The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Anna University gets product development facility

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 29, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Anna University gets product development facility

Special Correspondent

The Rs. 60-lakh feature is set up through public-private partnership

CHENNAI: From merely incubating ideas and processes, Anna University's K.B. Chandrasekhar Research Centre will now be able to translate them into products for the market place, with the setting up of a product development facility.

Suitable models

"Several of the ideas that have germinated within the AU-KBC RC are now ready for product development and the newly-set up PDF will help evolve them into suitable models for the marketplace. The Rs. 60 lakhs facility, set up through public-private partnership, will take an idea from the proof-of-concept stage to ready-for-market product, assisted by technologists and entrepreneurs with global experience. This will enable the products access to global markets and opportunities," K.B. Chandrasekhar, founder and co-chairman of the governing council of AU-KBCRC told reporters here on Friday. Mr. Chandrasekhar, alumnus of the university's Madras Institute of Technology and CEO of Jamcracker Inc. in USA's Silicon Valley set up the KBCRC in 1999.

Some of the products developed by the centre include a knowledge discovery portal for life sciences/health care researchers, a patent information analyser for creating and searching patent databases, a face recognition system for authentication purposes, a tool for faster diagnosis of infectious diseases, network security tools, multimedia information accessing solutions, treatment for high-altitude induced pulmonary oedema and industrial training packages in wireless communication and bio informatics.

"The PDF will be operational in a month's time. Its facilities would be made available to Anna University students by giving them an opportunity to convert ideas into business and go into the market," D. Viswanathan, the varsity's vice-chancellor, said.

Research papers

The centre had published 20 research papers so far. Several products were awaiting patent and several firms had evinced interest in them. One such product, a potential drug for cancer treatment, was under experimentation, Mr. Chandrasekhar said.

The PDF was a gateway to the industry and direct linkages had been established for providing complete solutions to the industry. The centre, along with another firm, Akshaya Agro Informatics, had also created software for the rural marketplace that would enable buyers and sellers of farm produce to trade freely across the four southern states, he added.

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