IIT Madras – ISRO to set up Centre of Excellence for research in Fluid and Thermal Sciences

Premier technical educational institution Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) with the assistance of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will set up a Centre of Excellence for research in ‘Fluid and Thermal Sciences’. 

The ISRO would be providing a seed funding of Rs 1.84 crore for setting up the centre.

According to IITM, the proposed centre will act as a nodal centre for spacecraft and launch vehicle-related thermal management research activities of ISRO. 

Thermal problems regarding design, analysis and testing of various components could be performed by leveraging the expertise of IITM  faculty. 

The two organisations signed a Memorandum  of Understanding on Monday for setting up the centre. 

The IITM said the Centre will enhance collaboration between ISRO scientists and the institute’s faculty, fostering innovation in fluid and thermal sciences.

Elaborating further, Prof. Arvind Pattamatta, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IITM said, “This Centre of Excellence will foster a unique industry-academia interface, allowing ISRO scientists and IIT Madras faculty and students to collaboratively advance research in critical areas of thermal science. By addressing complex thermal engineering challenges, we aim to contribute significantly to the nation’s space program and strengthen India’s self-reliance in space technologies.”

Having recognised the need to generate basic knowledge through advanced academic research to enable a truly self-reliant and self-generating space programme for the country, ISRO and IIT Madras had set up the ‘ISRO-IIT M Space Technology Cell’ in 1985.