Dr. Archana Mantri, Vice- chancellor, Chitkara university, Punjab

To build a successful career, you need to stand apart from your peers. The World is eager to embrace those who can think out of the box and innovate with quick solutions to improve human lives. Academic grades certainly help to provide a kick-start to your career, but what really counts is the ability to do innovative research.

No wonder leading universities have thrived on research to reach the stage they are in today. In universities, research takes on a whole new meaning, seeking to answer baffling questions. Research essentially helps students think beyond classrooms opening up opportunities across disciplines and helps develop independent critical thinking skills. Critical and innovative thinking helps students excel in any preferred field.

Keeping these points in mind, Chitkara University provides its students and faculty the opportunity to dive into the world of research from day one. Through the Chitkara University Research and Innovation Network (CURIN), researchers work across disciplines to extend their boundaries of knowledge. Students get the platform to discuss latest ideas, research discoveries and new technologies in seminars. Thanks to a decade’s efforts to excel in the domain, most faculty members now work collaboratively with the world’s top researchers from its partner universities across a wide range of topics like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, advanced healthcare, next generation electronic devices, cloud computing, Robotics, Internet of Things among others.

CURIN is involved in cutting-edge research, exploring new technologies to improve the country’s infrastructure and safety — and contributing to society through its discoveries and innovations. CURIN enjoys the glory of filing over 750 patents and 2,000 Scopus Indexed journals that serve the scientific community. The patents are serving a number of industries locally and globally.

Moreover, with the help of Science and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO), recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), we are serving the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to achieve innovation in their processes and products. We understand how difficult it is for small and medium industries to establish research centres at their premises. So, we offer testing facilities to industries, government agencies and other collaborators.

With the objective to promote start-ups, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) had set up a New Generation Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Center (NewGen IEDC) at Chitkara University in 2019 and has awarded a grant of ₹2.87 crore to support 100 high potential student projects. In the first year, NewGen IEDC successfully supported 20 projects.

Let us give you an example of the research carried out at NewGen IEDC. In the scorching summer season, police officials perform their duty in the outdoors, and some even in the absence of canopies. Moreover, the lack of access to electric power prevents them from charging their mobile phones and in extreme winters, they are unable to heat water or food. Researchers at the varsity’s NewGen IEDC designed and developed an efficient Solar Powered Umbrella to address these challenges. Representatives of Chitkara University also presented the Solar Umbrella to the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Patiala and offered to install ten more units for police officials. To stay at the forefront of groundbreaking innovation, Chitkara Innovation Incubator, a state-ofthe-art incubation space of over 15,000 sq ft, has been established to engage with over 155 start-ups such as Medzak Healthcare, Anukai, GFF Innovations, Chai Nagri, SchoolPad Technologies etc. It is located at 1 km distance from Rajiv Gandhi IT Park and is a Government recognised Technology Business Incubator (TBI).

Recently, Chitkara University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali, to promote research and innovation. The thrust areas at C-DAC, Mohali, are cyber security, Healthcare technologies, agriculture technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Embedded Systems. Chitkara University Central Instrumentation Facilities (CUCIF), a research initiative of CURIN, is known for its consultancy services to the scientific industries and research communities. It is a renowned instrumentation facility in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana. CUCIF has visions to raise the local industries requiring research and innovation to upgrade their products. It is also instrumental in offering the services to academia and research institutions in this area to validate their results with precise and advanced measurements with instrumentation facilities.

CUCIF started functioning in March 2019 and has completed over 700 consultancy projects for industries. The measurements from CUCIF has helped publications of 1,000 research papers in reputed journals/ conferences. Chitkara University aims to nurture the potential of every student and push them out of their comfort zones into the world of research. Students are equipped with technical prowess and analytical skills which make them capable to face diverse challenges. With a large number of patents already under its belt, Chitkara University has succeeded in making a difference in the world.

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