BHUBANESWAR: In near future, the areas surrounding aluminium manufacturing units will not be affected by environmental hazards caused due to the plant’s by-product - ‘red-mud’. Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (IITB) in one of its research verticals - ‘waste to construction material’ have developed a technology by which red mud is converted to concrete.
The new material has already been tested under different scenarios and can used for all kinds of constructions, Director IIT Bhubaneswar, Prof RV Raja Kumar said. A two-member team is working on improvisations to make the technology more robust and commercially feasible alternative for cement.
The director added that the material is already in its marketing stage, and very soon the premier institute would apply for a patent for the technology. He was addressing media-persons on the pre-event ceremony of fifth convocation of IITB.
Prof Kumar mentioned that IIT Bhubaneswar has taken up a mission of reverse brain drain by promoting the insititute and its infrastructure in the Western and Eastern shores of USA and the United Kingdom. The idea is to bring back brilliant students from India who have moved out to foreign countries to explore research opportunities.
Sustained efforts is being put to improve research facilities to match the global standards, the Director said. Currently there are 112 full time faculty members in the institute, besides professors from sister institutes in the country and abroad are invited frequently to teach at IIT Bhubaneswar.
On the societal front the institute is working on solutions to prevent erosion at the Puri coast, groundwater replenishment and exploration and commercialisation of rare earth materials at the Ganjam coast. On September 4, a workshop on rare earth materials and another in January, on ocean sciences, will be organised by IIT Bhubaneswar, Prof Kumar said.
While equipments worth Rs 9 crore have already been purchased for the ambitious Bay of Bengal Coastal Ocean Observatory (BABCO) project, the proposed land for the project near Puri is yet to be demarcated.
IITB receives at least 30 applications from start ups every year. So far 85 percent of academic activities are conducted at the permanent campus at Arugul in Jatani. By mid 2017, all academic blocks will be ready at the new campus, said Prof Kumar.