New Delhi, November 02: In association with the United States based Mehta Family Foundation, a Centre for Engineering will soon be set up by IIT Kanpur. Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director IIT Kanpur and Mr. Rahul Mehta of the Mehta Family Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
First International Advisor
Professor Shankar Subramaniam of the University of California, San Diego will be the first International Advisor of the ‘The Mehta Family Centre for Engineering in Medicine’.
“The idea behind the Mehta Family Centre for Engineering in Medicine is finding a new way to solve challenging medical problems,” Professor Abhay Karandikar has been quoted as saying to a national daily.
First of its kind centre
He added that the Centre will be first of its kind in India and it would be a pioneer in terms of manpower it would train at the interface of engineering and medicine. In terms of the unique type and quality of research work, the Centre is likely to become one of the best interdisciplinary centres in the country.
“We are happy to be associated with IIT Kanpur which has been pioneers in the science-based curriculum in engineering with many firsts to its credit,” Rahul Mehta of the Mehta Family Foundation told a news daily.
Professor Shankar Subramaniam of the University of California, San Diego and distinguished visiting professor of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering BSBE (biomedical research) said, “IIT Kanpur is a premier academic engineering institution in India and Center for Engineering in Medicine has the potential to be its crown jewel, impacting a generation of students. The workforce trained at the center will have the ability to revolutionize healthcare in India.”
The research focus would be on Regenerative Medicine, Molecular Medicine and Engineering, and Digital Medicine. These three areas are expected to revolutionise the way medicine is practiced in the future. For enabling more impactful research (fundamental and applied), the Centre would leverage the existing strengths within core engineering departments of the IIT and department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering BSBE (biomedical research) while diversifying into new/frontier areas.
The Centre would target to make a major impact in health care on terms of research/technology output.