CHENNAI: “The world doesn’t need experts in one field; it needs problem solvers,” said the Managing Director of Boeing Research & Technology-India, Bala Bharadvaj, while addressing students at IIT-Madras’ tech fest Shaastra on Saturday.
Bharadvaj said this in the context of India being an important focus area of aircraft manufacturers global plans as the country lies third in civil aviation, behind the countries of United States and China. However, he said not much was being done to harness the talent and potential of young Indians to help solve problems of sustainability and efficiency.
“It is time for India to contribute to the future of aerospace. We have launched an India Innovation Challenge in collaboration with T-Hub to get smart ideas that can be implemented to solve the problems of interest to Boeing. It is not enough for it to be just a smart idea, it should provide a workable solution.”
The initiative called Horizon X is looking for Indian startups with ideas that can solve problems with regard to a few key areas like autonomous or unmanned devices, manufacturing, IOT data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Applications for the challenge close on January 21.
“There is a common misconception that aerospace is a field only for aerospace engineers. This is false as we use a wide variety of technologies that can make our systems more efficient and that requires experts from diverse backgrounds. Data analytics and IOT, for instance, are areas that we are looking at to improve efficiency.”
Regarding the news about Boeing setting up a P-8I plan training facility at INS Rajali, a naval air station in Tamil Nadu, Bharadvaj said it was a move to provide the right kind of support.
“India is the first international customer of the P8 aircraft. We have an obligation to the Government of India to provide the right kind of support for these complex aircraft. Placing the training facility at Rajali is the choice of the customer. Our objective is to provide the best maintenance to ensure our customer’s assets are performing as they should.”