CHENNAI: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has announced a grant of Rs 100 crore to set up 50 state-of-the-art ‘New Discovery and Innovation Labs’ at its campuses across India. These research powerhouses, to be operational within the next one year, will be led by the varsity’s faculty and students. The new labs will drive cutting-edge innovation and discoveries in fields such as engineering, medical sciences, computer sciences, material sciences, nano bio sciences, biotechnology, biomedical engineering, and sustainable development.
The announcement was made during the inaugural ceremony of the first edition of Amrita Innovation & Research Awards (AIRA) presided over by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham chancellor and renowned humanitarian, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Amma. The varsity’s faculty members were given awards in six categories, including Chancellor’s Research Excellence Award, New Discovery & Innovation Labs, Chancellor’s Innovation Award, Chancellor’s Publication Excellence Award, Publication Merit Award, and Certificate of Appreciation for Research. Prizes worth Rs 2.5 crore were given to winners.
Seven professors of the university bagged Chancellor’s Research Excellence Awards for figuring in the list of top 2 per cent scientists in the world in their respective fields. These included Maneesha Sudheer (Networking & Telecommunications), Radhika N (Mechanical Engineering), Shantikumar Nair (Polymers), R. Jayakumar (Polymers), Madhav Dutta (Energy), Dr Krishnakumar R (Paediatric Cardiology) and Vinaykumar (Cybersecurity).
The Chancellor’s Innovation Awards recognized 49 patents, both national and international. The Chancellor’s Publication Excellence Awards were given to individual faculty members who distinguished themselves by publishing high-impact papers in Tier 1 journals around the world in the pandemic times.
The guests of honour at the awards ceremony included Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog; Sethuraman Panchanathan, director, National Science Foundation, USA; G Satheesh Reddy, chairman, DRDO; Subhasis Chaudhuri, director, IIT Bombay; Venu Govindaraju, VP for Research and Economic Development, University of Buffalo; and Prasant Mohapatra, vice chancellor for research, University of California.