A centre for higher study on electric transport systems

Updated on: Monday, January 04, 2010

Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), an autonomous organisation set up under the Department of Science & Technology, has entered into an agreement with Arunai Engineering College, Tiruvannamalai, to establish CORE (Centre for Relevance and Excellence), devoted to the research on ‘Electric Transport Systems', in Tiruvannamalai.

TIFAC has set up 31 CORE centres in various universities and colleges in co-ordination with respective institutes, all over India under a programme called ‘mission REACH'. Each of these COREs deals with a particular area, like biomedical technology, aircraft maintenance, textile technology, etc.

Tamil Nadu leads the list with 13 institutions that have a CORE centre. Agreements have been signed by TIFAC with more institutions, including Annamalai University (on Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs) and Arunai Engineering College.

The aim of these centres is to produce scientifically and technically-qualified manpower of very high quality.

“Institutions can do research; start courses of advanced study in the chosen area of knowledge. In the CORE proposed at Arunai Engineering College, we will start a PG course on ‘Embedded Control Systems' and other PG diploma courses. We will also plan short-term courses for personnel from industry. If any scholars or industry in the country want to do research on Electric Transport Systems they could come here and utilise the research infrastructure and exchange ideas” said M. Arumugam, Director (Academics) of the college.

“TIFAC will contribute Rs.1.6 crore, and an equal amount would come from industry for setting up of the CORE. The college will spend about Rs. 80 lakh for recurring expenses such as salaries and maintenance in the first three years. The centre is expected to become self-reliant after that. In these three years, we are planning to conduct two international conferences, while one is mandatory,” Dr. Arumugam said.

Apart from being a centre of excellence, the upcoming CORE would help students of the college by providing an academically vibrant atmosphere and opportunities for doing project works, he added.

Persons from industry could come here and teach students and reflect what industry expected from future technocrats. They could utilise the CORE to solve technical problems faced by the industry, by way of transfer of knowledge and doing research on their own.

Principal K.S. Mohanavelu said that the presentday vehicles were largely dependent on fossil fuel. Even the electric trains had to convert rotary energy into linear energy for moving. It caused loss of energy.

A linear motor would directly produce linear energy to move a vehicle and minimize transmission loss. So, the proposed CORE would concentrate on research for designing a linear motor practically relevant for transport, he said.

“If we could find a breakthrough in this technology it will save the nation from spending much money on purchasing technologies from foreign companies,” Dr. Mohanavelu said.

“Designing hub motor (motor on the wheel itself) and exploring means of reducing transmission loss in the future electric transport systems would be immediate topics of concentration in the CORE,” said Dr. Arumugam.

A centre for higher study on electric transport systems

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