New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Headquarters Maintenance (HQ) Command, Indian Air Force Nagpur, to collaborate on advancing innovative technologies for aviation textiles.
In accordance with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, IIT Delhi and HQ Maintenance, IAF Nagpur, will cooperate, work together, and support research and development in the fields of aviation grade textiles, self-reliance, obsolescence management, upgrades, and digitisation through Indigenisation.
Professor R. Alagirusamy, Head of the Textile and Fibre Engineering Department at IIT Delhi, Professor Bipin Kumar, Project Coordinator at IIT Delhi, Group Captain Asit Kumar (Chief of Planning & Production 16 BRD, AF), and Wing Commander Arun Manohar (Chief of Quality Assurance 16 BRD, AF) witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Among the areas of interest for cooperation, according to Group Captain Prashant Pathak, Commanding Officer 16 BRD, AF, are:
Raw material selection (textile/fabric) for various parachute and safety equipment.
Development of modern technologies/ equipment for technical textile/ fabric testing and latest standards available for incorporation into product designs related to parachute and safety equipment.
Implementing AI/ Robotics or imaging technologies for quality acceptance checks of textile/ fabric raw material/ finished products.
Innovate Machine Learning based Imaging Technology of finished products such as pilot parachute/ brake parachute or cargo parachute canopies, associated harness and crew restraint systems etc. received from the field units for repair.
Design and development, reliability studies, simulation studies, life extension studies of parachutes and associated accessories.
The significance of this collaboration was highlighted by Prof. Rajendra Singh, Associate Dean, R&D, IIT Delhi, in response to the increased demand for indigenization from the Indian defense sector. He underlined the possibility of utilizing the cutting-edge research of IIT Delhi with the real-world experience of IAF to create novel solutions for an extensive array of textile products that are suitable for aviation use.
India’s defense technological self-reliance is anticipated to benefit from the collaboration between IIT Delhi, and HQ Maintenance, IAF Nagpur, according to Prof. Bipin Kumar, Project Coordinator from the Department of Textile and Fibre Engineering, IIT Delhi.
