annual report 2012-13
Indo-US S&T Forum INDO-US SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FORUM Catalyzing Indo-US Science & Technology Cooperation
annual report 2012-13
INDO-US SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FORUM Catalyzing Indo-US Science & Technology Cooperation The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), established under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America, is an autonomous, not for profit society in India, co-funded and co-governed by both the governments. IUSSTF promotes and catalyzes Indo-US collaborations in science, technology, engineering, biomedical research and innovation through substantive interaction among government, academia and industry. ANNUAL REPORT - INDO-US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FORUM
Contents
From the Executive Director’s desk 4
History of Indo-US S&T Cooperation 7
Structure of IUSSTF 8
Composition of the Governing Body 9
Objectives of IUSSTF 10
Salient outcome of IUSSTF Activities over the years 11
14th Governing Board Meeting 17
Programmatic Activities • Flagship Program : Fifth Indo-American Frontiers of Science Symposium 22 • Strategic Programs 26 – Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center 26 – US-India S&T Endowment Fund 32 • Public-Private Partnership Programs 36 • Visitation Programs 40 • Bilateral Workshops 75 • Training Programs 105 • Centers for Research Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) 107 • Joint Networked Centers 114
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From the Executive Director’s Desk
The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum In 2011, the IUSSTF was entrusted with the (IUSSTF) has always been an organization on the responsibilities of administering and implementing move with a continuous effort at improving its the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and processes and maintaining its relevance in the Development Centre (JCERDC). The JCERDC is Indian and US science scenario by adding new a 5 year, USD 100 mn initiative in public private programs to its programmatic portfolio. The fiscal mode with Indian and US Governments each year 2012-13 has been very engaging and a learning committing USD 5 mn every year and the industry period for the IUSSTF. During this year, first batch providing matching funds. This program is funded of awards were announced under the two major and guided by the Indian Department of Science programs launched last year. and Technology (DST) and the Department of
The joint review process involving a large number of experts was completed in 2012 and three consortia comprising of about 100 academic and industry partnering organizations were awarded projects in the area of solar energy, second generation of biofuels and building energy efficiency.
4 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S DESK
Biotechnology (DBT) and the US Department of Technology commercialization is an Energy (DoE). The joint review process involving important tool for transferring benefits a large number of experts was completed in 2012 of scientific research to the society. While and three consortia comprising of about 100 IUSSTF has been supporting related academic and industry partnering organizations workshops in bottom up approach, a new were awarded projects in the area of solar energy, program ‘Khorana Technology Transfer second generation of biofuels and building energy Course’ was initiated with support of DBT efficiency. These efforts were lauded in the Indo-US and in partnership of the University of Energy Dialogue held in Washington DC. Wisconsin. US-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) is the other major initiative with a annual budget of about USD 2.5 mn. This initiative with DST and the US Embassy in organizing the aims at fostering innovation and entrepreneurial annual ‘Women in Science’ symposium in New ties between the US and the India teams for Delhi. More than 250 women scientists, engineers, commercialization of science and technology led researchers and policy makers participated in these innovation for societal impact. This program is event. Efforts are on to build upon this response in guided by the joint US-India Science and Technology developing sustainable programmatic activities in Endowment Board and IUSSTF has been identified this direction. as the executive secretariat for implementing the identified programmatic activities. Under this Technology commercialization is an important tool program second & third calls for proposals were for transferring benefits of scientific research to the issued receiving in total 700 proposals. After a joint society. While IUSSTF has been supporting related review and a diligence process, 3 bilateral teams workshops in bottom up approach, a new program were awarded projects in the broad categories of ‘Khorana Technology Transfer Course’ was initiated ‘Empowering Citizens’ and ‘Healthy Individual,’ in with the support of DBT and in partnership with the second call and 19 proposals were shortlisted the University of Wisconsin. Another workshop on in the third call for next stage of detailed business technology transfer in agriculture was supported plan submission. at the Michigan State University.
It has always been an endeavor of IUSSTF to seed The newly formed Science and Engineering and catalyze new programs in line with common Research Board (SERB), India launched ‘SN Bose priorities of Indian and US Governments. During Scholar Program’, during the IUSSTF Governing the US-India Joint Commission on Science and Board meeting held in January 2013 at IIT Bombay. Technology Cooperation (JCM) held at Washington This supports 3 months internships of up to 50 DC in June 2012 ‘Policy initiatives to strengthen Indian Under Graduate students in US universities bilateral research cooperation and best practices and up to 30 US Under Graduate students in Indian for retaining and advancing women in science and S&T institutions. IUSSTF has been entrusted with engineering’ was an important theme of discussion. implementation of this program. Along with three IUSSTF supported ‘Women in Engineering’, a other IUSSTF internship programs namely ‘Khorana major event held in Bangalore. and partnered Scholar’ program, Vitterbi-India program and RISE
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(Research Internships in Science and Engineering), with commitment of USD 2 mn per year from each takes the number of slots available for internships side for 5 years. to Indian and US UG, Masters and Ph.D. students to 150. This will make IUSSTF one of the major As part of regular networking activities, IUSSTF has institutions facilitating a large number of students supported 38 bilateral workshops and 4 training exchange visits between India and US. programs through calls for proposals during the period of this Annual Report. 4 new Joint Centres A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was were also approved. Through these programmatic also signed between SERB/DST and the NIBIB/ NIH activities, exchange visits of about 600 Indian during the IUSSTF GB meeting. Under this MoU, and support of US scientists an estimated new both would work together for translational research interactions of about 4000 to 5000 scientists will on affordable and reliable measurement devices be facilitated.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also inked between SERB/DST and the NIBIB/ NIH during the IUSSTF GB meeting. Under this MoU, both sides would work together for translational research on affordable and reliable measurement devices with commitment of USD 2 mn per year from each side for 5 years.
6 History of Indo-US S&T Cooperation
1950’s 1960’s 1970’s 1980’s 1990’s 2000’s
Green revolution Establishment of NASA-ISRO: Science & Indo-US Indo-US Science facilitated with IIT, Kanpur Satellite Technology Fellowships & Technology Forum the US PL 480 Instructional Initiative (STI) Program (IUSSTF) Rupee Funds Establishment of Television Indo-US Science NCERT, New Delhi Experiment (SITE) US-India Fund ICAR MoU & Technology Establishment (USIF) Agreement of Land Grant Nuclear Indo-US S&T Indo-US Vaccine High Technology Colleges Cooperation Subcommission Action Program Cooperation Group Agreement (HTCG) DST-NSF Program Indo-US Strategic Tarapur Power Partnership Plant NASA/NOAA- • ICT ISRO/DST MoU • Agri Knowledge Initiative (AKI) DBT/ICMR-NIH/ • Space Cooperation CDC Health & • Clean Energy Medical Sciences • Safety & Security Program • Health Sciences • Education
Joint S&T Commission
NASA-ISRO Agreement / MOES- NOAA Agreement
Indo-US Nuclear Agreement
Indo-US S&T Endowment Fund for Innovation
Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC)
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Structure of IUSSTF
Management Funding
The IUSSTF functions as Annual interest earning from the endowment • Autonomous created by the US Government with matching • Bilateral contribution from Government of India through the • Not-for-profit society Department of Science and Technology provides regular funds to administer the IUSSTF programs. To ensure that the activities undertaken by the IUSSTF conform to the highest standards of IUSSTF also has the freedom to receive grants, gifts, excellence, a joint Governing Body consisting of donations or other contributions from industries, seven Indian and seven American Government foundations and private benefactors. Contributions members, eminent scientists and technologists to IUSSTF are tax-exempted under Section 80G of the provide leadership to IUSSTF. Indian IT Act. Toward furtherance of its objectives, the IUSSTF welcomes fund contributions both in The Executive Director manages the IUSSTF affairs from India and USA. its headquarters at the Fulbright House, New Delhi.
The India Science and Technology Partnership (INSTP) based out of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington D.C. is the US provides outreach and proposals review support.
Co-Chair GOVERNING Co-Chair India BODY USA
Executive Director
US Outreach Finance and Scientific and Administration Programs INSTP Support Unit Unit Unit
Core Extramural Activities
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Composition of the Governing Body
INDIAN CO-CHAIR US CO-CHAIR
T. Ramasami Norman P. Neureiter Secretary Senior Advisor Department of Science and Center for Science, Technology Technology and Security Policy Government of India American Association for the Advancement of Science
INDIAN MEMBERS US MEMBERS
K. VijayRaghavan Michael Clegg Secretary Foreign Secretary Department of Biotechnology National Academy of Sciences Government of India
Samir K. Brahmachari Subra Suresh Director General Director Council of Scientific & Industrial The National Science Foundation Research and Secretary, DSIR
Indranil Manna Roderic Pettigrew Director Director Indian Institute of Technology National Institute of Biomedical Imaging Kanpur and Engineering
Vikram S Kirloskar Phyllis G. Yoshida Vice Chairman Deputy Assistant Secretary Toyota Kirloskar Motors US Department of Energy
Vijay Chandru Ray O. Johnson Chairman & CEO Senior Vice President and Strand Life Sciences Chief Technology Officer Lockheed Martin Corporation
Anuradha Mitra Leo M. Chalupa Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor Vice President for Research Department of Science and George Washington University Technology Government of India
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Objectives of IUSSTF
Catalyst to facilitate, seed and promote US-India bilateral collaboration in science, technology, engineering & biomedical research and innovation through substantive interaction among academia, R&D laboratories, industry and government.
• Support an exciting and enabling science and technology program portfolio that paves the way for sustainable interactions and potential collaborations through networking.
• Promote and strengthen strategic partnerships in science and technology under various intergovernmental initiatives and declarations.
• Create awareness through exchange and dissemination of information and opportunities toward promoting bilateral scientific and technological cooperation.
• Encourage public-private partnerships and technopreneurship to foster elements of innovation and enterprise through knowledge networking between academia and industry.
• Capitalize on the scientific and technological synergy on issues of common concern leading to long-term partnership based on shared values.
• Explore new frontiers by nurturing contacts between young and mid-career scientists and technologists to develop mutual trust, leadership and fraternity in research and development.
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Salient Outcome of IUSSTF Activities over the years...
“Success of IUSSTF in achieving its mandated activities should be considered as an exemplar and perhaps a benchmark for similar initiatives of S&T grant making bodies.” - NISTADS Report 2007
IUSSTF convened activities have led to the NASA); conservation research (JNV University and interaction of over 12,000 US and Indian University of Arizona); optoelectronic materials scientists and technologists creating new and devices (Society for Applied Micro-wave opportunities paving way to sustained Electronics Engineering and Research, Tata Institute collaborations in diverse areas of science, of Fundamental Research and University of technology and innovation. New Mexico); post-harvest technology (Amity University and World Food Logistics Organization Inter-Institutional Agreements for a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation); mathematical proteomics (University IUSSTF convened events have led to collaborations of Hyderabad and University of Minnesota); the through inter-institutional agreements in diverse Unique Identification Number Project (IIIT Delhi & areas like weather and climate studies (National SUNY at Buffalo); protecting senior citizens from Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast, cyber security attacks in the e-health scenario National Center for Atmospheric Research, (Amrita University, IIIT Delhi & SUNY at Buffalo); India Meteorological Department & National cloud computing and security (Amrita University, Center for Environmental Prediction); advanced IIIT Delhi, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIIT Allahabad, SUNY at computing (Center for Development of Advanced Buffalo, Arizona State University & Kennesaw State Computing & Louisiana State University); Ayurvedic University); state-of the art research and knowledge research (Department of Indian Systems of center for cardiovascular diseases (Rajiv Gandhi Medicine and Homeopathy & National Center Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram for Complementary and Alternative Medicine); and Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation); information sciences (Mysore University & ecological health of rivers (Indian Statistical University of Pittsburgh); ecoinformatics (Ashoka Institute, Kolkata and University of Illinois at Urbana Trust for Research in Environment and Ecology Champaign); self-assembled fibrillar gels (University & University of Massachusetts); technology of Nevada-Las Vegas and JNCASR, Bangalore; IACS, management internship (Technology Information Kolkata and University of Maryland; Vidyasagar Forecasting Assessment Council & National Institute University, Medinipur and Georgetown University; of Health); Sastra Ramanujan Awards (SASTRA IIT Kharagpur and Georgetown University; and, University & American Mathematical Society); James Madison University and Indian Institute biomedical engineering (Shree Chitra Institute of Science, Bangalore); new functional materials: of Medical Science and Technology & Penn State synthesis, properties and methods (an MoU was University); water management (Jawaharlal signed between Rowan University and Jamia Milia Nehru Technical University and University of University with reference to teaching and joint Colorado, Boulder); air traffic management (IIT- programs. One post–doctoral position at Rowan Bombay, National Aerospace Laboratories and University has been created in materials under the
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aegis of this MoU); Biofuels: research challenges To enable Indian and American scientists from in the areas of combustion and fuel injection academia and laboratories to carry out joint (the following collaborative joint projects were research activities by leveraging already existing identified as a result of this workshop - Combustion infrastructure, 39 Indo-US Networked Joint instability and diagnostics of biofuels; Spray: Centers have been initiated. The Joint Center atomization and vaporization; Droplet combustion; (JC) on Nanomaterials for energy has received Chemical Kinetics; Fundamental flame studies; additional funding from Air Force Office of Scientific Pollutant measurement and control including Research, Asian Office of Aerospace Research and novel strategies like nanoadditives; and, Biofuel Development and Defense Advanced Research production and supply); biocomputing (a major Projects Agency; JC on Climate Change and its outcome of the workshop is the International center impact on the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea has of excellence on Biocomputing which has been set received additional funding from NASA, NSF, and up at NIT Calicut which is organized jointly by the Space Application Centre; JC on Biomaterials for Department of Computer Science & Engineering Healthcare has since been awarded 5 research and School of Biotechnology, NIT Calicut and School projects by DRDO, DST and DBT in addition to the of Informatics, Indiana University-Purdue University signing of an inter-institutional MoU between IIT- Indianapolis IUPUI, USA). Kanpur and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Indo-US Networking and Joint R&D Considering the outcome and achievements of the Projects Joint Centre on Advanced Manufacturing (under which one patent has been filed and the further IUSSTF has supported 233 bilateral workshops that research funding was received from agencies such have had a substantive impact in generating new as NSF and DST), IUSSTF awarded the partnering joint R&D projects in areas of mutual interest like institutions the Indo-US Centre for Research agricultural biotechnology (functional genomics); Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) traditional medicines; nanoparticle aerosol S&T; on Fabrionics in order to consolidate and continue high performance computing; tissue engineering; the collaboration by intensifying academic advanced manufacturing; brain research; infectious cooperation with the active involvement of industry diseases; epidemiology and environmental and entrepreneurs required to translate the R&D health; seismic studies; geological carbon dioxide outcome. This CRESE has received additional sequestration; hydrogen storage materials; funding from DST and CSIR. Also, two patents futuristic manufacturing; fuel cells; target detection have been filed and several joint publications from remotely sensed images; structures in nano- have been generated. Other Centers for Research biosystems; coastal water resource management; Excellence in Science and Engineering established ceramic-based biomaterials; molecular insights in include: Advanced Materials Research (Partners: digestive diseases (Christian Medical College and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Tufts University School of Medicine received five Research, Northwestern University, Indian Institute NIH grants for the period 2007-2013); and, public of Science and Argonne National Laboratory); health in India (Christian Medical College and Nanobiotechnology (Partners: National Center Yale University received two NIH and one Bill and for Biological Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Melinda Gates Foundation funded grant for the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific period 2009-2015). Research and Centre for Cellular and Molecular
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Biology); and, Nanomaterials for Energy (Jawaharlal University of California Berkeley-IIT Kharagpur Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, collaboration on energy research has catalyzed Purdue University and GE India Technology Centre the establishment of the PK Sinha Center for Bangalore). Bioenergy at IIT-Kharagpur with a gift of $2 million from an IIT-Kharagpur alum. The Center Educational Programs is now well positioned to strengthen and accelerate bioenergy research between IIT By supporting over 40 Training Programs/Advanced Kharagpur and US Berkeley. Schools, IUSSTF has seeded the development of educational programs such as in Major Initiatives
• nutritional epidemiology (Public Health Some of the major initiatives catalyzed by IUSSTF Foundation of India, New Delhi and Emory includes the Indo-US civilian space cooperation University, Atlanta) • immunology (International Centre for Genetic • University of California-India R&D Initiative Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi and • Indo-US distance education program in Harvard Medical School, Boston) engineering; Aircraft borne tropical cyclone • information management sciences (Mysore prediction system University & University of Pittsburgh) • Biogeochemical flux monitoring network - • green chemistry (Delhi University & Green IndoFlux Chemistry Institute) • Translational Health Science and Technology • advanced manufacturing (IIT, Kanpur & Institute, India – THSTI Northwestern University) • India’s joining the US led International • nanotechnology (SASTRA & University of Partnership in Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) and Arkansas) the US DOE Blue Sky Carbon Sequestration • microsurgery (All India Institute of Medical Program facilitated the inclusion of knowledge- Sciences & US Association of Microsurgery) based R&D (nano, info and biotechnology) • distance education in engineering (Amrita as a part of the Indo-US High Technology University/ISRO & 21 US partner university and Cooperation Group (HTCG) dialogue. institutions) • number theory (Sastra University & University IUSSTF maintains a close working relationship with of Florida) the federal agencies, laboratories, government • museum science communication (National institutions, and the academia in US and India, Council for Science Museums, BITS, Pilani & cutting across all disciplines. In 2011, IUSSTF has Smithsonian Institution) been entrusted to administer the bi-national US- • ASEE led Indo-US collaboration for engineering India Science & Technology Endowment Fund education and the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research • discrete mathematical chemistry (Osmania and Development Center (JCERDC). University and University of Minnesota) • Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting The aim of the Endowment Fund is to strengthen and (IIT-Delhi and National Oceanic and Atmospheric expand S&T cooperation for public good through Administration). The IUSSTF supported science and technology R&D entrepreneurial
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activities intended to lead to the commercialization The JCERDC is a joint initiative of the Government of technology that will develop sustained of India and the US Department of Energy with partnerships between US and Indian scientists the overall aim being to facilitate joint research and entrepreneurs for the mutual benefit of both and development on clean energy by teams of countries. The two priority areas identified are scientists, technologists and engineers from India ‘Healthy Individual’ and ‘Empowering Citizens’. Under and the United States, and related joint activities, the second call of the Endowment Program, the needed to deploy clean energy technologies rapidly following three projects were selected for award. with the greatest impact. To achieve this objective, the Indo-US JCERDC will support multi-institutional • Mobile phone based HbA1c analyser (the novel network projects using public-private partnership platform comprises of two components- a model of funding. The priority areas are Solar Energy, colorimetric test strip for HbA1c and a software Second Generation Biofuels and Energy Efficiency of application that uses the phone’s camera to Buildings. After completing the compliance review analyze the test strip. Additionally, the software of the proposals received, a total of 19 proposals application can provide automated decision were accepted for further evaluation. After an support and transmit data to remote specialists, intensive multi-level review and evaluation process, thus enabling millions of field health workers to three consortia (one each in the three priority areas: screen and manage diabetes in even the most Solar Energy, Second Generation Biofuels and remote communities.) Energy Efficiency of Buildings) were selected for • A novel way to manage fecal incontinence award in April 2012. This first-of-its-kind initiative in non-ambulatory patients (the team has has brought together more than 90 institutional developed a self-expanding device to manage partners to work jointly in the space of clean energy fecal incontinence in non-ambulatory patients research. This program is currently in its second year with a unique placement, deployment and of implementation. The fund commitment towards withdrawal mechanism. The device requires this effort by each Government is $5 million per minimal training and can be administered year for five years. without the need for imaging and works on all patients, irrespective of their stool type or Road maps of cooperation sphincter tone. The product offers a hygienic insertion mechanism and is overall very sanitary Road maps and contours of Indo-US cooperation and patient friendly.) were chartered through IUSSTF convened events • Branchless banking and financial services for the on civilian space cooperation (ISRO & NASA); unbanked and under-banked (building a low-cost microlight air vehicle development (National payment infrastructure for instant small value Aeronautical Laboratory & University of Maryland); financial transactions by leveraging existing primate national action plan (Primate Research retail shops, tele-connectivity and banking Council & US Wildlife and Fisheries Agency); Indo- infrastructure to extend branchless banking flux program (DOES); linear collider for high energy services to the common man. The project aims physics (DST & DOE labs); technopreneurship in to deliver financial services efficiently and at academia (National Entrepreneurship Board); scale through smart phone based application GLP on medical devices. In 2008, IUSSTF had mechanism integrating with the Unique Identity supported an Indo-US workshop on low-cost UID). diagnostic and therapeutic medical technologies.
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As a result of this workshop, the National Institute develop new technologies which are relevant for of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) low resource settings not only in their respective and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of political domain but other similar settings all over India, are initiating jointly funded initiatives that the world. capitalize on the expertise and resources of the two nations. On June 24th 2010, at the US-India Indo-American Frontiers of Science Science and Technology Joint Commission Meeting (FOS) & Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) in Washington, D.C., NIBIB and DBT announced the availability of supplemental funding for eligible IUSSTF has also initiated the Indo-American Frontiers NIBIB-supported research grants to facilitate of Science (FOS) and Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) collaborative work among researchers in the US symposium in partnership with the US National and India. The grants will be used to develop Academy of Sciences and National Academy of low-cost diagnostic and therapeutic medical Engineering. This has provided a unique platform technologies that can be used in underserved to the best and brightest young minds from communities worldwide. India and US to interact and discuss cutting edge scientific pursuits. The series has helped to establish Hypertension diagnosis and management is trans-disciplinary research activities and build a critical healthcare issue. However, the basic contacts between the next generation scientists underlying approach for the measurement of Blood through IUSSTF seed awards. As a spin-off, the Pressure has essentially remained the same for the annual national frontiers meeting in India has been past several decades. This is an obvious area that initiated by the Indian Academies. is ripe for disruptive technological innovation. The purpose of the Indo-US Grand Challenge Initiative on Industry supported activities Affordable Blood Pressure Measurement Technologies for Low-Resource Settings in India and the US between IUSSTF has promoted techno-entrepreneurship the Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), through the DST-Lockheed Martin Innovation Growth Department of Science & Technology, Government Program in partnership with UT-Austin, FICCI of India and the National Institute of Biomedical and IUSSTF has led to the signing of 69 business Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB, NIH), USA deals worth Rs. 200 crores/$ 43m; Stanford-India is to encourage collaborative research within Biodesign program in partnership with IUSSTF and between both the countries to propose new has generated eight prototypes of biomedical approaches to the measurement of Blood Pressure devises for commercialization; and the DST-Intel that are unobtrusive or passive, low cost and which India Innovation Pioneers Challenge in partnership can automatically provide frequent data recording with IUSSTF have showcased several student led and reporting to healthcare workers as well as feed innovation which have won international awards back to the patients. SERB and NIBIB are launching and have commercialization potential. IUSSTF two separate and parallel, but fully coordinated, also partners with IBM to conduct the IBM-IUSSTF funding opportunity announcements in India Visiting Fellowships in Nanotechnology. IUSSTF and USA respectively to promote research in this also supported the Young Engineers Visitation area and generate alternate scientific approaches Program in partnership with Lockheed Martin and technological options. It is expected that Corporation. Several industry funded projects in this partnership between the two countries will academia were initiated following IUSSTF seeded leverage knowledge and material resources to activities in areas like cyber security; microwave
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technology; RFID and wireless sensors; design the program moves forward. Although in principle engineering; nano-coatings; rapid prototyping; agreed upon in 2009; the Technology-transfer course nanofabrication for solar cells; lithium-ion based (in partnership with DBT and the University of Nan batteries (joint Indo-US business venture); Wisconsin-Madison) came into being in 2012. This telecom switching; design of aerospace alloys, as course has been specially designed as an intensive examples of academia-industry partnerships. program aimed to provide participants with significant insight into managing technology in S&T capacity building its journey from the laboratory to the marketplace.
Addressing the need for human S&T capacity The Science and Engineering Research Board, building, IUSSTF has instituted the Indo-US Research Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. Fellowship in partnership with DST. Reciprocal of India, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum student exchange programs aimed to groom (IUSSTF) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and connect the next generation of scientists (UW) have partnered to launch a dynamic and have been launched, which includes the Research transformative student exchange program between Internships in Science and Engineering for PhD premier institutions in India and the United States. students; Viterbi-India Program (with the University The program is named in honor of Satyendra Nath of Southern California); UC Berkeley–IIT Kharagpur Bose (1894 – 1974), a visionary Indian physicist best exchange program; MIT-IUSSTF internship program; known for his work on quantum mechanics in the Experimental Learning in International Agriculture early 1920s. The S.N. Bose Scholars Program provides exchange program (Cornell Univ. and 4 Indian State an opportunity to Indian and US students (enrolled Agriculture Universities); Visitation programs with in Bachelors and Masters programs in Atmospheric the American Physical Society and the American and Earth Sciences; Chemical Sciences; Engineering Society for Microbiology. It is also heartening Sciences; Mathematical and Computational Sciences; to note the success of the Khorana Program for and, Physical Sciences.) to undertake a research Scholars (in partnership with DBT and the University internship each summer in each other’s countries. of Wisconsin-Madison). Keeping in view the success It has been unambiguously demonstrated that of the program, DBT approved both the extension providing students with an exposure to cutting edge and the expansion of the program to allow more scientific research experience at a formative stage students and more US Universities to be part of this not only broadens their intellectual horizons but program. In 2012, 30 Indian students were placed also leads to increased engagement in scientific and across 9 mid-western US Universities (University of technological research careers. An added benefit is Iowa, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, that an exchange program also enables the creation University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, of sustainable and vibrant linkages between the two Indiana University, Georgetown University, MIT and nations, as well as building deep-rooted long-term University of Wisconsin-Madison). Expansion to Indo-American science and technology relationships. other leading US Universities is also envisioned as
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14th Governing Body Meeting
The 14th meeting of the Governing Board of the As it has always been the endeavor of IUSSTF to Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) catalyze, promote and support networking activities took place under the Co-Chairmanship of Dr. T. in areas of importance to the US and India; in Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science & order to showcase these activities and view their Technology (DST) Govt. of India (Indian Co-Chair) outcomes, Dr. Rajiv Sharma (Executive Director, and Dr. Norman P. Neureiter, Advisor, American IUSSTF) introduced to the Board a comprehensive Association for the Advancement of Science (US compendium of all Workshops, Training Programs Co-Chair), on 19 January 2013 at the Indian Institute and Virtual Networked Centers supported by the of Technology-Powai Campus in Mumbai, India. Dr. Forum. This document aimed to showcase the William Colglazier, Science and Technology Adviser strength and value of such networked partnerships to the Secretary of State also attended the meeting enabled through IUSSTF support. as special invitee.
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18 14TH GOVERNING BODY MEETING
The Governing Board members deliberated and provided their views on the accomplishments and also the future vision and role for IUSSTF in promoting its mandate. Dr. Ramasami lauded IUSSTF’s role as a catalyst in deepening and broadening the scientific and technological collaborations between India and the United States. He was also appreciative of the manner in which IUSSTF is administering the Indo- US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development program for the Govt. of India and the US Department of Energy. He also lauded the visitation programs administered by IUSSTF and described them as “nation building exercises”. Dr. Neureiter expressed his happiness over the accomplishments of IUSSTF IUSSTF and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and felt that the time had come to think broadly (UW). This dynamic and transformative student and deeply about the future vision and path for the exchange program between premier institutions Forum. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Hari Gopal in India and the United States is named in honor (Science and Engineering Research Board-SERB, of Satyendra Nath Bose (1894 – 1974), a visionary DST, Govt. of India) announced the S.N. Bose Scholars Indian physicist best known for his work on quantum Program supported by SERB in partnership with mechanics in the early 1920s.
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Program Portfolio
IUSSTF promotes Indo-US Science and Technology partnerships by responding to the needs of its stakeholders in adopting a dynamic program portfolio largely conceived and driven by the scientific communities of both nations.
• Symposia, Workshops, Conferences on topical and thematic areas of interest
• Special initiatives on bilateral strategic partnerships
• Visitation program through fellowships and internships • Industry – Academia connect programs
• Innovation programs to promote technoentrepreneurship
• Training programs and Advanced Schools towards human resource development
• Public-Private Networked Centers to foster pre-commercial R&D
• R&D Knowledge Networked Centers for promoting thematic research • Centers of Research Excellence • Travel Grants
• Flagship Initiatives for young scientists and technologists in partnership with US National Academies • Indo-American Frontiers of Science Symposium • Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium
20 Annual Report Indo-US Science & Technology Forum
Programmatic Activities
ANNUAL REPORT 2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT - INDO-US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FORUM
FLAGSHIP PROGRAM Fifth Indo-American Frontiers of Science Symposium
07-10 April 2013, Agra, India
Organizing Co-Chairs: Kedar Damle Todd Oakley Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai University of California, Santa Barbara E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
The fifth Indo-American Frontiers of Science (IAFOS) Symposium was convened by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) as its annual flagship event in partnership with the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) from April 7th to 10th at Agra, India. The symposium brought together about 70 brilliant young scientists and technologists from Indian and US academia, laboratories and industry. At the symposium, attendees presented their talks as part of eight interdisciplinary sessions on contemporary research topics to colleagues outside speaker in the session on Materials for energy their field with a view to both conveying and deriving conversion and storage: Discovery through cross-disciplinary information and insights through experimental and computational approaches was Don a format, which allows informed one-to-one Seigel (University of Michigan) who spoke on discussions amongst the participants. Materials for energy conversion and storage and what can be done to secure a sustainable energy Session I: The acquisition of renewable, low-carbon future. Jeff Sakamoto (Michigan State University) forms of energy is perhaps the most important delivered a talk on keeping up with the increasing challenge facing mankind today. The introductory demands for electrical energy storage and conversion.
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Aninda Bhattacharyya (Indian Institute of Science) our understanding of planets and their formation. spoke about materials for modern rechargeable Maheswar Gopinathan (Aryabhatta Research Institute batteries using Lithium-based battery as a case- of Observational Sciences) delivered a talk on the study. Bok Globules that are identified as the sites of low mass star formation in the solar neighborhood. The Session II: The lead speaker in the session on Planet/ origin of the earth and solar system is one of the star formation was Sujan Kumar Sengupta (Indian longest-standing questions in science and Andrew Institute of Astrophysics) who spoke about more Youdin (University of Colorado-Boulder) spoke about than 800 extra-solar planets that have revolutionized the birth of planets in the solar system and beyond.
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Session III: The session on Systems biology and about the resolution of sexual conflict and N.G. medicine began with a talk by K.V. Venkatesh (IIT- Prasad (IISER-Mohali) talked about interlocus sexual Bombay) who gave an overview of the field with conflict and the evolution of life-histories. system science principles in conjunction with experimental methodologies required to achieve a Session V: In the session on Quasiparticles and system level understanding of cellular behavior. Raul semiconducting devices, the lead speaker Andrea Rabadan (Columbia College of Physicians and Young (MIT) spoke about massless electrons and Surgeons) delivered a talk on fast evolutionary fractionally charged particles in graphene. Mandar processes by genome analysis of tumors and RNA Deshmukh (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) viruses. Anurag Agrawal (CSIR-Institute of Genomics presented the efforts to develop a simple technique and Integrative Biology) spoke about how systems for lateral nanowire wrap around gate devices with medicine is an exciting new frontier of science and high capacitive coupling. Jay Sau (Harvard University) translational applications of analytical concepts from talked about topological quantum computation and systems biology to physiological or clinical data is the search for non-abelian majorana modes in solid- rewarding. state systems.
Session IV: Alison Pischedda (University of California- Session VI: Subha Majumdar (Tata Institute of Santa Barbara) delivered the introductory talk in the Fundamental Research) delivered the introductory session titled Battle of the sexes and spoke about talk in the session on Dark matter/dark energy. Sudhir interactions between males and females being Vempati (Institute Institute of Science) discussed fundamental to the evolution of sexual mating particle physics models of dark matter. Marcelle systems. Ryan Calsbeek (Dartmouth University) spoke Soares-Santos (Fermilab) presented an overview on
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dark energy and discussed prospects for shedding the consequences of these changes represents one light on this problem with current and upcoming of the most pressing problems faced by ecologists methods. today. Sabin T.P. (Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology) talked about high-resolution regional Session VII: Graphs are one of the most ubiquitous climate downscaling. Joshua Lawler (University of models of both natural and human-made structures. Washington) spoke about projected future changes Prahladh Harsha (Tata Institute of Fundamental in climate and how they will likely result in shifts in Research) delivered the introductory talk of the session flora and fauna to track suitable conditions. on Graphs, randomness and computation and surveyed the area of graph theory and its applications. Nikhil At the FOS, Bruce Alberts (Editor-in-Chief, Science Srivastava (Microsoft Research) spoke about a recent 2008-2013, US Science Envoy 2009-2011 and line of work with Batson, Speilman and Teng which President, US National Academy of Sciences 1992- showed that every graph can be approximated by 2005) delivered a talk on Science and the world’s future one which is very sparse. David Liben-Nowell (Carleton where he spoke about knowledge sharing and College) talked about some recent computational capacity building; and, connecting scientists to each research that studies information propagation other and to their local communities. through the digital traces of online activity. A unique dimension of the Indo-US FOS Symposium Session VIII: Mahesh Sankaran (Tata Institute of is the Frontiers of Science (FOS) Awards that have been Fundamental Research) delivered the introductory instituted by IUSSTF and was announced by Rajiv talk in the session on Ecological impacts of climate Sharma (Executive Director, IUSSTF). The award change. He spoke about how human activities are consists of USD 10,000 to be shared between the transforming our planet and its climate in partnering Indian and American awardees, spread unprecedented ways and the fact that understanding over a period of two years.
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STRATEGIC PROGRAMS Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC)
Contact Persons: Ariadne BenAissa Nishritha Bopana US Department of Energy, Washington, DC Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Recognizing the need to address climate change, JCERDC supports multi-institutional network ensure mutual energy security, and build a clean projects using a public-private partnership model of energy economy that drives investment, job creation, funding. The JCERDC is funded by the Indian Ministry and economic growth; Prime Minister Manmohan of Science and Technology and the US Department Singh and President Barack Obama launched the of Energy. The program is being administered in US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) India by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum under the US-India Memorandum of Understanding (IUSSTF). On the basis of a rigorous binational to enhance cooperation on Energy Security, Energy review and evaluation process, three consortia were Efficiency, Clean Energy and Climate Change. This selected for award. The awards were announced as MoU was signed on November 24, 2009 during Prime a press-release by the Press Information Bureau on Minister Singh’s visit to the United States. As a priority 16th April 2012. initiative under the PACE umbrella, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Government of India signed A brief summary on the first-year progress of an agreement to establish the Joint Clean Energy the projects awarded in the space of Solar Research and Development Center (JCERDC) on Energy, Building Energy Efficiency and Second- November 4, 2010 during President Obama’s head of Generation Biofuels is as follows: state visit to India. The JCERDC is designed to promote clean energy innovation by teams of scientists and Solar Energy engineers from India and the United States. The Solar Energy Research Institute for India and The overall aim of the JCERDC is to facilitate joint the United States (SERIIUS) is co-led by the Indian research and development on clean energy to Institute of Science (IISc)-Bangalore and the National improve energy access and promote low-carbon Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and includes growth. To achieve this objective, the Indo-US the following partners:
Collaborating Institutions, India Collaborating Institutions, USA Lead Institution: Indian Institute of Science, Lead Institution: National Renewable Energy Bangalore Laboratory Other Academic Partners: Other Academic Partners: 1. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 2. Indian Association for the Cultivation of 2. Arizona State University Science, Kolkata 3. Carnegie Mellon University 3. ARCI, Hyderabad 4. Colorado School of Mines 4. Solar Energy Center, Gurgaon 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 5. Indian Institute of Technology, Madras 6. Purdue University 6. CSTEP, Bangalore 7. Stanford University 8. University of Central Florida 9. University of South Florida 10. Washington University
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Collaborating Institutions, India Collaborating Institutions, USA Other Industry Partners: Other Industry Partners: 1. Thermax Ltd 1. RAND Corporation 2. Clique Developments Ltd 2. Corning Incorporated 3. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. 3. General Electric Company 4. Moser Baer India Ltd 4. MEMC Corporation 5. TurboTech Precision Engineering Ltd 5. Solarmer Energy Inc. 6. Wipro Ltd 6. Cookson Electronics
The JCERDC grant was awarded to SERIIUS on 22 • SERIIUS Web Gateway (www.SERIIUS.org) is November 2012. The Total JCERDC Grant-in-aid for in initial full operation, providing information Indian component or the SERIIUS project (over 5 about the Consortium to the public, establishing years) is Rs. 50,07,52,800/- with a first year release of a special and secure “Consortium Collaboration Rs. 1505.722 Lakhs. Tool” for sharing research information among SERIIUS partners, and social media links (Facebook SERIIUS carries out fundamental and applied and Twitter). research, analysis and assessment, outreach, and • SERIIUS research dissemination begins with six workforce development through specific bi-national journal publications and several conference projects in three Research Thrusts - Sustainable presentations. Photovoltaics (PV), Multiscale Concentrated Solar • To provide better focus on research progress, Power (CSP), and Solar Energy Integration (SEI). The SERIIUS has implemented a procedure for vision is to ready these solar electricity technologies research “Highlights”, which reports these toward the long-term success of India’s Jawaharlal accomplishments succinctly on a single-page Nehru National Solar Energy Mission and the US PowerPoint format that will also be posted on Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative. the first page of the Web Gateway. Consortium communications advance with teleconference The highlights of the first year include the following: and videoconference schedules established for Leadership, Research Thrusts, and Research • SERIIUS was officially launched with a special event Projects. in Washington, DC, hosted by the US Secretary of • Inter-SERIIUS-partner organization visits have Energy and the Government of India at the US- blossomed, and are key to ensuring research India Clean Energy Dialogue (September 28, 2012) interactions, sharing of results, fostering and at a kickoff with the Government of India in relationships, and maintaining the enthusiasm Mumbai (December 8, 2012). for SERIIUS among members. • Consortium research projects were initiated (starting January 2013), following the SERIIUS Building Energy Efficiency 10-Point Work Plan, developed through an all- SERIIUS consensus process for the Sustainable The US-India Joint Centre for Building Energy PV, Multiscale CSP, and SEI Research Thrusts. Research and Development (CBERD) will conduct Administratively, the funding is now with the collaborative research and promote clean energy partner organizations, and there is an agreement innovation in the area of energy efficiency in building on Intellectual Property with measurable results and significant reduction • Management Plan (IPMP) and Intra-Consortium in energy use in both nations. CBERD is co-led by Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) finalized. the CEPT University-Ahmedabad and the Lawrence • SERIIUS Fellowship and Scholar Program were Berkeley National Laboratory and includes the inaugurated (February 2013). following partners:
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Collaborating Institutions, India Collaborating Institutions, USA Lead Institution: Center for Environmental Lead Institution: Lawrence Berkeley National Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Laboratory Ahmedabad Other Academic Partners: Other Academic Partners: 1. International Institute of Information 1. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Technology, Hyderabad 2. Arizona State University 2. Malaviya National Institute of Technology, 3. Carnegie Mellon University Jaipur 4. Colorado School of Mines 3. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 4. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad 6. Purdue University 5. Auroville Center for Scientific Research 7. Stanford University 6. Indian Green Building Center, CII 8. University of Central Florida 7. Indian Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air 9. University of South Florida Conditioning Engineers 10. Washington University 8. Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited 9. Indian Society of Lighting Engineers Other Industry Partners: Other Industry Partners: 1. Asahi India Glass 1. Autodesk, Inc. 2. Biodiversity Conservation India 2. California Energy Commission 3. Infosys Technologies. 3. Delphi 4. Neosilica Technologies 4. enLighted Inc. 5. Oorja Energy Engineering Services 5. Honeywell 6. Paharpur Business Centre/Green Spaces 6. Infosys Public Services 7. PLUSS Polymers 7. Ingersoll-Rand/Trane 8. Philips Electronics India 8. Lighting Science Group Corp 9. Saint Gobain Corp 9. Nexant 10. Schneider Electric India 10. Saint Gobain Corp 11. Sintex Industries Limited 11. SAGE Electrochromics 12. Skyshade Daylights 12. SynapSense 13. Wipro EcoEnergy 13. The Weidt Group 14. Glazing Society of India 14. Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium 15. City of San Jose 16. HOK Architects 17. Natural Resources Defense Council
The JCERDC Indian grant was awarded to CBERD on as well as industry. For effective research 29 November 2012. The Total JCERDC Grant-in-aid operations, a detailed milestone and deliverable for the project (over 5 years) is Rs. 22,52,69,000/- document was prepared jointly by researchers. with a first year release of Rs. 550.912 Lakhs. CBERD Under this task IP framework document was focuses on the integration of information technology prepared covering IP management plan. with building controls and physical systems for • Simulation and Modeling: A detailed design commercial/high-rise residential units. specification for the natural ventilation system interface has been developed. To develop The highlights of the first year include the following: materials and construction database for energy simulation, the CBERD team has identified • Consortia management office (CMO) facilitated selection criteria to shortlist materials from a wide interactions between India and US R&D partners range of construction materials available in India.
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The CBERD team also has prepared set of rules for identify various issues that need to be addressed. Energy Conservation Building Code of India. • Comfort Studies: Research methods for Online • Monitoring and Benchmarking: This study Survey finalized. Thermal Comfort Chamber focused on historical summary, anecdotal construction initiated with identification evidence, markets covered, and methodology specifications and standard procedure to analysis of the two major benchmarking programs operate. in India - the BEE Building Star Rating program • Grid Responsive Buildings: The team has and the ECO-III benchmarking program. Further, conducted extensive literature review. This is analysis was also conducted of the achievements relative to year 1 and 2 deliverable to conduct and limitations of both the programs. a scoping study to link building technologies • Controls and Communication Integration: to Smart Grid needs and integration of building Various luminaire products available in India have control systems to supply-side. been identified for effective control mechanism. • Renewable Integration: The study of literature, A concept for Smart Luminaire Controller (SLC) range of RE products for building integration which integrates occupancy status, lux level, has been done. Discussions were held with the temperature and input current to the luminaire US – R&D institutional partner LBNL. The CBERD has been developed. team has identified the following technologies for • Envelop / Passive Design: Development of primary considerations in building integration: (1) material characterization database has been Solar Air Conditioning (2) Enhanced use of solar initiated with approximately 100+ material energy in buildings: Embedded PV in windows, tested. Specification for Guarded Hot Box and overhangs, dynamic façade, and optimization of Hygrothermal test facilities was developed. roof top BIPV to be mainly considered. Cool roof calculator has been enhanced and • Scientific Collaboration: CEPT, MNIT and the backend is being updated to include IIIT from India interacted with UCB and RPI to radiant barrier systems and to run a parametric establish student exchange program and expert simulation to optimize insulation thickness for exchange program. RPI would host a training a given roof albedo and radiant barrier system. program in India in the third quarter of 2013. Characterization of glass products was done. UCB has given a scholarship to a post graduate This data will be available in International student to carry out research under the CBERD Glass Database maintained by LBNL. CBERD project. team has included 65 weather files for Indian locations in the COMFEN database for the Second Generation Biofuels Indian version. This along with India version of COMFEN has been initiated. Criteria of The US-India Consortium for development of selection for naturally ventilated buildings to Sustainable Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuel be monitored were defined and a matrix was Systems emphasizes on sustainable feedstock prepared listing all possible candidates for the cultivation and supply, biochemical conversion study. technologies for production of second generation • Advanced Technologies: Literature review biofuels with minimal environmental impact, and and market research on non-compressor based analysis of overall sustainability and supply chain DOAS systems was undertaken to identify various of feedstock. The consortium is co-led by the Indian options available in the market, their features, Institute of Chemical Technology-Hyderabad and advantages and limitations. Literature review and the University of Florida-Gainesville and includes market research on MCHXs was undertaken to the following partners:
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Collaborating Institutions, India Collaborating Institutions, USA Lead Institution: Indian Institute of Chemical Lead Institution: University of Florida Technology, Hyderabad Other R &D Institutions and Academia Partners: Other R & D Institutions and Academia 1. International Crops Research Institute for the Partners: Semi-Arid Tropics- Hyderabad 1. University of Missouri 2. Directorate of Sorghum Research-Hyderabad 2. Virginia Tech 3. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University- 3. Montclair State University Hyderabad 4. Texas A&M University 4. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University 5. Rajamatha Vijayaraje Sindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalay, Gwalior 6. Centre for Economic and Social Studies 7. Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi 8. Indian Institute of Technology-Chennai Industry Partners: Other Industry Partners: 1. Abellon Clean Energy 1. Show Me Energy 2. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited 2. Green Technologies
The Indian JCERDC grant was awarded on 22 well as sorghum was conducted in various areas November 2012. The Total JCERDC Grant-in-aid for of Madhya Pradesh involving ICRISAT, DSR and the project (over 5 years) is Rs. 12,88,86,000/- with RVSKVV scientists. Sites for conducting MLT’s for a first year release of Rs. 555.14 Lakhs. The project sorghum and pearl millet were identified as well. comprises of three work packages – WP-1 involves Preliminary interactive survey with local farmers the feedstock development and supply, WP-2 focuses with regards to cultivation of sorghum and pearl on the conversion technologies, and WP-3 addresses millet for biomass production was conducted by sustainability, marketing and policy. CESS group. • Abellon has collected 20 different bamboo The highlights of first year are as follows: germplasm from various parts of India after consulting with National Bamboo Mission • High biomass sorghum genotypes were (NBM). Six out of 20 germplasm lines have been screened for various agronomic traits (plant established at Modasa for further studies, while height, fresh yield, stover yield, etc.) during the others are in the process of being established. post-rainy season for potential high biomass • A stress tolerance study of existing Bamboo producing lines. Thirty-six HBM genotypes balcooa under in-vitro and in-vivo conditions is were identified, out of which 10 showed superior ongoing. Genetic variation studies conducted stalk yields. on 6 varieties of Bamboo using molecular • Similarly, 10 high biomass producing sorghum approaches showed Bambusabalcooa to be lines tolerant to drought stress were identified the most diverse variety. Pre-processing and on the basis of screening done under glass house commutation of 5 lignocellulosic biomass conditions. Seed multiplication of the potential samples of sorghum and pearl millet was sorghum lines was performed during the post- optimized at HPCL and the commuted biomass rainy (rabi) season for conducting multilocation was dispatched to the WP-2 partners involved in trials (MLT’s) in the partner organizations for the conversion technology. rainy (kharif) season. • Cellulolytic fungi from various biosphere • Land survey for the cultivation of coarse cereals as zones were isolated and 21 fungal cultures
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were identified at TNAU. Standardization of They have consulted three independent alcohol fermentation to establish base levels on experts working in the fields of social/woman glucose substrate using in-house Saccharomyces development, extension education, CESS, and cerevisiae has been initiated at IIT-D. Similarly, an NGO group for their inputs on the design of standardization of pre-treatment variables of the the baseline survey forms. biomass samples, isolation of microbial strains • Similarly, primary and secondary data with from various biosphere zones, and screening respect to non-food based biofuels has been of biomass degrading-enzymes (xylanase and reviewed and compiled. CESS has independently cellulase) have been initiated at IICT. compiled a questionnaire for the baseline survey • Abellon has reviewed and compiled globally after a preliminary visit to the field sites of Indore available documents on certification systems. and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
India-US Energy Dialogue 2012 Shri B. K. Chaturvedi, Member, Planning Commission of India and Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary, US Department of Energy (DoE), co-chaired the India-US Energy Dialogue on September 28, 2012, in Washington DC. The US-India Energy Dialogue was launched on May 31, 2005 to promote increased trade and investment in the energy sector, through identification of further areas of co-operation and collaboration, while actively working with both the public and private sectors. Five working groups have been set up under the initiative in areas, e.g., oil & gas, coal, power and energy efficiency, new technologies & renewable energy and civil nuclear co-operation. The two sides lauded the successful implementation of the decision by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and President Obama in November 2010 in Delhi to establish a “virtual” Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC), which is the first bilateral initiative designed specifically to promote clean energy initiative by team of scientists from India and the United States, with a total joint committed funding from both Governments of US $ 50 million. The Center has funded three research projects, in the areas of solar energy, second generation bio-fuels and energy efficiency of buildings. The research consortia, which represent reputed science and technology institutions of both countries, made detailed presentations on their plans of action and research outcomes.
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United States - India Science and Technology Endowment Fund
Contact Persons: Smriti Trikha Indo-US S&T Forum New Delhi E-mail: [email protected]
The United States–India Science & Technology the digital/technology divide including others, Endowment Fund (USISTEF) was established in information and communication technologies with 2009 by the Governments of the United States societal impact in areas such as water, agriculture, of America (through the Department of State) financial inclusion, and education. and India (through the Department of Science & Technology). The fund envisages to support and An Indo-US Innovation Partnerships Event foster joint applied R&D to generate public good supported by the Department of Science and through commercialization of technology achieved Technology (DST), Govt. of India and the US Embassy through sustained partnerships between US and was held at New Delhi on May 8, 2012. The then Indian researchers and entrepreneurial initiatives. Indian Minister of Science and Technology (Late) These initiatives can originate from government, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh and Secretary of State academic, non-governmental or commercial entities, Hillary Rodham Clinton graced the event with their and any combination thereof provided they focus presence. The two leaders applauded the first award on applied R&D, incorporate a business plan and of grants by the US-India Science and Technology proof of commercial concept, and have significant Endowment Board. sustainable commercial potential. The program is coordinated and administered through the bi- The Second Call for Executive Summaries was national Indo-US Science and Technology Forum announced in February 2012 and over 199 executive (IUSSTF). summaries (94 in Empowering Citizens and 105 Healthy Individual categories) were received in The areas covered under the program are (1) Healthy response. After a multi-phase review process, Individual with a focus on affordable biomedical top applicants were invited to make an in-person devices, diagnostic/ preventive/ curative measures, presentation to the US-India Endowment Board. At or food and nutrition products to improve health, and the end, the following three exciting business plans (2) Empowering Citizens with a focus on reducing were selected for Endowment funding:
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A novel way to manage fecal incontinence in non-ambulatory patients
Nishith Chasmawala, Matt Durack, Lunar Consure Medical Pvt. Ltd., Design, San Francisco Surat
The Problem: Fecal incontinence - the inability to control the release of stool, is a ubiquitous clinical problem that affects more than 50 million patients globally. The absence of an adequate management solution for fecal incontinence leads to increased utilization of hospital resources and adversely impacts the mortality by 7%.
The Solution: The team has developed a self- expanding device to manage fecal incontinence in non-ambulatory patients with a unique placement, deployment and withdrawal mechanism. The device requires minimal training and can be administered without the need for imaging and works on all patients, irrespective of their stool type or sphincter tone. The product offers a hygienic insertion mechanism and is overall very sanitary and patient friendly.
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Mobile Phone based HbA1c Analyzer The Problem: There is an acute need for a low-cost and portable Hb1Ac monitor top screen and manage diabetes in the developing world. However, most standardized HbA1c monitors and expensive, bulky and assay based systems and thus not suited for mass adoption.
The Solution: The team proposes to co-develop a low-cost mobile phone platform to measure HbA1c. Their novel platform comprises of two components- Sidhant Jena, Janacare Stephen Chen, Teco a colorimetric test strip for HbA1c and a software Solutions Private Limited, Diagnostics, Anaheim application that uses the phone’s camera to analyze New Delhi the test strip. Additionally, the software application can provide automated decision support and transmit data to remote specialists, thus enabling millions of field health workers to screen and manage diabetes in even the most remote communities.
Branchless Banking and Financial services for the Unbanked and Under-banked
The Problem: A large section of the Indian population (~500 million) still remains without access to banking services. Traditional financial service delivery models have failed to serve low income populations.
The Solution: Building a low-cost payment infrastructure for instant small value financial transactions by leveraging existing retail shops, Abhipriya Gupta, Angela Schmuck, tele-connectivity and banking infrastructure to Eko India Financial IDmission LLC, extend branchless banking services to the common Services Private Limited, Mesa AZ man. The project aims to deliver financial services New Delhi efficiently and at scale through smart phone based application mechanism integrating with the Unique Identity UID).
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In December 2012, IUSSTF announced the third call 19 proposals (9 in Empowering Citizens and 10 in for the USISTEF program and over 202 Executive Healthy Individual categories) were shortlisted for Summaries (74 in Empowering Citizens and 128 business plans submission. The shortlisted teams in Healthy Individual categories) were received in will present their detailed business plans before the response. On the basis of a Joint Expert Panels review, Joint Indo-US Expert Panel in April 2013.
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PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program
Contact Persons: Sid Burback Nirankar Saxena IC2 Institute, University of Texas, Austin Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce E-mail: [email protected] and Industries, New Delhi E-mail: [email protected]
The DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Indian technologies into new markets in India, Growth Program (IIGP) was launched in 2008 United States and around the world. The unique to enhance the growth and development of feature of the IIGP is its focus on mentoring through entrepreneurial economy in India by adopting the professional business development engagement prevalent best practices both in US and India. IIGP is and applying world-class commercialization designed as an accelerated technology assessment strategies to bright ideas that have potential towards and commercialization initiative through a business market realization by a quick look commercialization plan competition involving commercial assessment analysis at IC2 Institute and FICCI. of technology; business development; and finally technology commercialization through structured The Program is open to technologies in areas such as mentoring. The Program is jointly funded by the aeronautics, agriculture, biotechnology, chemistry, Department of Science and Technology, Government communications, computing, defence, electronics, of India and the Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA, environment, IT, manufacturing, marine, materials, a premier systems integrator and global security medical/life sciences, nanotechnology, etc. enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration The following technologies were announced as the and sustainability of advanced technology systems, winners of the 2012 competition: products and services. The IIGP is implemented by IC2 Institute, University of Texas - Austin, the Federation Technology: A man portable unmanned ground of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries vehicle robot for defense surveillance / (FICCI) and IUSSTF. reconnaissance and bomb disposal Innovator: Aakash Sinha The aim of this public-private initiative is to identify, Company/Institution: Omnipresent Robot award, mentor and hence accelerate innovative Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
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Technology: From waste to wealth through Technology: A novel strategy of botanical recycled tungsten carbide alloy powders and biocides to control eriophyid mite in coconuts products to improve productivity Innovator: A. Jayakannan Innovator: P.S. Mukherjee Company/Institution: Aeyyes Tungsten Company/Institution: IMMT
Technology: HyCator cavitation reactors Technology: User-wearable portable Innovator: Anjan Mukherjee communication device Company/Institution: HyCa Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Innovator: Rajendra P. Sadhu Company/Institution: Vyzin Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Technology: Plastic biochip-based disposable electrochemical immune-sensor Technology: Safety medical device Innovator: Priyanka Sharma Innovator: Manoj Kumar Company/Institution: Institute of Microbial Company/Institution: Maan Mecmaan Technology Technology: A process of making lifestyle Technology: Solar photo voltaic water pumping wellness garments using extended MPPT with purification Innovator: Rajiv Rai Sachdev Innovator: Praveen Jambholkar Company/Institution: Advantage Organic Naturals Company/Institution: Cybermotion Technologies Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in collaboration with IIT Delhi Pvt. Ltd. Technology: Efficient high throughput human Technology: Drug discovery/drug-target cell-based screen for detection of DNA identification technology damaging agents Innovator: Chaitanya Saxena Innovator: Sunil Kumar Company/Institution: Shantani Proteome Analytics Company/Institution: Anthem Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. Pvt. Ltd. Technology: First ever file format for security Technology: ViTranSP (virtual transaction service Innovator: Prakash Baskaran provider) Company/Institution: Pawaa Software Innovator: Ramesh Baswa Company/Institution: BASIX Sub-K iTransactions Ltd.
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Technology: PC Plug-In 12 Lead ECG Technology: Low-cost photo bioreactor system Innovator: Ravi Mehrotra for cultivation of micro algae Company/Institution: National Physical Laboratory, Innovator: Srinivas Gogineni CSIR Company/Institution: Green Cell biotech Pvt. Ltd.
Technology: Remote controlled system for power Technology: Eco Pots tiller : Vijayan Innovator: Prajwal V. Kumar Company/Institution: Neuecotechs Company/Institution: Mangalore Robautonics Pvt. Ltd. Technology: Fast and accurate method for solidification simulation of metal casting Technology: Rainrunner Innovator: B. Ravi Innovator: Karan Randhawa : Indian Institute of Company/Institution: Roof For Two Technology Bombay
Technology: Branchless banking technology Technology: Ear, nose and throat multiscope and solution combined with extensive recorder distribution channel Innovator: Sapna Behar Innovator: Sameer Prem Company/Institution: Icarus Design Pvt. Ltd. Company/Institution: Mint-Today Technology: Additive manufacturing Technology: Development of bioplastics from machine/3D part printer agricultural waste Innovator: Jeldi Bala Anand Innovator: M.S. Shankara Prasad Company/Institution: JB Design Technologies Company/Institution: SPC Biotech Pvt. Ltd. Technology: Hydrogen-fuelled engine Technology: Energy-efficient compressor Innovator: Lalit Mohan Das Innovator: Vijay Jain Company/Institution: Indian Institute of Technology, Company/Institution: Partnership Concern Delhi
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A Technology Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Workshop was organized from March 12-16, 2012, at Goa to provide training to the innovators and to also prepare them to participate in an Innovator’s Competition. The top 50 selected innovators were given advanced training in technology commercialization strategies, venture formation, venture finance, technology marketing, competitive technology strategies and presentation skills by experienced faculty members from the University of Texas at Austin. Also, each of the 50 Technology: A system and method for price selected innovators was provided with an in-depth forecasting market analysis report on their technology viz. the Innovator: V.S.K. Murthy Balijepalli Quicklook report technologies prepared by subject Company/Institution: Indian Institute of Technology matter experts. Bombay An Innovators’ Competition was organized during Technology: Zed sun-zyme foliar spray March 26-29, 2012, at the Federation House, Innovator: Chandrasekhar Hariharan New Delhi followed by an Awards Ceremony on Company/Institution: Biodiversity Conservation March 29, 2012. The top 50 innovators presented India Pvt. Ltd. their innovations to a panel of technologists and commercialization experts from India and the Technology: Motorcycle-operated multipurpose United States. At the end of the competition, 30 farm implement best innovations were presented with a cash award Innovator: Mansukhbhai Jagani of Rs. one lakh. Further, the selected innovators are Company/Institution: National Innovation Foundation being provided business development support by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce Technology: Milking machine and Industry and the IC2 Institute at the University Innovator: Raghav Gowda of Texas at Austin. Company/Institution: National Innovation Foundation Two Technology Expositions (Hyderabad Technology Technology: Defluoridation of water and removal Expo, 26 September 2012 and Chandigarh of arsenic from groundwater Technology Expo, 19 December 2012) were Innovator: Pawan Labhasetwar and Subhash organized under the DST-Lockheed Martin India Andey Innovation Growth Program in 2012-13 to showcase Company/Institution: National Environment the commercialization deals signed by the Indian Engineering Research Institute innovators with leading industry partners.
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VISITATION PROGRAMS Indo-US Research Fellowships
Contact Person: Smriti Trikha Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi E-mail: [email protected]
In an effort to augment scientific excellence in Science and Engineering Research Council emerging areas of science and technology, IUSSTF (SERC) of the Department of Science and announced the fifth batch of Indo-US Research Technology (DST), Government of India. The Fellowships awarded to 28 outstanding young fellowship will allow the awardees to spend researchers from India below the age of 40, to carry out research in frontier areas of science and technology at a leading institution in the United States. This fellowship is aimed to introduce Indian scientists and engineers from leading academic institutions and laboratories, in the early stages of their careers, to research opportunities in the US thereby helping to forge long-term collaborative relationships and linkages between the scientific communities of the two nations.
This prestigious fellowship scheme was formally launched in August 2007 by T. Ramasami, Secretary-DST and Co-Chair, IUSSTF, and is implemented with funding support from the
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between 3 to 12 months in any premier host journals, most of the IUSSTF Research Fellows institution in USA and will cover monthly have received project funding from National stipend, return air-fare, preparatory allowances, Funding agencies and have been the proud conference allowances, etc. recipient of several prestigious awards. The two-day event highlighted the research work The areas covered under the fellowship include carried out by the IUSSTF Research Fellows in atmospheric and earth sciences; chemical sciences; the United States during their fellowship. The engineering sciences; life sciences; medical keynote speaker, Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, National sciences; mathematical and computational Research Professor & President, Global Research sciences; and, physical sciences. Alliance, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, motivated the audience with his talk on “Science The Department of Science and Technology (DST) led Innovation”. He spoke on the importance Government of India and Indo-US Science and of bridging the gap between knowledge and Technology Forum, New Delhi (IUSSTF) organized its practical application. The Conclave was an the First Indo-US Research Fellows Conclave opportunity for the IUSSTF Research Fellows at Pune, India from 15-17 March 2013. Since to share their thoughts and experiences not 2007, 119 fellowships have been awarded to just with the funding agencies, program young and bright Indian researchers. In addition administrators, and policy makers, but also with to several joint publications in peer reviewed fellow researchers.
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Indo-US Research Fellows 2013 are:
A. Vanniarajan, Aravind Medical B. Parameswari, Sugarcane Research Foundation, Chennai Breeding Institute, Coimbatore US Host: Arupa Ganguly, US Host: S.P. Dinesh Kumar, University of Pennsylvenia, University of California, Davis Philadelphia Subject area: Virus induced gene Subject area: Retinoblastoma silencing genetics Bapurao B. Shingate, Amit Sethi, Indian Institute of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technology, Guwahati Marathwada University, US Host: Peter Gann, University of Aurangabad Illinois at Chicago US Host: Larry E. Overman, Subject area: Application of University of California, Irvine machine learning and image Subject area: Organic synthesis processing to the study of prostate cancer risk assessment Bilal Ahmad Bhat, CSIR-Indian and treatment response using Institute of Integrative Medicine, morphometry of histological Srinagar images US Host: Salvatore D. Lepore, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Ankhi Roy, Indian Institute of Raton Technology, Indore Subject area: Total synthesis of US Host: Moskov Amaryan, Old natural products Dominion University, Norfolk Subject area: Experimental Bireswar Das, Indian Institute of hadron physics Technology, Gandhinagar US Host: Eric Allender, Rutgers Arup Kumar Nandi, CSIR- University, New Jersey Central Mechanical Engineering Subject area: Computational Research Institute, Durgapur complexity theory US Host: Robert G. Landers, Missouri University of Science Bittagopal Mondal, CSIR- and Technology, Rolla Central Mechanical Engineering Subject area: Manufacturing Research Institute, Durgapur US Host: Partha P. Mukherjee, Ashutosh Tiwari, Translational Texas A&M University, College Health Science & Technology Station Institute, Gurgaon Subject area: Water management US Host: Anindya Bagchi, Masonic in PEM fuel cell Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Subject area: Molecular biology
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Debarati Paul, Amity Institute of Himadri Sekhar Das, Assam Biotechnology, Noida University, Silchar US Host: Andy Ogram, University US Host: Ludmilla Kolokolova, of Florida, Gainesville University of Maryland Subject area: Molecular microbial Subject area: Astrophysics ecology with respect to bioremediation of contaminated K. Tirumalesh, Bhabha Atomic environment Research Centre, Mumbai US Host: Carol Kendall and Megan Dhanjit Kumar Das, National Young, Isotope Tracers Project, US Institute for Research in Geological Survey Reproductive Health, Mumbai Subject area: Contaminant US Host: Vishwajit L. Nimgaonkar, hydrology and biogeochemistry University of Pittsburgh, in surface and groundwater Pittsburgh systems Subject area: Molecular genetics Konjengbam Darunkumar Dibyendu Chakravarty, The Singh, Indian Institute of International Advanced Research Technology, Guwahati Centre for Powder Metallurgy and US Host: Zdenek P. Bazant, New Materials, Hyderabad Northwestern University, US Host: P M Ajayan, Rice Evanston University, Houston Subject area: Tubular structures Subject area: Synthesis of nanopowders using Induction Madhurima Jana, National plasma technique, spark plasma Institute of Technology, Rourkela sintering of nanocomposites for US Host: Alexander D. MacKerell structural applications Jr., University of Maryland Subject area: Computer simulation Erathimmanna Bhoje Gowd, of biomolecules CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Madhusudan Reddy Nandineni, Technology Centre for DNA Fingerprinting US Host: Tadanori Koga, Stony and Diagnostics, Hyderabad Brook University, Stony Brook US Host: Arthur Eisenberg, Subject area: Polymer science and University of North Texas Health technology Science Center, Fort Worth Subject area: Human forensic DNA profiling
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Manas Kumar Dalai, CSIR- Parimal Acharjee, National National Physical Laboratory, New Institute of Technology, Durgapur Delhi US Host: Sukumar Brahma and US Host: T. C. Chiang, University of Wenxin Liu, New Mexico State Illinois at Urbana- Champaign University, Las Cruces Subject area: Experimental Subject area: Intelligent control condensed matter physics and protection of smart grid
Mani Bhushan, Indian Institute Patri Venkata Srilakshmi, of Technology, Mumbai National Institute of Technology, US Host: Lorenz T. Biegler, Warangal Carnegie Mellon University, US Host: Kaushal Rege, Arizona Pittsburgh State University, Tempe Subject area: Efficient Subject area: Bio-organic decentralized constrained state Chemistry (Non-viral gene estimation delivery)
Manjusha V. Shelke, CSIR- Priyanka Ghosh, Indian Institute National Chemical Laboratory, of Technology, Kanpur Pune US Host: Ronald Y.S. Park, US Host: P. M. Ajayan, Rice University of Colorado, Boulder University, Houston Subject area: Soil dynamics Subject area: Synthesis of and earthquake geotechnical functional nanomaterials engineering and hybrid devices for electrochemical charge storage Rajarshi Pal, Manipal University, Manipal Nripen Chanda, CSIR-Central US Host: Kapil Bharti, National Eye Mechanical Engineering Research Institute, Bethesda Institute, Durgapur Subject area: Stem cell biology US Host: Michael J and Sharon R. Bukstein, University of Missouri- Columbia Rakesh Kumar Singh, Banaras Subject area: Fabrication of Hindu University, Varanasi micro/nano devices (e.g. sensors, US Host: H L. Nakhasi, Centre actuators, drug delivery systems) for Biologics Evaluation and for biomedical application Research, Bethesda Subject area: Infectious tropical diseases
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Ramakrishnan Ganeshan, Birla Sandeep Kumar Sharma, Institute of Technology & Science- Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Pilani, Hyderabad Campus Mumbai US Host: Ganpati Ramanath, US Host: Allen Paine Mills Jr., Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of California Riverside Troy, New York Subject area: Fabrication and Subject area: Mesostructured testing of micro cavities for nanothermoelectric materials for Bose-Einstein condensation of heat management and energy positronium and annihilation harvesting gamma ray laser research
Ram Rup Sarkar, CSIR-National Sanjay Yadav, CSIR-Indian Chemical Laboratory, Pune Institute of Toxicology Research, US Host: Ilya Shmulevich, Institute Lucknow for Systems Biology, Seattle US Host: Levi J. Beverly, James Subject area: Theoretical studies Graham Brown Cancer Center, of biological systems at different Louisville levels and scales Subject area: Lung cancer and post-transcriptional regulation of Ranjan Kumar Jana, S.V National ubiquitin Institute of Technology, Surat US Host: Bruce C. Berndt, Sanjib Kumar Panda, Assam University of Illinois at Urbana- University, Silchar Champaign US Host: Leslie M.Hicks, Donald Subject area: Bessel function Danforth Plant Science Center, St series Louis Subject area: Plant proteomics Ranjan Tamuli, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Sarika, CSIR-Central Drug US Host: Katherine A. Borkovich, Research Institute, Lucknow University of California Riverside US Host: Dwight German, Subject area: Cell signaling in University of Texas, Dallas Neurospora crassa Subject area: Central Nervous System diseases
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Seraj Ahmad Ansari, Bhabha Sudheesh Kumar Kattumannil, Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata US Host: Linfeng Rao, Lawrence US Host: Hira L Koul, Michigan Berkeley National Laboratory, State University, East Lansing Berkeley Subject area: Time series analysis Subject area: Nuclear waste remediation Suresh Kumar, University of Delhi, New Delhi Shivakumar Angadi, CSIR- US Host: Filip G. Kondev, Argonne Institute of Minerals and Materials National Laboratory, Lemont Technology, Bhubaneswar Subject area: Experimental US Host: J. D. Miller, The University nuclear physics and nuclear data of Utah, Salt Lake City evaluation Subject area: Processing of rare earth minerals Uma Shankar, CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Suboj Babykutty, Mar Ivanios Hyderabad College, Trivandrum US Host: Anne Martin Trehu, US Host: Rakesh K. Jain, Harvard Oregon State University, Corvallis Medical School Boston Subject area: Gas hydrates (marine Subject area: Role of nitric oxide in seismic) tumor metastasis
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Stanford India Biodesign Fellowships
Contact Persons: Balram Bhargava Paul Gordon Yock All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Stanford University Medical Center, New Delhi Stanford E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
The Stanford-India Biodesign (SIB) Fellowship is a Postgraduate Biomedical Technology Innovation leadership training program in biomedical technology Training Program: The First 12 Years of Stanford innovation initiated by the Indian Department of Biodesign which will appear in the Annals of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, and Stanford Biomedical Engineering. On November 7, 2012, a University in partnership with IUSSTF. The goal second license has been obtained for a device from of this program is to train the next generation of SIB. HLL of India has licensed the Limb Immobilization biomedical technology innovators in India through device invented in 2009 by Darshan Nayak, Pulin Raje, a fellowship to be held jointly at Stanford University, Rahul Ribeiro and Asokan Thondiyath. HLL Lifecare the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi, and, Limited is a Government of India enterprise under All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. In August Delhi. This program is directed to candidates with 2012, Consure Medical, the company founded by advanced degrees in engineering, medicine or Stanford India Biodesign alums Nishith Chasmawala business who could be potential innovators in early- and Amit Sharma, received investment from the stage development of new biomedical technologies Indian Innovation Fund, Indian Angel Network and for emerging healthcare needs. India Venture Partners. The company started out of the SIB fellowship. In June 2012, Manish Butte (low-cost Over the course of the one-year program, approximately infection detection device), Vineet Singal (Diabetes half of the Fellows’ time will be spent in India and the Compliance using SMS) and Swami Gnanashanmugam other half at Stanford University. The core objective (an implantable device for sustained Tuberculosis of the program is a multidisciplinary team-based therapy) won the Spring 2012 Global Exchange grants. fellowship where SIB fellows will work with other young innovators with a combination of engineering, Four outstanding individuals were selected for the medical and industry backgrounds. The team will 2013 SIB Fellowship: examine clinical needs within the Indian setting, identify opportunities for biomedical technology Anirudh Chaturvedi, with a background in Biomedical innovation with the goal to potentially invent, Engineering prototype, develop and patent one or more new technologies. Fellows will also be mentored by “real- Prashant Jha, a physician with a background in world” experts from the biomedical technology, legal Bioengineering and venture capital industries both in the United States and India. The program would also include exchange Abhinav Ramani, with a background in Mechanical of faculty between the academic institutions. Engineering
In February 2013, the Biodesign Faculty have Balaji Teegala, with a background in Engineering co-authored a paper entitled Outcomes from a Design
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American Society for Microbiology (ASM) - IUSSTF Microbiology Visiting Professorships
Contact Persons: Todd Peterson Smriti Trikha American Society for Microbiology Indo-US S&T Forum Washington DC New Delhi E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Under an arrangement between The following visitations were awarded in 2012-13: IUSSTF and American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the Indo- Asheesh Yadav from the Institute of Minerals US Professorship Awards in and Material Technology working on Biological Microbiology were instituted in Wastewater Treatment, Bhubaneswar India, 2003 with the aim to foster scientific implemented a research project titled Study on cooperation, education, training and interaction of iron and microbial communities capacity building at individual and for developing high performing bioremediation institutional levels through exchange technologies at Princeton University in Princeton, visitation. The ASM-IUSSTF Visiting NJ, USA. Professorships award is administered parallel with the ASM International Louise Temple, James Madison University, Professorship Program. Harrisonburg, VA, was awarded teaching Professorship to implement the short course on The program enables: Discovery and Genomic Analysis of Viruses from the Soil that Infect Non-pathogenic Mycobacterium • Microbiologists in India and the Bacteria: original science for university students and United States to visit institutions faculty, with Dr. Jogender Rana at the Deenbandhu in the two countries to teach Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology and interactive short course on a in Haryana, India. topic in any of the microbiological disciplines (Teaching Professor) Nisha Tak, from Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, was awarded the Professorship award • Microbiologists in India to to implement the research project, Use of Green participate in an interactive short fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled strains to determine course on a topic in any of the the nodule occupancy and symbiotic promiscuity microbiological disciplines, or of novel species of Rhizobium and Burkholderia conduct a research project in nodulating native legumes of Indian Thar Desert, partnership with colleague in a with Dr. Ann Hirsch at the University of California, research facility in the US (Research Los Angeles, USA. Professor) Wei- Mei Ching from the Naval Medical Research Open to ASM members and non- Center, Silver Spring, MD was awarded a teaching members alike, the program seeks Professorship to implement a short course on to broaden collaboration between Genomics and proteomics in diagnostic test design India and the US on issues of global for detection of zoonotic diseases: Utility of these concern. Up to eight professorships tools in evaluating assays using scrub at Christian are offered per program year. Medical College, Vellore, India.
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IUSSTF-American Physical Society (APS) Fellowships
Contact Persons: Amy K. Flatten Michele Irwin The American Physical Society The American Physical Society College Park, Maryland College Park, Maryland E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
IUSSTF and the American Physical Society (APS) have The recipients of the 2012 Indo-US Professorship partnered to support a bilateral exchange program Awards in Physics were: that includes the Indo-US Professorship Awards in Physics which will be awarded to faculties and Anirban Kundu, University of scientists from India and USA every year to teach Calcutta, Kolkata short courses or provide physics lecture series and, Host: Northern Illinois University the Indo-US Physics Student Visitation Program Subject area: Lectures on for student exchange every year. The program was “Theoretical aspects of particle launched in 2008. physics”
‘Professorships and Lectureships’ consist of 1-2 week Elias Towe, Carnegie Mellon courses or a lecture series delivered at an Indian or University, Pittsburgh US institution. Recipients are selected by a joint APS- Host: Indian Institute of IUSSTF review committee, with a call for proposals Technology, Indore twice each year. Awards are typically used for travel, Subject area: Lecture series on materials and expenses associated with course “Photonics based on solid state delivery. The objective of the Visiting Professorship materials” is to enable physicists to build strong collaborative linkages in physics education and research between Erica Carlson, Purdue University, the scientific communities of US and India. Indiana Host: Jawaharlal Nehru Center The Physics Student Visitation Program aims to for Advanced Scientific Research, mostly support graduate student travel to India Bangalore by US citizens, while still enabling some students Subject area: Short-course on of Indian citizenship to travel to the United States. “Complexity and non-equilibrium These studentship programs will help to build early phenomena in strongly correlated career relationship between the next generation of disordered systems” physicists from US and India. The students can apply for this visitation program to attend a short-course, Shashi Kanbur, SUNY Oswego, or summer training; to visit with a professor in his/ New York her field of study; to work temporarily in a lab; or for Host: University of Delhi, New Delhi any other opportunity that the student/professor Subject area: Two-week course on feels is worthy of support. “Stellar pulsation and its applications on stellar astrophysics with an emphasis on statistical methods”
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Stephen C. Rand, University of Parongama Sen, University of Michigan, Michigan Calcutta, Kolkata Host: Indian Institute of Host: Brandeis University Technology-Kharagpur Subject area: Lecture series on Subject area: Lecture Series on “Application of Statistical Physics “Nonlinear and quantum optics” in Interdisciplinary Topics”
Michael Weinert, University of V. Kumaran, Indian Institute of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Science, Bangalore Host: Jawaharlal Nehru Centre Host: University of Florida for Advanced Scientific Research, Subject area: Lecture series on Bangalore “Condensed Matter Sciences in Subject area: Lectures and hands- Physics and the PIRE center for on session on “Dirac materials— multiphase flows in Chemical graphene and topological Engineering” insulators—with an emphasis on first principles density-functional theory”
The recipients of the 2012 Indo-US Physics Students Visitation program are:
Ashoka Bali, Indian Institute of Arindam Das, University of Science, Bangalore Alabama, Tuscaloosa Host: Jeffrey Snyder, California Host: Partha Konar, Physical Institute of Technology Research Laboratory, Research area: Thermoelectric Ahmedabad materials and transition to Research area: Particle and devices for waste heat recovery collider phenomenology
Hui-Yiing Chang, Vanderbilt Haridas Pai, Argonne National University, Tennessee Laboratory Host: T. Padmanabhan, Inter Host: Variable Energy Cyclotron University Center for Astronomy Centre, Kolkata and Astrophysics, Pune Research area: Digital data Research area: ISW effect in both acquisition system for the the inflection point dark energy Gammasphere model and in the viscous dark fluid model
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Deepika Saini, Clemson K.K. Mashood, Tata Institute for University, South Carolina Fundamental Research, Mumbai Host: A.K. Raychaudhuri, S.N Bose Host: University of Washington National Centre for Basic Science, Research area: Prof. Paula Heron, Kolkata Physics Education Research Research area: Effects of topological defects and the presence of catalyst particle on the electrical response of carbon nanostructures to develop and understanding of the transport mechanisms in these structures.
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Research Internships in Science and Engineering
Contact Person: Smriti Trikha Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi E-mail: [email protected]
The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum The following 10 students interned in India under supported Research Internships in Science and the RISE Program in 2012-2013: Engineering (RISE) program provides unique opportunities for science, technology, engineering Abhishek Gupta, University of and medical students from the United States to Illinois, Urbana-Champaign undertake internships in national laboratories, Mentor: Vivek S. Borkar, Indian federal research centers, academic research Institute of Technology, Bombay institutes, and private R & D laboratories in India. Subject area: Aerospace Objectives of the internships are to provide Engineering, Applied students exposure to Indian S&T milieu, gain Mathematics practical skills and develop collaborative networks. Internships are envisaged as a source of mutual Anoushka Nadeem Syed, cultural and professional enrichment for both the University of Wisconsin – interns and their host institutions. The result will Madison be the development of joint efforts that builds Mentor: Pooja Murada & Lalit long-term collaboration and mutually beneficial Sharma, Institute of Rural professional relationships. Research and Development, Gurgaon Indian and American citizens currently enrolled Subject area: Water Sanitation at a recognized institution of higher education Systems pursuing Doctoral programs in science, engineering, technology and medical disciplines Athavi Jeevananthan, are eligible to apply for the internship. The University of Wisconsin – internships will provide for monthly stipend, Madison accommodation and airfare. The RISE program was Mentor: D. Balasubramanian, formally launched by IUSSTF in December 2008. L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad Subject area: Biochemistry
Gokul Pathikonda, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Mentor: Roddam Narasimha, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for, Bangalore Subject area: Aerospace Engineering (Fluid Dynamics)
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Hannah Grace Cherian, Kyle Christopher Kloepping, University of Michigan, Michigan University of Iowa Mentor: T.S. Sridhar, St. John’s Mentor: Baljinder Singh, Post Research Institute, Bangalore Graduate institute of Medical Subject area: Biomedical Education and Research, Engineering Chandigarh Subject area: Free Radical and Joshua B Sperling, University of Radiation Biology Colorado Mentor: Siddharth Agarwal, Sohan Sudhir Kale, University of Urban Health Resource Centre, Illinois, Urbana-Champaign New Delhi Mentor: K. Ramesh, Indian Subject area: Civil & Institute of Technology, Madras, Environmental Engineering Chennai Subject area: Mechanical Abhik Seal, Indiana University, Engineering Bloomington, Indiana Mentor: D. Sriram, BITS-Pilani, Pritish Jetley, University of Hyderabad campus Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Subject area: Chemical Mentor: Upinder S. Bhalla, Informatics National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore Subject area: Computational Science and Parallel Programming
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Khorana Program for Scholars
Contact Persons: Aseem Z. Ansari Nishritha Bopana Department of Biochemistry Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi University of Wisconsin-Madison E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
weeks. Out of a pool of more than 500 applicants each year, 12 students interned under the Khorana program in 2009 and 15 students were selected in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The Khorana Program is envisaged to:
• Provide encouragement to young scholars to undertake R&D The Khorana Program for Scholars is a • Enable students to carry out research at a premier tripartite arrangement between the Department University in the United States of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, the University • Transform research into societal benefits of Wisconsin-Madison [representing partner US • Build a seamless scientific community between Universities], and the Indo-US Science and Technology India and the United States Forum in order to nurture contacts between students in the field of biotechnology and biomedical sciences Keeping in mind the success of the program so far from India and the US. The program is named in honor and the large pool of quality applicants available, of Dr. Har Gobind Khorana who won the Nobel Prize we have expanded the Khorana Program to several for his work at the interface of chemistry and biology premier US Universities (University of Iowa, University in 1968 while a member of the UW faculty. of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Indiana The Khorana Program is a summer internship program University, Georgetown University, MIT and University for Indian students (currently enrolled in B.Tech., of Wisconsin-Madison) to enable a larger number M.Tech. and M.Sc. programs in Biotechnology and of students to gain a transformative international allied areas) to undertake a research internship at experience. In 2012, the following 30 students were UW and partner US Universities for a period of 10-12 selected under this program:
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Ahanjit Bhattacharya, Indian Atif Zafar Khan, Aligarh Muslim Institute of Technology-Kharagpur University Host University: University of Host University: University of Minnesota Wisconsin-Madison Advisor: Mark Distefano Advisor: James Thomson Subject area: Covalent Subject area: Develop a novel modification of Ciliary method to study the GFP Neurotrophic Factor for transcript expression in the therapeutic application in presence and absence of long neurodegenerative diseases lived genes in mouse and human embryonic stem cells Anahita Bharadwaj, SASTRA University, Thanjavur Chetan Srinath, Indian Institute Host University: Georgetown of Technology-Madras University Host University: Massachusetts Advisor: Makarand Paranjape Institute of Technology Subject area: Production of Advisor: Mandana Sassanfar nanofibers for various biomedical Subject area: Identification applications of enhancers of microRNA/ Argonaute-mediated Anirvan Komath Majumdar, translational repression Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Chinmay Jayesh Shukla, Indian Host University: University of Institute of Technology-Madras Illinois Urbana-Champaign Host University: University of Advisor: Elizabeth T. Hsiao- Wisconsin-Madison Wecksler Advisor: Aseem Ansari, Parmesh Subject area: PCB design of ankle Ramanathan and Jennifer Reed foot orthotics control circuitry Subject area: Modeling and regulating metabolic networks Aseem Shrivastava, IISER, using TALEs Bhopal Host University: Georgetown Deeksha Jain, Institute of University Chemical Technology, Mumbai Advisor: Paul Roepe Host University: University of Subject area: Elucidation of Minnesota specific amino acid residues Advisor: Ilja Siepmann in mutated CRT protein which Subject area: Effect of blending interacts with quinoline on solvent properties for solvent- antimalarial drugs based selective extraction of ethanol from fermentation broths
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Deepa Rajagopalan, SASTRA Ekta Khetan, Birla Institute of University, Thanjavur Technology and Science, Pilani Host University: University of Host University: University of Michigan Illinois Urbana-Champaign Advisor: Ruma Banarjee Advisor: Matt Wheeler Subject area: Interactions Subject area: Stem cell culture in between proteins involved in microfluidic devices vitamin B12 trafficking Faizan Uddin, Aligarh Muslim Devanshi Khare, Jawahar Lal University Nehru University, New Delhi Host University: Michigan State Host University: Indiana University University Advisor: Carl Bauer Advisor: Syed A. Hashsham Subject area: Interaction between Subject area: Onsite detection the photosensor protein Ppr of of Legionella through a LAMP Rhodospirillum centenum with based point-of-care device using CheW3a and CheW3b genes and most probable number method its role in encystment Jithesh Krishnan Ambujam, Divya Ganapathi Sankaran, Indian Institute of Technology- Anna University of Technology, Kharagpur Trichy Host University: University of Host University: Indiana University Wisconsin-Madison Advisor: James Glazier Advisor: Rasmus M Birn and Prof Subject area: Effects of arsenic Mary Elizabeth Meyerand exposure on Angiogenesis using Subject area: Analysis of Zebrafish intersegmental vessel developmental changes in task sprouting as a model based functional connectivity in adolescent brains using fMRI Diya Binoy Joseph, National Institute of Technology, Calicut Kriti Gupta, Indian Institute of Host University: University of Technology-Delhi Michigan Host University: Michigan State Advisor: Arul Chinnaiyan and University Chandan Kumar Advisor: Puliyur Mohankumar Subject area: Functional and Sheba Mohan Kumar characterization of ZNF700- Subject area: Prenatal MAST1 fusion protein programming of obesity
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Mahima Sharma, Dr. B.R. Rishi Dua, Indian Institute of Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Technology-Delhi Research, University of Delhi Host University: University of Host University: Michigan State Wisconsin-Madison University Advisor: Aseem Ansari Advisor: Puliyur Mohankumar Subject area: Developing tools and Sheba Mohan Kumar for automating data analysis and Subject area: Role of brain data mining specifically involving derived neurotrophic factor in experiments related to bZIP domain anxiety development Ruchi Kumari, All India Institute Nayan Jain, Indian Institute of of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Technology-Madras Host University: Georgetown Host University: University of University Wisconsin-Madison Advisor: Steven Singer Advisor: Michael Gould Subject area: Immune regulation Subject area: Identifying transcription of cell proliferation in giardiasis factors that modulate the expression of cancer candidate gene Fbxo10 in Sachin Sethi, Birla Institute of a tissue-specific manner Technology and Science, Pilani Host University: Indiana University Nivedita Damodaren, A.C. Advisor: Andrew Zelhof College of Technology, Anna Subject area: Evolutionary University developmental analysis of ciliary Host University: Indiana University opsins Advisor: Stephen Jacobson Subject area: Synchronization of Sai Deepikaa Elumalai, Anna the motB mutant of Caulobacter University, Chennai crescentus using microfluidic device Host University: University of Iowa Advisor: Kris De Mali Prasanth Thangachi, A.C. Subject area: Identifying the signal College of Technology, Anna transduction pathways regulating University ZO-1 binding to α-catenin Host University: University of Iowa Advisor: Michael Schultz Samata Chaudhuri, Indian Subject area: Small molecules for Institute of Technology-Kharagpur therapy of metastatic melanoma Host University: University of Michigan Priyadarshini Ravindran, Tamil Advisor: Sofia Merajver Nadu Agricultural University, Subject area: Characterization Coimbatore of differentiated macrophage Host University: Indiana University by M1/M2 gene profile and the Advisor: Cheng Kao expression of RhoC in IBC- Subject area: Detection and derived cells stimulated with characterization of viruses from macrophage conditioned media common salad greens 59 ANNUAL REPORT - INDO-US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FORUM
Saumya Tiwari, Indian Institute Sindhuja Rajasekaran, A.C. of Technology-Roorkee College of Technology, Anna Host University: University of University, Chennai Illionis Urbana-Champaign Host University: University of Advisor: Rohit Bhargava Michigan Subject area: Role of degraded Advisor: Arul Chinnaiyan and collagen on epithelial to Chandan Kumar mesenchymal transition of MCF- Subject area: Characterization 7 breast cancer cells of SPOP-VRK2 fusion in prostate cancer Seep, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay Somya Agarwal, Banaras Hindu Host University: University of University, Varanasi Michigan Host University: Michigan State Advisor: Keith E. Cook University Subject area: Antibacterial Advisor: Jayaraman perfluorocarbon ventilation Subject area: Nanotechnology, synthesis of catalysts, fluid Shashank Shekhar, Indian dynamics Institute of Technology-Guwahati Host University: University of Sukriti, Indian Institute of Wisconsin-Madison Technology-Delhi Advisor: Brian Pfleger Host University: Massachusetts Subject area: Systems and Institute of Technology synthetic biology Advisor: Mandana Sassanfar Subject area: Identification of Shruthy Suresh, Indian Institute genes involved in melanoma of Technology-Madras metastasis and chemotherapeutic Host University: Michigan State resistance using RNAi University Advisor: Christina Chan Susmitha Purnima Kotu, Subject area: Expression Indian Institute of Technology- and production of un- Gandhinagar phosphorylated IRE1-CD protein Host University: University of Iowa using lambda phosphatase Advisor: Miles Pufall Subject area: Role of TXNIP as a Siddhant Jain, Indian Institute of vital gene in leukemia treatment Technology-Roorkee sensitivity Host University: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Swati Varshney, Aligarh Muslim Advisor: Matt Wheeler University Subject area: Porcine Adipose- Host University: Indiana Derived Stem Cells Differentiates University into myotubes when Co-Cultured Advisor: Lingling Chen with C2C12 Cells Subject area: Histone proteins
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The students visited the US Host Universities mid- charting their unique paths to success and live up May to end-July 2012. After their internship, the to the legacy of Prof. Khorana. The Secretary of the Khorana Program Student Symposium held on Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, M.K. 3rd August 2012 at India International Center, New Bhan, presided over the function and together with Delhi, invited the scholars to share their research Sam Pitroda distributed certificates and medals experiences with top policy makers and innovation to the 2012 Khorana Scholars. The co-founders, leaders, faculty mentors, program administrators Kenneth Shapiro and Aseem Ansari, added that and other Khorana scholars. The Keynote speaker the program’s true impact will be felt in a generation Sam Pitroda, advisor to the Prime Minister on as scholars make significant contributions to science Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, and society. Executive Director of IUSSTF, Rajiv spoke on the importance of nurturing young talent. Sharma, noted that the program honored the true He urged the Khorana Scholars to break traditional spirit of collaboration and partnership between constraints on thought and follow their dreams by India and the United States.
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Khorana Program: Technology Transfer Course
Contact Persons: Shailja Gupta Aseem Z. Ansari Nishritha Bopana Department of Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry Indo-US S&T Forum, Govt. of India University of Wisconsin-Madison New Delhi E-mail: E-mail: E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of The following 12 candidates participated in the India, University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) and Technology Transfer Course in 2012: the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) partnered to support the Technology Transfer Course under the aegis of the prestigious Khorana Anil Kumar, National Institute of Program named in honor of Dr. Har Gobind Khorana, Immunology, New Delhi who won the Nobel Prize in 1968 for his work at the interface of Chemistry and Biology while a member of the UW faculty.
The Technology Transfer Course is specially designed as an intensive two-week program at UW-Madison, Bharathi Paramahans Salimath, aimed to provide participants with significant insight University of Mysore, Kalaivani into managing technology in its journey from the Ganesan, Department of laboratory to the marketplace through a series of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science pedagogical lectures, round table discussions, case & Technology, New Delhi studies, and site visits. The course would include some of the following specific aspects: structuring the research environment to facilitate commercialization Krishna Jyoti Mukherjee, School while at the same time not compromising the scientific of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal process; entrepreneurship business education; Nehru University, New Delhi management of conflict of interest; patenting – disclosure, screening, filing and defending patents; marketing and licensing new technologies; venture capital – raising funds, selecting investments, Manoj Kumar Bhat, National mentoring new companies, etc. Centre for Cell Science, Pune
Navin Chandra Khanna, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi
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Onkar Nath Tiwari, Department Sadhana Srivastava, Indian of Biotechnology, Ministry of Council of Medical Research, New Science & Technology, New Delhi Delhi
Rajneesh Kumar, Biotechnology Sanyukta Sen Gupta, National Industry Assistance Council Institute of Immunology, New (BIRAC), New Delhi Delhi
Rakesh Kumar Khandwaha, Vineet Kumar Sharma, Indian Indian Institute of Science Institute of Science Education Education and Research, Mohali and Research (IISER) Bhopal
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S.N. Bose Scholars Program
Contact Person: Aseem Z. Ansari Nishritha Bopana Department of Biochemistry Indo-US S&T Forum, University of Wisconsin-Madison New Delhi E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
To address the need for human resource The S.N. Bose Scholars Program will provide an development and capacity building in science opportunity to Indian and US students (enrolled in and technology, the Department of Science and Bachelors and Masters programs in Atmospheric Technology, Govt. of India, the Indo-US Science and Earth Sciences; Chemical Sciences; Engineering and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and the University Sciences; Mathematical and Computational of Wisconsin-Madison have partnered to develop Sciences; and, Physical Sciences.) to undertake a a dynamic student exchange program between research internship each summer for a period of 10- Indian institutions and premier US Universities led 12 weeks in each other’s countries. by the University of Wisconsin at Madison. This program is named the S.N. Bose Scholars Program The broad objectives of the program are: after the late Prof. Satyendra Nath Bose, a visionary Indian physicist best known for his work on • Provide an opportunity to best and brightest quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing Indian students to gain exposure and access to the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the world class research facilities in US academia theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. A Fellow and labs; of the Royal Society, he was awarded India’s second • Promote research and capacity building in highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 1954 frontline areas of science and technology; by the Government of India. He made important • Encourage and motivate outstanding students contributions to the field of quantum physics in to take up research as a career path; the 1920s that changed how particle physics has • Pave the way for the next generation scientists been studied ever since. The class of particles that and technologists from India to interact at obey Bose-Einstein statistics, Bosons, was named an equal footing with American peers, thus after him. The inception of this program would be helping to build long-term R&D linkages and particularly opportune as it would coincide with collaborations; and, the discovery of the Higgs-Boson earlier this year at • Bring talented American students to research the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. laboratories in India to build a deeper It would honor an Indian scientist’s fundamental appreciation of the culture of innovation and contribution to the completion of the Standard long-standing tradition of scientific enquiry in Model of the Universe. India.
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In 2013, the following 42 Indian students were selected under this program:
Abhinav Gupta, Indian Institute Anwesha Mukherjee, Indian of Technology-Kharagpur Institute of Technology-Guwahati Host University: Georgetown Host University: University of University Minnesota Advisor: Miklos Kertesz Advisor: Andreas Stein Subject area: Study of pi-stacking Subject area: Synthesis of interactions between dimers and porous electrode materials validate theoretical data with for rechargeable lithium-ion experimental results using CSD batteries and apply modeling to novel molecules. Bibek Ranjan Samanta, Indian Institutes of Science Education Abhiram Ravi, Indian Institute of and Research-Kolkata Technology-Madras Host University: Georgetown Host University: University of University Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Richard Weiss Advisor: Paramesh Ramanathan Subject area: Synthesis and Subject area: Distributed characterization of anthracene- multiplayer games in virtual based gels by photochemistry reality and ultrafast networks and rheology
Advait Ashutosh Hasabnis, Debarati Banerjee, VIT Indian Institute of Technology- University, Chennai Bombay Host University: University of Host University: University of Michigan Wisconsin-Madison Advisor: Andrew DeOrio Advisor: Sundaram Gunasekaran Subject area: Using machine Subject area: Biological systems learning for post silicon bug engineering diagnosis
Ameya Dhananjay Patil, Harshal Priyadarshi, Indian Indian Institute of Technology- Institute of Technology-Roorkee Hyderabad Host University: University of Host University: University of Wisconsin- Madison Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Advisor: Giri Venkatraman Advisor: Yih-Kuen Jan Subject area: Use of wireless Subject area: Signal processing, sensor network technologies to algorithm development effect energy savings across the for driving pattern quality electricity board assessment
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Harshika Singh, National Krishna Shrinivas, Indian Institute Institute of Technology, Rourkela of Technology (IIT) Madras Host University: University of Host University: University of Wisconsin- Madison Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Giri Venkatraman Advisor: Aseem Ansari, Parmesh Subject area: Power/energy Ramanathan, Jennifer Reed sustainability Subject area: Computational metabolic and genomic Harshit Agrawal, Indian Institute engineering of Technology-Guwahati Host University: Massachusetts Krishna Dwaipayana Bharadwaj Institute of Technology Anapindi, Indian Institute of Advisor: Pattie Maes Technology-Kharagpur Subject area: Fluid interfaces / Host University: University of human computer interaction Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Michael D. Graham Kanan Hemantkumar Patel, Subject area: Chemistry Indian Institute of Technology- Madras Kumar Ashish, Indian Institute Host University: University of of Technology-Kharagpur Wisconsin- Madison Host University: University of Advisor: Parmeswaran Wisconsin Madison Ramanathan/ Aseem Ansari Advisor: Sanjay. Sanjay Limaye Subject area: Genome modeling Subject area: Flying platforms on Venus Karandeep Singh, Indian Institutes of Science Education Manu Agarwal, Indian Institute and Research-Mohali of Technology-Jodhpur Host University: University of Host University: University of Michigan Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Karunesh Arora Advisor: Ramesh Ramananthan Subject area: Biophysics Subject area: Developing a genome fabrication language Karthik Abhinav S., Indian Institute of Technology-Madras Mayukh Bhadra, Indian Institute Host University: University of of Technology-Bombay Michigan Host University: Georgetown Advisor: Stephane LaFortune University Subject area: Opacity in discrete Advisor: Timothy Warren event systems (DES) Subject area: Cu (1) complexes and their roles in catalysis
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Meera Ramaswamy, Indian Praneeth Syamal Chilakalapudi, Institute of Technology-Bombay University of Hyderabad Host University: University of Host University: University of Wisconsin- Madison Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Mark Rzchowski Advisor: Sridhara Rao Dasu Subject area: Characterization Subject area: High Energy Physics of pnictide thin films using transport measurements Prateek Garg, University of Mumbai & Department of Atomic Mofeez Alam, Indian Institute of Energy, Centre for Excellence Space Technology, Trivandrum in Basic Sciences, University of Host University: University of Mumbai Wisconsin- Madison Host University: Michigan State Advisor: Sanjay Limaye University Subject area: Sciences/ Aerospace Advisor: Chris Waters Engineering Subject area: Bacterial biofilms
Mubeena Fatima, Indian Saba Suhail, Indian Institute of Institute of Technology- Technology-Jodhpur Bhubaneswar Host University: University of Host University: University of Wisconsin- Madison Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Giri Venkatraman Advisor: Gustavo Parra Montesinos Subject area: Energy sustainability Subject area: Use of fiber-reinforced in wireless power sensors concrete in structural applications Saikrishna Badrinarayanan, Nishant Jayant Udgaonkar, Indian Institute of Technology- Fergusson College, Pune Madras Host University: University of Host University: University of Wisconsin- Madison Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Advisor: Sanjay Limaye Advisor: Manoj Prabhakaran Subject area: Space science - Subject area: Predicate Design of a floating platform encryption on Venus, analysis of data from Venus explorer Salini Karuvade, Indian Institute of Science Education and Oindrila Manna, Parent Research-Trivandrum Institution: Indian Institute of Host University: University of Technology-Madras Wisconsin- Madison Host University: Massachusetts Advisor: Mark Saffman and Institute of Technology Robert McDermott Advisor: Gareth H. McKinley Subject area: Quantum Subject area: Superhydrophobicity, information and computation Slip surfaces
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Saparya Chattaraj, Indian Soubhik Kumar, Indian Institute of Technology- Institutes of Science Education Kharagpur and Research-Kolkata Host University: University of Host University: University of Minnesota Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Ilja Siepmann Advisor: Sridhara Dasu Subject area: Study of adsorption Subject area: High Energy Physics of alcohol, water and their mixtures (different proportions) Souransu Nandi, National on zeolites using computer institute of Technology-Durgapur simulations Host University: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Sarang Sunil Nath, Indian Advisor: Elizabeth T. Hsiao-Wecksler Institute of Technology-Delhi Subject area: Development and Host University: University of fabrication of PCB board for Wisconsin- Madison different controllers of powered Advisor: Parmesh Ramanathan orthosis Subject area: Computational metabolic engineering Subhasree Kal, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur Shilpa Garg, Indian Institute of Host University: University of Information and Technology-Delhi Minnesota Host University: University of Advisor: Lawrence Que Jr. Wisconsin- Madison Subject area: Study of the Advisor: Parmesh Ramanathan coordination of Iron in the and Aseem Ansari active site of deoxyhypusine Subject area: Development of hydroxylase automation tools for genome modeling Sujoy Saha, Indian Institute of Technology-Patna Sooryanarayanan Host University: University of Gopalakrishnan, Indian Institute Wisconsin- Madison of Technology-Madras Advisor: Parmesh Ramanathan Host University: University of Subject area: Chemical and Wisconsin- Madison metabolic engineering Advisor: Parmesh Ramanathan Subject area: Automation tools Sumit Gupta, Indian Institute of to describe a desired biological Technology-Kanpur function in a high-level language Host University: University of and synthesize the genome Michigan architecture to realize that Advisor: Jianping Fu function Subject area: Isolation and Immuno- phenotyping of subpopulations of immune cells
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Tushita Goyal, Indian Institute In 2013, the following 13 US students were of Technology-Banaras Hindu selected under this program: University Host University: University of Anmol Vittal Chavan, Purdue Wisconsin- Madison University, West Lafayette Advisor: Thatcher Root Host University: Indian Institute of Subject area: To study gold- Science, Bangalore palladium catalyst supported Advisor: Bharadwaj Amrutur on alumina for the preparation Subject area: Delay cell chain of aldehydes by oxidation of implementation on FPGA using alcohols. VHDL
Vikas Jaiswal, Indian Institute of Benjamin David Forster, Technology-Guwahati University of Michigan-Ann Host University: University of Arbor Wisconsin- Madison Host University: Indian Institutes Advisor: Dong Gee Hong of Science Education and Subject area: Design and Research (IISER) Pune fabrication of next generation Advisor: Manickam Jayakannan mask less array synthesizer Subject area: Polymer-based drug delivery Vivek Ramachandran Ravi, Indian Institute of Technology- Christopher Marc Montagne, Roorkee Arizona State University, Phoenix Host University: University of Host University: National Centre Wisconsin- Madison for Biological Sciences Advisor: Parmesh Ramanathan Advisor: Praveen Kumar Vemula Subject area: Computational Subject area: Biomedical metabolic engineering and Engineering genomic modeling Jason L Guo, Northwestern Yamini Thadisina, Indian University, Evanston Institute of Technology-Patna Host University: Indian Institute of Host University: University of Technology-Bombay Wisconsin- Madison Advisor: Chandra Venkataraman Advisor: Parmeshwaran Subject area: Aerosol synthesis of Ramanathan surface stabilized nanoparticles Subject area: Computer Science for drug delivery and Engineering
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Jerdon William Dresel, Nicholas Joseph Rettko, University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Wisconsin-Madison Host University: Indian Institutes Host University: National AIDS of Science Education and Research Institute (NARI), Pune Research-Pune Advisor: R.S. Paranjape Advisor: L.S. Shashidhara Subject area: Chemical Sciences Subject area: Wing and haltere formation in Drosophila Nicole Teresa Mihelich, melanogaster University of Wisconsin-Madison Host University: National Center Juana Vargas, New York for Biological Sciences-Bangalore University, New York Advisor: Shravanti Rampalli- Host University: National Centre Deshpande for Cell Science, Pune Subject area: Epigenetic regulation Advisor: Shekhar Mande of somatic and stem cell plasticity Subject area: How the Wnt/B- Catenin pathway influences Phillip Edward Splettstoeszer, the modification of SMAR1 and University of Wisconsin-Madison translocation to the nucleus. Host University: Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad Melanie Rae Swannell, Advisor: Anjan Kumar Giri University of Wisconsin-Madison Subject area: Particle physics, Host University: National Centre neutrino oscillations for Cell Science, Pune Advisor: Shekhar Mande Siddharth Kumar Iyengar, New Subject area: GroEL chaperonin York University, New York protein in Mycobacterium Host University: National AIDS tuberculosis Research Institute, Pune Advisor: Sheela Godbole Subject area: HIV/AIDS epidemiology
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Viterbi – India Program
Contact Persons: Cauligi Raghavendra Nishritha Bopana USC Viterbi School of Engineering Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi University of Southern California E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
engineering, IUSSTF and the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California partnered to support the Viterbi-India Program between Indian institutions and the Viterbi School of Engineering.
Under the Viterbi-India Program, each summer for the last two years, 10 students from top Indian Institutions were hosted at USC for summer research. The goals were to provide an excellent opportunity for scholars to encourage them to pursue research, interact with students from all over the world, and foster education and research collaborations with students and faculty between US and India. Both students from Indian institutions and USC faculty participating in this program have expressed strong sentiments about how this program has been valuable to all concerned stakeholders. The Indian students who came to USC were typically toppers from high-ranking Institutions in India and were able to conduct outstanding research in a short amount of An important aspect of engineering education time. Keeping in view the success of the program in the 21st century is to provide the experience thus far and the interest it has created among of international research to young scholars and a Indian students in just two years; the program practical way to achieve this would be to foster their has been extended and expanded to enable participation in international research programs. a larger number of Indian students to gain a Such initiatives would offer them an array of transformative international experience which is experiences both academic and social that would expected to also provide the motivation to pursue help them gain a global perspective and prove scientific careers. This would be accomplished by invaluable in their professional careers through a allowing students (pursuing Computer Sciences, cross-cultural exposure. To address this need for Electrical Engineering and Computational Sciences) human resource development and capacity building from any recognized Indian Institution to compete in the field of computer sciences and electrical for the 20 internships available each year.
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The following twenty outstanding students were selected for the program year 2013:
Agrim Gupta, Birla Institute of Ayush Jaiswal, National Institute Technology & Science-Pilani of Technology-Calicut Mentor: Viktor Prasanna Mentor: Craig Knoblock
Anindya Lal Roy, Indian Institute Bharath V., National Institute of of Technology-Kharagpur Technology Karnataka-Surathkal Mentor: Chongwu Zhou Mentor: Kirk Shung
Himanshu Jain, Birla Institute Debarghya Sarkar, Jadavpur of Technology & Science (BITS) - University, Kolkata Pilani Mentor: Michelle Povinelli Mentor: Gerard Medioni
Aswin Suresh, Indian Institute of Deepak Garg, Indian Institute of Technology-Rajasthan Technology-Ropar Mentor: Anupam Madhukar Mentor: Kristina Lerman/Aram Galstyan
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Kaviya Rawat, Indian Institute of Satwik Kottur, Indian Institute of Technology-Ropar Technology-Bombay Mentor: Alice Parker Mentor: Gerard Medioni
Nikita Juneja, Indraprastha Siddhartha Sarkar, Indian Institute of Information Institute of Technology-Khargpur Technology-Delhi Mentor: Hossein Hashemi Mentor: Gaurav Sukhatme
Nishit Malde, Birla Institute of Sri Vaishnavi S. Gomatham, Technology & Science-Pilani, Indian Institute of Technology- Hyderabad Campus Madras Mentor: Shri Narayana Mentor: Ellis Meng
Nitish Kumar Srivastava, Sudarshan Srinivasan, Indian Indian Institute of Technology- Institute of Technology- Kanpur Hyderabad Mentor: Peter Beerel Mentor: Ewa Deelman
Prashant Garg, Indian Institute Varun Sah, Birla Institute of of Technology-Delhi Technology & Science-Pilani Mentor: Daniel Dapkus Mentor: Rahul Jain
Rasiga Gowrisankar, College of Vignesh Babu, Indian Institute of Engineering, Guindy Technology-Guwahati Mentor: David Traum/Anton Mentor: Bhaksar Krishnamachari Leuski
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Indo-US Public Health Fellowships
Contact Person: Smriti Trikha Indo-US S&T Forum, New Delhi E-mail: [email protected]
In an effort to augment scientific excellence in the Researchers from academia and laboratories chosen area of public health, the Indo-US Science and for the 2012 awards were: Technology Forum (IUSSTF) in partnership with the Bijay Kumar Rout, Birla Institue of Public Health Foundation of India launched the Indo- Technology and Science , Pilani US Public Health Fellowships program supported by US Host: Ferdinando (Sandro) the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Mussa-Ivaldi, Northwestern Government of India. The objective of this program University, Chicago is to promote research and capacity building in the Subject area: Design and crucial area of public health. It is envisaged that development of an integrated these fellowships will help strengthen and expand system for the upper limb the knowledge base of Indian public health research rehabilitation and education.
Josyula K. Lakshmi, Indian Institute This prestigious fellowship scheme was formally of Public Health, Hyderabad launched in March 2012. The fellowship encourages US Host: Anne Newman, University young and mid-career scientists to interact with the of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh international public health community and build Subject area: Health promotion; long-term sustainable linkages. The fellowships physical activity and aging provides opportunity to the awardees to spend between 3 to 12 months in any premier host Nomesh B. Bolia, Indian Institute institution in USA. The fellowship covers a monthly of Technology, New Delhi stipend, return air-fare, preparatory allowances, US Host: Vidyadhar G. Kulkarni, conference allowances, etc. University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill Subject area: Development of scheduling methods for diagnostics equipment
Rahul Diliprao Suryawanshi, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly US Host: Bhushan M. Jayarao, Penn State-Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory Subject area: Development of diagnostic assays for detection of pathogenic L. manocytogenes 74 PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES: BILATERAL WORKSHOPS
BILATERAL WORKSHOPS Accelerating Botanicals and Biologics Agent Development Research for Cancer Chemoprevention, Treatment and Survival 29-31 May 2012, Tampa, Florida, USA
Principal Investigators: Medha Dhurandhar Nagi B. Kumar Centre for Development of Advanced Moffitt Research Center, Tampa Computing, Pune Email: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
From ancient times, botanical and biologic agents • Curcumin for ovarian and breast cancer have been used to treat/prevent several diseases, prevention (Madhuri Kakarala, University of including cancer. Research has demonstrated that Michigan, Patricia Hudson, Moffitt Cancer these agents affect a number of proteins involved Center, Tampa and Devarajan Karunagaran, in various molecular pathways that regulate IIT, Chennai) inflammatory and carcinogenic responses, various • Decursin, a novel coumarin compound for enzymes, transcription factors, receptors, and chemoprevention of prostate cancer (Omer adhesion proteins. However, though several of Kucuk, MD Anderson, Fazul Sarkar, Karnamos these agents have shown efficacy in laboratory and Cancer Center, Nagi Kumar, Moffitt Cancer preclinical studies, very few have moved from the Center, Rana P. Singh, Central University of bench to the bedside. Gujarat, and Lalit Kumar, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) The Indo-US Workshop on Accelerating botanicals • Limonoids for colorectal cancer chemoprevention and biologics agent development research (Mokenge Malafa, Moffitt Cancer Center, for cancer chemoprevention, treatment and Tampa, Shrikant Anant, University of Kansas survival was organized to bring together trans- and Devarajan Karunagaran, Indian Institute disciplinary stakeholders represented by research of Technology-Madras) scientists and clinical oncologists, pharmaceutical • Curcumin analogs for chemoprevention of Lung industry, regulatory bodies, biotechnology industry and oral cancer (Maqsood Siddiqi, Cancer representatives and bio-informatics professionals Foundation, India, Bharat Aggarwal, The in the two countries to exchange expertise, ideas University of Texas - M. D. Anderson Cancer and resources; and, identify gaps, challenges and Center, Nagi Kumar, Moffitt Cancer Center, solutions to ultimately develop strategies to achieve Tampa, Devarajan Karunagaran, Indian Institute efficient translation of these discoveries into the of Technology-Madras and Lalit Kumar, All India standards for clinical practice that will ultimately Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) impact cancer morbidity and mortality. • Development of a joint repository of botanical and biologics database (Medha Dhurandhar, At the end of the workshop, five collaborative working C-DA-Pune, Jayaram, Indian Institute of groups focused on the major cancers affecting both Technology-Delhi and Nagi Kumar, Moffitt the US and India were formed as follows: Cancer Center, Tampa).
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SERC School in Chronobiology 20 June - 3 July 2012, Shillong, India
Principal Investigators: A. S. Dixit Vinod Kumar North Eastern Hill University, Shillong University of Delhi, New Delhi Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Chronobiology intends to understand and leverage encompasses diverse fields including but not limited oscillatory phenomena in living organisms and to comparative anatomy, development, physiology, their adaptation to geophysical cycles. Over the medicine, genetics, molecular biology, behavior, last three decades it is becoming increasingly ecology and evolution. To develop human resources clear that complex biological systems integrate and train a new breed of scientists on the integrative signalling, transcription, energy management and nature of chronobiology, the SERC School on metabolite turnover along a 24-hour time scale. Chronobiology was organized as a 15-day event Leveraging the temporal controls holds untapped that provided intense training to young investigators potential to address emerging challenges in and students who have chosen Chronobiology as areas ranging from food production, ecosystem their field of enquiry. restoration, to management of non-communicable chronic diseases. Hence chronobiology offers an The topics covered included basic concepts and ideal framework for integrative biology and it methods (organization of central nervous system in invertebrates and vertebrates, neurotransmitters, transcription and translation, feedback mechanisms, formal properties of the clock vis-à-vis physical principles, deep sequencing, genomics etc.); understanding what constitutes the clock, and how the clock functions at molecular, cellular, organ, system and whole organism levels; and, the role of circadian organization in humans, implications of circadian disruption in diseases involving sleep, metabolism and aging.
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Technology Commercialization through Public-Private Sector Partnerships
8-14 July 2012, East Lansing, USA
Principal Investigators: Ram Srivastava Karim M. Maredia CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar Michigan State University, East Lansing Email: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Suresh Kumar Kunhikannan Callista Ransom Technology Information, Forecasting and Michigan State University, East Lansing Assessment Council (TIFAC), Department of E-mail: [email protected] Science and Technology, New Delhi Email: [email protected]
Public institutions in India and the US are generating University to bring together technology managers numerous potential inventions and technologies and practitioners from public and private sector that could benefit society in terms of enhancing food institutions in India and the US with the objective and nutritional security, environmental quality, and of sharing experiences, policy initiatives and economic growth. Since the implementation of the imperatives, best practices, and lessons learned in Bayh-Dole Act during late eighties and early nineties, technology commercialisation with emphasis on public sector institutions in the United States agricultural sector. Expected outcomes included have accumulated a wealth of experience in the future collaborations and evolve an effective technology innovation chain including technology international technology commercialization resource transfer, management, and commercialization, network. formation of start-up companies and evolve models for public-private sector partnerships. Recent The workshop focussed on sharing experiences of initiatives in India, including setting up of Business US Land Grant Universities, the USDA Agricultural Plant Development (BPD) units in some ICAR Research Service (USDA-ARS), the technology research institutions and a few State Agricultural managers from ICAR and SAUs and private sector Units (SAUs), have resulted in gaining experience institutions in India for mutual benefits. The and insights in the technology commercialization workshop included field visits, case studies, business arena in the agricultural sector. plan development, technology valuation, licensing, negotiation skills, and development of a roadmap An Indo-US workshop on Technology for technology commercialization. The participants Commercialization through Public-Private Sector also undertook real-world case studies from their partnerships was organized in Michigan State own institutions, companies, and regions that have
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commercial potential to develop a business plan for Michigan State University, USA; TechTown, Wayne product commercialization and deployment. In a few State University, USA; Business Planning and cases involving public and private sector partners Development Units at CCS Haryana Agricultural were paired to jointly develop a business plan with University and Anand Agricultural University, India; the idea of forming working relationships that will Agri-Science Park at ICRISAT, India; and the Biotech continue beyond the workshop. Park for Women, Chennai, India, to name a few. One of the major recommendations from the event was Several new developments were shared from both that the group produces a joint book, tentatively the US and Indian sides, viz. MSU-Technologies, entitled ‘Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Spartan Innovations and Business-CONNECT at Experiences of India and USA.’
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Space Situational Awareness, Space Weather and Debris Research
19-20 July 2012, Mysore, India
Principal Investigators: Siraj Hasan Rengasamy Ponnappan Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Email: [email protected] Arlington Email: [email protected]
The Indo-US workshop on Space situational The following research topics are recommended by awareness, space weather and debris research the attendees for future research: space weather was aimed to address and brainstorm future (space weather forecast, orbit propagation, real directions the research community needs to take in time data processing, precise orbit determination, finding innovative scientific solutions for the global long term solar activity projection and space issues on space situational awareness including weather-satellite); space debris SD (active debris space debris. The areas of discussion included removal, re-entry, measurement, debris induced advances in ground- and space-based surveillance chemistry, mitigation of space debris, development and tracking; in-situ measurement techniques; of numerical modeling, hypervelocity impact effects debris and meteoroid environment models; debris on satellite components, fragmentation models, flux and collision risk for space missions; on-orbit collision avoidance, effects of plasma environment collision avoidance; re-entry risk assessments; debris on SD, exploiting plasma properties for SD mitigation, mitigation and debris environment remediation accuracy and reliability of measurement data and techniques and their effectiveness with regard realistic simulation modeling of fragmentation to long-term environment stability; national and processes); and, space situational awareness international debris mitigation standards and (observations, high area-to-mass-ratio objects guidelines; hypervelocity impact technologies; on- catalogue, space education outreach, algorithms for orbit shielding concepts plus dynamical interaction surveillance and tracking, international collaboration, and modeling of vehicles to develop a full 6-DOF experimental opportunities and data fusion). theory of space vehicles and orbit debris; methods for accurate and precise recovery and prediction of space object; improved abilities for predicting collisions; and, advanced computational and visualization methods.
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“Triple Trouble”: Malnutrition, Tuberculosis and HIV in India
3-5 August 2012, Chennai, India
Principal Investigators: Soumya Swaminathan Christine A. Wanke National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Tufts University, Boston Chennai Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
In a setting where HIV infection and tuberculosis TB, focusing on the acceptability, effectiveness and (TB) are operating in a population characterized by feasibility of nutritional supplementation in India. poverty and malnutrition, there is a greater need to focus on nutrition in individuals with HIV infection The major recommendations that were made at the or with both HIV infection and TB. Policy makers in end of the workshop included the following: resource-poor regions need information on both the efficacy and feasibility of providing nutritional • India needs region specific data on nutritional supplements (of various types) in different settings. status of HIV-infected individuals and TB patients, Although there have been many calls for integration which should serve as advocacy tool for policy of HIV and nutrition programs, data is lacking on how makers. such programs can be implemented in resource- • A full range of interventions should be used to constrained settings, what the composition of the meet the macro and micronutrient requirements supplement should be, and which subgroups should of these patients, including nutrition counselling. be targeted. The Indo-US workshop titled “Triple • Both local and international agencies should trouble”: malnutrition, tuberculosis and HIV in India allocate a part of their budget for nutrition was organized with the following objectives: to support and care for HIV-infected and TB patients review existing data on HIV infection, tuberculosis • India should develop a comprehensive plan of and malnutrition in India and to identify research action for nutrition support of TB and HIV affected gaps; to develop concept notes for future research persons, along with all partners like NACO, and identify areas for potential collaboration between Central TB Division and Nutrition Society of India, India and US partners on HIV-TB and nutrition; and, to in a well coordinated way to avoid duplication of develop recommendations on nutrition for HIV and efforts.
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Flame Stabilization And Combustion Stability
6-8 August 2012, Chennai, India
Principal Investigators: S. R. Chakravarthy S. K. Aggarwal Indian Institute of Technology-Madras University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
T. M. Muruganandam T. C. Lieuwen Indian Institute of Technology-Madras Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Flame stabilization and combustion stability is in practical burner devices; role of oscillatory liquid an area of active research interest and industry fuel spray injection and its response to acoustic focus in both India and the United States. With oscillations; practical events of combustion instability this in mind organized an Indo-US workshop on and flame de-stabilization, and approaches to Flame Stabilisation and Combustion Stability combat them; active and passive control approaches to bring together researchers from both academic/ to flame stabilization and combustion stability; and, research institutions and the industry of the two impact of control strategies on pollutant emissions. countries. The key topics covered at the workshop included: modeling combustion instability – role of Novel ideas/methodologies presented at the event nonlinearity and non-normality; dynamical systems included: Multiple time scales approach for solving approach to flame stabilization and combustion flame-flow-acoustics interactions using CFD; stability – bifurcations and chaos; experimental Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) used for database and characterization on flame stabilization analyzing the dominant modes of the oscillations near and combustion stability; study of flame stabilization loss of stability; Multiple experimental approaches and combustion stability in practical energy systems like simultaneous stereo-PIV, PLIF to study the flow using biofuels or syngas; role of chemical kinetics field during the dynamical events; Multiple sensors of biofuels/syngas in dynamic flame stabilization; and mode shape analysis to deduce the oscillation receptivity of flame-stabilizing shear layers to modes in practical engines; and Non-linear dynamics acoustic oscillations; aero-thermo-acoustic sources approach used for identifying the onset of flame loss from bluff-body/swirl-stabilized combusting flows or combustion instability.
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Cloud Computing and Web Services
8-10 August 2012, Coimbatore, India
Principal Investigators: A. Kannammal Subhash Kak Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore Oklahoma State University, Stillwater Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
With the rapid advances in Computing technology, the University, University of California, Arizona State past decade has witnessed a proliferation of powerful University, IIT, IIIT, IISC, CDAC along with practicing parallel and distributed systems, networking, internet professionals from VMware, IBM and Microsoft, panel and the web. Cloud Computing facilitates convenient discussion and demos loaded with information on-demand network access to a shared pool of about the ideas, issues and directions helped the configurable computing resources like hardware, participants to gain in depth knowledge about Cloud software, network, servers, storage, applications and Computing and Web Services. services that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. The main objective As an outcome of the event, a team led by Dr. S.R.K. of the Indo-US Workshop on Cloud computing and web Prasad, Correspondent, Dr. V. Selladurai, Principal, services was to bring together researchers and industry Dr. R. Rajesh, Associate Professor/Mechanical experts working in cloud computing and related Engineering visited University of California Santa technologies with a focus on recent technological Barbara, University of Massachusetts and Stanford developments, opportunities in a variety of domains like University to explore possible collaborative services computing, business models, e-government, activities between CIT and US Universities. agriculture, and challenges like security, privacy, University of California, Santa Barbara and CIT have management, and legal issues. The conference provided identified certain areas where both the institutions a forum for the Indian and United States delegates can work together and these include robotics, from academic institutions/R&D organizations and wireless sensor networks, prosthetics, nano- practicing professionals to discuss concepts, state of materials and neural chemistry. IBM Watson Lab the art, research, implementations and applications and Smarter Planet Team funded collaborative project to shape and define the future of cloud computing in on “Power Saving in Cloud” would be carried out multiple directions. at CIT. Seven M.Sc. Software Engineering students from CIT have been selected for project internships The invited talks by renowned professors from at Arizona State University (June 2013 to October US and Indian Universities like Oklahoma State 2013).
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Systems Architectures for Big Data
16 August 2012, Kochi, India
Principal Investigators: Venkat Rangan Kaladhar Voruganti Ethan Miller Amrita University, Kochi NetApp Advanced University of California Santa Email: [email protected] Technology Group, Sunnyvale Cruz Email: Email: [email protected] Krishnashree Achuthan [email protected] Amrita University, Kochi Patrick McDaniel Email: [email protected] Michael Franklin Pennsylvania State University University of California Email: [email protected] Sreeranga Rajan Berkeley Fujitsu Lab, Sunnyvale Email: Margo Seltzer Email: [email protected] [email protected] Harvard University, Boston Email: [email protected]
The confluence of innovation in mobile The workshop was well attended by over 60 technologies, high speed networks, affordable data participants from various technical institutions, analytics architectures/algorithms, social network industry and Govt. Departments. The workshop infra-structures, and scalable cost effective data was broken into three parts: 1) Talks by the center server, network and storage architectures invited guests, 2) Breakout session discussions, are enabling the generation, sharing, analysis and and 3) Presentations on the project ideas that archival of data like never before in human history. were identified during the breakout sessions. Increasingly, the data being generated in this The main conclusion of the participants was information highway is in the form of streaming that there are many key research problems media (text, audio and video) where the data is that need to be solved in the area of streaming continuously generated analyzed and stored. The big data. In order to ensure focus during the Indo-US workshop on Systems architectures for breakout sessions, the summit was broken into big data focussed on the streaming aspects of the following three research tracks: 1) Streaming data impacts the following different areas: system Big Data Analytics 2) Building Data Analytics architectures, algorithms, security/privacy, and Platforms for Societal Impact and 3) Security and human usability factors. Privacy Protocols.
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Women Engineers Leading Global Innovation
29-31 August 2012, Bangalore, India
Principal Investigators: Anuradda Ganesh Karen Horting IIT Bombay, Powai Society of Women Engineers, Chicago Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Engineering and technology leaders should This symposium used synergies to advance take advantage of increased globalization to the personal and professional development of improve collaboration and innovation. As the global the attendees. The objectives addressed the marketplace becomes more accessible, academia following needs: to introduce and create active and industry both can leverage the shrinking linkages between industry and academia leaders landscape to exchange ideas and implement cutting in engineering and technology across borders; to edge programs. Globally, the number of engineers develop a network, and cohort, of US and Indian and technologists is dropping which increases leaders in engineering and technology; to provide the need of fully utilizing all resources. Acting insights regarding the cutting edge innovations upon these dynamics, an Indo-US workshop titled effecting engineering and technology; and, to Women engineers’ leading global innovation was recognize the unique challenges of gender diversity organized to target women in academia and industry in the engineering and technology workforce and in India and the US, to advance communication, propose potential solutions to increase gender collaboration, and education. diversity.
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Pancreatic Islets: From Isolation to Transplantation
14-15 September 2012, Hyderabad, India
Principal Investigators: D. Nageshwar Reddy Balamurugan Appakalai Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and Asian University of Minnesota, Healthcare Foundation, Hyderabad Schulze Diabetes Institute, Minneapolis Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Islet cell dysfunctions, as encountered in diabetes, pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer including neuroendocrine tumors of pancreas, pose enormous health challenges and cause considerable morbidity and mortality globally. Progressive islet dysfunctions lead to loss of glycaemic control and its associated pathology. Patients with type-1 diabetes or chronic pancreatitis often resort to islet transplantation when it is considered that favourable glycaemic control cannot be optimally achieved by conventional therapeutic approaches. Transplantation of isolated islets of Langerhans (the insulin secreting cells from the pancreas) offers a physiological approach towards optimal glycaemic control. Islet transplantation offers the advantage of being less invasive than whole organ pancreas transplantation and is currently offered at a few advanced centers in American and European countries, although at a high cost to the patient. Current experience shows that multiple transplants are required and long-term presented at the event included methods to islet function remains poor. In order to optimize ensure quality control in isolating islets; existence methods related to isolation, culture, preservation of islet dysfunction before the onset of secondary and transplantation of islets and initiate measures diabetes; use of immune-isolatory devices for islet within India to establish islet transplantation centers, transplantation; and, potential use of stem cells and an Indo-US workshop titled Pancreatic islets: from xeno transplantation. The major recommendations isolation to transplantation was organized. The of the event included the following: constituting a workshop brought together clinicians and scientists core group involving Indian and US researchers to working in this field not only to translate such efforts evolve a road map for islet transplant programme for patient benefits, but also to usher in active in India; establishing infrastructure facilities (cGMP) collaborations between research groups. for islet transplant programme in India; training personnel at US islets centres; and promoting About 225 clinicians and scientists participated in collaborative research through submission of the two day conference. The new developments projects to federal agencies in India and US.
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21st Century Developments in Bone Regeneration Technology
10-11 October 2012, Shimla, India
Principal Investigators: Ashish Jain John L. Ricci Sachin Mamidwar Panjab University, NYU College of Dentistry, Orthogen, LLC, Springfield Chandigarh New York Email: Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] [email protected]
The most common causes for tooth loss are poor oral hygiene and periodontal disease. Tooth loss leads to problems associated with eating and chewing and adversely affects the overall health of the patient. As a result of tooth loss, people also lose bone from the mandible or maxilla. Dental implants or bridges are used to treat tooth loss. The use of dental bone grafts has increased sharply in India over the last 5-7 years with an increased emphasis on their use in dental teaching programs. Bone grafts enable people to retain their own teeth now available and also to allow US clinicians, or to replace lost teeth with implants or bridges, researchers, and industry experts to understand resulting in a healthier lifestyle. In order to bring the clinical situation in India,) an Indo-US workshop together Indian clinicians and researchers to gain was organized on “21st century developments in knowledge of advanced products and techniques bone regeneration technology”.
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Disorders of the Developing Brain
27-28 October 2012, Manipal, India
Principal Investigators: Girisha K.M. John M. Graham Jr Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
With the advances in the clinical and molecular rare disorders and included two sessions of front, we are on the verge of entering a new era of case discussions to stimulate research interests understanding morphology and functions of brain, among the clinicians and basic scientists. An genetic defects underlying various monogenic entire session was dedicated to discussing and multifactorial disorders of brain development Indo-US research collaboration. This session and therapeutic interventions based on new highlighted the mutual benefits of collaboration discoveries. Techniques like exome sequencing, for brain research and technology exchange. The linkage analysis and genome-wide association experts agreed that the scientific climate favours studies call for international collaboration collaboration between the two countries for between clinicians and scientists across the globe high impact scientific research considering the to disseminate knowledge, explore team work, technological capabilities of the US and strength identify new genes and bring in ideas to treat of the Indian scientists in terms of their wealth of disorders of brain. Towards this end, an Indo-US clinical material. It was strongly felt that scientists workshop on “Disorders of the Developing Brain” from both the countries should come together for was organized to bring together eminent clinicians identification of new genes causing human brain and scientists from India and USA to deliberate diseases that will have significant impact in terms various aspects of brain development and of understanding pathogenesis and exploring disorders: developmental genetics, malformations, treatments based on knowledge of the genetic intellectual disability, autism, epilepsy, behavioral basis of such diseases. disorders, clinical evaluation, imaging of brain, diagnostic testing, pathophysiology, treatment, Delegates and faculty from both the countries supportive care, genetic counselling, prevention expressed their willingness to work together in the and prenatal diagnosis. area of brain research and explore joint funding opportunities. Young clinical scientists could The meeting began with a review of the current meet the faculty from both the countries and status of neurogenetics in India. The meeting were encouraged to take up research into brain highlighted the importance of single cases of development and related disorders.
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Nutrition Practice Guidelines for Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: Sharing Evidence and Best Practices to Improve Patient Outcomes
17-18 November 2012, Chennai, India
Principal Investigators: Nirmala Jesudason K.M. Venkat Narayan Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai Emory University, Atlanta Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The incidence and prevalence of Type 2 diabetes for Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus: sharing evidence is rapidly increasing around the world, causing and best practices to improve patient outcomes” significant health care and economic challenges. was organized. This conference allowed dieticians Evidence from randomized controlled trials and and other health care practitioners to explore and other studies show that lifestyle management is the evaluate the need for development of nutrition first step in diabetes prevention and management practice guidelines that are cost effective and and diabetes prevention is more cost effective than culturally acceptable in the Indian setting. diabetes treatment. Data from the US Diabetes Prevention Program suggest that people from all A recurring message from the panelists and ages and ethnic groups can modify their diet and audience members acknowledged the significant exercise in order to lose a small amount of weight health risks diabetes presents and the need for a to delay or prevent the development of type-2 multi-level systems approach to risk reduction, such diabetes. These findings are significant in both as use of the socio-ecological model. Prevention the US and India given the fact that, apart from efforts must take place at the individual, family, genetic predisposition for diabetes, many people community and governmental levels. Furthermore, in the US and in India consume diets with low success is more likely when interventions are aimed nutritional quality, live sedentary lifestyles, and are not only at individuals but entire populations via overweight. Keeping in mind the fact that a shared programs and policies in the health care and public exploration of diabetes research gaps, practice health arenas. The workshop laid emphasis on the guidelines and scientific developments between need for more Indo-US collaborative research; the US and India would help both countries greater understanding of individuals’ motivation advance knowledge and practice in diabetes care to change health behaviors; and closing gaps in from an interdisciplinary perspective, an Indo-US knowledge and implementation of nutrition care workshop titled “Nutrition Practice Guidelines among clinicians in India’s health care system.
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Frontiers in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics
17 November 2012, New Delhi, India and 19 November 2012, Bangalore, India
Principal Investigators: Lalit Kumar Shiladitya Sengupta All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Harvard Medical School, Boston New Delhi E-mail: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The World Health Organization projects over 12 Excellence for molecular understanding of Indian million deaths worldwide in 2030 due to cancer cancers in partnership with US partners. up from 7.6 million in 2008, and over 70% of all mortality will be from emerging economies. In The symposium included a series of talks and panel order to develop stronger partnerships between discussions by experts in the field. Topics covered the two countries to leverage the strengths and included genomics and personalized medicine, opportunities to advance understanding of childhood cancers, transformations in oncology, and cures for cancer, an Indo-US workshop on policy & advocacy and drug discovery in India. The Frontiers in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics highlight of the event included inspirational talks by was organized. The symposium brought together Nobel Laureate Dr. Roger Tsien, Pulitzer Prize winning Nobel laureates, a Pulitzer Prize winner, inventors of author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography cancer therapies with knowledge opinion leaders, of Cancer, Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee and Professor of leading oncologists, young trainees and faculty Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Founder and lay public to transform the current state of of Invictus Oncology, Dr. Shiladitya Sengupta. The cancer research and perception in India. It also symposium was also unique in showcasing cancer aimed to create a platform for enabling a public survivors Lisa Ray, Dr. Harmala Gupta, Dr. Rama private partnership around setting up a Center of Sivaram, Poonam Bagai and their advocacy efforts.
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Industry-Academia Interaction in Advanced Biotechnology and Drug Discovery
4-5 December 2012, Varanasi, India
Principal Investigators: Anoop Misra Yamini Bhusan Tripathi Rai Ajit Srivastava Fortis Group of Hospitals, Banaras Hindu University, Integrated Pharma Solutions, New Delhi Varanasi LLC, Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
drugs in the US would help to adequately harness the expertise of both countries and translate into ways to pave a path to discover innovative new drugs for the treatment of silent killers like diabetes. The symposium was aimed at making efforts for a fruitful and long-lasting interaction among drug discovery scientists from the US and India. The topics discussed at the workshop included: cardiovascular dyslipidemia; inflammation and metabolic syndrome; non-pharmacological management of metabolic syndrome; diabetes and its complications; system biology in new drug development for metabolic Both India and United States are experiencing syndrome; and, CAM and alternative medicines for a huge increase in the diabetic population and management of metabolic syndrome. associated morbidity and mortality resulting from cardiovascular disease (CVD). In fact, two thirds of all deaths in diabetic patients occur from CVD. In India, as the overall burden of CVD continues to grow, it is expected to be the leading cause of death and disability. About 1 in 3 American adults are pre- diabetic, a 39% jump over 2008 estimates. Thus, there is a clear need for these two countries to join hands in order to take advantage of vast working force in India and an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and experience in the drug discovery and development arena in the US. A timely step in this direction was the Indo-US workshop on Industry-academia interaction in advanced biotechnology and drug discovery.
Bringing industry and academia from the US and India together can go a long way to leverage the vast knowledge-base that US and India possess at academic institutions, and at the same time the experience of industry leaders in discovering innovative new
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Study on Best Practices in Enabling Women in Science
10 December 2012, New Delhi, India
Principal Investigators: Vinita Sharma Dec Ly Department of Science & Technology (DST), US Embassy, New Delhi Govt. of India, New Delhi Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The US and India have a strong history of scientific In her inaugural remarks, Ambassador Powell noted collaboration, and both countries have produced that both countries recognize the importance of many preeminent women scientists and science policy empowering women in science and technology and makers. Yet in spite of these achievements, women in launched a webpage (http://www.indousstf.org/ both countries still face significant socio-cultural and Women-in-Science-Cooperation.html) highlighting institutional challenges to achieving their full potential US and Indian best practices in this area. The in science-related careers. The Indo-US workshop workshop featured congratulatory video messages on Study on Best Practices in Enabling Women in from Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams Science aimed to address three priorities identified recorded at the International Space Station, and under the US-India Strategic Dialogue: Science and from Assistant Secretary Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones. In the Technology; Education; and, Women’s Empowerment. final session, participants established a steering This bilateral event was an opportunity to creatively committee on women in science initiatives, as had define solutions by leveraging the experience and been recommended at the June, 2012 US-India Joint expertise of experts from both countries. Commission Meeting (JCM) on Science & Technology.
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Cyanobacteria: Molecular Networks to Biofuels
16-20 December 2012, Mumbai, India
Principal Investigators: Pramod P. Wangikar Louis Sherman Indian Institute of Technology Purdue University Bombay, Mumbai West Lafayette Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The conversion of the early reducing environment cyanobacteria can perform as low-cost and renewable to the present oxidizing atmosphere is attributed to power plants. However, substantial research is the ability of the cyanobacteria to perform oxygenic required at various stages for successful realization of photosynthesis. These photoautotrophic organisms this enormous potential. The major objective of the are the only group of prokaryotes that split water Indo-US workshop organized by Pramod P. Wangikar molecules and release oxygen in the atmosphere. (Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai) and Cyanobacteria can be utilized in multiple applications, Louis Sherman (Purdue University, West Lafayette) including as a means to collect and store solar energy, on Cyanobacteria: Molecular Networks to Biofuels as a renewable feedstock for the production of was to highlight the current state of fundamental and chemicals, fuels and other valuable products and also applied research on cyanobacteria and to identify key as a means to capture carbon dioxide. In many ways, challenges for future research.
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Internet-Driven Computer Vision
16-19 December 2012, Mumbai, India
Principal Investigators: Sharat Chandran Martial Hebert Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Mumbai Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Computer vision technology has slowly moved out so that it becomes available to every remote of the labs into applications that are being used on a corner). day-to-day basis such as face detection in consumer cameras in the ubiquitous cell phone. The Indo-US There were a number of significant contributions workshop on Internet-driven computer vision covering the breadth of new advances in computer brought together distinguished researchers in vision presented at the workshop. The work on imaging, graphics, machine learning, and computer “Tweening Boundary Curves of Non-simple vision to brainstorm on next generation advances Immersions of a Disk” stands out as a theoretical in computer vision, specially leveraging on Internet- contribution. A mobile app using computer vision: based data. “Heritage App: Annotating Images on Mobile Phones”, described a novel method for automatically The themes around which the workshop revolved overlaying information, useful for a tourist taking were: “Recognition” (ability to recognize attributes, photos with a mobile phone. It was demonstrated poses, and if applicable, activities of whatever is in for several Indian monuments and sites. New the scene: people, animals, objects); “Data-driven developments were presented at the event included vision” (to address relevance, ranking, and work in a method of optical character recognition for poor consonance with non-visual data, and potentially quality text “Content Level Access to Digital produce usable data sets); “Mining videos” (to Library of India Pages” developed for recognition of segment, summarize, compress, edit and re-target Indian scripts; and a method for speeding up image videos); and, “Digital heritage” (to reconstruct, processing “Accelerating non-local denoising with restore, and disseminate India’s cultural knowledge a patch based dictionary” was also presented.
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Structure, Dynamics and Mechanics of Biological Membranes
27-30 December 2012, Bangalore, India
Principal Investigators: Ganapathy Ayappa Subra Muralidharan Indian Institute of Science Bangalore Washington State University Pullman Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The cell membrane that encapsulates intricate cellular machinery play varied and a complex role in biological systems, as it is both a protective barrier and a selective transporter. Despite extensive experimental and theoretical investigations on cell membranes and their models (collectively referred to as biological membranes), our knowledge and understanding of their intricacies are still evolving. The underlying relationships between the structure, dynamics, and mechanics of biological membranes have recently come into sharper focus through instrumental and theoretical modeling advancements to identify new paradigms for diseases like cancer, breakthroughs for diagnosis, targeted drug delivery and therapy, novel platforms for biosensors and for addressing pressing problems in allied fields such as agriculture, biofuels, and ecological preservation. Many scientists in the US The meeting consisted of 19 talks over three days, and India are engaged in cutting-edge research in the a poster session with about 20 posters, and a fundamental and applied aspects of biomembrane final open discussion and deliberation session. research, which is inherently an interdisciplinary The presentations and discussions covered a field cutting across the physical and life sciences, range of topics which included the effect of and engineering. As it is important to identify cholesterol on serotonin receptors, membrane and foster collaborative research to enable rapid fusion, nanomechanical characterization of cells advancements in this field, an Indo-US workshop for cancer diagnostics, fusion peptides for HIV, entitled “Structure, Dynamics and Mechanics membrane asymmetry, membrane tethers, protein of Biological Membranes” was organized. This and polymer membrane interactions, phase symposium brought together scientists from India behavior and salt tolerance in plant cells. Several and the United States to share and discuss their talks focused on using simulations on model current research in various aspects of biological membrane systems using techniques ranging membrane structure, mechanics, and dynamics. The from fully atomistic to continuum models for symposium sessions focussed on biomembrane biological membranes. This mix of theory and structure, dynamics, and mechanics; protein and experiments was a unique feature of the meeting. nanoparticle interactions with membranes; emerging Sixty delegates attended the meeting and the biomembrane theoretical models and molecular audience consisted of students from different parts simulations; and, advances in instrumental methods of the country, several early career faculty as well for biomembrane structure, dynamics, and mechanics. as industry participants.
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Chromosome Stability
17-19 December 2012, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Principal Investigators: Nishant K.T Kaustuv Sanyal Indian Institute of Science Education and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Thiruvananthapuram Research, Bangalore Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Eric Alani Lucas Argueso Cornell University, Ithaca Colorado State University Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Chromosome stability is maintained through segregation; Session III explored the role of elaborate mechanisms that ensure faithful DNA crossing over, meiotic recombination proteins and Replication, Repair, Recombination (3Rs) and finally kinetochore proteins for accurate chromosome segregation during mitotic as well as meiotic segregation; and, Session IV examined the role of divisions. Errors in these processes are associated DNA replication, chromosome cohesion, and new with a wide variety of diseases collectively termed tools for studying genome stability. as Chromosome Instability (CIN) phenotype. An Indo-US conference on “Chromosome Stability” In addition to fifteen resource persons, about twenty was organized to bring together established and students and post-doctoral fellows working in the new investigators working in the area of DNA area of chromosome stability participated in the replication, recombination and repair processes meeting. The small focused format encouraged as well as chromosome cohesion, centromere and extensive interactions between all participants kinetochore structure-function. The workshop and also encouraged the speakers to present their was divided into four sessions - Session-I covered latest work. A number of research collaborations DNA repair mechanisms that included talks on were also set up during the course of the meeting. DNA mismatch repair, DNA modifying enzymes, The conference was successful, both for creating DNA damage response and double strand break interactions between genome stability experts from repair mechanisms; Session II focussed on the role United States and India, as well as for developing of centromere and kinetochore in chromosome genome stability groups in India.
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Fostering Synergistic Collaborations to Accelerate Big Data Applications
21-22 December 2012, Pune, India
Principal Investigators: R. Govindarajan Viktor Prasanna Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore University of Southern California, Los Angeles Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
There is a heightened recognition and focus on the role of Big Data in achieving scientific and engineering breakthroughs to benefit humanity. The software platforms for Big Data applications need to be supported not just by HPC systems but also by emerging accelerated infrastructure such as Cloud computing. An Indo-US workshop on “Fostering synergistic collaborations to accelerate big data applications” was organized to explore synergistic collaborations between researchers from US and India in the convergence of Big Data Software Platforms and Accelerated Systems Infrastructure to support scientific advancement. The aim of The workshop identified a valuable opportunity to the workshop was to launch mutually beneficial catalyze joint Indo-US research on software cyber- collaborations between computer scientists and infrastructure with the potential for significant researchers from across scientific disciplines in this impact genomics and weather modeling, which intersection of accelerated systems and massive data would lead to better scientific discoveries and platforms to meet the needs of scientific applications. improved education and training of students and The workshop brought together participants from junior researchers. The workshop has identified key US and India to identify promising topics that hold collaborations that would have maximal impact and common interest, areas of complementary skills, and recommended that leading researchers put together the models for sustainable collaboration through a a proposal for an Indo-US Center on Software Cyber- virtual institute. infrastructure to Accelerate Big Data Applications.
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Implementation of Sustainable Technologies for Water/ Wastewater Treatment and Water Reuse
7-11 January 2013, Chennai, India
Principal Investigators: T. Pradeep Sukalyan Sengupta Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, Chennai University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
to improved sanitation in 2000. It is reported that the greatest development failure of the twentieth century has been the failure to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services to all people.
The main objectives of the Indo-US workshop on “Implementation of sustainable technologies for water/wastewater treatment and water reuse” included identification of methodologies for assessment of reliable source of water supply; emerging technologies for clean and affordable Water use has increased ten-fold between 1900 water; emerging contaminants and new analytical and 2000. Eighty-eight developing countries, techniques; sustainable water supply for rural containing close to one-half of the world’s and under privileged communities; coastal zone population, already experience water deficits, water issues in addressing water supply as well as with resulting constraints on human ecosystem, environmental protection; efficient distribution/ health, as well as economic development. collection systems to minimize transmission According to the World health Organization, 1.1 losses; centralized vs. decentralized systems for billion people around the world lacked access water supply and wastewater management; public to improved water supply and more than 2.4 private partnership in water supply and wastewater billion (40% of world’s population) lacked access management; etc.
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Point-of-Care Healthcare Technologies
16-18 January 2013, Bangalore, India
Principal Investigators: Manjunatha Mahadevappa Atam P. Dhawan Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Though the challenges of providing high-quality and infections such as HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria, etc. healthcare in developing countries are different The challenge becomes even more critical in the than those in developed countries, there is situation of potential outbreak of an epidemic. a common goal to provide access to health monitoring and assessment technologies to The Indo-U.S conference on Point-of-care healthcare people with limited or no healthcare facilities. technologies focused on innovation, research, While the developed countries may find Point- technology development and best practices in of-Care (POC) technologies as effective means for deployment of health monitoring technologies in reducing healthcare costs and improving efficiency, developing and developed economies for better POC technologies are critical in responding to global healthcare. The conference featured research essential healthcare needs in countries with large presentations and technology panel discussions and populations in rural areas. The developing countries forums on recent technological advances and global in the eastern part of the globe accounting for more issues on implementation of POC technologies. The than 2/3rd of the world population face the basic conference provided a unique global networking challenge of providing minimal healthcare to all opportunity with leading researchers, students, people living in adverse geographical or economic medical and industry professionals, and policy constraints, and also monitoring critical diseases makers in innovative healthcare technologies.
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Biodiversity Informatics
19-20 January 2013, Bangalore
Principal investigators: Gladwin Joseph (Chakravarthy) Cynthia Sims Parr Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Encyclopedia of Life, National Museum of Environment (ATREE), Bangalore Natural History Email: [email protected] Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Email: [email protected]
Biodiversity informatics is an emerging and evolving discipline. The area is motivated by efforts at documenting, detailing and databasing all living organisms of the world. The subject has assumed increased importance with a concern for biodiversity conservation in the wake of clear indications of climate change, habitat loss and consequently loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity Informatics is a coming together of taxonomists, biologists and computer scientists for using the Internet to provide open leveraging information technology for biodiversity access to biodiversity information that will catalyze informatics. The goals of the workshop were the science of taxonomy and advance conservation. to undertake a survey of the state-of-the-art biodiversity initiatives in India and the United In order to bring the current biodiversity informatics States; to propose improved standards for species initiatives in India and exchange information with pages and species distributions for convergence those involved in advanced biodiversity informatics and exchange among diverse biodiversity portals; in the United States, an Indo-US Workshop titled to promote integration of diverse geospatial data “Biodiversity Informatics” was organized. The with species pages; and, to facilitate increased event focused on bringing taxonomists and citizen motivation and involvement in biodiversity technologists together to exchange views on informatics.
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Novel Tools and Themes in Vision Sciences
21-22 January 2013, Hyderabad, India
Principal Investigators: Subhabrata Chakrabarti Uday B. Kompella IL.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Email: [email protected] Campus, Aurora Email: [email protected]
Blindness affects around 20 million people in India forms of retinal blindness by gene therapy. Thus, it is and occurs due to various ocular malfunctions imperative for both these countries to jointly undertake caused by cataract, refractive errors, ocular infections, translational research in ophthalmology and vision corneal diseases, glaucoma and retinal diseases. care based on their respective resources and expertise. There is an increase in the prevalence of age-related Adequate efforts are required to take advantage of the and complex eye diseases both in India and the US bench-side discoveries for bedside applications from due to the changing demographics, senescence and innovative research in both these countries. life style factors. Studies on health economics have predicted alarmingly slow economic growths due to The Indo-US Workshop titled “Novel Tools and Themes the loss of valuable productive years of an individual in Vision Sciences” aimed towards creating long- impoverished by visual impairment and blindness. A lasting collaborations between the scientists, clinicians comprehensive management based on our current and young graduates and fellows across these nations understanding of the disease pathophysiology and for better eye-care management and applications therapeutics is a major challenge worldwide. There to eradicate blindness and visual impairment. The have been some remarkable success stories due event also helped foster interactions among the to the applications of stem cells and regenerative academia and industry for devising novel diagnostics medicine in ophthalmology, use of nanotechnology and therapeutic options and also to propagate public and very recently the restoration of vision in some awareness. Sustained Indo-US collaborative efforts and research innovation and excellence are ideal for identifying causes for complex eye diseases and developing novel diagnostic, preventive, and treatment strategies. This highly interactive symposium addressed four major themes and tools in vision sciences including “omics” of complex eye diseases, biology of the retina, nanoscience applications in ophthalmology, and vision neurosciences.
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Innovative Approaches and Technologies for Diabetes Prevention and Management
4-6 February 2013, New Delhi
Principal Investigators: Bela Shah Judith Fradkin Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and New Delhi Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Email: [email protected] National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda Email: [email protected]
Diabetes is a burgeoning global health problem that interest. The outcome of this workshop will be used to is straining the public health systems of developed develop a joint Funding Opportunity Announcement and developing nations. In India and the United (FOA) with funding from both the Indian Council States alone, tens of millions of people are suffering of Medical Research and the National Institute of every day from the scourge of this chronic disease Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. and its serious health complications, which include kidney failure, heart disease, adult-onset blindness, The opportunities for collaborative research and lower limb amputations. A significant number identified by participants included inviting Indo-US of affected individuals worldwide do not know research teams to investigate the impact of maternal they have the disease. In both nations, diabetes diabetes and/or nutrition on diabetes risk in progeny; is increasingly striking in younger age groups, the role of factors such as diet composition, stress, with potentially devastating implications for the and depression in development of diabetes; genetic health, well-being, and productivity of future differences affecting risk; population differences generations. Affordable and practical approaches in metabolism, fat deposition, and diabetes and technologies for preventing and managing the complications; similarities and differences between disease and its complications are urgently needed in native and US-based Indian populations in terms of both countries to reduce both the human toll and diabetes risk, onset, development, complications, high cost of care. intervention, and prevention; characteristics and epidemiology of youth onset diabetes in the An Indo-US workshop on “Innovative Approaches United States and India; challenges and strategies and Technologies for Diabetes Prevention and for effectively implementing behavioral changes Management” was organized to bring together that could prevent diabetes and/or improve researchers and funding officials from both countries outcomes; and, use of mobile technologies to assist to identify specific research needs and opportunities both patients and health care workers in diabetes in high priority diabetes research areas of joint management, especially in low resource settings.
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Electrocatalytic Materials for Fuel and Biofuel Cells
26-28 February 2013, Varanasi, India
Principal Investigators: V. Ganesan Shelley D. Minteer Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi University of Utah, Salt Lake Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
Electrocatalysis and bioelectrocatalysis are important process in fuel and biofuel cells respectively that are alternatives to conventional batteries. In order to discuss the latest developments in electrocatalysis and bioelectrocatalysis leading to fuel and biofuel cells, an Indo-US workshop on “Electrocatalytic Materials for Fuel and Biofuel Cells” was organized. This conference helped benefit Chemists in general, young researchers, teachers, industrialists and students in particular and who would like to begin research in this field.
The conference focused on the work of a galaxy of leading experts and researchers from the US and India through their deliberations and presentations in frontier areas of fuel and biofuel cell research, to review current status, highlight future challenges and possible commercialization of fuel and biofuel cells through industries. The workshop bridged the traditional core areas of electrochemical science and technology and interfaced these with materials, technological, biological, and other bio-energy devices.
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Molecular Imaging (68Ga PET) and Targeted Radionuclide Therapy: Preclinical Evaluation and Clinical Applications
27 February - 1 March 2013, Chandigarh, India
Principal Investigators: Baljinder Singh Michael K. Schultz Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, and Research, Chandigarh Iowa City Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The use of Ga-68 for molecular imaging of cancer and other diseases has witnessed a dramatic increase over the last decade as production technologies have improved and become attractive to individual site purchase and operation for diagnostic imaging agent production. The Indo-US symposium on “Molecular Imaging (68Ga PET) and Targeted Radionuclide Therapy: Preclinical Evaluation and Clinical Applications” aimed to offer a unique forum for high-level scientific discussions on the recent developments in the exciting field of Theranostics, where Ga-68 is playing an increasingly larger role in drug development. The recognition of the potential for Ga-68 imaging of There were 70 invited talks, 27 oral presentations targeted drug therapies has led to a common belief and 80 poster presentations. that these new compounds are leading the way to personalized medicine using molecular Imaging The scientific deliberations at the event indicated (SPECT/PET/CT) and targeted radionuclide therapy the challenge as being to combine advances in (beta and alpha emitters). radionuclide technologies with new discoveries of molecular target expression in cancer cells for The symposium organized by the Department of more precise delivery of therapies. The discoveries Nuclear Medicine & PET at the Postgraduate Institute presented in the meeting are the foundation for the of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), was next generation of molecular targets for selective targeted at chemists, physicians, and investigators delivery of radiation dose to tumor cells for diagnosis, dealing with generators, PET radiochemistry as well monitoring and selecting patients that can benefit as molecular imaging and radionuclide therapy. most from receptor-targeted radionuclide therapies.
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Nano-Structured Electronic Materials: Challenges & Relevance to Electronics & Energy Research
8-10 March 2013, Thrissur, India
Principal Investigators: Dinesh P. Amalnerkar V. Renugopalakrishnan Centre for Materials for Electronics Northeastern University, Boston Technology, Pune E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
With global energy use set to rise by 51% by 2035, renewable sources of energy and electronics are the only feasible way to create a secure energy future and future generation consumer electronics. Silicon is the cornerstone of most of the known technologies in the field of electronics and energy. The silicon semiconductor industry has charted an itinerary for itself for the next 5 years, which basically continues on the density and performance improvements of the past 50 years. Practical and/or fundamental limits are being approached and substantial changes to device technologies and structures are going to be required. A Challenges & Relevance to Electronics & Energy host of new materials are at the dawn of development Research” was to focus on Nano-scale Materials and show promise for their exploitation in these critical Challenges, with a special emphasize on electronics fields of energy and electronics. The tailoring of the and energy technologies beyond silicon. The event materials in the nano-scale regime for exploiting their provided a much needed platform for a wide exciting properties yet opens up major fundamental/ spectrum of researchers, academics, scientists, application oriented opportunities and challenges that engineers and industries to interact, exchange and need to be devoured, addressed and cracked. disseminate knowledge; and, arrive at a roadmap to counter the future technological challenges Hence the aim of the Indo-US workshop titled associated with modern electronics and energy “Nano-structured Electronic Materials: sector.
104 PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES: TRAINING PROGRAMS TRAINING PROGRAMS Advanced Modeling and Data Assimilation for Tropical Cyclone Predictions with Special Reference to the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) System
9-14 July 2012, Bhubaneshwar, India
Principal Investigator: U.C. Mohanty Sundararaman G. Gopalakrishnan Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi National Oceanic and Atmospheric Email: [email protected]; Administration, Miami [email protected] Email: [email protected]
S.K. Roy Bhowmik Frank Marks India Meteorological Department, New Delhi National Oceanic and Atmospheric Email: [email protected] Administration, Miami Email: [email protected]
In their November 2010 Joint Statement, Prime Minister Singh and President Obama renewed their commitment to the relationship between India and the United States as a defining partnership of the 21st Century. They identified weather and climate forecasting for agricultural production as a priority area for collaboration between the two countries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has since signed a bilateral agreement with India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) to improve tropical cyclone forecasting over the Indian seas. In order to share NOAA’s advanced understanding and developments and future advancements. This was forecasting techniques acquired in the last few years, followed by advanced training on research aspects an Indo-US workshop on “Advanced Modeling and of the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting Data Assimilation for Tropical Cyclone Predictions (HWRF), high-resolution regional modeling system with Special Reference to the Hurricane Weather currently used in USA for track, intensity and Research and Forecasting (HWRF)” system was structure predictions with a focus on the following organized. The first half of the workshop covered topics: Tropical Cyclone Inner Core Initialization various aspects of tropical cyclone research, and data assimilation issues over Indian seas; joint
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of state-of-the-art knowledge and prediction techniques immensely benefited not only the participants but also the resource persons from both the countries. Proceedings from this workshop have been published as a special monograph on Modeling and Data Assimilation for Tropical Cyclone Predictions, which will serve as a useful reference for students and researchers.
The outcome of this event has set the stage for extensive advancement in tropical cyclone development of a next generation research and prediction over Indian seas so as to reduce the operational system, including a HWRF coupled current track prediction errors by at least 20% by storm surge prediction system for tropical cyclone 2015. Further, present intensity and rainfall forecast prediction over the Indian seas and the subsequent skill of 3-days may be achieved in 5-days forecast flooding of land falling storms; and, impact by 2015. It should be noted that the state-of-the- analysis, risk and vulnerability assessment aspects art NOAA’s HWRF modeling system (atmospheric of tropical cyclones. component) is in use at IMD in a collaborative mode with the active participation of IIT Delhi The workshop accomplished the prime goal of scientists. It would be the basis for perusing the capacity building and infrastructure sharing under joint efforts among IMD, IIT Delhi and INCOIS and the NOAA-MoES agreement for weather ready USA counterparts to have a coupled HWRF system nations (US and India). In addition, the exchange for Indian seas in the future.
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CENTERS FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE & ENGINEERING Indo-US Centre for Research Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) on Fabrionics
Lead Partners: Amitabha Ghosh Marc Madou Bengal Engineering and Science University, University of California, Irvine Shibpur E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Other Partners: Shiv G. Kapoor Northwestern University, Illinois University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Illinois, Chicago E-mail: [email protected] University of Missouri, Columbia IIT- Kharagpur Ashutosh Sharma Central Mechanical Engineering Research IIT- Kanpur Institute, Durgapur E-mail: [email protected]
With the emerging capabilities and rapid progress in group by inducting new institutions to bring in a the fields of molecular engineering, micro and nano- multi-disciplinary expertise along with the active system technology, material science and computer involvement of industry and entrepreneurs required engineering, the ability to manufacture micro- and to translate the R&D outcome. Each year, two nano- sized devices and autonomous machines will workshops are organized – one in the US and one bring unprecedented changes in human society. The in India. Besides this, two lecture series for students challenges are primarily a result of the current trend for have also been arranged that will result in books miniaturization, development of new exotic nonmetallic published by Springer. New smart materials for materials and the lessons our scientists and engineers micro actuator, processes for micro forming and are learning from nature. Having identified and machining, different types of biosensors and some recognized this emerging new branch of technology advanced nano- structured materials have already through deliberations at the Indo-US Workshop on been developed. “Futuristic Shaping Technology at Meso, Micro and Nano Scales” held at IIT Kanpur in 2007, the participants The primary areas chosen for R&D project based work coined the term “Fabrionics” to connote this multi- by the CRESE in Fabrionics include: disciplinary facet of engineering sciences. • New strategies/approaches for Fabrionics Based on the collaborative research and development and shape generation through material work achieved under the umbrella of the earlier manipulation at meso, micro and nanoscales; IUSSTF supported Indo-US Joint Centre for • Fabrication at small scale using exotic materials- Advanced and Futuristic Manufacturing, a soft materials, bio materials, polymers, gels, consortium was formed through the signing of composites etc; an MoU by the five collaborating universities - IIT • Fabrication and use of carbon Kanpur; and IIT-Kharagpur from India along with the Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS)/ University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign; University Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); of California-Irvine; and the Northwestern University- • Generative manufacturing processes-direct Evanston from USA. Considering the outcome and metal deposit techniques for micro sized parts; achievements of the Joint Centre on Advanced • Shape generation by self assembly technique Manufacturing, IUSSTF awarded the Indo-US CRESE and self patterning; on Fabrionics in order to consolidate and continue • Micro fluidic-based micro devices; the collaboration for by intensifying the academic • AFM based technology for mRNA isolation and cooperation through enlarging the participating protein sequencing;
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• Smart material actuated micromechanism and conductivity reduction in metal-semiconductor micro devices; nanocomposites. Appl. Phys. Lett. • Protein motors for actuating autonomous nano (ii) Jana A, Ghosh S, Devi PS, Bandyopadhyay N.R, robots and manipulators; Klie R.F, Ghosh S, raja S.O, Dasgupta A.K (2013) • Micro machine tools and micro factories; Gold Nanoparticle Encapsulated Luminescent • Hybrid multi-scale process development; and Silicon Quantum Dots. ACS Nano. • Developing the curriculum for joint teaching (iii) Jana A, Ghosh S, Devi PS, Bandyopadhyay programs on “Fabrionics”. N.R, Ray M (2013) Unusual Charge Transport through Defect free n-ZnO Flower on Au coated Research projects awarded Macroporous p-Si. Appl. Phys. Lett. (iv) Ray M, Jana A, Ghanta U, Bandyopadhyay N.R, Consequent to the institution of the IUSSTF Hossain S.M (2013) Photoluminescence from supported joint center has led to the following Oxidized Macroporous Silicon: Nano-Ripples research projects getting funded to the respective and Strained Silicon Nanostructures. IEEE Trans. partnering groups: Device Mater. Rel 13:87-92. (v) Basu T.S, Ghosh S, Gierlotka S, Ray M (2013) (i) Characterization of µ-EDM (PI: J. Ramkumar, IIT, Collective Charge Transport in Semi conductor- Kanpur) funded by Department of Science and Metal Hybrid Nanocomposite. Appl. Phys. Lett. Technology, Govt. of India 102:053107. (ii) Development of multi-purpose micromachine (vi) Rishikant, Singh. H, Nayak M., Bhattacharya tools for milling and EDM (PI: Naga Hanumaiah, S (2012) Optimization of a novel peristaltic CMERI) funded by the Council of Scientific and micro-pump design with enhanced discharge Industrial Research, Govt. of India capabilities and reduced reverse fluid delivery. (iii) Magnetic field -assisted material removal in Microsystems Technology. micro electric discharge machining process (vii) Singh. H, Nayak M., Rishikant, Singh R.K., Singh (PI: S.G. Kapoor in collaboration with IIT, Kanpur D, Gurunath R, Bhattacharya S. (2012) Integrated and CMERI) funded by NSF for 3 years (2010- Dielectrophoretic preconcentration, sorting and 2013; $375,000.00) q-PCR based identification of micro-organisms (iv) Laser-induced plasma micro-machining (PI: K.F. in a single silicon microchip. Submitted to Lab Ehmann in collaboration with CMERI and IIT, on Chip. Kapur) funded by NSF for 3 years (2010 - 2013; (viii) Mandal A, Ray M, Rajapaksa I, Mukherjee $411,808.00) S and Datta A (2012) Xylene capped luminescent Silicon Nanocrystals: Evidence of Patents filed Supramolecular Bonding J. Phys. Chem 116, 14644-14649. (i) Ghubade A., Mandal S., Chaudhury R., Singh R.K., (ix) Sharma S, Sharma A, Cho Y K, Masou M, (2012) Singh D., Gurunath R. and Bhattacharya S. Title Increased graphitization in electrospun single of the invention: Integrated di-electrophoresis suspended carbon nanowires integrated with based concentration of pathogenic bacteria and carbon-MEMS and carbon-NEMS platforms. ACS quantization using ImageJ. Applied Materials & Interfaces. (ii) Singh R.K., Basu B. and Bhattacharya S. Title (x) Maitra T, Sharma S, Srivastava A, Cho Y-K, Madou of the invention: A novel 2/3-Dimensional M, Sharma A(2012) Improved graphitization Soft-lithography technique to formulate micro- and electrical conductivity of suspended carbon channels and evaluation of various associated nanofibres derived from carbon nanotube/ mechanical and biological phenomena. polyacrylonitrile composites by directed electrospinning. Carbon 50:1753-1761. As an outcome of the Centre activities the following (xi) Raan A, Kulkarni M, Karim A, Sharma A(2012) research publications have been generated in the Diblock copolymer lamellae on sinusoidal and year 2012-13: fractal surfaces. J. Chem Phys. 136:094903. (xii) Kulkarni M.M, Yager K, Sharma A, Karin A (2012) (i) Basu T.S, Ghosh S, Thiagarajan S.J, Yang R, Combinatorial copolymer ordering on tunable Gierlotka S, Ray M (2013) Remarkable thermal rough substrates. Macromolecules.
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Indo-US Centre for Research Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) on Advanced Materials Research
Lead Partners: Other Partners: Swapan K. Pati Vinayak P. Dravid Indian Institute of Science, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Northwestern University, Bangalore Advanced Scientific Research, Evanston, Illinois Argonne National Laboratory, Bangalore E-mail: v-dravid@ Illinois E-mail: [email protected] northwestern.edu
With a continued push for miniaturization and to students and faculty exchanges, this project period the impending roadblock of fundamental physics included a vibrant and interactive joint workshop constraints on the current silicon technology between Indian and US counterparts on “Advanced paradigm, there is an urgent need to diversify and and Nano-Structured Materials” that was held during enhance the back-bone technologies for the 21st January 21-22, 2013. The partnering institutes are century. This would require not only innovation in identifying more ambitious problems that cannot electronics but also in information storage, transfer be solved by one counterpart alone. Additionally, and display to create science-enabled sustainable incentives and ideas are thought upon to encourage growth of a globally viable “eco-system” for developed young researchers from NU to visit JNCASR for longer and developing economies. Innovations in quantum duration by identifying the value added. materials/phenomena are critical to replace and/or complement existing architecture. Research publications generated in 2012-13 The Center for Advanced Materials Research (i) Vivekchand, S.R.C, Engel C.J, Lubin S.M, Blaber (CAMR) has been anchored by the respective M.G, Suh J.Y, Zhou W, Schatz G.C, Odom institutions’ leadership in materials research, T.W (2012) Liquid Plasmonics-Manipulating, leveraged by established grass-root collaborations Surface Plasmon Polaritons via Phase Transitions. and cross-institutional bridge-building. The areas of Nanoletters 12:4324-4328. collaboration being carried out cover broad emerging (ii) Blaber M.G, Engel C.J, Vivekchand, S.R.C, Lubin materials critical for advancing next generation S.M, Odom T.W , Schatz G.C,(2012) Eutectic Liquid information technology and include nanomaterials, alloys for Plasmonics: Theory and Experiment soft matter, molecular electronics, structure- property Nanoletters 12:5275-5280. relationships and computational modeling. The areas (iii) Raidongia K, Huang J (2012) Nanofluid Ion being studied are timely and have considerable Transport through Reconstructed Layered potential for both advances in fundamental research Materials Journal of American Chemical Society as well as technological applications. 134:16528-16531. (iv) Dattatray J.L., Liu B., Ramakrishna Matte The objectives of the CRESE include the establishment H.S.S., Rao C. N. R. and Dravid V.P. (2012) of grass-root collaborations and cross institutional Rapid characterization of ultra-thin layers of bridge – building initiatives as well as out-of-the chalcogenides on SiO2/Si substrate. Advanced box cyber enabled global education, training and Functional Materials, 22: 1894-1905. outreach Programs. The centre also promotes the (v) Dattatray J.L., Liu B., Ramakrishna Matte H.S.S., exchange of graduate students, post doctoral fellows Dravid V.P. and Rao C.N.R. (2012) Hysteresis in and faculty members between partnering institutions. single-layer MoS2 field effect transistors. ACS Nano, DOI: 10.1021/nn301572c. The project period witnessed enhanced joint activities (vi) Dattatray J.L., Liu B., Liu J., Yan A., Matte between JNCASR (and IISc) and Northwestern H.S.S.R., Grayson M., Rao C.N.R. and Dravid University with ANL representation. These activities V.P. (2012) GaS and GaSe ultrathin layer have positioned the Joint Center for tangible output transistors. Advanced Materials, DOI: adma. and scholarly initiatives. The focus of research has 201201361. been in three areas in nano-materials; transport in 2D nano materials including grapheme, MoS2 , GaS, As part of the visitations under the CRESE, five GaSe and Bi2 Te3 and their applications in transistors, scientists from India visited their collaborators in nano plasmonics and nano-lithography. In addition the US institution. 109 ANNUAL REPORT - INDO-US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FORUM
Indo-US Centre for Research Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) on Nanobiotechnology
Lead Partners: Other Partners: K. VijayRaghavan Shiladitya Sengupta & Harvard-MIT Division of HST, National Center for Biological Jeff Karp Cambridge Sciences, Bangalore Harvard Medical School, E-mail: [email protected] Brigham and Women’s InStem, Bangalore Hospital, Cambridge, MA E-mail: [email protected] & Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for [email protected] Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
Two emerging areas that will dramatically impact which holds the key for regenerative medicine medical sciences in the future are stem cell critical for the management of conditions such as biology and nanotechnology. Although, these ischaemic heart diseases, peripheral artery diseases two areas are already intersecting, the interface and diabetic sores. Furthermore, nanostructures between these areas offers an untapped niche that promote the process can be engineered as for scientific exploration and inventions that will scaffolds that can be harnessed as therapeutics in the revolutionize translational medicine. This Centre for above conditions. In contrast, nanostructures that Research Excellence in Science and Engineering on are engineered to inhibit the process could evolve nanobiotechnology brings together the strengths of as potential therapy for pathological conditions groups at the National Centre for Biological Sciences characterized by overt neovascularization, including (NCBS), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced cancer, diabetic retinopathy and rheumatoid Scientific Research (JNCASR) and InStem and the arthritis. core expertise of Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology in material sciences and The collaboration between the partners brings nanotechnology. together scientists from a multidisciplinary background, where chemical engineers, The Joint Centre has three major goals: polymer chemists, material scientists, and nanotechnologists work closely with molecular (i) Development of a strong research program and cell biologists. It is anticipated that this elucidating the role of nanostructures in stem exchange of knowledge would enable the cell biology in the vascular context; development of expertise on both continents. (ii) Development of a strong training component Furthermore, annual training programs would be and exchange program; and conducted at NCBS on tools and technologies in (iii) Aggressive pursuit of translation of technology the area of bio-nanotechnology, which would be developed by promoting an entrepreneurial open to scientists across India. culture and partnerships with the industry. Three active research projects have already been Specifically as the research component, the focus is initiated by the binational team are: on the mechanistics underlying the recruitment and differentiation of stems cells into vascular structures, (i) Heparan Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans (HSGAGs) in and the development of novel nanostructures human ES cell differentiation into cardiovascular that can perturb this process. This will enable the lineages (Shiladitya Sengupta, Harvard-MIT and understanding of the process of vasculogenesis, Maneesha Inamdar, JNCASR); and
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(ii) Mechano-biology of the stem cell niche and the Research publications generated: control of quiescence (Jeff Karp, Harvard-MIT and Jyotsna Dhawan, InStem) (i) Sinha Roy R., Soni S., Harfouche R., Vasudevan (iii) Harnessing the human mesenchymal stem cell P.R., Holmes O., de Jonge H., Rowe A., (hmsc) secretome for cardiovascular regeneration Paraskar A., Hentschel D.M., Chirgadze D., using bioengineering strategies (Sudhir H. Blundell T.L., Gherardi E., Mashelkar R.A. and Ranganath, JNCASR, Maneesha Inamdar, Sengupta S (August 2010) Coupling growth- JNCASR and Jeffrey M. Karp, Harvard-MIT). factor engineering with nanotechnology for therapeutic angiogenesis. Proceedings As part of the CRESE activities, several exchange of the National Academy of Sciences USA, visits have been undertaken. Jeff Karp visited NCBS/ 107(31):13608-13 InStem in November 2010 and in March 2011 and (ii) Paraskar A.S., Soni S., Chin K.T., Chaudhuri P., participated in scientific discussions. Shiladitya Muto K.W., Berkowitz J., Handlogten M.W., Sengupta visited NCBS/InStem in March 2011. R.A. Alves N.J., Bilgicer B., Dinulescu D.M., Mashelkar Mashelkar visited Shiladitya Sengupta’s laboratory R.A. and Sengupta S. (July 2010) Harnessing in October 2010. structure-activity relationship to engineer a cisplatin nanoparticle for enhanced antitumor Abhijit Majumdar was recruited in the joint project efficacy. Proceedings of the National Academy between the Dhawan and Karp labs in 2010 and of Sciences USA, 107(28):12435-40. has made substantial progress on generating micro-patterned surfaces for growth and induction Patents granted/filed: of quiescence of mesenchymal stem cells. Sudhir Ranganath was recruited in the joint projects (i) Paraskar A., Soni S., Basu S., Sengupta P. and between the Karp and Inamdar labs in August 2010 Sengupta S. Platinum nanoparticles and and has made substantial progress in establishing methods of use thereof. PCT/US10/23217. conditions for study of the hMSC secretome. Currently being licensed to Invictus Oncology, New Delhi by BWH. Also as part of the CRESE activities, the second (ii) Sinha-Roy R., Soni S., Harfouche R. and Sengupta meeting of the Boston-Bangalore Bioengineering S. 1K1 nanoparticles for angiogenesis. PCT filed Initiative was held from 07-08 November 2010 at by BWH. This patent has been licensed to Vyome Bangalore to spearhead a discussion between Biosciences, New Delhi. engineers, physicists, chemists, materials science experts and biologists.
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Indo-US Center for Research Excellence in Science and Engineering (CRESE) on Nanomaterials for Energy
Lead Partners: G.U. Kulkarni Timothy S. Fisher Sunil Murthy Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Purdue University, Indiana GE India Technology Centre, Advance Scientific Research, E-mail: [email protected] Bangalore Bangalore E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
The India-US Center for Research Excellence in (iii) Light Scattering Science and Engineering (CRESE) on Nanomaterials Faculty participants: C Narayana (JNCASR), for energy is a collaborative effort between the Arvind Raman & Faculty participants: G.U. Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Kulkarni (JNCASR), Ronald G Reifenberger Research (JNCASR, Bangalore, India) and Purdue’s (Purdue) Birck Nanotechnology Center (West Lafayette, IN USA) with General Electric’s John F. Welch India (iv) Thermal transport in Nanostructures Technology Center (Bangalore, India). To begin with, Faculty participants: U.V. Waghmare (JNCASR), a Joint Networked Center on Nanomaterials was Timothy Fisher (Purdue) developed through an IUSSTF-sponsored bi-lateral workshop in Bangalore during August 2008 (http:// (v) Diagnostics at point of care with a cell phone www.nanohub.org/resources/5514) and draws from camera the synergistic expertise in physics and chemistry Faculty participants: G.U. Kulkarni (JNCASR), of materials at JNCASR with that of nanofabrication Ronald G Reifenberger (Purdue) and engineering at Purdue. The Center seeks to find new ways of exploiting the unique properties and (vi) Evaluation of TCE electrode by pattern recognition characteristics of nanomaterials in a broad range of using fourier transform energy-related applications. Faculty participants: G.U. Kulkarni (JNCASR), Ronald G Reifenberger (Purdue) The establishment of this center enabled new synergies among the partners, leading to many (vii) Patterning of Grapherne petals for tangible outcomes, including the following ongoing microsupercapacitor application technical activities: Faculty participants: G.U. Kulkarni (JNCASR), Ronald G Reifenberger (Purdue) and Timothy (i) Mechanical stability of packing configurations of Fisher (Purdue) polyhedral particles Faculty participants: Timothy Fisher (Purdue), (viii) Photo-thermionic emission from GaN nanowal Mehboob Alam (JNCASR) networks Faculty participants: S.M. Shivaprasad (JNCASR), (ii) Quantum Transport in Nanostructures Tim Sands & Tim Fisher (Purdue) Faculty participants: N.S. Vidhyadhiraja (JNCASR), Erica Carlson (Purdue), Timothy Fisher (Purdue)
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The Joint Centre has led to extended interactions Research publications generated in 2011- with other institutions with and outside of India 12(None published in the year 2012-13) such as University College London (UCL), Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Tribhuvan University (i) Kurra N., Prakash G., Basavaraja S., Fisher T.S., - The University of Nepal, USAF, Res Lab, Thermal Kulkarni G.U. and Reifenberger R.G. (2011) Charge Sci & Mat Branch USA, Indian Institutes of Science storage in mesoscopic graphitic islands fabricated Education and Research, Trivandrum, Georgia using AFM bias lithography. Nanotechnology, 22: Institute of Technology, USA. The center is halfway 245302 in developing a formalism and a computer program that calculates thermal transport through a nano- (ii) Hodson S.L., Bhuvana T., Cola B.A., Xu X.F., channel bridging two distinct electrodes from the Kulkarni G.U. and Fisher T.S. (2011) Palladium knowledge of eigenspectrum of the whole system thiolate bonding of carbon nanotube thermal treated as a periodic system, in a way equivalent to interfaces. Journal of Electronic Packaging the non-equilibrium Green function (NEGF) scheme. 133(2): 020907
Research projects awarded (iii) Smith K.C., Fisher T.S. and Alam M. (2011) Isostaticity of constraints in amorphous jammed Consequent to the institution of the IUSSTF systems of soft frictionless platonic solids. Physical supported joint center has led to the following Review E 84(3) Article Number: 030301 research projects getting funded to the respective partnering groups: (iv) Saha B., Sands T.D. and Waghmare U.V. (2011) First-principles analysis of ZrN/ScN metal/ (i) First-principles modeling and simulations of semiconductor superlattices for thermoelectric thermal properties of hexagonal nanomaterials energy conversion. Journal of Applied Physics (PI: U.V. Waghmare ; Co PI: Timothy Fisher and A. 109(8) Article Number: 083717 Voevodin) funded by Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)/ Asian Office of Aerospace (v) Saha B., Sands T.D. and Waghmare U.V. (2011) Research and Development (AOARD) Electronic structure, vibrational spectrum, and thermal properties of yttrium nitride: A first- (ii) Nano thermal interface material development (PI: principles study. Journal of Applied Physics 109(7) Timothy Fisher) funded by Defense Advanced Article Number: 073720 Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (vi) Rout C.S., Kumar A., Kumar N., Sundaresan A. and Fisher T.S. (2011) Room-temperature ferromagnetism in graphitic petal arrays. Nanoscale 3(3): 900-903
113 ANNUAL REPORT - INDO-US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FORUM JOINT NETWORKED CENTERS
Indo-US Joint Center for Rational Control of Functional Oxides
Lead Partners: Other Partners: D.D. Sarma Priya Mahadevan Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore S.N.Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Email: [email protected] Kolkata Email: [email protected] Andrew J. Millis Columbia University, New York Jak Chakhalian Email: [email protected] University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Email: [email protected]
John Freeland Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago Email: [email protected]
The aim of the Networked Joint Center for Rational control of functional oxides is to integrate materials synthesis, physical measurement and theoretical analysis to demonstrate new modalities for rational design and control of electronic functionalities in transition metal oxide-based materials. The specific objectives were the innovative synthesis of designer materials, detailed investigation of their physical properties as well as spectroscopic investigations to obtain microscopic information on their electronic and magnetic properties, materials can already be grown in ultra-thin-film and theoretical modeling at several levels. The Center form, the negative charge transfer materials have addressed the grand challenge of rationally designing not yet been successfully grown in this way. and controlling these phenomena by: With respect to the objectives of the Joint Center,thin • Combining synthesis of materials in bulk and films of YTiO3 have been grown on SrTiO3 substrates. atomic precision layer-by-layer growth to produce These films have been found to be ferromagnetic new materials to be studied by state-of-the-art above a thickness of 5 monolayers. These are now transport and spectroscopic measurements and being examined both experimentally as well as with forefront theoretical techniques. theoretically if there is a polar catastrophe at the • Studying the dependence of the metal-insulator interface resulting in a spin-polarized electron gas. transition on film thickness and epitaxial Sandwich structures of EuNiO3 have been grown on constraints with the goal of fabricating and SrTiO3 substrates and these have properties very optimizing electric-field and strain controlled different from the bulk films of EuNiO3. An EXAFS metal insulator transitions, and the negative study of these films is now being carried out to probe charge transfer energy compounds Sr/ the changes in the local structure.
Ca2CuO3 which exhibit novel insulating phases incompatible with existing theoretical paradigms. As a result of the Joint collaboration, several research • Detailed study of the negative charge transfer publications are expected in the near future. This cuprate materials, which is being studied in Joint Center has thus far facilitated 4 US Faculty visits parallel with the nickelates. Whereas the nickelate to India and 1 Indian faculty visit to the US partner.
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Indo-US Joint Center for Optometry and Ophthalmology
Lead Partners: Other Partners: R. Krishna Kumar K. Barun Nayak Shrikant Bharadwaj Sankara Nethralaya Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Kallam Medical Research Email:[email protected] Anji Reddy Campus, Hyderabad Foundation, Chennai Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Abha Shroff Shroff Eye Hospital, Mumbai Louis B. Cantor P. Sarita Soni Email: [email protected] Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Indiana University, Institute, Indianapolis Bloomington Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]
The Joint Center on Optometry and ophthalmology aims at building mutual understanding of the current practice of optometry and ophthalmology in India and the United States. Under the aegis of this knowledge center, American faculty and residents learn about eye care in India, differing mechanisms for delivering care, and the variety of eye diseases present. Indian physicians and optometrists are exposed to the American practice of optometry, eye care, and research and collaboration on eye care and vision research. Over the longer term, the program US and Indian eye-care providers and vision will build relationships that will strengthen eye care scientists. and vision research in both countries. • Developing a long-term relationship for exchange of ideas on clinical care and vision research. The objectives of this Joint Center are: • Developing collaborative research programs that span from basic to clinical and community. • Developing an understanding of the level of training and scope of practice of US optometrists. Four Indian eye care professionals from four different • Developing an understanding of the level institutions, two US Faculty and two US optometry of training and scope of practice of Indian residents have travelled to partner institutions as ophthalmologists and optometrists. part of the Joint Center activities. The possible areas • Providing an opportunity for beneficial exchange for collaborations include infant development, visual to enhance clinical training and research acuity measurements, adaptive optics and contact opportunities and relationship-building between lens.
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Indo-US Joint Center for Advanced Research in Machine Learning, Game Theory, and Optimization
Lead Partners: Other Partners: Shivani Agarwal Chiranjib Bhattacharyya Devavrat Shah Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Bangalore Bangalore Technology, Boston Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Ravindran Kannan David Parkes Microsoft Research India Harvard University, Boston Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Avrim Blum Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Email: [email protected]
In today’s knowledge economy, leadership positions will be occupied by countries that can handle and analyze the deluge of data that is being generated in almost every field and can transform this data into meaningful scientific conclusions. Machine learning, game theory, and optimization are three fields that are critical for analyzing and understanding large-scale data and complex systems. While each field has been studied and developed separately over the last several decades, the future lies at the intersection of these three fields, hence creating an in Ranking Methods in Machine Learning (Principal urgent need to develop capacity at the interface. To Investigator: Shivani Agarwal)” by Department of this end, this workshop, “Indo-US Joint Center for Science and Technology, Government of India. Advanced Research in Machine Learning, Game Theory, and Optimization” brings together core Papers published strengths in the fields of machine learning, game theory and optimization at the Indian Institute • Maria-Florina Balcan, Avrim Blum, and Yishay of Science, Microsoft Research India, Harvard, Mansour.(2013) Exploiting Ontology Structures Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie and Unlabeled Data for Learning. International Mellon University in order to facilitate the highest Conference on Machine Learning (ICML). quality research at the interface of these disciplines, • Avrim Blum, Anupam Gupta, Ariel Procaccia, and and to help define the techniques that will be used Ankit Sharma.(2013) Harnessing the Power of Two to analyze data in the future. The objective of the Crossmatches. ACM Conference on Electronic Joint Center is to facilitate high quality research Commerce (EC). at the interface of machine learning, game theory • Jeremiah Blocki, Avrim Blum, Anupam Datta, and optimization, and to help establish long-term and Or Sheffet.(2013) Differentially Private collaborations between Indian and US institutions Data Analysis of Social Networks via Restricted in these disciplines. Sensitivity. Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science (ITCS). Research projects awarded • Liu Yang, Avrim Blum and Jaime Carbonell. (2013) Learnability of DNF with Representation-Specific The institution of the IUSSTF-supported Joint Center Queries. Innovations in Theoretical Computer has led to the funding of a Project titled “New Directions Science (ITCS).
116 PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES: JOINT NETWORKED CENTERS
• Harikrishna Narasimhan and Shivani Agarwal • Jeremiah Blocki, Avrim Blum, Anupam Datta, (2013) A structural SVM based approach for and Or Sheffet (2012) The Johnson-Lindenstrauss optimizing partial AUC. Proceedings of the 30th transform itself preserves differential privacy. IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (ICML). (FOCS). • Aditya K. Menon, Harikrishna Narasimhan, Shivani • Pranjal Awasthi, Avrim Blum, Jamie Morgenstern, Agarwal and Sanjay Chawla (2013) The statistical and Or Sheffet.(2012)Additive Approximation for consistency of algorithms for binary classification Near-perfect Phylogeny Construction. International under class imbalance . Proceedings of the 30th Workshop on Approximation Algorithms International Conference on Machine Learning (APPROX). (ICML). • Maria-Florina Balcan, Avrim Blum, Shai Fine, and • Shivani Agarwal (2013) Surrogate regret bounds Yishay Mansour. (2012) Distributed Learning, for the area under the ROC curve via strongly Communication Complexity, and Privacy. proper losses. Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Learning Theory (COLT). Conference on Learning Theory (COLT). • Harish G. Ramaswamy and Shivani Agarwal (2012) • Harikrishna Narasimhan and Shivani Agarwal. Classification calibration dimension for general (2013) SVM_pAUC^tight: A new support vector multiclass losses. Advances in Neural Information method for optimizing partial AUC based on a tight Processing Systems (NIPS). convex upper bound. Proceedings of the 19th ACM • Paul Duetting, Felix Fischer, Pichayut Jirapinyo, SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and John K. Lai, Benjamin Lubin, and David C. Parkes Data Mining (KDD). (2012) Payment Rules through Discriminant- • Jens Witkowski and David C. Parkes. (2013) Based Classifiers. Proceedings of the 13th ACM Learning the Prior in Minimal Peer Prediction. Conference on Electronic Commerce (EC). Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Social • Hossein Azari Soufiani, David C. Parkes, and Computing and User Generated Content. Lirong Xia (2012) Random Utility Theory for • Hossein Azari Soufiani, David C. Parkes, and Social Choice. Advances in Neural Information Lirong Xia. (2013) Preference Elicitation For Processing Systems (NIPS). General Random Utility Models. Proceedings of • Benjamin Lubin and David C. Parkes (2012) the 29th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Approximate strategyproofness. Current Science Intelligence (UAI). 103:1021-1032. • David C. Parkes and Ariel D. Procaccia.(2013) • S. Negahban, S. Oh and D. Shah.(2012) Iterative Dynamic Social Choice with Evolving Preferences. ranking using pair-wise comparison. Advances in Proceedings of the Twenty-Seventh AAAI Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS). Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). • V Jethava, A Martinsson, C Bhattacharyya, DP • M Das, S Bhattacharya, C Bhattacharyya, G Dubhashi (2012) The Lovasz Theta function, Kanchi(2013) Subtle Topic Models and Discovering SVMs and finding large dense subgraphs. Subtly Manifested Software Concerns Automatically. Advances in Neural Information Processing Proceedings of the 30th International Conference Systems (NIPS). on Machine Learning (ICML). • A Ben-Tal, S Bhadra, C Bhattacharyya, A Nemirovski • Maria-Florina Balcan, Eric Blais, Avrim Blum, and Liu (2012) Efficient Methods for Robust Classification Yang. (2012) Active Property Testing. IEEE Symposium Under Uncertainty in Kernel Matrices. Journal of on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS). Machine Learning Research 13:2923-2954.
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Indo-US Joint Center on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Lead Partners: Other Partners: Vineet Ahuja Subrat K. Acharya Veena Tiwari All India Institute of Medical All India Institute of Medical All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Sciences, New Delhi Sciences, New Delhi Email: [email protected] Email: Email: [email protected] [email protected] Vijay Kuchroo Harvard Medical School, Narinder K. Mehra Amit Awasthi Boston All India Institute of Medical Translational Health Science Email: [email protected] Sciences, New Delhi and Technology Institute, Email: [email protected] Gurgaon, India Email: [email protected] Govind K. Makharia All India Institute of Medical Vijay Yajnik Sciences, New Delhi Massachusetts General Email: Hospital, Harvard Medical [email protected] School, Boston Email: [email protected] V. Pratap Mouli All India Institute of Medical Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan Sciences, New Delhi Massachusetts General Email: Hospital, Boston [email protected] Email: aananthakrishnan@ partners.org Hanish Sharma All India Institute of Medical Matthew Meyerson Sciences, New Delhi Board Institute of Harvard and Email: MIT, Cambridge [email protected] Email: mattew_meyerson@ dfci.harvard.edu
Inflammatory bowel diseases or IBD (ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease) are chronic lifelong debilitating diseases with a definite morbidity and mortality rate. IBD in India has certain perplexing perspectives and simplifying those phenomenon may contribute to the global knowledge of IBD. Indians have the highest incidence of IBD in the Asia Pacific region. The current incidence rates of ulcerative colitis in India suggest that in another decade 1 million new cases of IBD will be added In addition, children born of Asian Indian parents to the already existing burden of this disease. This who are raised in environmentally hygienic Western suggests that in another 10-15 years India will societies appear to be highly prone to two diseases, have the largest number of IBD cases in the world. ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
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The vision of the Joint Center on Inflammatory • Smoking and oral tobacco as an epidemiological Bowel Diseases was to bring together diverse research factor for IBD. groups to enhance translational research by inventing • Pathogen sensing in granulomas of Crohn’s novel diagnostic and decision support techniques for disease. intestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel disease and • Resource nurturing by holding a symposium on intestinal tuberculosis. The center envisions a human basic immunology. translational immunology program for inflammatory • Capacity building of the trained manpower bowel diseases and intestinal tuberculosis. The basic involved in these experiments so that their immunological research using mice model of diseases respective expertise can be used as a model are complemented with human clinical samples. for elucidating translational immunological perspectives. The major objectives of the Center are: The Centre also organized a two day GI • Genome wide gene expression analysis for target Immunology Symposium titled “Bridging the genes to differentiate patients with Intestinal Clinician-Scientist Gap” on 12-13 Jan 2013 at tuberculosis and Crohn’s disease. Gurgaon. The meeting was a joint initiative of • Defining the Tim3 –Gal9 interaction in human the Department of Gastroenterology, All India colonic tissue and evaluating if Tim3 and Institute of Medical Sciences and Harvard Medical Gal9 represent novel cell surface targets to School. The meeting provided young faculty and modulate antimicrobial immunity and control clinical and research fellows in gastroenterology mycobacterial infection in the intestine. a firsthand exposure to the fast converging field • Cytokine signatures of inflammatory micro- of gastrointestinal immunology. It included 170 domains in patients with Crohn’s disease and delegates comprising of basic scientists and GI Intestinal tuberculosis with respect to Th1 and Clinicians. Five international faculty attended Th17 effector sets. the meeting.
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Indo US Joint Center on Thin-films and Nanostructured Emerging Coating Technologies
Lead Partners: Other Partners: G.D. Yadav Tapan K. Rout Michael Chu Institute of Chemical Tata Steel Group R&D, TAM Ceremics, New York Technology, Mumbai. Jamshedpur Email: mchu@tamceramics. Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] net
Sarbajit Banerjee University at Buffalo, New York Email: [email protected]
The Indo-US Joint R&D Network Center on Thin-films and Nanostructured Emerging Coating Technologies studies scalable methods for preparation of nanostructured materials and attempts to identify and design nanostructured materials that can be composited with polymer matrices to yield corrosion-resistant multifunctional coatings. Substantial progress has been made to meet the objectives. Particular emphasis has been laid on incorporating appropriate organic additives and to functionalize the polymeric framework coating formulations based on nanostructured Mg to impart UV-resistant properties. Specifically, particles. the organic material, 8- hydroxyquinoline was utilized to obtain self-curing and UV protection Under the aegis of the Joint Center, two eminent properties. Coating methods based on layer-by-layer US faculty visited the Indian partner institution assembly of self-curing anticorrosive components and delivered lectures entitled “Some Adventures poly(ethyleneimine), poly(methyl styrene), and in Nanomaterials” and “Integrated Energy Storage 8-hydroxyquinoline on metal surfaces, have been Solutions on Steel”. The visit allowed for several developed . Green and sustainable coating methods meetings with leading researchers from both India have been developed by emphasizing water and the United States. Additionally, the Indian PI soluble acrylic based polymers with incorporated visited US Partnering Institutions and delivered a nanostructured materials within the coating lecture entitled “Science & engineering of pores, formulations. The center continues to make particles and interfaces in development of green excellent progress towards developing composite process”.
120 Notes Contact Points Notes
Rajiv Sharma R. Varadarajan Executive Director Controller (F&A) Indo-US Science and Technology Forum Indo-US Science and Technology Forum Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road New Delhi 110 001, India New Delhi 110 001, India E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Michael Cheetham Smriti Trikha Director Senior Science Manager India Science and Technology Partnership (INSTP) Indo-US Science and Technology Forum American Association for the Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road Advancement of Science New Delhi 110 001, India 1200 New York Avenue NW E-mail: [email protected] Washington, DC 20005, USA E-mail: [email protected]
Blair Parks Hall, Jr. Nishritha Bopana Minister Counselor Science Officer Economic, Environment and Science Affairs Indo-US Science and Technology Forum Embassy of the United States of America Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri New Delhi 110 001, India New Delhi 110021, India E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Indo-US S&T Forum Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) Fulbright House, 12 Hailey Road New Delhi 110 001, India Phone: 91-11-42691700 Fax: 91-11-23321552 http://www.indousstf.org