Plasma research institute to invite industry for projects

After a successful year where academicians showed interest to take up close to 100 research and development projects on plasma physics, the Institute of Plasma Research (IPR) in Gandhinagar has decided to extend its invitation to industry representatives along with academicians to partner in developing better technology under the institute's National Fusion Programme (NFP).

Some 12 projects have been sanctioned during the funding year 2007-2008 to academicians from BIT Patna, Ravenshaw College Cuttack, BIT-Mesra, Ranchi, IIT Madras, Guwahati University, Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, and Sardar Patel University among others.

Some of the projects taken up include plasma blob motion across non-uniform magnetic field, investigation of neo-classical tearing modes in the presence of flows, Preparation and characterisation of lithium titanate for blanket application in fusion reactor among others.

Funding for the projects would be under the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project which has been constituted to develop nuclear fusion as a viable, long-term energy option.

India has joined ITER as an equal partner along with China, the EU, Japan, Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States of America.

So far, close to Rs 2.49 crore have been allocated to the said projects for a period of three years and officials say that another 20-30 projects are in the pipeline for the funding year 2008-2009.

To encourage representatives from industry to bring in specialised domain knowledge, IPR will be organising a conference to interact with them and will discuss possible fusion projects.

The areas to be looked at for research include plasma theory and simulations, advanced material technologies, first wall component engineering, cryogenic and magnet technologies, beam technologies and others. Once they are taken up, IPR will evaluate its framework, funding and other aspects through a review committee.

IPR has also received good response from students for its internship programme under the NFP where post-graduate students in science, engineering, technology and management with good academic record from recognised institutes and universities can apply for undertaking projects on various areas under the supervision of IPR scientists and engineers.

Close to 10 students have been selected to carry out projects for a duration of 6-12 months at IPR this year. Usually, students can start their projects from the semester beginning either around July or around January, depending on the schedule of their college curriculum.