ROURKELA: Lending capacity building support, the Department of Ceramic Engineering of NIT-R on Wednesday kicked off a month-long special training programme in advanced ceramic sciences and engineering for a pool of scientists of Institute of Glass & Ceramic Research and Testing under Bangladesh Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (BCSIR).
Eight scientists including three women led by Principal Scientific Officer Shirin Akter Jahan have joined the programme sponsored by BCSIR. The BCSIR had sought help of the institute to assist and update its scientific personnel on modern technologies and methods, especially in advanced ceramic sciences and engineering.
NIT-R sources said over the next few weeks they would be trained on materials processing methods, properties, advanced characterization tools and their applications. They said the participants have also shown keenness in working with materials on ceramic building, energy and environment, electronic and magnetic besides waste management and glasses.
Head of the Ceramic Engineering wing of NIT-R professor Debasish Sarkar expressed happiness for being able share their expertise besides getting recognition. NIT-R Director Professor K Umamaheshwar Rao said, “the NIT-R has been progressing well with its thrust on quality academic and research activities and set a benchmark in research and knowledge outreach initiative. “ We look forward to conduct similar programmes in other fields of science and engineering, Rao exhorted.
The Department of Ceramic Engineering of NIT-R runs BTech, MTech, and PhD programmes and research on a host of materials including, refractoriness, glasses, bio-ceramics, structural ceramics, nano-structured materials, hybrids, energy and environmental materials.
Only the NIT-R has the distinction of having specialized ceramics department among all NITs of the country, while IIT-BHU is the other national institute to have specialized ceramics programme.
We are happy to undergo the training and go back with enriched knowledge. We hope more such collaborations with NIT-R in future, said Jahan.