like to develop an LPG gas leak detector device that would cost barely Rs 2 or 3 and can be thrown away with each change of the gas cylinder. Such devices have good market potential. That is what the Chinese are doing,flooding our markets with low-cost products that are designed in the use-and-throw mode, said Prof Chakrabarti,adding that most of these products or devices can be made using materials that are often by-products generated in other industrial processes.

Already an existing building within the institute has been identified for the purpose and following renovation in about three months time,it should be ready for setting up of the laboratory. Some of the equipment that have been shortlisted for procurement are X-Ray diffraction machine,scanning electron-microscope,pulse laser deposition,vacuum quoting system,liquid nitrogen (for cryogenic studies) and a clean room,where such devices will be made. The civil work will start soon and should be completed within three months, said Prof Chakrabarti.

Prof Chakrabarti said the institute would be dealing with devices like sensors,infra-red signal detectors,ultra-violet ray detectors,photovoltaic cells (solar cells) and other such items using new materials.

The focus would be on promoting inter-disciplinary research in a way that can lead to some useful products. Inter-disciplinary approach is well understood academically these days,but we want to bring it to useful purposes, said the director,who took charge of the institute five months ago.

He added that such devices may even be used to good effect in defence-related matters.

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Lamenting the lack of interaction between academic institutions and the industry,Prof Chakrabarti said if the initiative is successful,it may even help the institution in terms of financial sustainability. The government is spending lot of funds on research and other activities. But if we are able to produce devices that can be marketed commercially,it will definitely help in terms of finances, he said.

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