the khorana program giving wings to talent · changing solutions to recalcitrant social problems....

Indo-US Science and Technolongy Forum

The Khorana Program

Giving wings to talent

Volume 4 (1) | May 2012

Indo-US Science & Technology Forum

Newsletter of IUSSTF

cover story

04Khorana Program

Giving wings to talent

report

12Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

Ideating for the future

16Intraplate Earthquakes

Testing the tremors

feature

20Science Across Virutal Institutes

The power of Collaboration

24Air Pollution and the Taj Mahal

A hazy story

26Sun-Based Electric Power

Harnessing the rays

30Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center

The Next Step

news and events32 Events Diary

C O N T E N T S

5

25

16

2 Connect • May 2012Connect • May 2012

20

Editor-in-ChiefRajiv SharmaExecutive Director, IUSSTF

EditorManoj DabasAravali Foundation for Education

Editorial Advisory GroupMichael CheethamDirector, India Science and Technology Partnership (INSTP)

Debapriya DuttaCounselor for S&T, Indian Embassy Washington DC

Mark TemplerScience and Technology OfficerEnvironment, Science and Technology SectionU. S. Embassy New Delhi

Smriti TrikhaSr. Science Manager, IUSSTF

Nishritha BopanaScience Officer, IUSSTF (Member Convener)

Copy Desk:Pramod Kr. Jha

Opinions:Opinions expressed in Connect do not necessarily reflect the opinion of IUSSTF or other organizations associated with publication of Connect.

Comments and Suggestions:Please email the Connect Team at [email protected]

Designed, Produced and Circulated by:Aravali Foundation for Education Communication & Outreach DivisionAravali House, 431/D-22Chhatarpur Hills New Delhi-110074, India

Cover Picture : Prof. Har Gobind Khorana with the 2009 batch of Khorana Scholars

Picture Courtesy : Aseem Ansari, UW-Modison

Published and Printed by:Nishritha Bopana on behalf of Indo-US S&T Forum from Fulbright House 12 Hailey Road, New Delhi - 110 001. Printed at Anand Print & Pack 106, DSIDC, Scheme-I, Phase-II Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi-110020

One of the objectives of the Indo-US S&T Forum (IUSSTF) is to forge public-private partnership to foster innovation and enterprise through academia-industry connect programs. As our readers would already know, in 2011 IUSSTF was entrusted with the responsibility of administering and implementing two major strategic Indo-US initiatives in this direction - the US-India Science & Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) and the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research & Development Centre (JCERDC). I am happy to inform you that we have completed the review process and

have successfully announced the awardees under both initiatives which we have shared with you in this edition of Connect. I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the experts from US and India for their support in reviewing and selection of these proposals.Further, the second call for proposals under the USISTEF also received an overwhelming response from US-India bi-national teams and the reviewing process is currently underway to select the best S&T led innovation projects leading to commercialization for societal benefits. A pre-announcement call for the next cycle is placed in this issue of Connect for the information of our stakeholders.For our cover-story in this edition, we have chosen to highlight the immense success of one of our visitation programs – the Khorana Program. This program was originally devised as a tripartite partnership between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and IUSSTF in order to promote research and capacity building in frontline areas of biotechnology through Indo-US cooperation. Keeping in mind the success of the program thus far w.r.t. building long-term sustainable R & D linkages and collaborations, and encouraging post-graduate students to take up research as a career; we approached DBT with a proposal to expand the Khorana Program in order to enable a larger number of students to gain a transformative international experience. This was also particularly pertinent due to the large pool of quality applicants available for the program each year. DBT agreed to support this expansion and I am happy to share with you that from 2012 on, we would be supporting 30 students each year who would be travelling to 10 different US Universities under the aegis of the Khorana Program. As our flagship program, IUSSTF also organized the 4th Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium in partnership with the US National Academy of Engineering in March 2012. This event was hosted by Lockheed-Martin Corporation in Arlington. The symposium series through its unique format brought together about 60 outstanding engineers and scientists under the age of 45 years from both countries to discuss the latest trends and build bonds across disciplinary domains.This edition also covers our new initiative - the Virtual Institute of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (VI-MSS) - that is a new partnership which connects two US mathematical sciences institutes with several mathematics and statistics institutes in India. The VI-MSS is being supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, and the National Science Foundation (NSF).I look forward to the feedback from our stakeholders on various programmatic activities covered in this issue of Connect and hope to receive your continued support for our various endeavors.l

Rajiv SharmaExecutive Director, IUSSTF

From the Editor-in-Chief

Connect • May 2012 3


Connect • May 2012

“What could my child do better?” echoed in my mind as I stared at the list of top applicants for the Khorana Program. This poignant query to understand why their highly gifted daughter or son was not selected for the Khorana Program and what their child could do to improve their chances is the most difficult aspect of running the program. The difficulty arises because the answer is –Nothing! The top 40 or 50 students that make it through the screening process are nearly indistinguishable, however, until this year we could only fund 15 Indian Khorana scholars to the University of Wisconsin –

Giving wings to talentLate Prof. Har Gobind Khorana interacts with the 2009 Batch of Khorana Scholars


4 Connect • May 2012

The Khorana Program

DePaRTMenT OF BIOTeChnOlOGyMinistry of Science

& TechnologyGovernment of India

4

Madison and even fewer US Khorana scholars to India.

The Khorana Program

The University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW), in close partnership with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), initiated a scholar exchange program in 2008. This prestigious research internship program in the Sciences was named after Har Gobind Khorana, an Indian-American scientist who pioneered the use of chemical approaches to solve fundamental biological questions. In 1968, while at UW he won the Nobel Prize for chemically synthesizing DNA and deciphering the genetic code. Subsequently, by chemically synthesizing a fully functional gene and describing the principles of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) he laid the foundations for the dizzying advances in Biotechnology and the inception of the exciting fields of Chemical Biology and Synthetic Biology.

To honor and celebrate Gobind’s contributions, we developed a program focused on three key objectives. The first objective is to identify and nurture future “Khoranas” and build bridges between scientific communities. This objective is achieved by scholar exchanges across the educational spectrum. The second objective is an extension of the “Wisconsin Idea” or the principle that knowledge should extend beyond the boundaries of the University and be used to help society. This idea manifests itself in assisting Rural Development and Food security based on UW’s excellence in Dairy and Agriculture. The third objective is to engage industry in mutually beneficial partnerships for human resource development and to conceive and deliver innovative products to address extant and emerging societal needs across the globe.

Scholar exchange

The angst-filled parental query was aimed at scholar selections for the first objective, the exchange program. While the program envisions exchange of scholars at all stages of

scientific and educational development, we first focused on students who were approaching the final stage of college education (the summer before their final year in B.Tech, M.Tech, MBBS, or MSc). Selected students were invited for 10-12 week summer internships in leading scientific laboratories at UW. The partners, DBT and IUSSTF, were far-sighted in encouraging the broadest possible interpretation of the “Biotechnology” and therefore the students were free to choose traditional biotech laboratories as well as those that harness chemical-physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and nanotechnology to tackle the multifaceted challenges of cancer, diabetes, neuroscience and stem cell biology.

The young Khorana scholars, based on their interests, are placed in leading laboratories at UW that are not only excellent scientifically but also have a well-earned reputation for nurturing talent. The scholars work with senior lab members on a well-defined project. Many come with ambitious expectations of making major scientific breakthroughs in a summer and amazingly enough some actually achieve this goal –but that is usually due to a mix of chance and timing. More importantly, our goal is that students learn how to think clearly and deeply about science and learn to frame scientific questions and experimental paths to answering those questions. Toward that goal, unlike typical summer research internships, we ensure that students get a chance to learn about each other’s research projects in non-competitive

aseem ansariUniversity of Wisconsin-

Madison, USA

The Khorana Scholars batch of 2011 at the Closing Symposium at UW with the Co-Founders of the Khorana Program – Professors Kenneth Shapiro and Aseem Ansari



5

C O V E R S T O R Y

Sam Pitroda (Adviser to the Indian Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure) with the Khorana Scholars batch of 2008

Aseem Ansari with the Khorana Scholars Batch of 2009


The Khorana Program

meetings every week. In fact, the meetings are held on weekends (or after hours on weekdays) and last 4-6 hours. Every student is asked to present the specific hypotheses that they are investigating within the broader context of their field. They are asked to describe and defend their experimental approach and predict/speculate about potential outcomes. This amplifies their internship 15-20 fold because now not only are they forced to think critically

about their own project but are also asked to engage intellectually in 15-20 other projects that span a broad array of scientific disciplines. Very quickly the competitiveness melts away and questions born of true scientific curiosity emerge. Collaborations between scholars often also benefit the host laboratories. Moreover, the importance of thinking in an integrative interdisciplinary way and cooperating with other colleagues to tackle serious questions takes root organically and is not hammered in via empty clichés.

Beyond science: creating future visionaries

In addition to the scientific breadth, the program also introduces students to thought leaders in a variety of fields and encourages students to explore horizons beyond science. The scholars learn about entrepreneurship and commercialization of scientific discoveries from Carl Gulbrandsen, the managing Director of WARF, a nationally and internationally renowned Technology Transfer organization. Sam Pitroda the father of India’s telecom revolution and chairman of India’s Knowledge commission often challenges scholars to think big and highlights the oft underestimated ability of an individual to create game-changing solutions to recalcitrant social problems. Gerald Chan, a billionaire biotech investor with a doctorate in biophysics from Harvard, dropped in one year for a wide-ranging discussion with the students on the global trends in biotech industry as well as the importance of passion in the creative process. Krishna and Suchitra Ella, encourage students every year to take the path less travelled, by describing their path to the creation of Bharat Biotech, India’s leading vaccine company. Beyond entrepreneurship, Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist who inspired by the Dalai Lama, spoke with students about his travels in India to learn more about the remarkable ability of meditation to physically alter brain anatomy –especially in adults. Suresh Chandra, a leading ophthalmologist, inspires students with the world-wide goal of his Cure for Blindness

Dr. S. Natesh (Senior Advisor, DBT) addressing the 2009 batch of Khorana Scholars



foundation. More scientifically anchored, Phil Sharp, Ham Smith, and Gobind himself are among the Nobel laureates who met with students. Many others, including diplomats, social entrepreneurs and other thought leaders give generously of their time to open the minds of the scholars to career paths and options that aren’t often considered as being viable or possible. To paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes,“a mind once stretched, never regains its original dimensions.” In that sense, the goal of the program is to create visionaries and light the spark of imagination and innovation.

Progress report

At the end of their stay the students summarize their work in a brief manuscript and present a talk on their work at the final symposium. This day-long symposium is open to the public and often members of the UW scientific community show up and ask pointed questions. (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL72FF55BB2A91BE6F) In fact, over the years, several Khorana scholars won awards for the research in direct competition with other summer interns who had traveled to other leading scientific institutions across the world.

The quality of their work is also reflected in the surprising number of publications that result from a short summer internship. One important aspect of the experience is to learn to withstand experimental failure and seek creative solutions to test one’s hypothesis or design. The aim is to learn to think carefully and creatively, however, with high frequency students succeed and contribute to the larger research goals of the host laboratory. This has led to co-authorship by several students on peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals and has even led to patent applications.

The most promising outcome of the program was brought into sharp focus during the selection of the 2012 scholars earlier this year. Several members of the committee commented (with some resignation) that only 5% of the scholars would continue on in research. The lucrative IT/banking/consulting jobs lured the

most talented students away from careers in science and technology. In direct contrast to this trend, they were surprised to find that nearly 85% of Khorana scholars are pursuing their Ph.D. degrees in leading academic institutions across the world, including NII, JNU, CDRI and IIT-D in India. And as the 2008 batch of scholars approaches graduation, many have expressed a strong inclination to return to India to continue their independent academic careers in newly created IISERs, IITs, national centers of excellence and Innovation universities.

The grueling selection process

Staring at the credentials of the short-listed applicants last year, the committee came to the conclusion that the program needed to be expanded to include students who were nearly indistinguishable –in their grades, research interests, past experiences, and their expressed passion for scientific research. The first round of selection focuses on whether the students meet the eligibility criteria. The numbers are further winnowed based on the candidate’s research statement, past research experience, and the recommendation letters –ideally from research mentors. The applicant dossiers are circulated to the selection committee a week before the


meeting. During the meeting each application is projected onto the screen and members of the selection committee review the application and assign a score independently. At the end of nearly 4 hours, the scores are tallied and despite the diverse composition of the committee the overall rankings of the applicants are highly congruent. In other words, the process is inherently meritocratic and unbiased.

The top candidate’s statements of purpose and “research experience” (especially in Indian laboratories) provide guidance for the type of research in which they may be interested at UW. Finding the right scientific match requires identifying the top 5 labs that the students would like to work in over the summer. Students are asked to provide a final list of five and explain why they listed those labs in the order that they did and also what they expect to gain from an internship in that particular laboratory. Final video interviews (Skype) are arranged based on the “fit” between a potential mentor and a candidate. If there is a good fit the UW laboratory agrees to host the student and not only cover their housing fee but also forego the research funds to train the undergraduate students that NSF provides for undergraduate American scholars. This cost-sharing stipulation was placed by DBT (which covers the student stipend, health insurance, and program costs) as well as IUSSTF (which covers the air-fare for all students) and it helps guarantee that the host lab is directly invested in the success of the visiting Khorana scholars.

Even with the top 25 or so students we were forced to place some of the best ones on the waiting list. When invited to join the program nearly 13-14 of the first round of finalists accept and in order to get a full cohort of 15 students, roughly 3-4 students are placed on the final waiting list. Based on the program’s reputation often most of these students identify different sources of funding to come to Madison as “honorary” Khorana scholars that are not supported by DBT or IUSSTF funds. Nevertheless, they receive the same experience and are no different intellectually than other members of the program. The honorary scholars are just as successful at research as those who are selected to receive full funding. It is this clarifying observation that makes the final selections particularly challenging.

The need to enable more qualified students

To extend the opportunity to all deserving finalists, DBT and IUSSTF agreed to expand the program when it came up for renewal in 2012. In early 2010, UW invited the group of Big 10 Midwestern schools that form the “Committee on Institutional Cooperation” (CIC) to join the Khorana Program. Karen Partlow, the key CIC administrator tasked with handling this request was pleasantly surprised by the extent of positive responses she received from the leadership of the CIC schools. Ken Shapiro and I represented UW and traveled with Karen and Deans and Directors from several CIC schools to meet Minister Kapil Sibal (Minstry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India) and our partners at DBT and IUSSTF. It took nearly 18 months to meticulously assemble the framework to share the Khorana Program with the CIC. Several features such as institution-specific administrative protocols, the non-identical academic schedules, differences in housing costs, visa obligations and most importantly, the equitable distribution of scholars was worked out in painstaking detail by Karen Lovely over a series of teleconferences. In the interim, other universities such as MIT and Georgetown also joined the program and several others have

MoU signing at IUSSTF (L to R): Nishritha Bopana (Science Officer, IUSSTF), Rajiv Sharma (Executive Director, IUSSTF), Aseem Ansari (UW-Madison; Co-Founder of the Khorana Program) and R. Varadarajan (IUSSTF)

The Khorana Program



expressed interest in joining in a phased manner over the next several years. In early November 2011, Gobind passed away at the age of 89. To honor his contributions, DBT decided to renew and expand the program starting 2012. The expansion will double the student exchange program to 30 students (with honorary students the number approaches 35-40). Approximately 3-4 students will be distributed to each of the 10 partnering schools and the general organization of the scholar exchange program will be maintained with an orientation event at UW, weekend meetings via video conferencing, and an annual symposium in Delhi at the end of the internship. This new modality will set the stage for future collaborations and partnerships across the globe.

Khorana Technology Transfer Program

In parallel, to address the need to effectively commercialize the new discoveries and inventions being made by Indian scientists, DBT also decided to initiate a Khorana Tech Transfer Program for senior scholars and administrators (http://indousstf/khorana/khorana.html). The plan is to leverage WARF’s enormous strengths in commercializing scientific advances that emerge out of UW’s

laboratories. The intensive two-week course will be tailored for the Indian context and will not rely on a generic formula for technology transfer. The senior-level participants will be trained to identify and foster entrepreneurship at their respective institutions. The home institutions are asked to make necessary infrastructural investments so that, upon return, their trainees are able to create the necessary entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. This is an ambitious expectation but one that is dwarfed by the enormous needs of the nation and its educational institutions –even some of the premier ones. The similarity of institutional structures between Indian institutions and a public university like UW are striking. In that context, WARF’s string of high profile successes and its enormous intellectual property portfolio provides a germane model for the future Tech Transfer Programs at leading Indian scientific and academic institutions. It is important to note that WARF operates independently of the University and unlike most other institutions it has an endowment that allows WARF to fund early stage, high risk –high reward technologies that have led to many successful ventures like Nimblegen, Third Wave Technologies, Tomotherapy and many others. As a further

Delegation from the Committee on Institutional Co-operation (CIC) meets with Minister Kapil Sibal in 2010

Khorana Scholars batch of 2010 with Laura Van Toll (UW. Madison)


testament to a successful partnership between UW and WARF, the University Research Park hosts nearly 150 new startup companies and WARF has provided nearly a billion dollars over the years to support graduate fellowships, explo-ratory grants to UW researchers, funds for seminars and symposia, and centers of excellence such as the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery.

In mid July 2012 nearly 15 senior-level scholars will arrive in Madison to participate in the Tech Transfer Program. Many will not have significant

prior experience in Technology Transfer and enabling entrepreneurship. By the end of the program they will leave well equipped to create “WARFs” at their own respective institutions. DBT, IUSSTF and UW/WARF intend to provide additional tools ensure that the returning scholars have all that it takes to setup a successful program in their institutions. Moreover, several Indian intellectual property law and biotechnology experts both in Madison and at leading Business and Law schools in India will contribute their insights and concerns regularly to make sure that the program is relevant and anchored in the Indian context. Over the next three years, the Tech Transfer Program, much like the student exchange program before it, will strive to create an unmatched educational experience that expands

the horizons of participants who will build or enhance Tech Transfer Programs at their institutions across India. The impact will be immediate with long-term benefits and it will certainly be transformative for the individual participants, their institutions, local industry and the nation.

Future horizons

As the Khorana Program moves forward, it would need to grow beyond Biotechnology to nurture future leaders and transformative thinkers who will creatively address the growing needs in agriculture and sustainable use of resources. The immediate approach would be to fund a similar number of “non-Biotech” scholars who will span all scientific and technological disciplines. The Khorana program would also expand to include similar numbers of “Agriculture and Food Security” scholars to impact those critical areas. Taken together, the numbers would approach the volume of Fulbright scholars that travel to India to learn about her ancient culture, her arts and the current social milieu. In this context, a major challenge is to reciprocate and send a similar number of American science and technology students to India. While UW has sent modest numbers of US Khorana scholars to India (10-15 over four years), a thriving partnership will only emerge if US science, technology, engineering, agriculture and medicine students to also travel to India to learn how creative science and innovative indigenous technological advances are transforming India. This area of student exchange offers new opportunities and learning venues and create global citizens who adapt and positively contribute to an increasingly interconnected world.

For more information on the Khorana Program, please contact Aseem Ansari ([email protected]) and Nishritha Bopana ([email protected]).

Also, please visit:

http://indousstf.org/Khorana/khorana_program.html

(L to R): John Ferrick (UW-Madison), Rajiv Sharma (Executive Director, IUSSTF) and Aseem Ansari (UW-Madison)

The Khorana Program



The Public Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, hosted a group of elite student leaders from US Universities belonging to the College-100 in March 2012. The C-100 is a network whose members include student body presidents from 100 of the

world’s best universities. The current members include schools as diverse and talented as Ivy League schools, elite liberal arts schools, top states schools, private schools, and schools outside the US such as Oxford and Cambridge. The purpose of the visit was to build better understanding

and appreciation about India. The students visited IUSSTF on 26th March 2012 where they were briefed by Rajiv Sharma (Executive Director, IUSSTF) on the status and potential of India-US relations in Science and Technology. The students also got to interact extensively with Diya Dutt (US-India Educational Foundation), Balram Bhargava (Director, Stanford India Biodesign Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences) and H.K. Mittal (Adviser, Member Secretary, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Secretary, Technology Development Board, Govt. of India).l

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on 21 March 2012 between Public Health Foundation of India and Indo-US Science and Technology Forum for the launch of the IUSSTF-PHFI Research Fellowships for Indian Researchers. The objective of this

Research Fellowship Program for Indian Public Health Researchers is to promote research and capacity building in the crucial area of public health. It is envisaged that these fellowships will help strengthen and expand the knowledge base of Indian Public health research and education.

These fellowships will provide an excellent opportunity for Indian Public health scientists to gain exposure and access to world class facilities and training in the latest research techniques. It will enable young Indian researchers to carry out a clearly defined research project at a place of their choice in USA upto a period of 12 months. These fellowships will encourage young and mid-career scientists in Indian Public health enterprise to interact with the international public health community to build long-term sustainable linkages. A total of 5 fellowships will be awarded per year. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India will provide funds to Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) to administer these fellowships. l

US Student leaders Delegation visits IUSSTF

IUSSTF-PhFI Research Fellowships for Indian Public health Researchers

R E P O R T

Ideating for the future


Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium


R E P O R T

The fourth Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering (IAFOE) 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 Engineering (NAE) from March 1-3, 2012, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. The event was hosted by Lockheed Martin Corporation. About 60 outstanding engineers under the age of 45 met for an intensive two-and-a-half day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas - Intelligent transportation systems; Engineering at the interface of science; Technology enablers for advances in aerospace materials; and, Engineering large infrastructure for disaster/hazards. The event was intended to facilitate international and cross-disciplinary research collaboration, promote the transfer of new techniques and approaches across disparate engineering fields, and encourage the creation of a transatlantic network of world-class engineers.

The symposium began with Charles Vest, President, US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) welcoming the participants on behalf of the NAE. He spoke about the genesis and history of the Frontiers of Engineering (FOE) program. Ray Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin member spoke next, exhorting the importance of innovation. Rajiv Sharma, Executive-Director, IUSSTF welcomed the participants and gave a brief history of the IAFOE series. Upadrasta Ramamurty (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) talked about the rationale behind the four themes selected for the symposium, and Lisa Alvarez-Cohen (University of California, Berkeley) detailed how the speakers and participants were selected. She also encouraged the participants to take an active part in the deliberations by asking questions and seeking clarifications, and to use this symposium as an opportunity to build their professional network.

Recent events have once again reminded us of the importance of assuring that our built

Upadrasta Ramamurty (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)

lisa alvarez-Cohen (University of California, Berkeley)

4thIndo-American FOE Symposium

Co-Chairs




environment can withstand the natural hazards that it faces. This is particularly true of large and critical infrastructure and structures. Assuring seismic safety requires that we can understand and quantify the hazards, and also that we can understand and accurately model the response of structures and infrastructure in order to assure appropriate seismic design. The first session on Engineering large infrastructure for natural hazards was co-chaired by Annie Kammerer (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and C.S. Manohar (Indian Institute of Science). Christine Goulet from UC-Berkeley delivered a talk on Hazard assessment methods for large and critical infrastructure. The other speakers in this session were Nicolas Luco (U.S. Geological Survey) who spoke on Performance- and risk-based design approaches for seismic safety; Baidurya Bhattacharya (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur) who gave a presentation on Challenges in disaster mitigation of large infrastructure by engineering design; and A.D. Roshan (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) who gave a talk entitled

Engineering of nuclear power plants in India: present and future.

The theme of the session on Engineering at the interface of science, organized by Gautam Menon (Institute of Mathematical Sciences) and Huimin Zhao (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) described how engineering and science can be mutually enriched through their interactions, with significant implications for technology. Umesh Waghmare began by describing examples of how the vibrational modes of a (typically hard) material contribute to its response and stability in his talk entitled Soft modes and related phenomena in materials: a first-principles theory. Presentations were also made on Engineering the microstructure of semicrystalline polymers by Guruswamy Kumaraswamy (National Chemical Laboratory, Pune); Protein nanocapsules for therapeutic applications by Yi Tang (University of California, Los Angeles); and, Programming cellular behavior with RNA controllers by Christina Smolke (Stanford University).

Recently, intelligent transportation systems have emerged that utilize advances in information technology to create more effective transportation operations. The session on Intelligent transportation systems co-chaired by Brian Smith (University of Virginia) and Senathipathi Velmurugan (Central Road Research Institute) was focused on exposing participants to emerging intelligent transportation systems – addressing both the underlying technological innovation as well as the fundamental transportation challenges. In particular, the session delved into how intelligent transportation systems are being


Indo-American Frontiers of Engineering Symposium


utilized to improve surface transportation in the wide variety of urban environments found around the globe. The session began with a talk by Benjamin McKeever (U.S. Federal Highway Administration) on United States connected vehicles research program. This was followed by talks on Wireless communications applications in surface transportation by Mashrur Chowdhury (Clemson University); Design and evaluation of an adaptive traffic control system for heterogeneous flow conditions by Tom Mathew (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay) and Data collection and modeling for APTS and ATIS under Indian conditions by Lelitha Vanajakshi (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras).

The last session on Technology enablers for advances in aerospace materials organized by Jyotsna Iyer (Lockheed Martin) and Samir Kamat (Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory) aimed to highlight some of the recent advances in adjacent technologies (such as joining, coatings, life prediction and computational modeling and simulation to enhance the performance of existing materials at significantly reduced cost and time) that are impacting modern aerospace materials. Greg Ho (Lockheed Martin) began the session by providing a review of a new and promising engineering approach in his talk entitled Integrated computational materials engineering. The other presentations in this session were on Advancements in qualifying new materials for aerospace systems by James LaManna (Alliant Techsystems); Challenges in developing new coatings to improve performance by Ashutosh Gandhi

(Indian Institute of Technology, Madras); and Trends in joining of aerospace materials by Amitava De (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay).

In addition to four technical sessions, the symposium also included dinner talks by Subra Suresh (Director, National Science Foundation) on Global science and engineering and by John D. Evans (Corporate Vice President, Technology and Innovation, Lockheed Martin Corporation) whose talk was titled A World of Innovation.

Poster sessions are a standard event at most conferences. At the FOE Symposium however, it is a little different. This is because unlike a limited-attention side-show in most other conferences, poster presentations here are as integral a part of the deliberations as full scale presentations. This is achieved by giving each poster presenter a minute to speak about the work from the main podium. These posters were displayed throughout the meeting and provided an opportunity for every participant to share information about his/her work. l




Susan houghU.S. Geological Survey

Pasadena, USA

Earthquakes are scary. Big earthquakes that strike in the dead of night, interrupting slumber with heart-poundingly abrupt violence, are terrifying. In the wee hours of the morning on December 16, 1811, settlers and Native Americans in the North American midcontinent

were jolted by one such event. Powerful waves from the earthquake collapsed riverbanks along the Mississippi river, toppled chimneys over 250 miles away in Louisville, Kentucky, and awakened sleepers over 700 miles away in the Washington DC area. And that was just the beginning. By the following February the region had been rocked by three more earthquakes comparable in size to the first, dozens of moderate quakes, and thousands of small tremors. Today we know this remarkable sequence as the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812, and understand that the earthquakes were centered in what is now southeast Missouri.

Testing the tremors


Intraplate Earthquakes


F E AT U R E

Testing the tremors

In the early 19th century the cause and even the nature of earthquakes were not understood. In the mid-20th century, the plate tectonics scientific revolution provided the framework to understand why earthquakes occur, and why they are concentrated along narrow active zones, like the San Andreas fault in California and the Himalayan mountain range, where two plates move relative to one-another. On the bicentennial of the New Madrid sequence scientists still struggle to understand why

these powerful earthquakes struck in the mid-continent, far from an active plate boundary. And geological investigations tell us the region has experienced repeated similar sequences over the past few thousand years. The mystery has deepened in recent years: analysis of increasingly precise GPS data has revealed little or no evidence that the crust is warping, or deforming, in the region over the past 20 years. According to our current understanding, such deformation is the signature of stress building on active faults. In places like the Himalaya, the rate of deformation can be measured with GPS data and used to estimate the long-term rate of large earthquakes. If little deformation is occurring now in New Madrid, how do we account for ongoing and past seismic activity? Will large earthquakes strike in the future? How big could future earthquakes be?

Much work has been done to understand the New Madrid seismic zone, but progress has been hampered by the fact that the last large earthquakes were 200 years ago. When the state of Gujarat, India, was rocked by the devastating magnitude 7.6 Bhuj earthquake on 26 January 2001, the US Earth science community immediately took note. Like New Madrid, the Bhuj area is not near an active plate boundary. Could this, we wondered, be the Rosetta stone – the modern analog event that would help us understand New Madrid?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the answers have not come easy. The Gujarat region was not well monitored by geophysical instruments prior to 2001, so the opportunity to collect key data before and during the Bhuj earthquake was lost. But, thanks to the commitment by the Indian government and the state of Gujarat, much has been done since 2001 to collect high-quality seismic, GPS, and other data. Eleven years later, these efforts have borne fruit, as scientists are able to dissect the ongoing aftershock sequence and explore how the crust is warping in and around Bhuj, and elsewhere in India. The Indian geophysical community has made great strides during this time, which has also witnessed increasing involvement of

Four of the US participants (L to R: Drs Susan Hough and Charles Langston, and graduate students Blaine Bockholt and Emily Wolin) enjoyed a brief cultural tour of Gandhinagar prior to their departure, including stops at the Sabarmati Ashram, the Shaking Minarets, and the Sidi Saiyad Mosque





India’s energetic and talented scientists with the international scientific community, including interest in collaborative investigations. This energy and interest was on full display during a recent workshop on intraplate earthquakes held in Gandhinagar, with support from the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum. Top scientists from over 30 leading Indian institutions presented results of their research; the US delegation comprised 7 leading senior researchers and three graduate students. A three-day fieldtrip prior to the workshop gave US participants a much-appreciated up-close look at the faults and other attractions of the Bhuj area.

During the workshop it was obvious to every scientist in the room how much we can learn from each other. Comparative studies are critical to improve our scientific understanding: to what extent are Gujarat and New Madrid analogous? Should we expect earthquakes close to magnitude 8 in New Madrid, given that they have occurred in Gujarat? Do the lessons from Gujarat provide any insight into the expected rate of future earthquakes in New Madrid? Do our developing ideas about the New Madrid seismic zone explain the observations in Gujarat? If not, why not? Our efforts to understand the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes have been a little like trying to characterize an entire species based on detailed investigations of one individual using their 200-year-old medical records. Comparative studies have been done, of course, but more work is needed, in particular given the wealth of data and expertise that has developed in India.

By the end of the workshop, scientists had identified a list of collaborative studies that could be pursued: deployments of arrays of instruments to investigate the Gujarat subsurface in more detail, application of recently developed methods to analyze data collected in India, detailed comparative analysis of aftershock and other earthquake distributions in the two regions. Top Indian scientists pledged support for such efforts, including making

data available to US researchers involved with collaborative projects. Personal connections made during the workshop will allow such international collaborations to develop from the shared interests and trust. The workshop was an educational, enjoyable, and productive experience for all of the scientists in attendance. It was also, there is reason to hope, a small step in a long line of steps on the road to improved hazard assessment and risk mitigation in both countries.l

Damage caused by Bhuj Earthquake (2001)

Reelfoot Lake formed in the winter of 1811 and 1812 when a series of earthquakes reshaped the land.

18 Connect • May 2012Connect • May 2012

l a fair price for healthy fruits & vegetables: Helping farmers access cold-storage technology

m Rustom Irani (Icelings Chirag Ice Factory Pvt. Ltd., India) and Sorin Grama (Promethean Power Systems, Inc, USA)

In addition, two proposals were also chosen for runners-up awards recognizing the potential of the ideas expressed:

l Point-of-care, multiplexed newborn screening platform for Congenital Hypothyroidism (CH), Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), Phenylketonuria (PKU), Galactosemia (GALT), and Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD)

m Rohit Cariappa (Neo Gen Labs, India) and Vamsee Krishna Pamula (Advanced Liquid Logic Inc., USA)

l PDShoe: Step synchronized vibrators to improve walking of patients with Parkinson Disease

m Madhuri Behari (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India) and Sunil K. Agrawal (University of Delaware, USA)

after a three-phase review process, top applicants were invited to make an in-person presentation to the US-India endowment Board. at the end, an exciting business plan that would bring proprietary chilling technology into the market as a cold storage solution for farm produce was selected for endowment funding:

UnITeD STaTeS - InDIa SCIenCe anD TeChnOlOGy

enDOWMenT FUnD

The Governments of the United States of America and India (through the Department of Science & Technology) have established the United States - India Science and Technology Endowment Fund for promotion of joint research and development leading to innovation, entrepreneurial and

commercialization activities in Science & Technology.

The objectives of the Endowment program are to strengthen and expand S&T cooperation with focus on applied R&D; encourage entrepreneurial activities that have significant potential towards commercialization of joint technology; and, promote sustained partnerships in innovation between scientists, technologists& entrepreneurs towards economic development and public good of both countries.The stakeholders for this program cut across Academia, National Laboratories, Non-Governmental R&D Institutions, and, Start-up & Private Companies.

For the first call placed in 2011, there were two priority areas identified :

healthy individuals: With a focus on affordable diagnostic / preventive / curative measures to improve health of citizens (excludes pharmaceutical development), or food and nutrition products; and,

empowering citizens: With a focus on reducing the digital divide and could include information and communication technologies with a social impact in areas such as water, agriculture and education.

This program is co-ordinated and administered through the binational Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF). IUSSTF received an overwhelming response to the first call and the evaluation was carried out based on the uniqueness of the technology and solution; extent of validation of technology; relevance of the solution to major problems, particularly those affecting “Bottom of Pyramid” at a global level; ability to scale and deploy; ability to be financially viable, and fundable by VCs or PEs in the future; quality of the team involved; and most importantly the potential for collaborations between India and the US.

On October 5, 2011, Dr. Subra Suresh, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), announced an

innovative concept called Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI). One of the first pilots of SAVI is an Indo-U.S. Virtual Institute for Mathematical Sciences (VI-MSS). It is a young partnership with great long-term potential. It brings outstanding mathematicians and statisticians from India and the U.S. together to (1) address important societal issues in climate, cybersecurity, education, energy, sustainability, health, and extraction of useful information from massive and complex data and (2) work

on fundamental as well as enabling research in statistical, mathematical and computational sciences. These are exciting times for researchers in computational, mathematical and statistical sciences, and VI-MSS is positioned uniquely to be a key to innovation, discovery and economic development. The results of the partnership are anticipated to be bigger than the sum of its parts.

What is SAVI? Science Across Virtual Institutes (http://www.nsf.gov/savi) is an innovative concept to foster interaction among scientists, engineers and educators around the globe. Scientific

Sastry G. PantulaDivision of Mathematical Sciences

National Science FoundationArlington, USA

excellence exists in many parts of the world, and SAVI projects help accelerate scientific advances through the power of collaborations. SAVI projects connect researchers with common interests and goals and expect to have a great impact on important societal challenges. SAVI projects will serve as catalysts to foster many activities efficiently and economically and will bring leading researchers from various countries together, both virtually and physically, to coordinate their work on issues of common interest. SAVI will leverage complementary intellectual strengths and limited research funding in U.S. and around the globe to create

new collaborations and help mentor and train junior faculty and the future global workforce. SAVI will provide a mechanism for U.S. research communities (centers/institutes/networks/teams of researchers) to build long-term, structured collaborations with partnering countries to advance research and education, thus fueling economic growth. NSF funds for SAVIs are meant to serve as “glue” to “build” virtual institutes. These funds support U.S. researchers who are already NSF grantees to collaborate with researchers from partnering countries. Support for international researchers is provided by the partnering country or countries.

The power of Collaboration

20 Connect • May 2012 Connect • May 2012 21

Newsletter of IUSSTFScience Across Virutal Institutes

Connect • May 2012 21Connect • May 201220

F E AT U R E

What is VI-MSS?The Virtual Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (VI-MSS) is funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in India and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). It originated with a proposal from India, in June 2011, to initiate an Indo-U.S. virtual institute for mathematical and statistical sciences. The initial funding is for the period 2012-14.

India has a long tradition and history of research in mathematical and statistical sciences. India celebrates a National Mathematics Day (December 22) and a National Statistics Day (June 29) to celebrate the contributions of pioneering Indian researchers Ramanujan and Mahalanobis, respectively. Currently, centers of excellence in mathematical, statistical, and computational sciences exist throughout the country, with institutions such as Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Institute of Mathematical Sciences Chennai (IMSC), and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) playing leading roles. At the same time, the U.S. is renowned for its research and innovation in statistical, mathematical, and computational sciences and has a remarkable depth and breadth in these fields. The NSF Division of Mathematical Sciences funds several research institutes, and among these are the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) in Rhode Island, and, the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) in North Carolina. Many U.S. mathematicians and statisticians already have close contacts with Indian mathematicians and statisticians.

VI-MSS provides a structured collaborative and catalytic framework among CMI, IISc, IMSC, ISI, ICERM, and SAMSI to convert the existing relationships into a long-term relationship with mutual benefits, including workforce development, mentoring of junior faculty, and developing new areas of research. For the activities related to VI-MSS, ICERM and SAMSI received supplemental support from NSF, and the partnering Indian institutes are partially supported by DST in India.

VI-MSS provides a vehicle for exchange of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty between India and the U.S., support of joint workshops, and virtual sharing of courses and information. The first joint workshop, on cryptography and cybersecurity, between ISI and ICERM was held in January 2012 at ISI in Kolkata. (Presentations from this workshop are available at: http://icerm.brown.edu/vi-mss.) A follow up workshop on cryptography and cybersecurity is planned to be held at ICERM in 2013. A workshop focused on climate modeling and sustainability, will be held at SAMSI in summer 2012, and is organized jointly with CMI and ISI. A joint workshop between SAMSI and CMI, on stochastic systems and probability, is planned to be held at CMI in December 2012. And, plans are underway for a workshop on neuroscience led by IISc. ICERM and SAMSI have various research programs during this year and next year that will be accessible for Indian researchers at all levels, both virtually and physically.

Within India, DST is providing funds for VI-MSS, and these funds will be managed by the Indo-US Science Technology Forum (IUSSF). Rajiv Sharma (Executive Director, IUSSF) is the primary person responsible for VI-MSS within India. Within the U.S., ICERM and SAMSI will manage the supplemental funds received from NSF. A steering committee consisting of one representative each from CMI, IISc, IMSC, and ISI, and two each from ICERM and SAMSI was formed to select and facilitate exchange of visitors between the two countries.

Based on the quality of research arising from these collaborations, successful exchanges of visitors, mentoring activities, and the merit of future proposals, VI-MSS will be considered for expansion in the future beyond the initial pilot years. Related to possible expansion of relationships with India, a workshop to consider a future SAVI in Computational and Data-enabled Science and Engineering (CDS&E) was held in December 2011 in Bangalore, India.

VI-MSS is a strong partnership with great potential to show the power of collaboration!l

22 Connect • May 201222 Connect • May 2012

Science Across Virutal Institutes



More details can be accessed at:http://yourstory.in/2012/04/forus-health-raises-5-million-from-idg-ventures-and-accel-partners/

DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program

DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) was launched in 2008 to enhance the growth and development of entrepreneurial economy in India by adopting the prevalent best practices both in US and India. IIGP is designed as an accelerated technology assessment and commercialization initiative through a business plan competition involving commercial assessment of technology; business development; and finally technology commercialization through structured mentoring. The Program is jointly funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA, a premier systems integrator and global security enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainability of advanced technology systems, products and services. The IIGP is implemented by IC2 Institute, University of Texas - Austin, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and IUSSTF.

The aim of this public-private initiative is to identify, award, mentor and hence accelerate innovative Indian technologies into new markets in India, United States and around the world. The unique feature of the IIGP is its focus on mentoring through professional business development engagement and applying world-class commercialization strategies to bright ideas that have potential towards market realization by a quick look commercialization analysis at IC2 Institute and FICCI.

We are proud to announce that 3nethra, a portable ophthalmologic device from Forus Health in India and a medalist in the 2011 DST – Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program, has recently received $5M in venture funding. 3nethra is a portable, low cost, non-mydriatic, non-invasive pre-screening ophthalmology solution, can detect cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retina, refraction and cornea problems – diseases that contribute to 90% of avoidable blindness in India.

Although the reason for the Taj turning brown with time is not well understood, it is evident that the poor

air quality and resultant haziness in the Agra region plays a key role. The poor visibility throughout much of the year in Agra is due to

small particles (termed particulate matter, or PM) directly emitted and also formed in the atmosphere from primarily human sources that include biomass burning (wood, grasses, etc.), fossil fuel combustion and dust emission from both vehicles and agricultural practices. The

mix of PM in the area is tinted dark by black carbon soot particles (from incomplete combustion) as well as from soil/mineral dust from both local and regional sources - at times transported from hundreds to thousands of kilometers away. The relative mix of soot and dust in the atmosphere near the Taj is not currently

Mike BerginGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,

GA, USA

S.n. TripathiIndian Institute of

Technology, Kanpur, India

Tarun Gupta Indian Institute of

Technology, Kanpur, India

a hazy storyThe Taj Mahal is one of the great wonders of the world – a World heritage Site visited by millions of people from around the globe every year. The once-in-a-lifetime experience of visiting the Taj is unforgettable in part due to the intense efforts of the archaelogical Survey of India (aSI) to clean the outer surfaces of the marble domes from deposited air pollutants, which over time turn the iconic white surfaces brown. The cleaning process is time consuming and costly, and must be repeated every several years. During the process of cleaning, scaffolding must be erected that obscures the view of the portion of the Taj being cleaned.


Air Pollution and the Taj Mahal F E AT U R E

well understood. In addition, the amount of deposition of PM to the Taj, and the sources and source regions of the air pollution that are responsible for the brown hue are unknown.

With funding from the Indo-US science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), a collaborative project is under way bringing together scientists from the US (Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin at Madison), and India (Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, Archaeological Survey of India, ASI). The overarching objective of the project is to determine the extent to which soot and dust are responsible for the browning of the Taj Mahal, and to determine the sources of these PM components in an effort to develop strategies to mitigate the problem.

Our collective team deployed new instrumentation at the Taj in October, 2011, expanding an array of monitors currently

sampling ambient PM at the Taj in both real-time and on filters that are being analyzed both in India and the US. We have also deployed samplers at the Taj that will allow us to measure PM deposited to the Taj surfaces. Our preliminary results indicate extraordinarily high levels of PM (on average 200 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air, which is more than an order of magnitude higher than US National Ambient Air Quality Standards), with extremely high levels of soot black carbon. Although we are in the process of analyzing samples for specific chemical components that will

allow us to finger-print PM sources, it is clear that combustion related PM components are extraordinarily high in Agra and very likely play some role in the discoloration of the Taj.

A recent workshop amongst our team was held at IIT-Kanpur during February, 2012 highlighting preliminary results, current sampling methods, and future work. The collaborative nature of the project has brought together universities from both India and the US, as well as ASI in a partnership that has already yielded important results and will no doubt allow for a better understanding of the impact of PM on the browning of the Taj. Sampling is scheduled to take place into the fall of 2012 and our groups will continue to work closely together to interpret results, and provide information to policy makers to alleviate the degradation of one of the greatest masterpieces of world’s heritage.l

Martin Shafer University of Wisconsin at Madison, WI, USA

Jamie Schauer University of Wisconsin at Madison, WI, USA


Newsletter of IUSSTFAir Pollution and the Taj Mahal


Pierce CordenCenter for Science,

Technology and Security Policy

American Association for the Advancement

of ScienceWashington, DC, USA

harnessing the rays

With the exception of nuclear energy, all other forms of energy can be connected to impact of solar radiation on biomass, wind and water. Rising cost and diminishing supplies of traditional energy sources has made solar power a major interest in energy research. Indo-US workshop on “Frontiers of Excellence in Photovoltaic Science and Technology” explored technological options available in this field.

Sun-Based Electric Power

26



Participants at the Indo-US workshop on “Photovoltaic

Science Technologies” in January 2012

Newsletter of IUSSTFF E AT U R E

Modern society depends increasingly on electricity. Whether a country is well developed, or moving into that

category, electric power is an essential element of a decent life. It is well established that demand for electric power is increasing around the world.

Electricity, as well as transportation fuels, ultimately depend in great measure on the sun: from the release of sun-based energy in fossil fuels, from sun-generated water power from dams, and more and more from wind-based (i.e. solar) energy and photo-voltaic or concentrated solar power. Bio-mass, for direct heating and cooking, and now for electricity, is sun-based. Only nuclear fission-based power, stored in elements in the earth since its formation, is not sun-based.

Since the mid-twentieth century, the ability of semiconductors to generate electricity from solar photons, demonstrated in 1954, led to the use of photovoltaic cells in “niche” applications such as power for earth satellites. Science and technology have been the basis of developing solar applications,

but national security objectives and cost-effectiveness are increasingly a factor.

Photovoltaic solar power is a distributed source, not requiring grid distribution, although it can feed a grid. It is much more intermittent on a diurnal basis, and thus is best matched to peak-power generation and non-steady loads. Or, it needs to be paired with electricity storage.

Stresses to systems for energy generation, beginning with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo in the 1970s, and now risks associated with nuclear power – environmental and service outages (Fukushima), long-term waste storage, and nuclear weapon proliferation – and with fossil fuels – climate impact, have led to a renaissance in research, development and production of photovoltaic systems for electric power generation. Progress has resulted in the reduction in cost of a photovoltaic cell panel to less than $1 dollar a peak watt. The cost is expected to drop further.

27

Sun-Based Electric Power


The levelized cost of electricity between PV and nuclear is more difficult to assess, but, for peak power, PV now seems to be competitive with nuclear power in grid

applications. For off-grid, it is likely more cost-effective.

Thus the Indo-US workshop on “Frontiers of Excellence in Photovoltaic Science and Technology,” sponsored by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and held January 15-17, 2012, at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, was a very timely event.In brief, presentations covered the broad range of research into basic electronic processes, materials, structures, and device architectures with the objective of increasing cell efficiencies and reducing system costs.

The IUSSTF workshop was an important contribution to US-Indian collaboration in pursuing the broadly shared objective of a quantum leap in electricity generation from PV panels in the immediate future.

The US has the SunShot program http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar /sunshot/ . India has the Jawaharlal Nehru National

Solar Missionhttp://india.gov.i n / a l l i m p f r m s / a l l d o c s / 1 5 6 5 7 .pdf. In both countries the science, technology and industrial programs are progressing rapidly. The United States and India are also working together through the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy – Research (PACE-R), a five-year $100 million initiative funded jointly by public and private sourceshttp://www.indousstf.org/JCERDC.html.

Through its partnership with the US and Indian governments with PACE-R, and through its portfolio of grant making intended to catalyze long term collaborations between US and Indian institutions, the IUSSTF is eager to support the pursuit of these objectives in both countries. l

Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center


The next Step

INDO-US JOINT CLEAN ENERGY RESEARCHAND DEVELOPMENT CENTER

The Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC) has been established under an MoU

between the Governments of India and the United States of America. The JCERDC is funded by the Indian Ministry of Science

& Technology and US Department of Energy (DOE). The Indo-US JCERDC will support multi-institutional networked

R&D projects using public-private consortia model of funding.

The program is coordinated and administered through the

Indo-US Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF) in India and DOE in the US.

OBJECTIVES

PRIORITY AREAS IDENTIFIED FOR SUPPORT

¡

¡

¡

¡

¡

¡

Enhance energy cooperation, energy security, clean

energy and climate change research.

Facilitate joint R&D on clean energy.

Generate key technological advancements in clean energy

sector through public-private collaboration.

Deploy clean energy technologies rapidly with the

greatest impact and global good.

Solar Energy encompassing solar electricity production,

nanoscale designs of interfaces & cells, advanced

photovoltaic technologies, concentrating solar power

technologies etc.

Second Generation Biofuels covering conversion

technologies for advanced biofuels , opt imal

characterization for lingo-cellulosic feedstocks, algal

biofuel, standards & certification for different biofuels and

co-product with end-use applications etc.

¡

¡

¡

¡

Energy Efficiency of Buildings including building heating

and cooling, cool roofs, advanced lighting, energy-efficient

building materials, software for building design and

operations, building-integrated photovoltaics etc.

Annual Program Funding: US $5 million each year from

each Government committed for a period of five years

Matching Funds: Consortia partners to contribute

matching fund for any awarded proposal under the

JCERDC

Total Award Size: Solar energy (US $12.5 million), Second

generation biofuels (US $6.25 million) and Building

efficiency (US $6.25 million) for projects each year

FUNDING

For more information, please visit:

http://www.indousstf.org/JCERDC.html

http://www.energy.gov/news/10332.htm

Networking R&D Projects in Clean Energy

Government of India Indo-US S&T Forum








OBJECTIVES


¡

¡

¡

¡

¡

¡











technologies etc.






¡

¡

¡

¡









JCERDC




FUNDING






Ministry of Science & Technology

Government of India

The Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India has announced the selections for three consortia that will receive a planned total of Rs 125 crore (US$ 25 million) in funding from the Indian Government over five years under the Indo-US Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC). These consortia – led in India by the Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology-Hyderabad and CEPT University-Ahmedabad and in the US by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Florida, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) respectively will bring together experts from national laboratories, universities, and industry in both India and the US to leverage their expertise and resources in building efficiency, advanced biofuels, and solar technology to unlock the huge potential of clean energy technologies that can reduce energy use, cut dependence on fossil fuel, and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy sources.

The Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center is part of the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy announced by Prime Minister Singh and President Obama in November 2011, which aims to accelerate the transition to high performing, low emissions, and energy secure economies. As two of the world’s largest economies, the United States and India have a special role to play in addressing global energy and environmental sustainability challenges.

The US and Indian Governments have each provided $5 million per year, subject to available appropriations, for five years to US and Indian institutions respectively for joint research and development in solar energy, advanced biofuels, and building energy efficiency and its equivalent. In addition, US and Indian consortia members have pledged over $75 million in matching funds, for a combined funding total of more than $125 million for this program for 5 years. The program would be administered in India by the bilateral Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and in the US by the Department of Energy (DOE).l











OBJECTIVES


¡

¡

¡

¡

¡

¡











technologies etc.






¡

¡

¡

¡









JCERDC




FUNDING






Priority area : Solar EnergyTitle of the project Solar Energy Research Institute for India and US (SERIIUS)Indian Consortia Partners

Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore (Lead Institution)

Other Partners: Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay; Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy; International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials; Solar Energy Centre; Indian Institute of Technology-Madras; Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science; S Clique Developments Ltd.; Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.; Moser Baer India Ltd.; Thermax Ltd.; TurboTech Precision; Engineering Ltd.; and Wipro Ltd.

US Consortia Partners

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Lead Institution)

Other Partners: RAND Corporation; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Arizona State University; Carnegie Mellon University; Colorado School of Mines; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Purdue University; Stanford University; University of Central Florida; University of South Florida; Washington University in St. Louis; Corning Incorporated; General Electric Company; Konarka Technologies, Inc.; MEMC Corporation; and Solarmer Energy Inc.

Theme / Focus Sustainable photovoltaics, multiscale concentrated solar power, and solar energy integration

Priority area : Second Generation BiofuelsTitle of the project US-India Consortium for development of Sustainable Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuel SystemsIndian Consortia Partners

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology-Hyderabad (Lead Institution)

Other Partners: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics-Hyderabad; Directorate of Sorghum Research-Hyderabad; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University-Hyderabad; Tamil Nadu Agricultural University; Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia KrishiVishwa Vidyalaya; Centre for Economic and Social Studies; Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi; Indian Institute of Technology-Madras; Abellon Clean Energy


University of Florida (Lead Institution)

Other Partners:University of Missouri; Virginia Tech; Montclair State University; Texas A&M University; Show Me Energy; and Green Technologies

Theme / Focus Development of sustainable advanced lignocellulosic biofuel systems

Priority area : Energy Efficiency of BuildingsTitle of the project United States-India Joint Center for Building Energy Research and DevelopmentIndian Consortia Partners

CEPT University-Ahmedabad (Lead Institution)

Other Partners:International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad; Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur; Indian Institute of Technology Bombay; Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad; Auroville Center for Scientific Research; Asahi India Glass; Biodiversity Conservation India; Infosys Technologies; Neosilica Technologies; Oorja Energy Engineering Services; Paharpur Business Centre/Green Spaces; PLUSS Polymers; Philips Electronics India; Saint Gobain Corp.; Schneider Electric India; Sintex Industries Limited; Skyshade Daylights; Wipro EcoEnergy; Glazing Society of India; Indian Green Building Center/Confederation of Indian Industries; Indian Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers; Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited; Indian Society of Lighting Engineers


Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Lead Institution)

Other Partners: Oak Ridge National Laboratory; University of California Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Autodesk, Inc.; California Energy Commission; Delphi; enLighted, Inc.; Honeywell; Infosys Public Services; Ingersoll-Rand/Trane; Lighting Science Group Corp.; Nexant; Saint Gobain Corp./SAGE Electrochromics; SynapSense; The Weidt Group; Bay Area Photovoltaic Consortium; City of San Jose; HOK Architects; Natural Resources Defense Council

Theme / Focus Integration of information technology with building controls and physical systems for commercial and high-rise residential buildings

CellUlaR anD MOleCUlaR MeDICIne: CanCeR, STeM CellS, anD InFlaMMaTIOn

05-07 January 2012 Vellore, India

We are now at a watershed in molecular medicine where the rapid advances in cellular and molecular biology of the last few decades can be linked to an unprecedented amount of sequence information from human disease subjects obtained from powerful next generation sequencing approaches. Communication and collaboration between investigators in the US and India in the context of this exciting area was the goal of this symposium

on Cellular and molecular medicine: cancer, stem cells, and inflammation organized by B.S. Ramakrishna and Alok Srivastava (Christian Medical College, Vellore) and Shiv Pillai and David Scadden (Harvard Medical School). The four goals of this event were: a) To make available to a broader Indian audience of basic science investigators, biomedical investigators, health care professionals, graduate students and medical students, research findings from leading laboratories in India, the US and elsewhere; b) To foster discussion and collaboration between investigators in India and the US, and also provide broader insights on the close

links between basic science and translational research; c) To communicate knowledge about basic science and molecular medicine to medical and graduate students in a one-day primer linked to the symposium; and, d) Make science accessible to the general public in India which was accomplished by two open plenary lectures by Nobel laureates.l

lOOkInG WIThIn: InTeRDISCIPlInaRy aPPROaCheS TO COnSCIOUSneSS

05-07 January Bangalore, India

Consciousness studies is an important scientific discipline that is emerging as one of the most significant areas of cutting edge research and would have a revolutionary impact on many fundamental concepts that we have today in brain sciences and physics. The Indo-US conference titled Looking within: interdisciplinary approaches to consciousness organized by Sangeetha Menon (National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore) and Mani L. Bhaumik (Earthlink, Los Angeles) discussed merging areas of research in the country that included brain sciences, cognitive neuroscience, quantum neuro-physics, and neuropsychiatry. The conference educated students and researchers on the current debates in the field and helped identify new problems of research interest.l

January – 2012 EVENTS diARY


January – 2012EVENTS diARY

nanOPhOTOnICS anD nanOPlaSMOnICS 09-12 January Bangalore, India

Nanophotonics and nanoplasmonics have recently emerged as exciting and promising areas of research with the potential to provide solutions to various challenges in energy, communication and IT in the near future. Research in this area is beginning to gather momentum and has developed very rapidly in the US and India. As a result, collaborative research between scientists from these two countries can be mutually beneficial and keeping this in mind Jaydeep K. Basu (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and Gary P. Wiederrecht

(Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne) organized an Indo-US workshop on Nanophotonics and nanoplasmonics. This event brought together top scientists from the United States and India to interact and exchange ideas on the present status and future prospects in the field. The conference addressed recent technological advances in these fields that are of great importance to both countries, such as energy, communication and information technology, and bio-medical technology.l

nal-naSa WORkShOP On InTeGRaTeD VehICle healTh ManaGeMenT (IVhM) anD aVIaTIOn SaFeTy

09-10 January Bangalore, India

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) is an interdisciplinary area being pioneered by NASA involving academia, industry and researchers. It deals with the ever increasing complexity in aircraft systems on one hand and a compulsion to have cost effective maintenance on the other by incorporating the health management philosophies right at the design process. This facilitates an integrated maintenance and logistics system that supports the equipment throughout its life time. India and USA are already partners in several spheres of science and technology. The workshop

on Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) and aviation safety organized by Satish Chandra (National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore) and Ashok Srivastava (NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field) was aimed to take the S&T cooperation to a newer level by networking the researchers, academia and industry of both the countries on a focused and extremely vital domain. The workshop built awareness through exchange and dissemination of information and helped identify opportunities in IVHM technologies leading to long term partnerships. This event


January – 2012 EVENTS diARY

also paved way for seeding an exciting and enabling science and technology program in aerospace, in the form of IVHM, to sustainable interactions and potential collaborations,

thus fostering contacts between US & Indian scientists to develop mutual trust, leadership, and entrepreneurship in research and development. l

5th WInTeR SChOOl OF IMMUnOlOGy 10-15 January Jodhpur, India

Developing countries like India have an obvious and serious need for improved vaccines against a variety of infections (such as malaria and tuberculosis). Cancer also remains a major health problem, and the limited access to chemotherapy and radiation emphasizes the importance of developing other approaches, such as immunotherapy. The rationale for the 5th Winter School of Immunology organized by Kanury S.V. Rao (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi) and Vijay K. Kuchroo (Harvard Medical School, Boston) was that Indians should

be involved in solving the problems of India, and education has to be the foundation for building research and interest in any field, including biology and medicine. The course provided students an intense and thorough exposure to basic immunology, infectious disease immunology and cancer immunology. The major components of the course were didactic lectures, open discussions (including discussions of new technologies), and clinical case discussions, over a period of 6 days.l

FROnTIeRS OF exCellenCe In PhOTOVOlTaIC SCIenCe anD TeChnOlOGIeS

15-17 January Mumbai, India

The Government of India is committed to increasing power generation from renewable sources, especially solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies. This commitment has been clearly spelt out in its national action plan and the national solar mission statement. Similarly, the US has been giving tangible support and encouragement for solar PV development and deployment. In view of the critical importance of this area of research and development, an Indo-US workshop on Frontiers of excellence in photovoltaic science and technologies was

organized by J. Vasi and Souvik Mahapatra (IIT Bombay), Sundar Kumar Iyer (IIT Kanpur), Shriram Ramanathan (Harvard University, Cambridge) and Supratik Guha (IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, New York). The workshop brought together researchers, scientists and technical experts from academia and industry, from India and the United States. The event helped benefit research, development and deployment of solar PV technologies in the immediate future in both the countries.l


February – 2012EVENTS diARY

InTRaPlaTe SeISMICITy16-18 January

Gandhinagar, India

The scientific issues associated with the earthquakes that strike away from active plate boundaries are of paramount importance for understanding earthquake hazards in both India and the United States. The Indo-US workshop on Intraplate seismicity organized by B.K. Rastogi (Institute of Seismological Research, Gandhinagar) and Susan E. Hough (U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena) included lectures on intraplate seismicity, seismic hazard, and tectonic models, with emphasis on key recent theoretical and observational advances, as well as identification of key data sets that could be collected and/or made available to address outstanding issues. The workshop focussed on scientific issues that are relevant for hazard assessment. l

nanOSCIenCe anD TeChnOlOGy 20-23 January Hyderabad, India

Nanoscience and technology has captured the imagination of the research fraternity worldwide as no other discipline has in the past. Consequently, the field has witnessed extremely rapid growth in recent times with an accompanying spurt in the pace at which new research findings are being reported. The Indo-US discussion meeting on Nanoscience and technology was organized by Tata Narasinga Rao (International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials, Hyderabad) and Apparao M. Rao (Clemson University, Clemson) to explore recent technology advancements in the field in the two countries that are of either immediate commercial interest or have promising future prospects in the industry.l

TheRMOeleCTRICS – TheORy, MaTeRIalS anD aPPlICaTIOnS

30 January - 01 February Mumbai, India

The current energy scenario has caused a great emphasis to be put on ‘recovery and sustainability’. Thermoelectric materials have the unique ability to recover the ‘waste heat’ into electrical power which is usable. This phenomenon, although known for a long time has not attained wide spread commercial utility because of the relatively low efficiency

of conversion. The main objective of the Indo-US workshop on Thermoelectrics – theory, materials and applications organized by Satish Vitta (IIT Bombay) and Terry M. Tritt (Clemson University, Clemson) was to sensitize various organizations and research community at large. The workshop was a first-of-its-kind in the area of thermoelectrics in India


EVENTS diARYFeb. - March – 2012


and the speakers included theoreticians, researchers from university and federal laboratories and industry participants

who are involved in materials development for different applications. l

The eVOlVInG ROle OF SOlID-STaTe CheMISTRy In PhaRMaCeUTICal SCIenCe

02-04 February Gurgaon, India

Differentiating a co-crystal from a salt, scaling up of active pharmaceutical ingredient co-crystals, stabilizing meta stable polymorphs, predicting polymorphs for a given active pharmaceutical ingredient from its molecular structure, predicting the solubility of co-crystals, and developing robust scalable crystallization processes to minimize batch-to-batch variations are some of the major challenges faced by researchers world-wide. There are a significant number of researchers in both India and the US who are working on the above mentioned facets of solid-state chemistry. The purpose of the workshop on The evolving role of solid-state

chemistry in pharmaceutical science organized by Gautam R. Desiraju (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore), Arunachalam Ramanan (IIT Delhi), Ram Thaimattam (Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, Gurgaon), and Michael J. Zaworotko (University of South Florida, Tampa) was to bring together the researchers from academic institutions as well as pharmaceutical R&D in India and US to share their expertise on crystal design, crystal nucleation, crystallization and crystal growth and other facets of solid-state chemistry to set directions for future research, and explore potential collaboration opportunities. l

aTaxIa TelanGIeCTaSIa 07 February New Delhi, India

Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare, genetic immunodeficiency disease that affects multiple organ systems and is characterized by neurodegeneration and cancer predisposition. The objective of the symposium on Ataxia telangiectasia organized by B.C. Das (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, New Delhi) and Tej K. Pandita (UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas) was to bring together basic and clinical researchers working on various aspects of the clinical and cellular phenotypes of ataxia telangiectasia mutated gene to understand

its role in neural differentiation and neurodegenerative disorders, NA damage response and genomic instability as well as cancer, in a comprehensive and stimulating atmosphere to promote scientific interactions, discussions and cross-disciplinary research collaborations. The symposium also allowed for young scientists like students, post-doctoral fellows and young clinical researchers to gain exposure to the current status of knowledge in this field and also provided them the opportunity to present their work.l

March – 2011EVENTS diARY

CaRDIOVaSCUlaR ReSeaRCh COnVeRGenCe 17-18 February New Delhi, India

The conference on Cardiovascular research convergence organized by Balram Bhargava (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) and Jay L. Mehta (University of Arkasas for Medical Science, Little Rock) was aimed at providing a common platform for clinicians, scientists and researchers from both USA and India to acquire knowledge, exchange ideas and form fruitful collaborations for undertaking translational research in cardiovascular sciences. The conference provided the opportunity for a comprehensive overview of the latest research developments in cardiovascular therapeutics; heart failure; rheumatic heart disease; atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease; experimental cardiology; stem cell research; proteomics; cardiovascular epidemiology; and, research methodologies for interdisciplinary and translational approach.l

GlOBal ChallenGeS: ClIMaTe ChanGe, WaTeR, enVIROnMenT anD SOCIeTy

5-6 March Gurgaon, India

In recent years, the global issue of climate change and its impact on the environment, glaciers melt, spatial and temporal change of precipitation both on global and regional scale has become more visible. Globally, a changing climate will present challenges for some sectors, and opportunities for other sectors. The problem of water and environment are intertwined and

these problems will continue to grow globally. The Indo-US workshop on Global challenges: climate change, water, environment and society was organized by Ram Karan Singh (ITM University, Gurgaon) and Alex S. Mayer (Michigan Technological University, Houghton) to bring together educators, researchers, social scientists, practitioners, planners, managers, administrators and policy makers to discuss the problems related to the sustainable management of water resources in light of population increases, climate change, land use change, and increasing water withdrawals. The workshop was interdisciplinary in nature and discussed the challenges related to water and environment for the 21st century with the following specific

objectives: water and environment problems and their solutions; current state of art environmental, watershed technologies and water resources; interdisciplinary problems, approaches and solutions through theoretical frameworks and models; social issues related to water and environment problems; and, research directions for a sustainable future. l


EVENTS diARYMarch – 2011

MODellInG eleCTRICal aCTIVITy In PhySIOlOGICal SySTeMS

05-10 March Agra, India

The Indo-US workshop on Modelling electrical activity in physiological systems organized by Somdatta Sinha (Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad) and Richard Bertram (Florida State University, Tallahassee) was aimed at introducing participants to the techniques and concepts of mathematical and computational modelling of the electrical events underlying neuron and endocrine cell activity. The events are important to the proper functioning of brain and

endocrine cells, and thus to physiological processes controlled by the brain and by hormones released from endocrine cells. Speakers at the event included both theoretical and experimental scientists from the United States and India. The aim was to facilitate scientific interactions that would yield collaborative programmes between India and the US in the area of electrical processes underlying neural, endocrine, and neuroendocrine systems.l

BIOSeCURITy anD PUBlIC healTh ChallenGeS In VeTeRInaRy hOSPITalS In InDIa – BRIDGInG The GaP BeTWeen hUMan anD anIMal healTh

05-08 March Hyderabad, India

Biosecurity and infection control strategies in veterinary hospitals play a significant role in providing a safe environment to veterinary patients and in reducing the spread of nosocomial infections to animals as well as humans. Nosocomial infections or “hospital-acquired infections” are infections that are a result of treatment in a veterinary hospital or clinic. Nosocomial infections in veterinary hospitals are not solely a concern

for patient-care, but the spread of infectious agents can also significantly affect normal hospital operations, revenue, client confidence, public image, and the morale of hospital personnel. There is a critical need to evaluate biosecurity and infection control practices in veterinary hospitals and to establish programs for carrying out the activities related to disease control. With this in mind, K. Satish Kumar (College of Veterinary Science, Hyderabad) and M. D. Salman (Colorado State University, Colorado) organized an Indo-US workshop on Biosecurity and public health challenges in veterinary hospitals in India – bridging the gap between human and animal health to bring together experts from the US with Indian veterinarians and public health officials to collaborate on this important issue and raise the level of animal and human health for India. l

PReVenTInG ROaD CRaSh InJURy ThROUGh VehICle SaFeTy DeSIGn

06-07 March Bangalore, India

Fatalities and injuries caused by vehicle-related crashes are assuming menacing proportions in India. In USA, the total number of annual fatalities has stagnated in recent years after being reduced substantially from higher levels a number of years ago through the introduction of a range of safety measures including improving the passive safety features of vehicles. The Indo-US workshop on Preventing road crash injury through

vehicle safety design organized by Anindya Deb (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and Jesse Ruan (Ford Motor Company, Dearborn) was aimed at addressing the challenging crucial issue of reducing and preventing fatalities primarily through sustainable and innovative vehicle passive and active safety design by bringing together experts from USA and India. Some of the topics of relevance covered at the symposium


included statistical analysis of accident data and epidemiology of injuries; vehicle platform and system level crash safety design; crash safety design of vehicles; impact biomechanics and injury prediction; crash safety design optimization with

multi-disciplinary constraints; design methodologies and algorithms; innovation in vehicle safety design; and, impact of road infrastructure, enforcement of safe driving practices, and driver education on road safety. l

GReen CheMISTRy FOR enVIROnMenT anD SUSTaInaBle DeVelOPMenT

11-13 March Dehradun, India

Green chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products. The Indo-US workshop on Green chemistry for environment and sustainable development organized by D.S. Negi (HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar) and Bimal K. Banik (The University of Texas Pan American, Edinburg)

presented the latest trends in the field of green chemistry. The workshop was a combination of lectures, discussions, and demonstrations. During the lecture sessions, speakers addressed the challenges and opportunities in green chemistry education. The participants deliberated upon strategies for designing, adapting and incorporating new green methods of synthesis. l

Shale GaS 19-20 March New Delhi, India

Shale gas belongs to the category of unconventional natural gases, which also includes coal bed methane, gas from tight sandstones and gas hydrates. Shale is a sedimentary rock formation which

contains clay, quartz and other minerals. Much of the oil or gas formed in the shale which is known as source rock, being the source of the hydrocarbons) migrates to porous and permeable

beds. The Indo-US workshop on Shale gas organized by Anirbid Sircar (Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar) and Chandra Rai (University of Oklahoma, Norman) was aimed to provide a platform to use the experience of US to understand and exploit shale gas plays in India. The workshop participants deliberated upon the inherent reservoir rock properties for stable hole conditions; lateral and vertical communication resulting from the frac jobs; quality water required for Hydro fracturing and for multi stimulation jobs; well design and primary cement bond in old wells, surface facilities, fields under improved recovery processes, sophisticated equipment with knowledgeable skilled personnel; shale gas policies etc. l

2nD US-InDIa neTWORk-enaBleD ReSeaRCh COllaBORaTIOn WORkShOP

22-23 March Washington DC, USA

The aim of the 2nd US-India network-enabled research collaboration workshop organized by N. Mohan Ram (ERNET India) and James G. Williams (Indiana University) was to drive network-enabled collaboration between research groups in India and the United States through innovative applications using advanced cyber infrastructure involving the

national research and education networks in India (ERNET, NKN) and the US (Internet2, ESNet, NLR), the international circuits connecting the two countries (TransPac3 and TAJ), and other nation-wide cyber infrastructure facilities in India and the US. l

March – 2011EVENTS diARY


Indo-U.S.Science & Technology ForumThe Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), established under anagreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America,is an autonomous, not for profit society that promotes and catalyzes Indo-U.S.collaborations in science, technology, engineering and biomedical researchthrough substantive interaction among government, academia and industry.

Foster excellence by capitalizing on the scientific and technological synergyDisseminate information and create awareness through scientific exchangesBuild linkages through networking between academia and industryExplore new frontiers by nurturing contact between young and mid-career scientistsPave way to sustainable interactions and establish long term relationshipsEncourage public-private partnership to inculcate elements of innovation andentrepreneurship

Exciting and innovative collaborative programs cutting across disciplines and institutions

IUSSTF solicits joint proposals for Indo-US workshops, training programs and joint networked centres twice a year and awards activities for every call on the basis of peer reviews both in India and USA.

Academia-Industry Connect Programs Programs on InnovationAdvance Schools & Training Programs Public-Private Networked Joint CentersBilateral Workshops & Symposia Special Initiatives for Strategic PartnershipsFlagship Events Student InternshipsIndustry Driven Programs Knowledge R&D Networked Joint CentersVisiting Professorships

Submission Deadlines Award Announcements

15 February 30 June15 August 31 December

Further information available at http://www.indousstf.orgWe value your interactions with us towards promoting Indo-U.S. Science and Technology collaborations

Rajiv Sharma, Executive DirectorIndo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)Fulbright House,12 Hailey RoadNew Delhi 110 001, IndiaE-mail: [email protected]: 91-11-42691700Fax: 91-11-23321552

Michael Cheetham, HeadUS Representative OfficeIndo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)American Association for the Advancement of Science1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005, USAE-mail: [email protected]: 1-202-326-6664

Who we are

What we do

We support

We invite

How tocontact us?

Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum: A Catalyst for Indo-U.S. Science & Technology CooperationIndo-US Science and Technolongy Forum

Next call closes on 15th August

2012

the khorana program giving wings to talent · changing solutions to recalcitrant social problems....

Documents