Kanpur, June 3, 2022: IIT Kanpur hosted a Kick-Start meeting on DST- IIT Kanpur Integrated Clean Energy Materials Acceleration Platform (ICMAP) on materials on 27th and 28th May, 2022. The meeting was an introductory meet to discuss the key issues of the platform and the road ahead. The meeting was led by Dr. Kanwar Singh Nalwa (Center Head, DST-IIT Kanpur).

The platform is dedicated to the development of materials for energy harvesting and conservation by employing quantum mechanics-enabled atomistic simulations, AI & ML algorithms, and automation to accelerate the pace of materials discovery to 10 times faster. The project was recently sponsored by the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.

The inaugural remarks were delivered by Prof. S. Ganesh, Deputy Director, IIT Kanpur, and Prof. Sandeep Verma, Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB). Several key ideas and plans were brought forward in the meeting to take the platform ahead at IIT Kanpur.

The Integrated Clean Energy Materials Acceleration Platforms constitute a knowledge network of more than 38 elite institutions and 80 research personnel working on next-generation low-cost advanced energy materials. IIT Kanpur is the lead institute in ICMAP on Materials with Prof. Kanwar Singh Nalwa of Sustainable Energy Engineering Department as the Center Head. The objective of this platform is to design materials for energy harvesting by employing quantum and classical mechanics enabled atomistic simulations and AI & ML algorithms. The network of researchers engaged in the platform comprises of scientists from 13 elite institutions. There are two other MAPs on Bioenergy and Hydrogen, and Storage, led by IIT Hyderabad and IISER Thiruvananthapuram respectively.

Several distinguished PIs, eminent scientists, and renowned researchers from the 13 elite institutions across India actively participated in this meeting. Dr. Ranjith Krishna Pai, Scientist ‘E’, Department of Science and Technology, Technology Missions Division (Energy, Water & All Other), Government of India, also attended the event and shared his valuable thoughts and suggestions.

About IIT Kanpur

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur was established on 2nd November 1959 by an Act of Parliament. The institute has a sprawling campus spread over 1055 acres with large pool of academic and research resources spanning across 17 departments, 25 centres, and 5 Interdisciplinary programs in engineering, science, design, humanities, and management disciplines with 480 full-time faculty members and approximately 9000 students. In addition to formal undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the institute has been active in research and development in areas of value to both industry and government. For more information, visit www.iitk.ac.in