Participating Institutes

Nonferrous Materials Technology Development Center

NFTDC is an autonomous R & D institution, designed to be small in size, flat in structure, scientist and engineer based and technology oriented. It is a self financing R & D centre which also has the embedded manufacturing and academic (PhD programme) characteristics. The centre meets all its expenditures from its income from (i) sponsored R&D and contract research, (ii) prototype and products, (iii) testing and consultancy, (iv ) royalties and license fees, (v) training programmes and workshops, (vi) and interest income from lab reserve corpus. The entire gamut expenditure ranging from salaries, overheads, utilities, materials, eqpts and testing etc all to be met from the above income only. Therefore, the centre operates on sound business models in all its contracts. NFTDC is a unique and the only R & D institute of its kind in India in that the center undertakes sponsored R & D projects involving scientific know-why as well as technical know- how thereby, forming the research and development linkage from concept to eventual transfer for commercial production. The major thrust areas are: specialty material development, product design and development, rapid prototyping, materials testing and characterization, advanced process engineering, and precision / flexible manufacturing. NFTDC has set up a design and precision application laboratory with an aim to design and develop precision and value added products using specialty materials. It comprises state-of-the-art design tools with highly qualified and trained professionals. It has developed over 100 clientele in India and a few abroad in many sectors ranging from (i) automotive including earth moving OEMs (ii) manufacturing, (iii) aerospace, (iv) biomedical and healthcare, (v) marine and shipbuilding, (vi) electrical power and transmission and (vii) electronics.

National Metallurgical Laboratory

National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur is a constituent establishment of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. The laboratory has emerged as one of the global leaders in metallurgy and materials science research back-up by substantial share of research publications and intellectual property products generated in the field of metals and materials research. The laboratory aims at excellence in R&D in the development and delivery of right sized technologies in Indian and international materials sector. Having core competence in more than seven research areas pertaining to metals and materials research, NML has established it self as one of the premier centre in the field of materials science and advance materials. Equipped with state-of-art characterization and property evaluation techniques, NML has been catering the needs of almost all strategic sector industries in the country. The laboratory is well known for its contributions in the field of advanced materials synthesis and processing ranging from nitrogen steel to nanomaterials for structural and functional applications including tissue engineering. In the recent times, biomimetics has been as one of the major area in the field of nanomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Biomimetic activities at NML, started in 1999 as a pure basic science activity, has now taken the form of a strong group comprising people from materials science, materials characterization and biotechnology. In past eight years the group has not only published 35 research papers and has been granted 04 national and international patents, it has also transferred two biomimetic technologies to Indian industry in the field of nanobiomaterials. One of the technology has recently been commercialized and the second one will be soon in the market. Biomimetic is a new concept in engineering sciences and requires interdisciplinary approach, NML has recognized this fact and has been successful in establishing collaborations with the national and international institutes of repute in the complimentary disciplines required for the development and growth of biomimetic nanomaterials and structures for health sector.

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay is recognised as one of the centres of academic excellence in the country. Over the years, there has been dynamic progress at IIT Bombay in all academic and research activities, and a parallel improvement in facilities and infrastructure, to keep it on par with the best institutions in the world. The institute is globally renowned for the impartment of high quality engineering education and the development of cutting edge technology by its research and development activities. Biomaterials research is undertaken at the School of Biosciences & Bioengineering within the institute which has faculty in the disciplines of biomedical engineering, biotechnology, chemical biology and biochemical engineering. Further, a Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology has been set up where faculty from different disciplines work on the areas of nanoelectronics, nanomaterials and nanobiotechnology. The institute is well suited for biomaterials and healthcare research as it acts as an umbrella for interdisciplinary research bringing together engineers, materials scientists, chemists, biologists and clinicians working hand in hand. All state of the art equipment of development and characterization of materials are available including scanning and transmission electron microscopes, atomic force microscopes, FTIR, confocal microscope, ellipsometer, dynamic light scattering facility, small angle X Ray scattering etc as well as specialized equipment and facilities for biological research like cell culture facility, Langmuir Blodgett troughs, fluorescence microscopes and spectrometers, hematology analysers and ELISA readers.

Materials Processing Inc.

Materials Processing Inc., (MPI) has been involved in the area of powder injection molding (PIM) of advanced materials since 1999 and lately in the area of biomaterials. The company has established itself as one of the leaders in the area of powder injection molding of hardmaterials. MPI is the world’s leading experts in making complex shaped parts from difficult to shape materials using the process of PIM. The president and co-founder of MPI is a leading expert in the field of powder metallurgy and PIM and has co-authored a book entitled “Injection Molding of Metals and Ceramics” which is one of the most popular text book in this area. MPI’s expertise in the area of filled polymers and shaping of filled polymers will be extremely important in some of the biomedical projects. The expertise of MPI in making complex shaped parts from advanced ceramics and cermets such as alumina, silicon nitride, mullite, WC-Co, WC-Ni, WC-TaC-TiC-based composites etc. as well as moldable polyethylene will also be extremely useful in MPI’s participation in projects involving complex shaped ceramics/polymer based biomaterials. MPI is equipped with several injection molding machines, high temperature furnaces, and equipment to fabricate and characterize the injection molding feedstock. MPI has carried out R&D work for various sectors of the US Government including a project from US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The key strength of MPI is in developing innovative shaping concepts for fabricating complex shaped parts from advanced materials which would include a variety of biomaterials.