The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Take up research, students advised

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Sunday, Sep 02, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Take up research, students advised

Special Correspondent

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

Innovations galore: Student participants demonstrating a robot playing football at Aarush 2007 at SRM University on Friday.

TAMBARAM: Human resources is India’s greatest asset. It could power the country into the league of economic super powers in the world, N. Lakshmanan, Director, Structural Engineering Research Centre, said on Friday.

Delivering the inaugural address at ‘Aarush 2007’, a national inter-college technical festival at SRM University in Kattankulathur, he said that unless research and development (R and D) is promoted the country cannot progress as desired. “India has not seen a Nobel laureate after Sir C.V. Raman, and we can have more such scientists only when there is greater thrust on R and D,” Dr. Lakshmanan said.

Pointing out the design changes made in the bridge on the broadgauge rail track connecting Rameswaram and the mainland, he said original estimates put it at a few thousand crore rupees, but R and D helped to complete the task at only a few hundred crores. He regretted that not many young people took to research.

He also highlighted the challenges in designing nuclear power reactors and the prevention of damage during the event of tsunamis or earthquakes. Chennai had become an earthquake prone zone, so the building of nuclear reactors was a challenge. “Students should take up research in designing nuclear reactors to make them safer during earthquakes, and also in defence establishments to shape up the country’s progress,” he said.

A. Satish Kumar, Managing Director of Henkel SPIC India, was the guest of honour at the event.

P. Sathyanarayanan, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said the four-day festival was being organised for the first time, and that the objective was to create an opportunity for students to display their innovative skills. A few thousand students from 50 colleges across the country were taking part, he said.

There would be more than 50 technical and non-technical events, and cash prizes exceeding Rs. 10 lakh were up for grabs, he said. T.R. Pachamuthu, Chancellor, spoke on the occasion.

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