National Institute of Technology

Aug 16, 2023

NIT Calicut inks MoU with TATA Elxsi for research on electric vehicles

Laboratory for research on electric vehicles to be set up at NITC

National Institute of Technology Calicut inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TATA Elxsi on Wednesday at NIT Calicut. The MoU aims at ensuring collaborative research in the Electric Vehicle Domain.

As per the MoU, a new laboratory of the TATA Elxsi will be set up at NITC to help the students and faculty work on electric vehicle domains. The laboratory will be set up using Rs 1 crore of which Rs 75 lakh is sanctioned by TATA ELXSI and Rs. 25 lakh by the institute.

The MoU is expected to promote the industry connection of NIT Calicut. The initiative also aims at equipping students for bringing transformation in the electric vehicle sector.

Prof. Priya Chandran, Director in Charge of NIT Calicut and the Dean (Planning and Development) and Mr. Manoj Raghavan CEO and MD of TATA Elxsi signed the MoU at a function held at the Senate Hall.

The electric vehicle industry is gaining a grip in the market and 10 per cent of the vehicles registered in Kerala are from the electric vehicle domain, said Mr. Manoj Raghavan, during his address. "However, the industry is also experiencing a lot of challenges including the shortage of electricity, high price of electric vehicles and battery charge, he said exuding confidence that the collaboration between the industry and the institute will help to face these challenges effectively.

Institutes like NIT Calicut can work on mid-term projects in electric vehicles and bring in innovations, said Mr. Raghavan. TATA Elxsi is looking forward to innovative projects from NITC which will be a boost for the industry as well, he said.

TATA Elxsi is working in different sectors like health care, communication, software etc and we are looking forward to more collaborations with NITC after reviewing the success of this initiative, he said.

The institute is looking forward to a bigger range of collaboration with TATA to ensure a large-scale impact on the life of people, said Prof. Priya Chandran during her address. Mr. Shaju S, Vice president and Head of the Transportation Business Unit of TATA Elxsi urged the UG, PG, doctoral and post-doctoral students to work for a cause with passion to bring out practical innovations.

Dr. Preetha P, Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, NIT Calicut gave an introduction about the department. Cdr. (Dr) Shamasundara M.S. Registrar of NITC, Dr N Sandhyarani, Dean (Research and Consultancy), Mr. Shilen Sagunan, advisor of Centre for Electric Vehicle Engineering, Dr. Nikhil Sasidharan Assistant Professor of EED, Dr. Sreelakshmi M.P. Assistant Professor EED and Mr. Sharath M Nair, Kozhikode Centre Operations Manager of Tata Elxsi also spoke at the function.

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