Centers of Excellence(Under AP State Knowlge Mission

Initiative)

Presentation By

Prof. JSR SubrahmanyamFormerly Mentor-TEQIP Phase1&2

Hyderabad Dt. 26th June, 2015

AP State Knowledge Mission envisages, amongst many objectives, the establishment of Centres of Excellence related to S&T, Arts & Humanities, Management areas etc. including Agriculture, Law, that have significant impact on Productivity and Quality of life of various cross-sections of the society

A center of excellence refers to a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, evangelization, best practices, research, support and/or training for a focus area.

The focus area in this case might be a technology (e.g. IT, Telecom, Nanotech), a business concept (e.g. BPM, BPE, Incubation centre), a skill (e.g. design, production, service) or a broad area of study (e.g. adult education, higher ed., tech. ed., pedagogy).

A center of excellence may also be aimed at revitalizing stalled initiatives.

Within an organization, a center of excellence may refer to a group of people, a department or a shared facility.

It may also be known as  competency center or a capability center.

The term may also refer to a network of institutions collaborating with each other to pursue excellence in a particular area

In academic institutions, a center of excellence often refers to a team with a clear focus on a particular area of research; such a center may bring together faculty members from different disciplines and provide shared facilities.

In technology companies, the center of excellence concept is often associated with new tools, technologies or associated business concepts such as eLearning architecture, content management or business integration platforms.

Any center of excellence is normally second to none.

There may be many centers of excellence.

But, every one should have some unique traits.

With specific ref to TEQIP Phase 2, the expectations are limited to S&T areas –

To support establishment of Centres of Excellence for multi‐disciplinary applicable research in specific thematic areas.

Establishment of about 30 Centres of Excellence (CoE) to be supported, having potential for undertaking cutting-edge applicable research.

Some of the potential generic areas suggested for establishing CoEs are:

Renewable energy (Solar, Wind, Wave energy etc),

Hydrology and Water Resource Management, Highway Safety, Intelligent Transportation System (ITS),

Advanced Materials, Disaster Management, Nanotechnology, Security Technology, Semi Conductors, Advance Manufacturing,

Bio‐medical Instrumentation, Waste Management, Bio‐Technology, Image Processing, Information and Communication Technology, etc.

Under RUSA scheme, other initiatives of “Decade of Innovation” and those of NKC, broad scope exists for establishment and sustenance of Centers of Excellence.

These are only to name a few at National level. A no. of opportunities exist in the international arena.

These initiatives depend to a large extent on the killer technologies of the era.What are the killer technologies at diffirent times?

What are the most relevant areas that are significant in the Indian context?

Let us consider cases of different engg. Disciplines –

CSE & IT, ECE, EE, Mech, Civil, Biotech in particular

CSE & IT :

- Software tools, SQA, Cyber Sec.- Porting software- Novel Enterprice arch. incl. both SW & HW aspects such as Grid/ Cloud, Object Oriented aspects- Nanocomputing, Ubiquitous mobile / computing

- eGov, eCommerce & eLearning application dev.- installation, testing, comm., O&M support for networking particularly w.r. to campus n/w, NKN requirements, SME,s req.- 3rd party SW enhancements to reputed industry grade SW products- Customised simulation SW products for numerous applns., for modelling & forecasting industrial, societal, scientific marketing and other needs.

- Bio-informatics, Biometrics- DW&DM for VLDB, Web mining- Doc Analysis & Security- VLSI & SOS/ embedded design, verification, simulation etc. (common to ECE as well)

ECE:

Some of the areas are –- Telecom system engineering incl. SW tools

ECE: Some of the areas are

- Telecom system engineering incl. SW tools

- Service support - Supervisory control systems- Novel application of electronic devices- Radar system engineering- Antenna design, service support- Test instrument design- Test jigs for bulk production, QA- nanoelectronic devices and applications

Mech:Some of the areas are –

- nanomaterial for energy effic.- nanocomposites for strength and light weight, particularly

defence & aviation req.- high eff. Thermal m/c design- tool design- Unconventional energy sys.- Ind. Engg. – BPE, BPR

- Calibration and certification systems- Systems Simulation- Manuf. Engg. incl. Service Informatics- Design automation incl. SW enhancements- Reliability Engg.- Machine Fault Diagnosys- Process engg., & autimation- Import substitution of components & sub-systems- Incubation support for SMEs

Civil:

Some of the areas are –- nanocomposites for strength and light weight, particularly

defence & aviation req.- Modern structural design for quake proofing, skyscrapers

etc.- testing and certification service- Design automation incl. SW enhancements- Service support for Modern Highways engg.

- Transportation system design incl. pipeline transported systems for water, oil & nat. gas, other chemicals etc, and traffic congestion studies- Environmental engg. For power gen. sys., sewerage mgt., indust. Pollution control etc.- Ground water management- Fire safe designs- Disaster mgt. – Cyclone, Sunami, Earth Quake etc. (This is in fact relevant to all other areas of engg. Specialisations)

Electrical:Some of the areas are –

- Smart Grids- Testing and certification- Design automation incl. SW enhancements- Cyber seurity of elec. systems- Service support for transformer inst., maint.- Service support for power system inst., O&M- Indeginisation of components and subsystems

- Superconductor based tran. systems- reactive power mgt. Issues- Dist. Automation, Load Mgt.- GigaW Thermal Power Gen. Sys.- Micro Power Gen Sys.

Chemical:

Some of the areas are –- Process design & automation- Design Automation & SW enhancements- Nano-material based design- Petro chemical engg. areas incl. well logging- Textile engg

Bio-Technology:Some areas are –

- Functional aspecte of Bio- informatics- DNA based forensic appl., for humans, plants/seed verif. etc.- Genetic Engg, updating Genome databases for humans, animals, plants etc.- Rational Drug Design- Drug Delivery systems- Design Autom. & SW enhanc.

Arts & Humanities:- Fine Arts (Dance, Drama,

cinematography, Music, creative writing

- Archealogical and heritage related issues including discovery, preservation etc.

- Economic development related studies, planning etc. and tools development

- A no. of issues related to political science, history, human evolution etc.

Science related areas:- Mathematical Sciences, particularly

simulation and modelling related- Physical Sciences including

material research, earth sciences and oceanography, Weather pattern studies and predictions

- Biological sciences including agriculture productivity, ecological matters

- Medical sciences including Public health, Physical & Mental well-being (specific concern for AP w. r. to GE, mal-nutrition, personal hygene etc.)

Other areas:- Legal- Management- Sports-

What environment / establishment can

support COE initiatives?

Typically Incubation Centers &Centers of excellence associated with Academia, industry & state run R&D establishments; industry associated specific technology/product oriented R&D departments/divisions – Standards based activity in terms of materials, processes, tooling, test zig design, and overall performance

The Do’s•Comprehensive planning•Autonomy•Liberal funding•ROI based approach•Free flow of expertise•Proper compensation•Congenial working conditions•Well defined career planning at all levels

The Don’ts - •No personal agenda•Subordination•Restricted working hours and access to resources•Dis-incentives•Non-experts controlling

the mgt & admin•Politicizing

Will industry really get benefitted out of such endeavors?

Of course, YES

Any substantioation?

Decades of observations.

Decades of observations with-in India:

A few instances are w.r. to achievements of ISRO TIFR/BARC DRDO/HAL/BEL CDAC

A few instances are w.r. to not so much of achievements -

CSIR State owened PSUs

Education Rural dev. & Poverty alleviation

How are we planning?Nothing new as conceptStill refuse to learn lessons from past and rest of the world

Nothing novel about planning (BPE/BPR) & implementation

Commitees, meetings, reviews, no progress at the end

How should we be planning?

Novel & InnovativeHighly objectiveIn line with trends of future development – at least for next 25 to 50 years growth and sustenance before any radical changes in approach, structure & infra-structure

Minimise admin & mgt overheads

Thank You

Any Questions?