Chennai, May 2 (KNN) We need to establish a ‘Defence Incubator’ that will develop technologies not just for the strategic sectors but also for civilian use, said Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a workshop on Next Generation Laser Technologies hosted by IIT Madras.

It was a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR), IIT Madras.

He said civilian applications will lead to commercialization, which will generate funds to ensure sustainability of the products being developed.

“Atmanirbhar can be achieved only when defence sector products have a civilian component as well,” he added.

The key objective was to bring together experts from across the country and discuss how India can advance in the field of Laser Systems and develop the technology indigenously.

The workshop was organized by the DRDO Industry Academia – Ramanujan Centre of Excellence (DIA-RCoE), IIT Madras, and the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras.

It provided an opportunity to the research scholars, scientists, next-generation faculty, and industry captains to know about this disruptive technology which is going to be a game changer in defence technology.

Addressing the workshop, Haribabu Srivastava, Director General (Technology Management), DRDO, said, “The speed with which other countries are moving forward in this technology is tremendous and we need to move fast as well and reduce the gap between India and rest of the world. We need to take current capabilities to where the world is today and marshall the resources required to achieve this. The technology should be home-grown and not imported.” 

The officials who took part were from various institutions including SFO Technology, BEL, DRDO – CHESS Hyderabad, NPOL Kochi and CSIR – CGCRI, Kolkata.  (KNN Bureau)