The National Institute of Technology Calicut is on its way to becoming one of the most vibrant research institutes in the country with 44 Patent applications in the last year. The institute has also won 59 sponsored projects during 2023.  

Ranked 23rd in Engineering by the National Institutional Ranking Framework 2023 and 8th in the Innovation ranking, the institute is awaiting many more patents and sponsored projects shortly. 

According to Prof. Prasad Krishna, Director, NITC, the vision of the Institute is to become a Multidisciplinary Education and Research University (MERU) through significant contributions to fundamental research and innovative technology development. We have been working tirelessly to promote a solid research atmosphere on the campus by collaborating with various institutes across the globe, he added. 

NITC has also signed around 40 MoUs since 2020, with organizations and institutions, including Govt. Medical College, Kozhikode; Oxford Brookes University, UK; CWRDM, Govt. of Kerala; Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi; Dell Technologies; CRRI, New Delhi; NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram and various IITs and other institutions to further multidisciplinary and collaborative research projects. 

Our mission is to cultivate a dynamic and collaborative ecosystem positioning our Institute at the forefront of transformational research, said Prof N Sandhyarani, Dean of research and Consultancy. The institute is creating a research and innovation-friendly environment with cutting-edge infrastructure at the Department and Central Research Facility levels, she added.

In 2023, 59 new sponsored projects worth almost 20 Crores were awarded to faculty members across departments. Three projects were selected by NITI AAYOG for support in the first India-France Bilateral Dialogue under the India-France Roadmap on Blue Economy and Ocean Governance, held in Paris, France, in October 2023. 

Besides, another team received funding worth Rs. 1 Crore from the Science and Heritage Research Initiative (SHRI) program of DST for developing CO2 sequestering bio-based materials for eco-friendly digital construction techniques for preserving and protecting Indian heritage buildings.  

According to the figures available, 200 projects are ongoing in various departments and centres and most of them are multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary. The institute has generated an internal revenue of more than 1.31 crores under the testing and consultancy services alone.

The Department of Architecture and Planning at NITC, currently ranked No.2 in India was instrumental in getting the “ UNESCO City of Literature” title for Calicut. The National Institute of Technology Calicut has also been designated as the Centre of Excellence in Urban Planning and Design by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (AMRUT Division).

On its journey to a Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence NITC has also received an initial funding of 2 Crores from MoE. A team of 14 faculty members from CSED, CED, Architecture and Planning, and Management Studies are working on the project. NIT Calicut has also been selected under the 100 5G use case Labs Initiative by DoT to build competencies in 5G and beyond technologies. Faculty members from CSED and ECED are involved.

A team of researchers in collaboration with IIT Palakkad received a project works Rs. 6 crore. The project is for the studies on condition assessment and management plan for Periyar River Basin under the ministry of Jal Shakti.

The institute has 24 granted patents and 8 start-ups from faculty members and students and  8 patents are in the pipeline in the first quarter of 2024. Apart from faculty members, students are also getting patents for their research projects. The institute is supporting the innovative ideas of students through student innovative project funding scheme. 

The institute also promotes a healthy research atmosphere by offering incentives to new faculty members to kick-start their research careers, said Prof. Sandhyarani. Recently, 75 newly joined faculty members received research grants of 5 lakhs to set up labs or further their research, she added. 

Media Reports

• ഗവേഷണ രംഗത്ത്‌ കുതിച്ചുയരാൻ എൻ. ഐ. ടി. കാലിക്കറ്റ് -  Janashabdham