Revisiting the Glory - IUSSTF.Org · 2020. 9. 15. · The Indus-Saraswati Civilization World Cultural Heritage Park Revisiting the Glory 6 Connect • January 2010 Harappan Gateway

Volume 1 (3) | January 2010

Indo-US Science & Technology Forum

Newsletter of IUSSTF

www.indousstf.org

Revisiting the Glory

Indus-Saraswati CivilizationWorld Cultural Heritage Park

C O N T E N T S January 2010

22 Connect January 2010•

04

18

08 34

04

cover storycover story

featurefeature

report report

The Indus-Saraswati Civilization World Cultural Heritage Park


18Cells as Building Blocks

Back to Basics

Indo-US Networked Joint Centers

12 A Sea of EvidenceAbrupt Climate Change

16Nanomaterials for Energy

Small Wonders

22Innovation and Entrepreneurship Role of Public Private Partnerships

The Art of Convergence

08 Globalization of Indian R&D

26Purdue-India Partnership

Reinforcing Bridges

32Research Internships in Science and Engineering

Crossover Pursuits

36 Events Diary

news and events news and events

10 IUSSTF Governing Board Meeting

The borderless and the global dimensions of

science and technology have been intuitively

recognized for some time now. The fact that the 2009

Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been shared for a

collaborative work on ribosome structure deciphered

by scientists working across disciplines and

institutions in UK (Venkatraman Ramakrishnan),

USA (Thomas Steitz) and Israel (Ada Yonath), clearly

demonstrates the value of shared scientific output through seamless leveraging of

resources and intellect. As governments, academia, research institutions and

corporate houses place increased emphasis on pursuing science and technology

across national boundaries; innovative frameworks for collaboration have to emerge.

Such global approaches need to be identified and integrated within the national

policy framework to support mutual gain outcomes - what can be referred to as

'collaborative advantage'.

The recent summit level meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and

President Barack Obama clearly reaffirmed our two countries strongest

commitments towards working together to address issues of bilateral concern that

have as much of a global impact. The US-India strategic dialogue provides a clear

guidance for research and deployment engagements on the framework based on the

five pillars of security and strategic cooperation; clean energy and climate change;

economics, trade and agriculture; education and development; and science &

technology, innovation and health. On the sidelines of the State visit, MoUs to

facilitate collaborative research in specific areas of energy security; wind energy;

traditional knowledge; intellectual property rights; emerging infectious diseases;

and sustainable agriculture development were signed.

The scope for enhanced engagement between the scientific and technological

community from both our countries holds both promising, but nevertheless,

challenging potential. Since its inception, IUSSTF has been able to conceive, design

and embark upon several new and diverse bilateral initiatives by effortlessly working

with the scientific community of both our countries. IUSSTF is now confidently

poised to shoulder and discharge a larger and a more prolific role in promoting

scientific and technological cooperation between India and USA, befitting the need

and aspirations of all its stakeholders.

T

Arabinda MitraExecutive Director, IUSSTF

Editor-in-ChiefArabinda MitraExecutive Director, IUSSTF

EditorManoj DabasAravali Foundation for Education

Editorial Advisory GroupMichael CheethamDirector, India Science and Technology Partnership (INSTP)

Debapriya DuttaCounselor for S&T, Indian Embassy, Washington DC

Smriti TrikhaScience Manager, IUSSTF

Nishritha BopanaScience Officer, IUSSTF (Member Convener)

Designed, Produced and Circulated by:Aravali Foundation for Education Communication & Outreach DivisionAravali House, 431/D-22Chhatarpur Hills New Delhi-110074, India

Published and Printed by:Nishritha Bopana on behalf of Indo-US S&T Forum from Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road, New Delhi - 110 001. Printed at Anand Print & Pack, 106, DSIDC, Scheme-I, Phase-II, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi-110020

Opinions:Opinions expressed in Connect do not necessarily reflect the opinion of IUSSTF or other organizations associated with publication of Connect.

Comments and Suggestions:Please email the Connect Team at [email protected]

From the Editor-in-Chief

33Connect January 2010•

44


Connect January 2010•

COVER STORY


The concept of the Indus-Saraswati Civilization World Cultural Heritage Park came from the fact that India has no world-class museum for Indus-Saraswati civilization. As tourism grows rapidly in India, the world deserves to have a Smithsonian or British class museum, research and educational facility to study and showcase various aspects of the Indus-Saraswati Civilisation for India to be at par, in this context, with countries like Egypt, Mexico, Turkey or China.

The park is being established as a partnership between Global Heritage Fund (USA), The Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda (Vadodara) and the Indus Heritage Center Board of Trustees.


Comparative timeline for early states of the Old World

Kuldeep K. BhanDept. Of Archaeology and Ancient History Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Vadodara

6655


0 BCE

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

7000

7500

MauryanEmpire Early RepublicsMonarchies

Localization EraLate Harappan

Regionalization EraMerhgarh IIB

Merhgarh IIA

Early Food Producing Era

Merhgarh IAPreceramicNeolithic

Old BabylonianEmpire

Akkadian Empire

Early Dynastic I

Jemdet Nasr

Uruk

Ubaid

Preceramic

Neolithic

New Kingdom

Middle Kingdom

Old Kingdom

Early Dynastic

Naqada IIINaqada II

Naqada IAmratianBadarian

Early Fayun

Qin Empire

Zhou

ShangSanxingduiXia

Longshan

Yangshao

Neolithic

Harappan

Integration EraEarly Harappan

Balakot Hakra/Ravi

Kot Diji, Amri

INDUS MESOPOTAMIA EGYPT CHINA

South Asia's first cities were established around 2600 BC along the banks of the Indus and ancient Ghaggar - Hakra - Saraswati rivers in present day Pakistan and Western India. The people who built and ruled these cities belong to, what archeologists refer to as, the Harappan Culture or Indus or Indus-Saraswati Civilization.

The Indus-Saraswati Civilization developed at approximately the same time as the early city states of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Although, there were economic and cultural contacts between these early urban societies, significant differences are seen in social organization, artistic styles, symbols, and technologies since they evolved from their respective local cultures, which have their roots extending back to the earliest Neolithic farming pastoral communities. Unlike the other ancient civilizations, the Indus-Saraswati civilization is not characterized by centralized palaces, or temples. Nevertheless, they built massive cities and accumulated great wealth that was used for finance and trade, to build and maintain their cities, and to be passed down to subsequent generations. The Indus people developed a sophisticated writing system that has not yet been deciphered. This has made it impossible for archaeologists to answer specific questions about their religion, the names of the rulers, traders, and cities. The cities of the Indus-Saraswati civilization were not discovered until the 1920's, and since the first discoveries were made, around two dozen sites belonging to the Indus-Saraswati civilization have been excavated. Despite efforts of archaeologists and associated agencies, a large number of sites are getting destroyed due to ignorance as well as expansion of agriculture into newer areas. Nevertheless, many questions about the nature of the cities and the people who created this highly complex culture are being answered through more precise archaeological excavations and scientific analysis of artifacts and relics unearthed in the process.

The Indus-Saraswati civilization is comparable to any of the other old civilizations of the world like Egypt, Mesopotamia, Mexico and China, in

terms of its historical significance, and/ or its developmental or commercial potential. Not having an institution dedicated to study and highlight its various unique aspects undermines the true potential of the Indus-Saraswati civilization making it the most under-funded and least understood of the major civilizations.

This is highlighted by the fact that even as international, and even domestic tourism has grown by leaps and bounds in India, the total investment on conservation, museums and promotion is less than $400,000 per year (2004). In contrast, Egypt, Mexico and China spend over $120 million a year on maintaining and promoting sites associated with their ancient monuments, and in the process generate over $2.4 billion in archaeological tourism revenue.

The need for setting up the Indus-Saraswati Civilization World Cultural Heritage Park arose from the fact that India has no world class museum, research and educational facility to study and showcase various aspects of the Indus-Saraswati civilization. It is widely recognized by those interested in history that for India to be at par, in this context, with countries like Egypt, Mexico, Turkey, or China, it deserves to have a Smithsonian or British-class museum, research




Harappan Gateway at Gola Dhoro (Bagasra) Gujarat and educational facility to study and showcase

various aspects of the Indus-Saraswati Civilization.

Indus-Saraswati Civilization World-Cultural Heritage Park: A New Vision for Ancient India The Indus-Saraswati civilization World Cultural Heritage Park is being set up on a 30 acre site about 11 km from the current MSU campus. As an effort to fill a huge gap in promoting and projecting the region’s cultural heritage, the park would be designed as a microcosm of a harappan city, in terms of its architecture, materials used for construction etc., to take its visitors back in time to experience life as it was for the people who built the great cities like Dholavira, Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal as well as smaller towns like Gola Dhoro, Surkotada and Kalibangan. In addition, festivals¸ dance performances, lectures and films will enrich the visitors' overall experience.

The park will showcase the glory of the Indus Civilization and enable the people of India and the world to discover connections to the past through scholarship, education, museum displays, films, craft demonstrations, and live encounters. It will provide the visitor an opportunity to relive momentarily a Harappan

experience. The diversity of traditions from nearly 5,000 years ago encompass the arts, specialized craft technology, jewelry making, pottery, town planning and architecture, water m a n a g e m e n t , t r a d e a n d c o m m e r c e , transportation and travel, politics and governance, customs and rituals, writing system (that needs decoding), and myths and legends.

The park, once completed, would tell the story of India's most ancient society in as convincing and compelling a manner as possible beginning with the origin of its first cities during Indus-Saraswati Civilization, and continuing through the legacy of these cities in later periods through to modern India. It shall showcase most important archaeological sites and artifacts of the Indus-Saraswati civilization as physical manifestations of one of the most fascinating and important stories of human achievement.

Significantly, the parks design is geared to draw a large number of school and college going students from across the country for workshops, lectures and tours. To fulfill its educational mandate, the park will create a connection between the displayed objects and the living artistic traditions of South Asia. Craft demonstration, interactive programs, hands- on activities, live walk-in models, AV modules and more will provide diverse educational offerings.

Being designed to handle about 2-3 million visitors each year, the park is being established as a partnership between the Global Heritage Fund (GHF) USA, the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda (Vadodara) and the Indus Heritage Center Board of Trustees. As partners, MSU will be providing the land and loan artifacts and collections relating to the history of Gujarat and the Indus Civilization. MSU will also provide access to its world famous archives and research library. GHF will provide project leadership, international networking and funding.

Expanding the Vision through Education Education and research being an integral part of


77

Recently excavated Indus shell bangles, Gujarat

Indo-US workshop on the use ofdigital technology in museum artifacts and GPS based map of prehistoric sites


the effort behind the heritage park, a dedicated unit namely the Indus-Saraswati Heritage Center (ISHC) is being set up to provide intellectual and research support to the heritage park.. ISHC will be a world class museum as well as an international level research center visualised as a primary, and premier, destination for students of history interested in complexities of the Indus-Saraswati civilization.

The Indus-Saraswati Heritage Center will explore the roots of the ancient culture of the civilization of India and trace its modern relevance and continuing legacy. It will have as its focus both the preservation and promotion of the culture of ancient India.

As a step towards realising the plans about the center, the Archaeology Department at MSU has already initiated digital documentation, conservation and storage of artifacts. The Collection Management System has been instituted by two doctoral students - Brad Chase and Kate Lindstrom under the guidance of Prof. J. M. Kenoyer, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This will also help to develop interactive museum programs for visitors to museum in the times to come. Sean Charette, a Metal Conservation Specialist, conducted a training on conservation and storage of metal and terracotta artifacts for a period of six weeks under the guidance of Paul Jett, Director of Conservat ion, Freer-Sackler Gal lery, Smithsonian Institution. Besides this, preparation of GIS / GPS based maps of all known prehistoric sites in starting with regions encompassed by Indus Civilization have been completed.

To kickstart the activities of ISHC, a 4-day bilateral workshop-cum-training program on Digital Mapping and Archival Technology was held from March 17-20, 2007. Sponsored by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, the workshop was attended by 45 south Asian scholars, conservators, representatives of sponsoring organizations, and doctoral students from Indian and foreign universities. Over the years preceding the workshop, the Indus Program of Department of Archeology has

encouraged researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and University of Philadelphia to undertake doctoral research in India. Prof. J. M. Kenoyer has played a key role in making these research efforts to come to fruition with the ethnoarchaeological project on stone bead making at Khambhat, Western India being the most notable.

World Cultural Heritage Center: A New Tourism Magnet for Gujarat Gujarat is home not only to a vibrant culture but also to several archaeological marvels that includes Champaner (a world heritage site), a rich cultural heritage, many pilgrimage centers, wildlife preserves, fairs and festivals and varied craft traditions. Showcasing the Indus Valley civilization offers a great potential for developing tourism in Gujarat. Tourism circuits incorporat ing major Indus-Saraswat i civilization sites that highlight local history and traditions, as well as trace links with the past, hold great potential to attract significant domestic and international tourists. Several such circuits have been identified for which the proposed park could become a preferred point of origin and conclusion.

FEATURE

Globalization of Indian R&D

The mantra of globalization offers a new

paradigm that can make a significant

impact through embarking upon strategic

alliances translated through effective

research and development collaborations

spanning across nations, institutions and

disciplinary boundaries.

Article appeared in the Financial Express(October 14,2009) and has been reprinted here with due permission.

Arabinda Mitra Executive Director

Indo-US S&T Forum


Connect January 2010 • 99

(Contd. on page 21)

“Over the next five years, India plans to invest $ 21 billion on higher education, a whopping nine-fold increase over the previous five years.”

The international dimensions of science and technology have been intuitively recognized for some time now. This cannot be more justified by the fact that the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 has been shared for a collaborative work on ribosome structure deciphered by scientists working across disciplines and institutions in UK (Venkatraman Ramakrishnan), USA (Thomas Steitz) and Israel (Ada E. Yonath). In the current context, the mantra of globalization has further offered an altogether new paradigm that can make a significant impact through embarking upon strategic alliances translated through effective research and development collaborations spanning across nations, institutions and disciplinary boundaries. As governments, academia, research institutions and corporates place increased emphasis on pursuing science and technology across national boundaries, innovative frameworks for collaboration have to emerge. Such global approaches need to be identified and integrated with the national policy framework which promotes reciprocal mobility of scientific and technological community that could support mutual gain outcomes - what can be referred to as 'collaborative advantage'.

Over the last five decades, USA and the European nations have clearly demonstrated that cooperation in science and technology can be one of the most effective instrument for building technical capacities required to contribute to the global knowledge economy which can be driven together by the intellect, innovation and technological strengths that they both possess together. U.S. competitiveness in science and technology has been supported by a constant intake of the best minds from across the globe. India has been one of the prime sources of this gene pool which has directly contributed to the intellectual and scientific prowess of the United States. For eighth year running, India has been the leading source of foreign enrollments in US campuses with 1,03,000 Indian students joining American institutions in 2008-09. Obviously, the appreciation in understanding the economies and sentiments beyond one's borders is necessary to develop such effective policies

which U.S. has judiciously pursued, which in turn have supported the outstanding scientific and technological health of the nation as we have witnessed over the years.

As India grows to become a centre of knowledge economy, new opportunities for using this comparative advantage to integrate with the leading scientific enterprises around the world by exploiting complementarities of their science, technology and innovation systems are fast emerging. India has a vast and strong intellectual tradition coupled with large, varied and competent scientific establishments. This is further expected to grow manifold as we invest more on higher education, science and technology. With the establishment of several new institutions of higher learning in science, engineering and biomedical research in India the scope for enhanced engagement between the next generation of the S&T community from technologically advanced countries holds both promising, but nevertheless, a challenging potential. Over the next five years, India plans to invest $ 21 billion on higher education, a whopping nine-fold increase over the previous five years. This is expected to support 90 higher education institutions including several IITs, IIMs, Central Universities, IISER's, IIIT's and NIPER's, some of which are already up and running and some under anvil. Recently the cabinet has also approved the setting up of innovation universities of global standards to foster entrepreneurship and capacity building for economic growth.

Similarly, the federal science and technology budget of the Government of India has also significantly increased at an annual rate of nearly 40% over the last few years. The recently released Global Research Report by Thompson Reuters indicates that the annual output of scientific research publications from India has grown by around 80% over the last decade and surely seems to have kept up with the growing fund availability to support the diverse and well accredited scientific pursuits across disciplinary domains. This impressive surge does indicate that the potential for India to become home to cutting edge research and development work

1111 Connect January 2010 •

IUSSTF Governing Board Meeting

IN THE NEWS

The 11th annual meeting of the joint Governing Board of IUSSTF was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, USA on 8 December 2009 under the co-chairmanship of Dr. Norman Neureiter (Advisor, AAAS) and Dr. T. Ramasami (Secretary, DST). Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director, US Office of Science and Technology Policy who was the invited guest speaker in the Board meeting gave an overview on the science and technology priorities of the Obama administration, including its global dimensions. As a part of the Board meeting, a series of invited presentations on 'Forging science and technology partnerships between the United States and India' was also organized on 7 December 2009 at the Natcher Auditorium, NIH. The day-long event was attended by over 300 participants showcased the varied and expanding S&T collaborative relationship and the potential for future co-operation between the United States and India.

In attendance were several stellar speakers whose presentations reflected the perspectives and opportunities of bilateral S&T engagements. Ambassador Meera Shankar (Indian Ambassador to the United States) in her welcome address highlighted the five pillars of Indo-US collaboration that emerged from the summit meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President, Chief Technology Officer & Associate Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, spoke on the President's initiative on innovation for America and expanding opportunities. Michael Owen from the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State, talked about the longstanding US-India relationship. Dr. Francis S. Collins, Director, NIH delivered a special address on US health priorities and the global health initiatives of NIH. Dr. Arden L. Bement Jr., Director, NSF, in his address showcased the progress of science in the United States and Dr. T. Ramasami, shared his vision about Indian science & technology in the decade of innovations.

Perspectives of various US federal agencies were provided by Dr. Stephen Koonin, Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Patrick Gallagher, Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology; and Dr. James Turner, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Three thematic sessions on “Research & Development Perspectives from Industry” was covered by Dr. Ray Johnson, Sr. V.P. & CTO, Lockheed Martin Corp. and R. Seshasayee, M.D. Ashok Leyland; “Building Scientific Capacity in the United States and India” by Profs. Venkatesh Narayanmurti, Director, Belfer Centre of Harvard University and Sanjay Dhande, Director, IIT-Kanpur; and “Translational Health Science & Technolog: building new institutions in partnership” was illustrated by Prof. Martha Gray, MIT and Dr. Maharaj K. Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

To enable Indian and American scientists, researchers and students from academia, laboratories (both public and non-governmental) and industry to carry out joint research activities by leveraging already existing infrastructure and funding available with the partners at both sides, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum supports linkages established through virtual networked joint centres. The Indo-US Knowledge R & D Networked Centers and Public-Private Networked Centers aim to encourage joint project implementation on focal areas of thematic and applied research based on synergy of activities and harnessing complementary strengths of performing groups from the two countries. Knowledge R & D Networked Centers may also provide opportunities for integrating research with education, through both student and faculty exchanges. Public-Private Networked Centers, on the other hand, enables to foster academia-industry partnerships by promoting pre-commercial R & D activities having potential towards applied research and product development. These Centers are aimed to capitalize on the scientific and technological innovation and entrepreneurship in translating ideas from the bench to the market place. More information on the Networked Centers can be accessed at

We at IUSSTF are pleased to introduce the work of three such Networked Centers in this edition of “Connect”. The focal areas of these Centers are Stem Cells & Tissue Engineering; Climate Change and its impact on the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea and, Nanomaterials for Energy.

www.indousstf.org.


1111Connect January 2010 •

FEATURE

Indian monsoon system is vital for the Indian

sub-continent due to the sheer criticality of the

water resources that it provides to this heavily

populated region of the earth. However, the

atmospheric forcing over the Arabian Sea that

leads to the phenomenon of monsoons and the

response of this large basin in terms of

reversing currents, carbon sequestration and

enrichment of marine ecosystems is not well

understood. Even less understood are the

effects of global warming on the monsoonal

system as well as rich marine resources that

support a large human population living in the

coastal areas.

Indo-US Joint Center on ‘Climate Change and

its impact on the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea’

seeks to understand and predict the response of

biological and bio-geochemical processes in

the Arabian Sea to climate change and their

repercussions for one-sixth of our planet's

population.

Connect January 2010 •

Abrupt Climate Change

A Sea of Evidence


1212

The Indian monsoon system has a very significant economic and socio-cultural importance in South Asia. It is infact now identified as one of the 'tipping elements' in the Earth system. This implies that the monsoons could switch into a qualitatively different state by perturbations arising from anthropogenic climate change.

The monsoon circulation is driven by differential heating and cooling between the Tibetan plateau/Indian subcontinent and the ocean surrounding it. This leads to a seasonal reversal in wind forcing, which results in a reversal of the circulation pattern. Any perturbation that tends to weaken the driving pressure gradient has the potential to destabilize the monsoon circulation.

The joint Center on 'Climate Change and its impact on the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea' comprises of scientists from various disciplines and several institutes in USA, India and Oman. Sponsored by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, the resources for the center are also complimented by funding from the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA) and National Science Foundation (NSF), USA, and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), India,

Pursuits of the joint center combine extensive ship-based field studies with satellite data and innovative coupled physical-ecosystem modeling. The objective of all these efforts is to identify, quantify and understand the coupling and feedbacks between physical and biogeochemical systems of the Arabian Sea, and to assess how the ecosystem and its carbon cycle are responding to global environmental changes. We were initially spurred by our study that used satellite and modeling observations to show that the recent trend of declining winter and spring snow cover over the Himalayan mountains due to warming of the Eurasian landmass was causing the southwest (summer) monsoonal winds to become stronger. This escalation in intensity of summer monsoonal winds accompanied by enhanced upwelling of

nutrient rich waters along the coasts of Somalia and Oman, and a >350% increase in average summer time phytoplankton biomass in the western Arabian Sea, raised the intriguing possibility that the current warming trend in the Northern Hemisphere was making the Arabian Sea more productive. Phytoplanktons, the photosynthetic organisms that form the base of the food chain for all the world's oceans, determine the productivity of the oceans and are comprised of extraordinary species diversity and size range.

This finding was paralleled by an equally remarkable observation during the calibration and validation cruises conducted by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), CSIR and the Space Applications Centre, ISRO in support of India's ocean color remote sensing program. From 2001 onwards to cruises conducted in Feb-Mar. of the year 2009, we have observed the unusual appearance of large blooms of a green dinoflagellate Noctiluca miliaris. Previously a minor component of phytoplankton populations in the northern Arabian Sea, Noctiluca seems to have replaced the ubiquitous single celled group of siliceous algae known as diatoms in the Arabian Sea during winter and spring. The tropical species of Noctiluca that we find in the northern Arabian Sea, is a conspicuously large (up to 1 mm in diameter) and unusual plankton that floats on the sea surface and harbors a photosynthesizing green symbiont, called Pedinomonas noctilucae which possibly supplies it with food. Yet our observations suggest Noctiluca to be a voracious grazer, consuming large amounts of phytoplankton indiscriminately. In the light of this obvious change in species we have set out to answer several pertinent questions: (1) Are the observed changes in phytoplankton biodiversity real, or a manifestation of inadequate sampling? (2) If the changes are real, are they natural variations, or a response to rapid climate change? (3) When did these these changes appear? And, (4) What are the cascading effects of the change on the Arabian Sea ecosystem, and, will they be permanent?



Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, ME, USA

National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula,

Goa, India

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, ME, USA

1313

surface and in the water column are required to support the application of the model.

The Joint Virtual Center and financial support from IUSSTF enabled a training workshop titled 'Bio-optical Oceanography' that ensured that uniform methodology and calibration were employed on all future cruises and that the data from different cruises and groups will be accurate and comparable. The workshop was conducted by a joint faculty of six experts from the US and India who trained young scientists and graduate students working in the field of bio-optical oceanography, in methods of sensor integration, sampling protocols, underwater profiling, calibration of instruments, and data analysis. This was indeed an important need for the ocean color and bio-optical oceanography community in India, given that ISRO was planning the launch of its second ocean color satellite.

Following the workshop, two research cruises were undertaken in the Arabian Sea on research vessels Sagar Kanya and Sagar Sampada (belonging to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India) with participant support from IUSSTF. The combined 30-day field study, the first of its kind in the Arabian Sea, enabled the

monitoring and investigation of the 2009 bloom of the Noctiluca from its initial stage to death and decay using remote sensing, shipboard bio-optical surveys and on-deck experiments. In addition to the bio-optical study, we investigated (with support from NSF) the eco-physiology of these recent blooms. Along with several graduate students from the NIO we undertook studies that will provide us insights into the conditions that can facilitate the promotion of these blooms, their feeding habits and the implication of these blooms for the marine food chain and carbon cycle of the Arabian Sea. We are now in the process of planning for cruises in 2010 with a larger contingent of scientists and students from the US. This includes conduct of three data archiving workshops. We hope that the Joint Center will serve as a repository of data collected

Satellite ocean color data appears to be the only resource available to us to overcome the lack of historic data and the inadequacy of shipboard measurements. Satellite ocean color imagery, which provides estimates of phytoplankton biomass, has revolutionized biological oceanography and has enabled quantification of ocean plant biomass and productivity variations on time scales from days to years and on space scales from one to thousands of kilometers. Presently NASA has ocean color records stretching back to October, 1978. With support from NASA we are now seeking to exploit the unique characteristics of Noctiluca (its large size, its distinct pigment and spectral absorption characteristics, and its appearance as large surface blooms) to detect it from satellite ocean color data. This gives us the spatial and temporal scale required to address the questions about the possibility of species change in the Arabian Sea and its links to climate change. Our bio-optical model will convert remotely sensed ocean color data from NASA and ISRO satellites into information of the types of phytoplankton viz. Noctiluca, diatoms and other dinoflagellates. Intensive field based bio-optical measurements such as absorption and scattering of light at the



Deployment of Plankton Recorder

1515


The third Indo-US Frontiers of Science (FOS) Symposium was convened by IUSSTF as its annual flagship event in partnership with the US National Academy of Science (NAS) and was held at Agra, from 1-4 March 2009. The FOS was attended by 68 young scientists, 39 from India and 29 from the US.

FOS Awards have been instituted by IUSSTF with an objective to build long-term relationships between the young Indian and American scientific and technological community and sustain linkages established during the Indo-US FOS Symposium.

The award consists of USD 25000 to be shared between the partnering Indian and American awardees, spread over a period of two years. The following three interdisciplinary proposals were selected for the 2009 FOS awards:

Indo-US Frontiers of Science Symposium Awards

Atmospheric Haze: Adverse Impacts on Glaciers

and Cultural Heritage in India

Study of CTCF Mediated Long Range Interactions in

Human GenomeTracing Preference in Brains

Michael BerginGeorgia Institute of

Technology

Tarun GuptaIndian Institute of

Technology Kanpur

Vishwanath IyerUniversity of Texas at

Austin

Sanjeev GalandeNational Centre for Cell

Science, Pune

Molly E. CummingsUniversity of Texas at

Austin

Vidita A. VaidyaTata Institute of

Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

on our cruises on the lines of NASA's data storage and archiving system known as SEABASS.

IUSSTF support in these efforts to understand the large-scale impacts of climate change on human and ecological systems of the Indian sub-continent has been critical. It has played the role of a catalyzing agent for collaborations

apart from supporting the participation scientists to combine their expertise in fields as varied as optical oceanography, phytoplankton physiology, satellite remote sensing and modeling. We are sure that this would foster new insights into the recent and disturbing trends being observed in the Arabian Sea as well as inspire the next generation of Indian and US climate change scientists.�


Awarded ToAwarded To


Purdue University West Lafayette, IN

USA

G.U. KulkarniJawaharlal Nehru

Center for Advanced Scientific Research,

Bangalore

Timothy Fisher

The Indo-US Joint Networked

Centre on Nanomaterials is a

collaborative effort between

Jawaharlal Nehru Center for

Advanced Scientific Research

(Bangalore, India) and Purdue's

Birck Nanotechnology Center

(West Lafayette, IN USA) with

General Electric's John F. Welch

India Technology Center

(Bangalore, India). This joint

centre will identify and develop

new approaches to harness the

power of nanotechnology in

energy-related research while

developing a new generation of

globally engaged researchers.

Nanomaterials for Energy

Small Wonders



Bhuvana Thiruvelu, a postdoctoral research associate at the Birck Nanotechnology Center in Purdue's Discovery

Park, demonstrates her research in which carbon nanotubes are grown from palladium nanoparticles on

what's called a "buckypaper" sheet

Exchange postdoctoral associate Adina Scott of Purdue (right) and Narendra Kurra, a student at the JNCASR, work on an atomic force microscope experiment in JNCASR’s Veeco-India Nanotechnology Laboratory in Bangalore



Cells as Building Blocks

Back to Basics

Prabha D. Nair Division of Tissue Engineering

and Regeneration Technologies

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and

Technology

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The frontier field of “Tissue Engineering” aims to address the dire shortage of replacement organs and tissues by producing living tissues or transplantable organs, via the combination of suitable cell sources and synthetic or natural polymer matrices (scaffolds) and regulators in vitro, and in vivo. For the medical implant industry in the 21st century, tissue engineering represents “a bridge” that emerged from the biological revolution and has led to new clinical therapies and treatments for tissue repair, replacement, and regeneration. To recall the words of Charles Vacanti, a pioneer of the field, “Tissue engineering will ultimately have a more profound impact than we can now appreciate. It will not only modify the practice of medicine and help elucidate mechanisms of developmental biology, but also has the potential to influence development of biotech industry more than any single advance in medical sciences during the last several decades”.

The great potential of pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) for indefinite, undifferentiated proliferation and directed differentiation to all lineages in vitro is

expected to make a big difference in the practice of medicine. Tissue engineering industry is in a fledgling state even in the US, and almost non-existent in India. For this reason, alliances need to be built to bring together expertise from both countries.

In this 21st Century, considered by many as the “Age of Biology”, cross fertilization of ideas and concepts transcending the borders of varied disciplines of science, technology and medicine as well as geographical boundaries are the order of the day. Louis Pasteur's words, “Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world” assumes greater significance in today's world. With this in mind, the seamless flow of knowledge between four groups in India and the US was catalytically spurred on by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum through the formation of an Indo-US Joint Center on Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering.

The four institutional partners in this center are: Shree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMCT) Thiruvananthapuram & Stem Cell Research Center (Manipal Academy for


Set up as a NSF sponsored Engineering Research Centre (ERC) in 1998, GTEC is focusing on developing core technologies, through a systems-dr iven approach, that may enable tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to move from bench-top to bedside.

Thrust areas at GTEC are cardiovascular substi tutes, metabolic and secretory organs, neural tissue engineering, and orthopedic applications. There is a broad, comprehensive research program in each of these areas within the center.

Stem Cell Research center is a mul t i - ins t i tu t iona l center composed of investigators from Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore and Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and established under the aegis of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Deemed University).

Stem Cell Research Center was created in 2004. and the mission of the Center is to develop cell based therapeutics using human adult stem cells or human embryonic stem cell.

The UWEB at Seattle, (a NSF ERC Centre) has a research program focusing on biomaterials and medical devices with an eye towards the needs of patients and the industry.

In the last 11 years, UWEB has revolutionized implant healing, developed new strategies to address calcification, e v o l v e d f o u l i n g - r e s i s t a n t s u r f a c e s, proposed new blood compatible surfaces, invented approaches to reduce infection on biomaterials, and invented drug delivery strategies.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON CENTRE FOR ENGINEERED BIOMATERIALS

SEATTLE

STEM CELL RESEARCH CENTRE MANIPAL ACADEMY FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

MANIPAL

GEORGIA TECH CENTERFOR ENGINEERED LIVING TISSUES,

ATLANTA

SREE CHITRA TIRUNAL INSTITUTEFOR MEDICAL SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM


Higher Education) from India and Georgia Tech Center for Engineered Living Tissues (GTEC) and University of Washington Center for Engineered Biomaterials from the US (See graphic above for more details).The research areas of Indian institutions meshed well with the research areas of the US collaborators and therefore, were a pleasurable working experience for all partners while pursuing the goals of the Joint Center program.

In recognition of the fact that Cardiovascular disease is world's leading killer, accounting for 16.7 million, or 29% of total global deaths in 2003, the primary aim of the “Joint Center” was determined as to focus on cardiovascular tissue engineering. More specifically, the Center was to contribute to the development of a functional tissue-engineered blood vessel and/or cardiac patch with new materials, design concepts and stem cells. This would involve the culture of cell-seeded constructs in a bioreactor for cardiovascular tissue engineering.

In line with its objectives, the Joint Center has addressed the development of tissue engineered cardiac muscle and blood vessel by elucidating and defining factors that direct cell differentiation of embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells into myocardial and vascular lineage, and maintenance of the specific cell phenotype on 3D constructs. It also aimed to study the interaction of stem cells with various extra cellular matrix (ECM) proteins that would encourage cell adhesion and differentiation, and explore the induction of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in engineered tissue. Another focus of the project was to develop newer and better biomaterials, engineer porous polymer scaffold structures and bioreactors suitable for the formation of cardiac muscle patch and blood vessels, and combine the knowledge acquired from all these steps to grow a cardiac muscle patch and/or blood vessels and test in vitro.

As a results of these concerted efforts several biocompatible and biodegradable designer t.

The Joint Center's program was coordinated by Dr. Prabha D. Nair at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), India, and Prof. Robert. M. Nerem from the Georgia Tech Center for Engineered Living Tissues (GTEC), USA. Prof. Buddy Ratner (University of Washington Center for Engineered Biomaterials at Seattle, UWEB) and Dr. Satish Totey (Stem Cell Research Center at Manipal Academy for Higher Education, MAHE) functioned as the US and Indian Co-Principal Investigators.

Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology is an institution of national importance under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Mission of SCTIMST is to enable indigenous growth of biomedical technology, besides demonstrating high standards of patient care in cardiovascular and neuro specialties.

SCTIMST also runs postgraduate programs in advanced medicals pecialties, biomedical engineering and technology, a nd public health.


Dr. Prabha Nair and Lynda Thomas with Prof. Buddy Ratner at UWEB

Prof. Robert M. Nerem


biomaterials were developed at SCTIMST and supplied to MAHE and the US partners for growing different cell types. The group at MAHE focused on characterizing the main adult cells such as smooth muscle, endothelial and cardiomyocyte cells as well as stem cell differentiation from mesenchymal and

embryonic origins to the adult cells of interest.

Even though more aspects need to be understood before a fully functional blood vessel is made, a significant finding of the Joint Center is that the new collagen-biomaterial-smooth muscle cell construct fares much better than the collagen-SMC cell only construct in a blood vessel model, with elastin fiber formation appearing at an early time point during dynamic in vitro culture. Human embryonic stem cells have immense potential to differentiate into cardiomyocytes and this was proved by different researchers including the groups at

UWEB and MAHE. The existing protocols are however not specific enough to direct the differentiation of stem cells to one single kind of cardiomyocytes. The joint study results demonstrated that the two differentiation protocols formulated in two independent laboratories to differentiate embryonic stem cells to “beating” cardiomyocytes have c o m p a r a b l e e f f i c i e n c y. S C T I M S T biomaterials that supported embryoid body formation were identified by MAHE researchers and constitute a step toward the tissue engineered cardiac patch. The protocols for differentiation of stem cells to the adult cells of the blood vessel were also delineated. Joint publications and a patent of the results generated are in progress.

.

Overall, the seeds sown by this Joint Center activity has unleashed newer research perspectives in the US labs and stronger tissue engineering activities in the Indian labs. The support of IUSSTF that facilitated all these activities is gratefully acknowledged by all the participating institutions of the Joint Center �



2121

does exist, provided we can put the right policy perspectives and framework in place that can promote the integration of the national efforts through seamless international linkages and collaborations by creating a win-win situation.

To seize this emerging opportunity, India has to evolve new models and framework of international collaborations through active partnership with various nations as stakeholders in which all participants are equity partners and beneficiaries. Based on leveraging existing scientific intellect, expertise and resource pool available in chosen disciplines, we should be able to evolve a vibrant mechanism by seamlessly connecting performing institutions across countries and borders. India needs to nurture human capital, the most critical resource in the global innovation economy. While the mobility of Indian students and researchers to USA and other countries has been in vogue, of late a surge of American students and researchers to connect with Indian R&D institutions has been quite perceptible. This would mean creating a policy framework and support base to foster the reciprocal movement of foreign scientists and students to Indian R&D establishments and academia.

We celebrate and rejoice the winning of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, perhaps still considering him to be one of our own. In fact, the Indian National Science Academy had already elected him as its foreign fellow earlier this year. It is but obvious that the large number of expatriate Indian scientists, technologists and engineers who are doing wonders around the world, would be the natural and forthcoming partners willing to work and collaborate with an emerging India, with what it has to offer now. The Scientists & Technologists of Indian Origin (STIO) program of the Department of

Science and Technology the Ramalinga- swamy Fellowship of Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT) are indeed some initial steps already taken by the Government of India to provide an opportunity to foster such linkages by enabling scientists of Indian origin to take up research positions in India for short periods of time. However, the time has now come to look much beyond and put in place a policy framework and support mechanism to attract the best and brightest from around the globe, spanning across nationality, creed and color to participate and contribute in our national endeavor towards expanding quality higher education, science and technology research in India.

Just as we are able to attract foreign direct investment, which is now reckoned as a prime mover of national economic growth, India should be able to attract and support the participation of foreign researchers and students in its research and development process. We need to institute international fellowships, sabbaticals and internships etc to allow a free and seamless mobility of scientific and research fraternity both from the developing and developed world into India. Our institutions should have the ability to offer faculty positions to willing and meritorious applicants irrespective of their nationality. Similarly, basic infrastructure by way of international hostels etc. should be provided in each institution that has the potential to host foreign academics, students and researchers. These modest steps which do not necessarily need large sums of money but does need a shift in our thinking, attitude and mindset can make impacts much beyond the obvious in the future growth and status of India as a global hub of knowledge and intellect. Perhaps this is how we can build a Cambridge or Stanford in India and boast to have a few more Nobel laureates of our own.

.

�

(Contd. from Page 9)

Globalization of Indian R&D


Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Role of Public Private Partnerships

Manav Subodh Corporate Affairs, Intel India

To sustain rapid growth and help alleviate

poverty, India needs to aggressively

harness its innovation potential, relying on

innovation-led, rapid, and inclusive

growth to achieve economic and social

transformation.

And one way to achieve this and that

really works for a country as large and

diverse as ours is through Public Private

Partnerships (PPP).

PPP models are at yet, at a nascent stage

in India and understanding the underlying

incentives for the public and private

sectors is essential to reach win-win for all

involved and make PPP models work

better.

FEATURE

The Art of Convergence

The vital importance and positive contribution of an

entrepreneurial culture in economic and social development of

a country cannot be overstated. Entrepreneurs bring to life new

technologies, products, services and create new markets and

jobs along the way. Entrepreneurs are smart risk takers,

implementers and rule-breakers. In short they are the new-age

'innovators'. When “The Economist” succinctly stated that

USA gets more than half of its economic growth from

industries that barely existed a decade ago, it was directly

attributed to innovative entrepreneurs and their startup

enterprises. And like any emerging economy aiming to move

ahead, India needs lots of pragmatic people who are

entrepreneurial, innovative, able to exploit new opportunities

and willing to take risks.

Whatever be the definition of entrepreneurship, economic

entrepreneurship invigorates markets. The formation of new

businesses leads to job creation and has a multiplier effect on

the economy. Knowledge, innovation and flexibility-factors

are highly important sources of competitiveness in an

increasingly globalized world economy.

Today, India is increasingly percieved as a top global innovator

for high-tech products and services, still the country is

relatively underperforming when compared to its innovation

potential. This has direct implications on the long-term

industrial competitiveness and economic growth.

Indicators of India's capacity for innovation highlight its

promising innovation potential. For example, in 2006 the



IIPC 2009 Award Ceremony (L to R): Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Mr. Rahul Bedi, Mr. Praveen Vishkanthaiah, Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Dr. T. Ramasami and Mr. H.K. Mittal

Minister Kapil Sibal presenting the First Prize in the Champion of Champions (2008) category to Dhama Apparel Innovations Team Members Kranthi Kiran Vistakula and Prasenjit Kundu. Also seen in the picture are Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Dr. T. Ramasami, Mr. Praveen Vishkanthiah and Mr. H.K. Mittal

connectivity, utilities and access to basic & civic

amenities for all its citizens.

Considering various factors and given the

enormity of the task at hand, the governments

and urban local bodies alone cannot shoulder the

responsibility. This makes the role of private

sector crucial. The need of the hour is to focus ls.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology-

Technology Review (MIT 2006) ranked six

Indian-Americans among the top global

innovators under the age of 35. Based on the

opinions of respondents from across Asia and

the Pacific, Infosys, an Indian company, is

among the world's 10 most innovative

companies. India's stock of scientists and

engineers engaged in R&D is among the largest

in the world.

On one hand, India is the world's fourth-largest

economy, in terms of purchasing power parity

and a noted nuclear and space power. In

infrastructure, if we consider roads, India has the

second longest network in the world after the

US. Similarly, the power transmission and

distribution network in India is the third largest

in the world, and the power generation capacity,

the fifth largest. The telecommunication

services market in India is the fifth largest and

among the fastest growing ones in the world.

The country has 125 airports, 11 of which are

international. Its rail network is the fourth

longest in the world after US, Russia and China.

India also has the benefit of a dynamic young

population with more than half of the country's

population less than 25 years old of age.

On the other hand, India is still largely a

subsistence economy, with illiteracy rates of 46

percent among women and 25 percent among

men, and about a quarter of its population living

below the national poverty line. Less than 3

percent of the Indian workforce is in the modern

private sector, while roughly 90 percent is in the

informal unorganized sector.

To sustain rapid growth to alleviate poverty,

India needs to aggressively harness its

innovation potential, relying on innovation-led,

rapid and inclusive growth to achieve economic

and social transformation. According to official

estimates, 50 % of the population in India will be

living in cities by 2025. This means the

governments at the central, state and local levels

face a daunting task of providing efficient and

reliable infrastructure facilities and employment

opportunities to improve the quality of life,

2323

Team Polyskin stood second in the Intel-University of California Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge held at Berkeley in November 2008

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Role of Public Private Partnerships


on, to get measurable levels of success in the

short term, while relentlessly pursuing long term

goals. And one way to achieve this, and that

really works for a country as large and diverse as

India, is through Public Private Partnerships

(PPP).

PPP models are yet at a nascent stage in India.

Understanding the underlying incentives for the

public and private sectors is essential to arrive at

a win-win situation for all involved and make

PPP models work better.

Intel believes technology is the key to global

competitiveness in today's world. For countries

to become and remain competitive, their

universities must produce a pipeline of technical

innovators who contribute to the advancement

of local technology, and the local economy.

In an endeavor to achieve the above objective in

India, Intel along with Department of Science

and Technology (DST) and Indo-US Science

and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) signed a joint

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2006

to launch the Global Entrepreneurship Initiative

aimed at forging a culture of entrepreneurship in

the country. The objective of the partnership was

to boost entrepreneurial spirit in the Indian

academia through Business Plan competitions

and leadership programs on Technology

Entrepreneurship. The partners believe that the

dynamic exchange of knowledge and

information with premier institutions in India

and USA through proposed programs will create

sustainable, long-term networks and platforms

that would help foster a culture of

technopreneurship in the Indian academia.

Besides India, the Global Entrepreneurship

Initiative is run by Intel Corporation in 15 other

countries in partnership with the Lester Center,

University of California, Berkeley. The PPP

partnership in India is an effort to encourage

technology entrepreneurship programs that



build local innovation capacity in the

country.

Today, in the 3rd consecutive year of

the Intel-DST-IUSSTF partnership,

there have been some significant

accomplishments:

1) First success came right in 2006

when two start up's, Team Richcore

and Team iViZ won recognition for the

India partnership. Both the teams were

in the top 8 at the Intel+ Univ. of

California, Berkeley, Technology

Entrepreneurship Challenge (IBTEC).

Richcore went on to win the 2nd place

at IBTEC.

2) Later, Team Polyskin from India

won the second position at IBTEC on

21st November 2008. Polyskin, with

their revolutionary product, an

artificial skin for application in wound

healing and regeneration in burn

injuries, was judged by a team of venture

capitalists from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Criteria for the win were the development of

innovative technology products and services

with the greatest potential for a positive impact

on society, backed by a sound business plan.

Polyskin is a company spun off from the

National Institute of Immunology (NII), a

premier autonomous biotech research center set

up at New Delhi by the Department of

Biotechnology, Govt. of India. The other team

from India-Dhama Apparel Innovation (cooling

jacket and helmet) was amongst the nine semi-

finalists. After undergoing an intensive

mentoring phase in India, both Polyskin and

Dhama Apparel teams were sent to represent

India in the international competition at

Berkeley.

IBTEC is an annual international competition

held at the Haas School of Business, UC

Berkeley, and has participation of over 30 teams

from 15 countries. The program is designed to

spur young entrepreneurs to develop innovative

technologies that solve real world challenges,

build viable business models, and move that

technology out of university labs into the market

for a positive impact on society. Not only does

the winning team receive a cash award and the

winning title, but its members, along with the

other participants, also get direct visibility and

interaction with more than 20 leading venture

capital firms. Founded in 2005 by UC Berkeley

and Intel, IBTEC seeks to support and promote

entrepreneurship globally.

3) In the last 3 years, the Intel-DST-IUSSTF

partnership has trained hundreds of faculty and

incubator managers in the teaching of

entrepreneurship and supported them in the

development of customized programs. This

effort has yielded significant positive results,

enhancing quality and efficacy of training and

education programs in classrooms across India.

In the growth of the Indian economy, innovation

& entrepreneurship are fast emerging as key

drivers of growth. The entrepreneurial spirit and

key partnerships will surely place India firmly

on a trajectory to achieve unimagined success.

The challenge really is to learn, innovate and

leapfrog to a better tomorrow!

Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Prithviraj Chavan addresses the gathering at the India Innovation Pioneers Challenge 2009 Award Ceremony

Purdue is solidifying research and student exchange partnerships with some of the foremost institutions in India specifically the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, Cummins College of Engineering for Woman in Pune, Jawaharlal Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, International Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur and Madras.

At the same time, Purdue has formed collaborations with some of India's all-star industry players, namely Cummins India, Infosys Technologies Ltd., J.F. Welch

Technology Center, Mahindra Satyam, and Tata Innovation Center of Tata Chemicals Ltd.

"Purdue is truly a global university. India's own challenges as a country mirror many of our own such as renewable energy sources and the cost of them; the quality of the urban environment; a widening economic gap between wealthy and poor; education for the poor; and quality and access to healthcare." says Purdue President France A. Córdova.

Last month, Purdue announced a partnership between its Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park -- Purdue's $450 million complex for large-scale interdisciplinary research -- and Indian colleagues at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced int

Purdue-India Partnership

ReinforcingBridges

Associate Director Office of the Vice President

for Research

Phillip FioriniSenior Communication and

Marketing SpecialistPurdue Marketing & Media

Pankaj Sharma

REPORT

2626

One of every five international students at Purdue University

hails from India, which, in turn, helps in spreading the

institution's research impact across Asia. India's leading

research institutions and industry players are discovering the

role that Purdue can play as a partner in helping advance key

science and technology research.



Scientific Research and General Electric Co.'s John F. Welch India Technology Center. Called the Joint Networked Center on Nanomaterials for Energy, this effort funded by the Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum will focus on how advancements can help address growing energy needs.

In addition to researching a global challenge such as energy and technology, the initiative supports the exchange of four graduate student researchers, two postdoctoral researchers and two faculty members annually between Purdue and Jawaharlal Nehru Center's International Center for Materials Science in Bangalore. The international program also places two Purdue graduate student interns at GE's Technology Center each year.

"Students will have the opportunity to spend several months at partner institutions, formulating and working on joint research projects to solidify and expand ongoing collaborations between the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research and Purdue in this important area of research," says Pankaj Sharma, associate director of operations and international affairs for Purdue's Discovery Park and a Fulbright New Century Scholar for 2009-2010 who is studying innovation capacity in India.

Adds Arabinda Mitra, Executive Director of the Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum, "There also are internship opportunities for Purdue students to work for up to 20 weeks at GE's Technology Center."

Córdova, continuing a tradition started by her predecessor Martin C. Jischke, led a Purdue contingent to India in November 2008 that resulted in a five-year agreement with Cummins Inc. and Cummins College of Engineering for Women in Pune. The Purdue trip, a year in the planning, featured visits to educational institutions and businesses, as well as meetings with alumni, parents and major university donors. While there, leading Indian software development and engineering firm Infosys Technologies Ltd. also honored Córdova with a tree planting in Bangalore.

28283030

Dr. France A. Cordova, President, Purdue University planting a sapling at the Infosys Campus at Bangalore in the presence of Mr. Narayan Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Ltd.

"We visited companies and research institutes with which Purdue's faculty already maintain some connections to explore opportunities for deepening these research collaborations and extending them to include more faculty, student exchanges, student internships and international conferences," Córdova says. "We got a good sense of the comparative level of technology of these organizations, both companies and universities, as well as their strategic science and technology interests. This led us to propose new areas of potential collaboration."

Purdue, Cummins and Cummins College of Engineering for Women in Pune have worked together since 2003 to send CCEW ster more


2828

undergraduates to Purdue's West Lafayette campus for master's degree and doctoral studies. This newest agreement is designed to foster more linkages primarily around research and development, student and faculty exchange, a fellowship program, and support for the mechanical engineering curriculum at the CCEW campus.

"Two of Cummins' strongest and longest-standing academic partners are Purdue University in Indiana and the Cummins College of Engineering for Women (CCEW) in Pune, India," says John C. Wall, vice president and chief technical officer at Cummins. "We are very pleased to formalize our scholarship program with Purdue to support selected outstanding young women engineers from CCEW for

Purdue and Indian researchers have joined forces on several other science and technology research endeavors ranging from analytical instrumentation with applications in energy, pharmacy and health care to nanotechnology, life sciences and the environment. For example:

In the first visit ever by a Purdue president in India, Jischke led a contingent in November 2004 that met with government and university officials to discuss what classes the U.S. university could offer in engineering, pharmacy and management to better prepare potential employees for the global marketplace. The visit stemmed from a similar exchange between Purdue and the Indian Institute of Technology.

Purdue signed an agreement in December 2005 as a part of the Indo-U.S. Inter University Collaborative Initiative in Higher Education and Research that included 19 other universities from Harvard, Yale and the University of Texas at Austin in the United States and Indian Space Research Organization, Department of Science and Technology-India, and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in India. This agreement also includes Microsoft India.

A Purdue contingent spent a week in India in January 2006. While there, Purdue officials and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai signed a five-year agreement designed to foster research collaborations in life sciences fields between Indian scientists and the university's academic and research units such as the Bindley Bioscience Center at Discovery Park.

Purdue researchers R. Graham Cooks and Pankaj Sharma spent several weeks in India in December 2007, meeting with government, industry and university officials to explore research agreements in analytical instrumentation, climate change, energy, health care and pharmacy. Visits included several leading agencies involved with scientific R&D in India Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India; Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, Delhi and Mumbai; the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology; Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Inter-University Accelerator Center; Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research; The Energy and Resources Institute; and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research.

Purdue and IndiaLong Trail of Engagement




Purdue Alumni in India

C.N.R. RaoChintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao currently is Honorary President of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India. He has also served as the Chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India. He earned a doctorate degree from Purdue in 1958 and was a visiting professor in 1967-68 and again in 1982. In addition to earning 46 honorary degrees from various universities including Notre Dame and Northwestern, Prof. Rao has received several awards including the 2004 Life-Time Achievement Award from the Indian Science Congress.

Habil KhorakiwalaIn the early 1960s, Khorakiwala founded Wockhardt Ltd, a leading international biotechnology and pharmaceutical company. Wockhardt is now the number one Indian pharmaceutical company and one of the top 10 generic pharmaceutical companies in the United Kingdom. Khorakiwala has received many awards including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2004 in the Healthcare and Life Sciences category, and the Giants International Award for Business and Industry in 2003. He earned his master's degree in Pharmaceutical Science from Purdue in 1966.

Manju SharmaA distinguished biologist internationally recognized for her contributions in biotechnology, she is currently the Executive Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Research in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. In 2006, she received the National Academy of Sciences' Platinum Jubilee Gold Medal for Life Time Contributions. She also received the 2007 National Senior Women Bioscientist Award. She has served as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India and did her postdoctoral research in 1967 at Purdue.

G.V. PrasadEarning his master's degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue in 1983, G. V. Prasad has been the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., a global pharmaceutical company, since 2001. He is widely credited as the architect of Dr. Reddy's successful global generics strategy. The company also won the “Best Employers in India Award” in 2007 because of several initiatives launched by him.

Venu SrinivasanVenu Srinivasan, who founded TVS Motor Co. in 1979, earned his MBA from Purdue in 2000. Today, TVS is the third largest manufacturer of two-wheelers in India. Currently, he serves as chairman of TVS. He has received several honors including the 2003 "Star of Asia" Award from Business Week International and the JRD Tata Corporate Leadership Award from the All India Management Association. He is also the President of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Ravi VenkatesanCurrently Chairman of Microsoft Corp. in India, Ravi Venkatesan is no stranger to working for U.S.-based companies. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked with Cummins India Ltd.. While he was with Cummins, the company became the largest manufacturer of automotive engines in India. Ravi Venkatesan earned an MBA from Purdue in 2000 and also gained a master's degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue in 1987. He received Purdue's Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award in 2000.

A Rainbow of Talent

graduate studies in engineering and information technology at Purdue."

Purdue officials say the decision to expand research collaboration efforts in India makes economic sense. India remains one of the world's fastest-growing major economies, with a gross domestic product growth rate of more than 8 percent a year earlier this decade. Some economists predict India could surpass Japan and China as Asia's fastest-growing economy in the next decade, although that might have been slowed by the current global recession.

U.S. businesses now invest $3.8 billion annually in Indian companies, or 17 percent of all investments in India, the U.S. State Department reports. The United States also is India's largest trading partner, with exports and imports between the two nations amounting to $27.1 billion a year.

Indiana companies, meantime, exported more than $90 million worth of goods to India during 2004, up 127 percent since 2001, according to the Global Business Information Network at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. India is the 22nd largest export market for the Hoosier state, behind leaders Canada, Mexico and China.

Purdue's ties to academic institutions in India gained momentum in 1962, when Purdue chemical engineering professor Ron Andres, Purdue associate director of libraries Oliver Dunn and several Purdue colleagues joined eight other U.S. institutions to help launch the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur. Through the 10-year Kanpur Indo-American Program, Andres and his team assisted in the establishment of a library, research laboratories and other teaching tools to develop a high-level research institution at Kanpur.

Giving industry and academic partners comfort, Purdue has expanded that foundation to ensure these collaborations can be fruitful for both parties. For example:

Purdue has more than 1,250 students from India currently studying on its West Lafayette campus, which also boasts the third-largest international comprise the largest international group at


3030

““

Jay P. GoreVincent P. Reilly, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue

““

Timothy S. Fisher Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

enrollment among all U.S. universities. India students comprise the largest international group at Purdue well ahead of China and South Korea. Top majors chosen by undergraduate and graduate-level international students at Purdue totaling 2,818 for the fall 2009 semester -- are in engineering, management and science.

More than 800 Purdue alumni now live in India. Ravi Venkatesan, chairman of Microsoft Corp. India Pvt. Ltd., received his master's degree in industrial engineering from Purdue in 1986. C.N.R. Rao, an eminent scientist and policy advisor, and other industry leaders such as Satish Reddy and G.V. Prasad, COO and CEO, respectively, of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, are Purdue alumni. Top executives at other major India companies TVS Motors, Wockhardt, Rane Brake Linings, Asian Paints and Agarawal Business Group also are Purdue graduates.

Thirty percent of Purdue faculty members were born outside the United States, and 84 are from India accounting for 15 percent of Purdue's international faculty.

The Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum also has funded a project on transport engineering with IIT-Kanpur and a one-year fellowship to K. Mitra from the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, focused on structural studies of Sindbis virus and Mama virus with Purdue professor Michael Rossmann, a world-renowned scientist in structural biology.

Earlier this year, Purdue's Bindley Bioscience and Birck Nanotechnology centers also partnered with the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad in forming a center focused on nanomedicine and cellular engineering, including cellular biology, chemistry, flow cytometry, nanotechnology and biosensing, in addition to technology commercialization.

Led by Purdue agricultural and biological professor Joseph Irudyaraj and N.

Madhusudhana Rao of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the center is developing multi-functional nanoprobes and photonic structures for sensing as well as targeted and trackable nanomaterials for medical treatment and disease prevention. Researchers also are examining the potential to commercialize these nano devices and biosensors for diagnosing and treating rare diseases.

In March 2008, researchers from Purdue joined colleagues from the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad to discuss potential collaboration in bionanotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The event also highlighted laboratory advancements in microfabrication and nanofabrication and their roles in nanomedicine and drug delivery.

Microfabr ica t ion t echnology a l lows construction of cellular sized or smaller devices made of new materials for what is known as cell land-tissue engineering. Nanofabrication is used to create nanoscale devices for advanced targeting and delivery of pharmaceuticals to individual human cells through the emerging field of nanomedicine.

The foundation for the new Joint Networked Center on Nanomaterials for Energy, launched in September, stemmed from a joint workshop in Bangalore in August 2008 on how to improve the energy transport, conversion and efficiency of nanomaterials. That event was co-sponsored by the Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum.

The joint center's lead coordinating faculties in India are Professor G.U. Kulkarni, chair of JNCASR's Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit; and Professor Umesh Waghmare, of Jawaharlal Nehru Center's Theoretical Sciences Unit. Mano Manoharan, general manager of operations at GE's Bangalore Global Research Center, and Sunil Murthy, lead engineer with GE, oversee the internship program in India.

"Our hope is that participants will better conceive new discoveries and develop them into technologies that offer the promise of breakthroughs in energy with global impact," Waghmare says.


"Through various research activities at Purdue and the new thermalHUB, we are extending our reach into the research communities for nanotechnology and energy by providing convenient global access to information,

computing and communic-ations resources."


"Purdue has a great brand identity in India as our alumni have impacted the country in very real ways. As economic neighbors and trade partners in a flat world, we know that India faces many of the same challenges in the areas of

energy, science and technology that we face in this nation.”

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"High-throughput devices, when combined with bio-nanotechnology and chemistry, permit examination of large number of drugs and their interactions with single cells at the gene level. These new technologies and perspectives will lead to new ways for

advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing in the 21st century.”

"India is one of the giant emerging economies of this century with a huge talent pool, which can surely help address the world's science, technology and humanitarian challenges. There is a lot of

brain circulation between our two countries.”

Dr. France A. Córdova,President, Purdue University

Through the partnership, T. Bhuvana, a doctoral graduate from the Jawaharlal Nehru Center, currently is conducting research at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center. At the same time, Purdue doctoral student Adina Scott is in Bangalore at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center, and fellow Purdue graduate student Kevin McMullen is doing research for GE in Bangalore.

“This new initiative will focus on providing wonderful new opportunities for students and postdoctoral researchers to expand their perspectives both technically and culturally," Kulkarni says.

Timothy Fisher, a Purdue mechanical engineering professor at Birck, and Timothy Sands, the Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk Director at Birck, is leading Purdue's team. Sharma, who has helped Purdue expand its research network with India, and A.N. Jaychandra, the administrative officer at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center, are providing administrative leadership for the new joint center.

Fisher, who leads the thermalHUB project at Discovery Park, spent five months in 2007 and early 2008 in Bangalore collaborating on carbon nanotube research with professor C.N.R. Rao, a 1958 graduate of Purdue who currently is the honorary president of the Jawaharlal Nehru Center. Purdue graduate student Kyle Smith of the Birck Center accompanied Fisher during his sabbatical.

Through a two-year grant from the National Science Foundation, Fisher and 20 other researchers are developing thermalHUB.org, an Internet-based science gateway that provides access to advanced simulation and software tools for scientists in heat transfer. ThermalHUB is modeled after nanoHUB.org, an Internet portal for nanotechnology developed by researchers at Purdue's Network for Computational Nanotechnology, also based at Birck.

“These workshops in India are providing an ideal venue for Purdue's research community to share best practices and learning tools with the international community, from students to

experienced engineers and scientists in industry and academia," Fisher says.

Benny Leong, a Purdue undergraduate student of Computer Technology, has benefited from the university's renewed interest in India. He recently participated in the Instep Global Internship program, working with Infosys Technologies in India.

During his time there in 2008, he also gained a new appreciation of the reality of a comment by Infosys co-founder N.R Narayana Murthy, who says the global marketplace is so competitive that, "even before you can say, 'I can't do it,' somebody in the world has already done it." Adds Leong, "Instead of fighting the competition on our own, I believe we could achieve much more if we combine our efforts, resources, and talents and collaborate with each other internationally."

Graham R Cooks, Purdue's Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Science, joined Sharma in meetings at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi in December 2007 to discuss collaborations involving his lab's mass spectrometry technologies.

Experiments in Cooks' Purdue lab led to mass spectrometers that could create ions easily and gently and contributed to the founding of Griffin Analytical Technologies in 2001 to manufacture miniaturized versions of mass spectrometers. Griffin is now located at the Purdue Research Park, located Purdue's main campus in West Lafayette. These experiments also led to the establishment of Prosolia Inc., an Indianapolis-based company that manufactures ion sources for these instruments.

"India's economy has grown nearly 9 percent a year the past four years," Cooks says. "So we're talking about a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit in this country of 1.1 billion people where opportunities abound for U.S. universities seeking to establish partnerships with the country's leading industries and research institutions.


James Leary, The School of Veterinary Medicine Professor of Nano medicine at Purdue.


Knowing I would be traveling to India for the summer I was already excited. However, spending my first week working for HP Labs at Bangalore was especially thrilling. Not only did I get to meet talented individuals and learn about my project, but also experienced great hospitality in getting settled. I was fortunate to find an accommodation just a few minutes walking from the labs. This gave me the freedom to spend extra time at the labs while also being close to commercial establishments, not to mention the joy and comfort of not dealing with Bangalore’s traffic.

At HP labs, my work focused on tracking eye movements when a user looks at documents on screen. In doing so, my task involved detecting the sections of a document that were relevant to the user, those sections he/she did read and were of interest to him/her. This involved building a framework that let us correlate eye gaze data and locations of sections in a document as represented on screen to come up with an index of the text contained in relevant sections. The idea was then to use this index to build a user profile and later recommend relevant documents by using query expansion when the user searched for documents on the Web.

Apart from work, I spent time discovering the vastness that India has to offer with great cuisine, social events, tourism locations and most importantly its friendly people. Joining the HP Volunteers team and playing with kids from an orphanage, giving salsa classes to more than 100 HP employees across Bangalore, watching Bollywood movies at the cinema, savoring local food and sweets, visiting Hindu

With other interns at H.P

Life in India’s Silicon Valley

Guillermo CabreraUniversity of Texas,

Austin

Crossover Pursuits

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Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) have partnered to launch the Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) to create unique opportunities for science, technology, engineering and medical students from the United States to undertake internships in national laboratories, federal research centers, academic research institutes, and private R & D laboratories in India. Objectives of the internships are to provide students with unique opportunities to live and work in an international context, to gain practical experience, and acquire professional skills. Internships are envisaged as a source of mutual cultural and professional enrichment for both the interns and their host institutions.

Research Internships in Science and Engineering



temples or taking yoga classes are only a few activities that show the diversity and great amount of things to do in Bangalore, an outstanding cosmopolitan city.

My graduate experience has been greatly benefited with the exposure to research work at HP Labs, and learning about Indian culture. I am grateful first to the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum for the opportunity they gave me in participating in this enriching program, also to HP and all of the talented individuals I met over the course of my internship. I am convinced that working in India was not only a remarkable experience, but it was the best choice for my career so far.� �

Paul R. ScottUniversity of Missouri

Kansas City

In C. V. Raman’s Footsteps


HP Logo

It was in 2008 that I met a nice scientist named Dr. Victor Muthu. He was in the United States working in the physics department at the University that I attend, the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). After a few months we had spoken at length on various things and at one point it came up that I might be welcomed at his institution in India, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc). I thought this to be a great opportunity but saw no real way to make it happen. That is, until I received an email that described the RISE internship offered by the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum. I spoke with my advisor at UMKC, Dr. Michael Kruger, and we worked out a plan that would allow me to apply for the internship. After careful preparation and submission of the application I went into the mode of waiting and checking my mail everyday in hopes of being accepted. Finally, on the 2nd of June 2009 I received an offer, and I accepted as quickly as I could.

I work in the field of spectroscopic condensed matter physics and very often use a technique called Raman spectroscopy. Upon doing research to learn more about IISc it pleased me very much to find that C. V. Raman himself used to be Director at what was then known as the Tata Institute (now IISc). Upon arrival at the physics department I was also pleased to see the building I would be working in was named after him. I would, in fact, being performing research using Raman spectroscopy at the very place were C. V. Raman once walked. I cannot explain properly in words how much this means to me.

Upon my arrival in India I was a bit overwhelmed by the cultural differences between India and the United States. My first few weeks were rough with regards to the things that I take for granted in the USA, such as laundry, transportation, internet, cell phones etc. But, given time and some help from some nice people, I was able to settle in nicely and feel like I was at a home away from home. The differences began to melt away and I was able to see the true character of the Indian people; I was impressed with how proud and culturally rich they truly are.

Dr. D. V. S Muthu and Paul R. Scott in front of a Raman spectrometer.

Research Internships in Science and Engineering

The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum extends travel support to individual scientists to avail an already awarded fellowship or undertake their sabbatical research either in the US or India, or, for undertaking an exploratory visit aimed towards developing large-scale multi-institutional collaborations.

Yvonne Colebank, student from Columbia University, USA, undertook a visit to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune to gather data on the Indian monsoon with a specific research focus on identifying and isolating monsoon break patterns in data to determine trends in monsoonal variability. She recounts some of her experiences in India with Connect.

Indian Summer!

Yvonne ColebankColumbia University, USA

The student and research life at IISc is very impressive. I have never been around so many students who take their studies so seriously. The coursework looks to be impressively tough and there is never a time when someone is not thinking about the research work in the laboratory. During my time here I have been using various forms of Raman spectroscopy for the enhancement of information from the nano-scale and the students are always curious as to what I am doing, and how my experiments are going. While at IISc I have had the personal experience of using Raman spectroscopy though an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) on single crystal silicon as well as Single Wall Nano-Tubes (SWNTs). I have also been attempting to implement a new Raman technique that relies on near-field enhancement of nano-scale features through the optical trapping of micrometer sized dielectric spheres. This new technique promises to be much easier to implement than the Raman-AFM technique. Our preliminary results show that it does enhance the scattered signal amplitude and, as I type this, we are working on a way to prove that the resolution is in the nano-scale, as was reported in other published work.

My experience in this internship has been a wonderful life-changing event. And I am proud to have been selected for it.

During the summer of 2008, I interned at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, with a travel grant extended by IUSSTF. Here I got the opportunity to learn firsthand about the summer monsoon. I went with an open mind, and an aim to learn, as I was not well informed about the monsoon to choose a highly focused research topic.

Two aspects of my time at IITM really made an impression on me: the hospitality of my colleagues, and the academic resources available. I was really surprised when my advisor at IITM invited me to his family's home for dinner more than once, and the people working in my office asked me to stop my work to take a tea break with them, almost daily. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to discuss their research and their culture with me. The main advantage of being on IITM's campus was probably the access I had to the published papers that could not be found anywhere else. But, here was a treasure trove of information focusing on the monsoon! My advisor also organized my visit to India Meteorological Department in Pune, and IISc's campus in Bangalore. A real treat!

India left a lasting impression on me. I made many friends with whom I still talk on Skype (an internet-based free video conferencing program). I was able to attend a wedding, learn to cook a few simple things, such as dal tadka with roti, and learn enough Hindi to make small talk with the rickshaw drivers. In the Fall of 2008, I returned to school and one of my atmospheric classes focused a significant amount of study on the Indian Summer Monsoon. To my surprise, I was fully ready to share what I had learned that summer at IITM!

I returned to India one year later, and will return again next year as well. This country feels like home to me!


05-10 October 2009SCTIMST

Thiruvananthapuram, IndiaAdvanced Clinical Engineering Workshop

Translational Neuroscience: New Trends in Mental and Neurodegenerative Disorders Research

15-16 October 2009University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, USA

O c t o b e r - N o v e m b e r – 2 0 0 9EVENTS DIARY

Over the last five decades, healthcare delivery has increasingly become technology driven, be it the development of medical devices, new drugs and vaccines or diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients in hospitals. In order to effectively utilize these healthcare technology developments, each country needs to have a two-fold strategy. Firstly, it needs to set up the infrastructure for development of indigenous technology and secondly, it should have trained human resources for development as well as effective and safe management of healthcare technology in all healthcare delivery settings.

Opportunities for improvement in healthcare technology will broadly affect the cost, patient safety, efficacy, utilization and quality assurance. In order to address this need, the American College of Clinical Engineering (ACCE) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), regional WHO offices and other non-governmental organizations, have instituted a series of Advanced Clinical Engineering

Workshops (ACEW) in many countries since 1991. The purpose of these workshops has been to contribute to the development and strengthening of the institutional capacity in these countries and to also guarantee adequate technical support to the physical infrastructure and equipment used in healthcare delivery.

The Indo-US workshop on Advanced Clinical Engineering organized jointly by Dr. Niranjan D. Khambete (Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram) and Prof. Frank R. Painter (University of Connecticut) was the first ACEW to be organized in India. The objective of the workshop was to inform stakeholders about modern clinical engineering practices and healthcare technology management strategies. The faculty for this workshop included University Professors, Government Agencies and heads of Clinical Engineering departments from leading hospitals in the US and India. The participants included post-graduate students, professional clinical engineers working in Indian hospitals, faculty from universities and engineering colleges, and representatives of leading medical equipment manufacturers, hospital managers and medical doctors across the country. There were also special invitees from government departments involved in developing healthcare technology policy. The faculty from US and India delivered lectures, conducted hands-on demonstrations and group discussions on topics related to Healthcare Technology, Management Policy, Safety, Risk and Quality Management; Healthcare Technical Services Operations, Medical Device Regulation, and Medical Device Risk Management. This 5-day workshop attracted 40-45 participants.

Mental disorders such as depression, bipolar illness, and schizophrenia as well as neuro-degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, autism, and Parkinson's disease are major health problems both in the United States and India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, about 450 million people suffer from mental and behavioral disorders. Four of the six leading causes for years lived with disability are due to neuropsychiatric disorders. Achieving a

better understanding of the neurobiology of these disorders using the recent advances in molecular biology, genomics and role of environmental factors will not only enhance our knowledge of their pathophysiology but will also result in better management and treatment.

Interaction, collaboration, and connection of Indian neuroscientists with neuroscience centers in the United States would enhance and stimulate neuroscience research in India.

26-28 October 2009Indian Institute of Technology

KanpurSystem of Systems Engineering in Large Scale Systems

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Azad, former President with the workshop participants

Connect September 2009•

EVENTS DIARYO c t o b e r - N o v e m b e r – 2 0 0 9


Indo-US Neurosurgery Collaboration Meet24-28 October 2009

Phoenix Children's Neuroscience Institute New Orleans, USA

Keeping this in mind, Dr. Prahlad K. Seth (CEO, Biotech Park, Lucknow) and Prof. Ghanshyam N. Pandey (University of Illinois at Chicago) organized a symposium on Translational Neuroscience: New Trends in Mental and Neurodegenerative Disorders Research from 15-16 October 2009. The event focused on mental disorders and brought together researchers from India and the United States to achieve the objective of advancing neuroscience research in India. The symposium sessions addressed a wide range of issues with regard to mental and neuro-degenerative disorders. There were 10 speakers from India and 14 speakers from the United States, and the symposium attracted over 180 participants.

Neuroscience is one of the fastest growing disciplines today with significant laboratory, basic science and clinical research taking place in both India and the United States. To further the existing research, exchange of data and material would greatly help both the nations. In order to continue the exchange of information, ideas and expertise between the two countries, an Indo-US Neurosurgery Collaboration Meet was held from 24-28 October at New Orleans. The event was jointly organized by Dr. Basant K. Misra (P. D. Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre, Mumbai) and Dr. David Adelson (Phoenix Children's Neuroscience Institute, Arizona).

As a result of the workshop, not only did Indian neurosurgeons benefit tremendously from the excellent research practices and advanced technologies in use in the US, American neurosurgeons gained from the large clinical experience of their Indian counterparts. Significant emphasis was placed on continuing ethical practices and providing excellent service.

The event consisted of multiple presentations in the form of didactic lectures, hands-on-workshops and symposia. Subjects covered included 3-D Anatomy Surgical

Indications, Techniques and Alternatives for Cranial Vascular Malformations, Practical Neurosurgical ICU Management, Cervical Spine Degenerative Disease, Applied Spinal Biomechanics, Cerebral Revascularization, Inpatient and Outpatient Management Dilemmas, Neurosurgical Practice Development, Nuances of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery, Radio surgery, Functional Neurosurgery, to name a few.

as sensor networks, collaborative robotics, power grid, city traffic and airport operation. The field of System of Systems is

With the advancement of technology, we are confronted with very large scale systems involving multiple disciplines such

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26-27 October 2009Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy

BangaloreClimate and Energy Futures

an interdisciplinary area that brings together these various areas. An Indo-US workshop on System of Systems Engineering in Large Scale Systems was organized by Dr. Laxmidhar Behera (IIT Kanpur) and Prof. Mo Jamshidi (University of Texas at San Antonio).

The workshop provided a unique opportunity for experts from both countries to share and decipher research expertise to broaden the scope of system of systems studies. Topics covered included System of Systems Engineering in Land, Air and Sea Rovers, Robotics, Fuzzy Systems, Modeling and Simulation, Space Applications, Boeing's Approach to E-enabling Commercial Airlines, Sensor Networks, Computational Intelligence in Control and Optimization, Reactor Control, Static and Dynamic Optimization, and, Aerospace Systems. The event was attended by 30 participants from academia, research laboratories and industry.

India and the US are already strategic partners in various areas of science and technology including energy and climate. India and the US are also part of the seven nation Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate which is based on the principle that technology should play a key role in finding solutions for low carbon growth. Several low carbon energy projects were initiated in various parts of India as part of this partnership. More recently, India and the US signed a historic agreement for cooperation in civilian nuclear power, which is expected to give a boost to nuclear power generation in India. Now that a new global deal on climate is likely, it is important for the two nations to further develop new collaborations in finding solutions to the energy-climate problem.

An Indo-US workshop on Climate and Energy Futures was organized by Dr. Anshu Bharadwaj (Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy, Bangalore) and Prof. M. Granger Morgan (H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management) in the backdrop of the Copenhagen summit on climate change and international negotiations to work out commitments on part of both developed and developing countries to stabilize long-term CO emissions. US and India 2

are two crucial nations in these negotiations and hence there is a tremendous scope for collaborative research in development of low-carbon technologies and framing of

appropriate policies.

This 2-day workshop comprised of presentations on various topics such as coal, carbon capture, nuclear power prospects, transportation fuel options and solar energy. The main objective of the workshop was to develop research collaborations between Indian and US institutions with strong linkages to the industry and policymakers. The purpose of such collaborations is two-fold: a) to encourage basic research in developing new low-carbon technologies, b) to initiate collaborations in technology-policy studies in various aspects of energy-climate policy. The workshop provided the initial interaction necessary between

For the workshop's keynote speech, Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) and Carnegie Mellon University were honoured to receive Dr. Walter Kohn, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry. Kohn promoted a world powered predominantly by solar and wind energy. He highlighted the imminence of peak oil and the booming world population, showing how a continued dependence on fossil fuels would mean not only continued environmental damage, but also rapidly depleting per capita global oil production, which would hurt the less developed countries particularly China and India the most. Kohn called attention to the astounding 35% annual increase of wind and solar energy for the last five years, and projected that this trend could continue and usher in a new global energy era within the next ten years.

Many wondered, what about nuclear energy? Kohn reminded nuclear advocates that he was trained as a nuclear physicist, but also vividly remembers the devastating US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; with today's weapons, such bombings would be immeasurably more catastrophic. And historically, he pointed out, the production of nuclear energy has been very closely linked to the production of nuclear weapons. He argued that rationally nuclear power is not an issue we should be looking at by accepting rare accidents or incidents in the name of energy efficiency. Rather, we should take a humanistic view, recognizing that if we can, as he believes, power the world with the wind and the sun inexhaustible and safe power sources we should avoid the profound security risks involved in expanding nuclear power.

Kohn acknowledged that his projection is quite optimistic, but said that he sees no reason why this trend cannot continue, and sees many reasons why it must continue. He called for swift action in the next ten years to replace the entire infrastructure in the area of energy generation, begging, “Let's not reach the point where it's too late.”

Walter KohnProfessor Walter Kohn was the founding director of the National Science Foundation's Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Walter Kohn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1998 for his work on density-functional theory. Professor Kohn has also made major contributions to the physics of semiconductors, superconduct iv i ty , surface physics and catalysis.

Recent Scientific Developments on Vitamin D & Health

12-13 November 2009Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences

Manesar



“Indo-US Science and Technology Cooperation facilitated by IUSSTF is a splendid example of working together.”

core participants from these two countries for establishing a critical mass and interest for longer-term interaction.

Also, within India there has been considerable debate about the role of developing countries in climate mitigation strategies. While developing countries are not responsible for the historic rise in CO emissions, they are likely to be the 2

worst affected from any adverse impact of these emissions.

Therefore, it was vital to generate public opinion with informed scientific debate about the dangers faced by a country like India.

The workshop was attended by 75 participants of whom 14 were from the US. The Indian participants were drawn from research organizations, government and industry. In addition, around 25 students also participated in the event.

Recent research indicates that vitamin D deficiency is a potential risk factor for a variety of chronic diseases including diabetes, various cancers and cardiovascular

events. Maternal vitamin D deficiency may be an important cause for the development of rickets in children. Early life vitamin D deficiency may be a risk factor for bone disease and

High Performance Computing in India: Indigenous Hardware, Software, & Infrastructure Research

15 November 2009State University of New York

Portland, USA

EVENTS DIARYN o v e m b e r - D e c e m b e r – 2 0 0 9


autoimmune diseases later in life. Several research studies confirm that the Indian population remains at risk for rickets, osteomalacia and other vitamin D deficiency-related problems in spite of abundant sun exposure. In developing countries such as India, data on clinical and sub clinical vitamin D deficiency status are scarce. There have been scattered epidemiologic studies, but only a few provide detailed clinical and biochemical information on the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in the population. Vitamin D deficiency is common in both urban and rural Indians and its public health consequences are enormous.

Considering the new knowledge on vitamin D and its health implications, it was considered to be the ideal time to connect scientists from the United States and India, to discuss the recent scientific developments from both regions, identify research gaps and explore recommendations for public policy. A bilateral conference on Recent Scientific Developments on Vitamin D and Health was organized jointly by Dr. Raman Marawaha (Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences , New Delhi) and Dr. Patsy M. Brannon (Cornell University). The objectives of the conference were to : a) to reinforce the importance of vitamin D across various stages of the life cycle, b) to evaluate the need for maternal vitamin D supplementation during

pregnancy and early life, c) to explore challenges in adding this nutrient to Indian foods and products, and, d) to encourage further research to clarify beneficial and adverse effects of vitamin D in the Indian population. The conference proceedings provided new insights on vitamin D requirements for various ethnic groups. This information may serve as a reference data in setting new dietary reference intakes in the US by the Food and Nutrition Board Committee. The event was attended by a total of 64 US and Indian participants.

The Asian Technology Information Program (ATIP) is in its fifteenth year of operations throughout Asia. ATIP is recognized as a premier source of information on Asia's most important scientific and technological trends and developments and covers a broad set of science and technology topics across the Asian region, and is particularly experienced in reporting on High Performance Computing (HPC).

ATIP held its first workshop on High Performance Computing in India: Indigenous Hardware, Software, & Infrastructure Research in conjunction with the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) Conference (SC 2009) held at Portland, Oregon. The principal investigators of the event were Prof. R. Govindarajan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), Dr. P. Venkat Rangan (Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham), Dr. David K. Kahaner (ATIP, Albuquerque) and Prof. Bharat Jayaraman (State University of New York at Buffalo). SC 2009 is the world’s premier HPC conference and was attended

by an estimated 8,000 participants. The workshop included presentations, posters, and panels from an Indian delegation drawn from academia, research laboratories, industry, and graduate students addressing topics that included government plans, university research, infrastructure, and industrial applications. The workshop enabled both Indian and international vendors to get their perspectives on the status of computing research in India. Another important component was a panel wherein the panelists and the audience identified topics suitable for collaborative research while also discussing the mechanisms for developing those collaborations. A key aspect of the workshop was the unique opportunity it provided for members of the US research community to interact and have direct discussions with top Indian scientists. A specific goal of the workshop was to motivate preparation of joint research proposals with researchers from both US and India. The workshop was structured around the following topics: Indian Government Plans and Programs; Indian HPC Centers & related

EVENTS DIARYN o v e m b e r - D e c e m b e r – 2 0 0 9


Enhancing the Resilience of Built Infrastructure14-16 December 2009

Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai

Biology of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi 200912-14 December 2009

Hyderabad

Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology

infrastructure; Indian University and Institute Research (grid software, storage, restarting, IO, etc); Science and Engineering Applications in India (steel, auto, weather,

genomics, nano, etc); Vendors (both Indian & multinationals operating in India); and, opportunities for Indo-US collaborations.

Among the model organisms, yeasts and filamentous fungi are at the forefront in contributing towards our current understanding of cell cycle regulation, chromatin remodeling, RNA metabolism and of many other very important areas of basic biology. The implications of all these discoveries go much beyond these systems and have directly contributed to our understanding of life in general and human diseases in particular. Additionally, research on pathogenic and commensal yeasts and fungi has also had fundamental impact on agriculture and medicine. India has a very active group of scientists working in this area and many of them have ongoing collaborations with US scientists.

In this context, a 3-day Indo-US workshop on Biology of Yeasts and Filamentous Fungi was organized by Dr. Durgadas P. Kasbekar (Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad) and Prof. Hans VanEtten (University of Arizona, Tucson) to discuss the biology of yeasts and fungi (as well as allied organisms such as Dictyostelium and protozoa). Participation was also offered to a limited number of Doctoral and Masters Students from Indian universities, who were screened to establish their suitability to participate in the meeting. The workshop provided a platform for several Indian and US scientists working in the area of yeast and filamentous fungi to come together and discuss future possibilities.

Proper design and maintenance of civil infrastructure systems to augment economic productivity and improve living standards is a challenge faced by all nations. Natural disasters (such as earthquakes, hurricanes etc.) and terrorism threats (blast and fire effects) have altered the performance demands placed on our built infrastructure. Also, decades of neglect and poor maintenance, has resulted in the need for repairing and strengthening older infrastructural assets that are rapidly losing their functionality, due to severe corrosion and other durability problems. Furthermore, recent economic boom both in the U.S. and India, combined with the rise in living standards in India, has resulted in the urgent need for developing additional resilient infrastructure.

The Indo-US Workshop on Enhancing the Resilience of Built Infrastructure was a joint collaborative effort of the scientists and researchers from India and the United States working on the various aspects of built infrastructure. The principal investigators of the event were Prof. Pradipta Banerji (IIT, Bombay), Prof. Siddhartha Ghosh (IIT, Bombay) and Prof. Venkatesh K.R. Kodur (Michigan State

University). The primary objective of this workshop was to review the state-of-the art in this field and to identify collaborative research opportunities aimed at enhancing the resilience of built infrastructure in both natural and man-made extreme loading scenarios. In addition to the development of prospective research agenda, the workshop also aimed at facilitating relationships between Indian and US researchers in different theme areas and developing the framework required for such cooperation, with an emphasis on providing an opportunity to develop collaborative research proposals to junior researchers from both the countries. The workshop focused on three major areas: a) Quantification of extreme loads (for the purpose of design), b) Material performance under extreme loading scenarios and c) Retro-fitting strategies for enhancing the resilience of structures. The two-day workshop comprised of several expert lectures/technical presentations, breakout sessions, summary sessions, and concluding sessions, in addition to laboratory tours, informal social exchanges and group meetings. The event was attended by 14 US and 21 Indian participants.

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Geospatial Information for Developing Countries: Science and Technology

16-18 December 2009Indian Institute of Technology

Mumbai

EVENTS DIARYD e c e m b e r – 2 0 0 9


Epigenetic Regulation and Genome Control16-19 December 2009

Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology Hyderabad

Dr. Samir Brahmachari, Director General, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India, addressing the workshop participants

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression has occupied center stage in modern biomedical research. The applications of this field of research spans from devising more targeted therapeutics against dreaded diseases like cancer to regeneration biology involving reprogramming stem cells. The epigenetic field is considered to be the new revolution in biology, which is going to shape the future of medical sciences. The workshop on Epigenetic Regulation and Genome Control organized by Prof. Utpal Bhadra (Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad) and Dr. Anindya Bagchi (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) intended to bring together leaders in the field of epigenetic research from the two countries in order to discuss their current work and create a platform to uplift epigenome-related research to the next level. The workshop helped to form a core group consortium with an aim to organize cooperation between the US and India in well-focused strategic areas of epigenetic research. The primary objectives of the workshop were a) to promote research and development between the two countries, b) support bilateral training in human resources, promote the creation of research networks, and c) promote the implementation of quality bilateral projects, including entrepreneurial participation.

The workshop helped both countries to unravel new factors responsible for epigenetic exploitation of different ethnic

cultures and to determine the differences between racial populations. It also helped to identify different transcriptomes responsible for regulation of genes in different groups which underlies the racial diversity of two geographically well-defined countries. The event explored recent developments in epigenetic regulation and also analyzed the mechanical involvement of different regulatory RNAs on epigenetic regulation and genome-wide transcriptome analysis.

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Scientific efforts in the evolving areas of earth observation and geospatial technologies have increased manifolds in recent years. It is therefore not surprising that the Government of India has identified geospatial technologies, along with nano-technology and biotechnology, as one of the three most important high growth industries in the 21st century and has committed itself to strongly support research programs in this area.

Developing countries, like India, face tremendous challenges in terms of climate change and other natural hazards. Use of geospatial technologies holds great promise to mitigate their effects. However, while attempting to do so, data-rich and information-poor environments are fast becoming common. The rate at which geospatial data is being generated, clearly exceeds our ability to organize and analyze spatial data to extract patterns critical for understanding a dynamically

EVENTS DIARYD e c e m b e r – 2 0 0 9


Redox Signaling In Degenerative Diseases19-21 December 2009

Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi

changing world. Computer science and geoinformatics are collaborating in order to address these scientific and computational challenges and provide innovative and effective solutions.

An Indo-US workshop on Geospatial Information for Developing Countries: Science and Technology organized by Prof. N.L. Sarda (IIT Bombay) and Prof. S. Shekhar (University of Minnesota) brought together computer scientists, geoinformatics professionals and industry experts together with government agencies to understand the requirements of computational sciences in the domain of geoinformatics, especially in the current environment of “data-rich” systems. This provided an opportunity to the experts to identify research challenges grounded in real world problems of a developing nation and aimed to bring synergies into research programs across the two countries. The workshop acted as a vehicle to disseminate and discuss state-of-the-art in relation to geospatial technologies and sought to outline the research challenges posed by the bottlenecks of geoinformatics to resolve some of the modern day problems.

The 3-day event consisted of tutorials and plenary sessions besides a break-out session discussion followed by a panel discussion. A total of about 70 participants, including invited speakers from US and India, participated in the workshop. Participation from agencies in the Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, Government of India, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), National Remote Sensing Centre, and Space Application Centre, who face real computational issues around geospatial information systems in a developing nation, provided important insights into exploding “data-rich” geospatial systems. US participants included Prof. Shashi Shekhar (University of Minnesota) and Prof. Michael Goodchild (University of California, Santa Barbara) along with their doctoral students. Indian participants were drawn from all major academic institutions and governmental agencies engaged in geospatial sciences. The industry was represented by Microsoft Research, and Oracle India. Plenary talks covered data modeling for spatio-temporal databases, Indian ocean observation services, uncertainty models in geospatial data, moving object databases to moving observation databases, geosensors and ubiquitous computing, value of geospatial information, and, spatio temporal data mining.

Redox signaling is implicated in various physiological and pathological processes including angiogenesis, embryonic development, cell death, differentiation and survival. Accumulating evidence suggests that redox-signaling plays a key role in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer, neurodegerative and cardiovascular diseases. Intracellular reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) are the key constituents of redox signaling. Under physiological conditions, the balance between generation and elimination of ROS/RNS maintains the proper functions of redox-sensitive signaling proteins. Redox homeostasis thus ensures that the cells respond properly to endogenous and exogenous stimuli, and disturbances in redox homeostasis leads to aberrant cellular responses causing cell death and disease development. India and the US possess significant intellectual and technical resources that can mutually benefit basic science research and ultimately translational policy and human welfare objectives of the respective countries. However, achieving that objective requires interaction

between scientific and technical representatives and dissemination of ideas in the areas of mutual interest.

An Indo-US workshop on Redox Signaling in Degenerative Diseases organized by Prof. Shyamal Goswami (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) and Prof. Dipak K. Das (University of Connecticut, School of Medicine, Farmington) focused on the redox responsive transcription factors, signal-transducers and cell-death regulators. The specific objective was to understand how disturbances in cellular redox may affect cell death and contribute to the development of diseases such as cancer and degenerative disorders. The bilateral was aimed at identifying scientific problems of mutual interest, exploring available expertise, formulating joint projects for research in various diseases, and preparing a draft proposal for a joint Indo-U.S. specialized center on redox signaling and its role in translational medicine.

T. RamasamiSecretaryDepartment of Science and TechnologyGovernment of India

Co-Chairs

Maharaj K. BhanSecretaryDepartment of BiotechnologyGovernment of India

Samir K. BrahmachariDirector GeneralCouncil of Scientific & Industrial Researchand Secretary, DSIR

Arden L. Bement Jr. Director

The National Science Foundation

Patrick D. GallagherDirector

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Sanjay G. DhandeDirectorIndian Institute of TechnologyKanpur

Roger I. GlassAssociate Director for International Research

National Institutes of Health and DirectorFogarty International Center

Murali SastryChief ScientistTata Chemicals Innovation Centre

Ray O. Johnson Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Lockheed Martin

R. SeshasayeeManaging DirectorAshok Leyland India

K. P. PandianJoint Secretary & Financial AdviserDepartment of Science and TechnologyGovernment of India

Venkatesh Narayanamurti Director, International Affairs

John F. Kennedy School of Government4343

Norman P. Neureiter Advisor

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Michael CleggForeign Secretary

National Academy of SciencesThe National Academies

Who we areThe Indo- U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), established under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America, is an autonomous, not for profit society that promotes and catalyzes Indo- U.S. collaborations in science, technology, engineering and biomedical research through substantive interaction among government, academia and industry.

What we do

Foster excellence by capitalizing on the scientific and technological synergy

Disseminate information and create awareness through scientific exchanges

Build linkages through networking between academia and industry

Explore new frontiers by nurturing contact between young and mid- career scientists

Pave way to sustainable interactions and establish long term relationships

Encourage public- private partnership to inculcate elements of innovation and entrepreneurship

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Exciting and innovative collaborative programs cutting across

disciplines and institutionsAcademia-Industry Connect Programs Programs on Innovation

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Bilateral Workshops & Symposia Special Initiatives for Strategic Partnerships

Flagship Events Student Internships

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Indo-U.S.Science & Technology Forum

Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum: A Catalyst for Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Cooperation

ttp://www .org.indousstf

Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)

We value your interactions with us towards promoting Indo-U.S. Science and Technology collaborations

Michael Cheetham, DirectorIndia Science and Technology Partnership (INSTP)Smithsonian Institution1100 Jefferson Drive SW, Washington DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.E-mail: [email protected]: 1-202-633-4784Fax: 1-202-786-2557

Arabinda Mitra, Executive Director

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Revisiting the Glory - IUSSTF.Org · 2020. 9. 15. · The Indus-Saraswati Civilization World Cultural Heritage Park Revisiting the Glory 6 Connect • January 2010 Harappan Gateway