Education Minister inaugurates nanotechnology, knowledge centres at IIT Guwahati

Centre for Nanotechnology aims at meeting future challenges and augment academic partnerships with industry in nanotechnology, whereas Centre for Indian Knowledge System will focus on preserving and sustaining the knowledge that is unique to India.

 Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated two major infrastructure projects at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati – the state-of-the-art Centre for Nanotechnology (CNT) and Centre for Indian Knowledge System (CIKS). 

The CNT aims at meeting future challenges and augment academic partnerships with industry in nanotechnology. The major funding for the Centre, which included INR 37 crore for the building, besides equipment, was obtained from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It will host 25 advanced laboratories that will focus on advancements in multi-disciplinary, scientific and translational research and is equipped with a Class-100 clean room facilities integrated with state-of-the-art fabrication, characterisation and testing laboratories. The key outcomes expected from the Centre for Nanotechnology include nano-enabled healthcare, energy harvesting, and LED prototypes, devices and technologies, start-ups/ incubation ecosystem, high-end R&D outputs, capacity building of highly skilled manpower in the area of nanofabrication and nanoelectronics, etc. 

The CIKS will focus on preserving, documenting and sustaining the knowledge that is unique to India. The top priorities include Indian classical music, yoga, Sanskrit, traditional medicines, temple architecture, ceramic tradition and special agricultural practices of North-East India, herbal plants of North-East as health food and metal work of Assam. Scholars from diverse backgrounds will be encouraged to participate in the new CIKS’s interdisciplinary research and education programmes, enabling them to evolve practices and technologies in varied areas for sustainable growth and development. 

The Education Minister also inaugurated two hostels at the institute. The new Disang hostel adds 1,000 rooms to the existing capacity of IIT Guwahati. 

The Dikhow hostel is the first such facility on the campus to provide accommodation for project staffers. Constructed at INR 132 crore, these hostels will help enhance the capacity of IIT Guwahati. 

Pradhan said, “In this era of interconnected world, the centre for nanotechnology will contribute not only to the knowledge and development of India but the whole world. Rich biodiversity of northeast provide a lot of scope for research which can benefit the entire humanity. There are a number of policy directions in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 which can modernise our education system. As provided in the NEP, we should create an education hub in Guwahati by creating a cluster of institutions in the region.” 

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu was also present on the occasion. He said the institute should concentrate on development of entrepreneurship and produce job creators, not only job seekers. 

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