Coimbatore campus recently saw the unveiling of a new Amrita Automotive Technology Center (AATC) that will be led by Dr. Thirumalini, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering.
“The center will boost the research capabilities of our faculty and students working in the automotive domain,” stated Dr. Thirumalini.
The campus currently offers an MTech program in Automotive Engineering. Another MTech program on Automotive Systems with a focus on Automotive Embedded Systems is being planned.
“Our AATC with state-of-the-art technology and equipment will be comparable to the best automotive R&D facilities in the country,” proudly stated Dr. Thirumalini.
Existing research centers are all supported by industrial establishments; Amrita is the first institution to establish a research center in this domain.
The center will also be supported by Prof. S. Raju who has four decades of automotive experience. Prof. Raju retired as Senior Deputy Director of the Automotive Research Association of India.
An MoU was recently signed with Automotive Test Systems, an Indian company based in New Delhi, with offices in Pune and Chennai.
The MoU was signed on behalf of Amrita by Dr. P. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor and Prof. C. Parameswaran, Director, Corporate & International Relations.
Automotive Test Systems was represented by Managing Partners Ramanathan Srinivasan and Sandeep Dayanand Sharma.
Subsequent to the MoU, the new Center set up a stall at the Automotive Testing Expo in Chennai. The global trade show for automotive test and development technologies welcomed thousands of visitors from the Indian automotive industry.
“Many visitors to our stall enquired whether our Center could train their newly recruited engineers in testing and make them industry-ready,” shared Dr. Thirumalini.
“In addition to vehicle performance testing, we will also offer services related to vehicle handling, road load data acquisition and analysis, NVH including pass by noise measurement, modal analysis, vibration measurement, sound quality measurement and listening studio,” she added.
What about the growing concern about emissions from personal transport vehicles?
“We plan to develop prototypes for powertrains and also conduct research in hybrid vehicles,” stated Dr. Thirumalini.
March 20, 2012
School of Engineering, Coimbatore
