President Draupadi Murmu Inaugurates R&I Park On The Occasion Of IIT Delhi's Diamond Jubilee

New Delhi, September 3: President of India Draupadi Murmu, in one of her first public engagements, has inaugurated IIT Delhi's Research and Innovation Park and exhibition of technologies developed by the Institute. On the occasion of IIT Delhi's diamond jubilee, the 15th president of India said that the institute has expanded outside their traditional strengths in science and engineering.

Speaking at the event, President Murmu lauded the premiere institute and said, "IITians are leaders in every walk of life – in education, industry, entrepreneurship, civil society, activism, journalism, literature and politics. Very recently I met a group of IAS trainees and found many IITians among them. Your influence is such that it touches all walks of life. This is also partly due to the fact that the IITs have expanded outside their traditional strengths in science and engineering.

President Murmu said that IIT Delhi, recognised as the Institution of Eminence, has upheld high standards of teaching and research. She also stated that while IIT Delhi has acted as a guiding force for the newly developed branches of IITs, IIT Delhi has contributed significantly in building up the image of the IITs as centres of excellence across the world.

The institute has announced that its newly inaugurated R&I Park, spread across 3,00,000 sq.ft, aims to accelerate research translation, provide avenues for its students and faculty to interact more closely with industry and bring to market technological breakthroughs. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of state education Dr Subhas Sarkar, Union Minister of State, Union Minister of State for Education Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, and Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, were present on the occasion.

President Murmu, during her address at the occasion, also recognised the institute's efforts and critical research and development projects undertaken during Covid-19 pandemic. IIT Delhi had designed and developed rapid antigen test kits, PPEs, antimicrobial fabrics, high efficiency face masks and low-cost ventilators, among other things. President Murmu stated that IIT Delhi's contribution in India's fight against the Coronavirus has been a model of how engineering and technology institutions too can play a role in a public health crisis.

Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, said that IITs are epicenters of modern economy, it must also prepare students for providing solutions to challenges of the future and also for taking responsibility of the world.

Along with a book launch, the institute also displayed some of its latest innovation at the Diamond Jubilee celebration. In the exhibition, technologies developed by its researcher, startups, included Multimodal Optical Imaging and Fluorescence Spectroscopy-based Oral Cancer and Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnostic kit, Extreme Cold Climate Clothing for Defense Personnel, Exoskeleton for Upper-Limb Rehabilitation, Mahua Nutrabeverage, RT-PCR assay for COVID-19, Compressed Biogas-based Two-Wheeler etc.