University of Melbourne September 2022 India Visit

In September the University of Melbourne sent its second delegation for 2022 to India. Led by Associate Professor Meenakshi Arora, participants of the Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA) joined this large, multi-faculty group. Individual visits to MIPA partner institutions allowed University of Melbourne academics to explore potential research collaborations for future Joint PhD supervisions and other opportunities for strengthening relationships within the program.

Beginning at IIT Delhi, Professor Naveen Garg and Professor Rangan Banerjee welcomed University of Melbourne delegates. Meeting with colleagues from the Departments of Civil Engineering, Chemistry, and Computer Science and Engineering, there was evident overlap of the focussed research areas across the partnering institutions. Delegates were also shown IIT Delhi’s Nanoscale Research Facility and Assistech Lab.

Delegates from across the University of Melbourne’s Faculties of Science, and Engineering and IT, were then introduced by Dr Dhirendra Katti to current and potential collaborators at IIT Kanpur for extensive discussion on research partnerships and a tour of the Flexible Electronics lab.

Concurrently a visit to MIPA’s first partner institution, IIT Kharagpur, included a busy day touring the campus and speaking with both existing and possible future partner supervisors. Hosted by Professor Goutam Chakraborty and Professor Virendra Tewari, delegates were shown IITKGP’s PARAM-Shakti supercomputer and the Centre of Excellence in Advanced Manufacturing Technology amongst other exciting facilities.

Delegates then joined back together for a final large group visit to IISc. Professor Abhishek Singh welcomed University of Melbourne guests before further discussions among individual department members and a visit to the National Nanofabrication Centre at the Bangalore campus.

Finally a visit to IIT Madras focused on expanding the MIPA program in aligned research areas in engineering, IT and science. Professor Kamakoti discussed broad themes such as AI, Biomedical Engineering and Sustainability for curating the long-term programs between University of Melbourne and IIT Madras. Delegates were also provided with a tour of the Research Park (IITM Incubation Cell, Centre for Battery Engg and EV and Health Innovation Centre) and Ocean Engineering Lab, that boasts the largest Wave pool of India.