On 28th of January 2015, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, one of the premier institutions of higher learning in India, is inaugurating the Amrita Automotive Research & Technology Center (AARTC), a joint venture between Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Automotive Test Systems.
The facility will be inaugurated by Dr. K. Tamilmani, Director General, Aeronautical Systems, DRDO and the Guest of Honour will be Ms. Rashmi Urdhwarshe, Director, ARAI Pune.
This Rs.15 crore, one-of-its-kind, facility coming up in the institution headquartered in Coimbatore will assist the automotive industry in areas like vehicle evaluation, vehicle cooling and HVAC Studies, Road Load Data Acquisition, Emission, Simulation – Structural and CFD, Multibody dynamics etc. M. Tech. and PhD students will avail this facility for research.
Besides building a close rapport with the automotive industry, AARTC will facilitate the doctoral and postgraduate students of the institution to gain hands- on experience by giving them an opportunity to participate in live research projects aimed at developing technologies for the government and industry as well.
Prof. Parameswaran, Director, Corporate & Industry Relations states that “The Amrita Automotive Research and Technology Center (AARTC) is a clear manifestation of the institution’s focus on research and innovation that would enhance the quality of teaching and learning experience of faculty, researchers and students. The Center would also enable the automotive industry to get valuable data on their products and facilitate decision-making on performance and target improvements. On the whole, this is an excellent initiative from the Department of Mechanical Engineering.”
In its first phase, a 4000 sq. m building has been completed with complete infrastructure for Vehicle Evaluation, Engine Testing and Development and basic NVH facilities. The second phase that is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year will cover a Hemi-Anechoic room, Reverberation rooms, Listening Studio and complete NVH facilities.
Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham shared, “Automotive Systems is of immense importance to people of all walks of life in all parts of the world. Our Amrita Center aims to impart state of the art learning and research to aspiring students, transforming them to brilliant engineers for industry and scientists for academia. Our Chancellor and world renowned humanitarian leader, Amma, gives particular importance to transportation solutions that preserve the purity and safety of our living planet for future generations. It is our wish that the Center comes up with several breakthrough innovations in this regard”.
Dr. Thirumalini, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Prof. S. Raju, Advisor, AARTC envisage that this facility will be in the forefront to nurture creativity and talent and provide the right ambience for disruptive technologies to evolve. A slew of projects for students will be announced on the inaugural event.
Post inauguration, concurrent sessions including a panel discussion on Building Successful Partnerships between Academia and Industry with representatives both from the industry and academia, followed by three workshops/Technical sessions on Road Load Data Acquisition and Analysis & Vehicle Handling, Vehicle Simulation including Hardware In Loop (HIL) and Power Plants including Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (EHV) will be held in the afternoon of 28th, and a full day session on January 29, 2015.
The technical session on Power Plant including Electric and Hybrid Vehicles will be handled by Dr. P. A. Lakshminarayanan (Simpson), Mr. Nakhwa (ARAI), Dr. Mark Peckham (Cambustion UK), Mr. Yogesh Bolar (Ashok Leyland Technical Center), Mr. Sajid Mubashir (National Automotive Board), Dr. S. Dhinagar ( TVS Motors), Dr. Andreas Bartola (Kistler), Dr. Andreas Knetcht (Testo Group Germany) and Mr. Umesh Krishnappa (Mahindra Reva).
The session on Road Evaluation of Vehicles will be handled by Mr. Saurab Citnavis (ATS) Dr. Karuppiah (Natrax), Daniel Foerder (IMC, Germany), Klaus Weimert (Kistler, Germany), Vivek Lakhera (Tata Motors), Ganesh Ramakrishnan (Bosch) and Prof. Raju, AARTC.
