IIT-Guwahati signs MoU with industry partners to foster drone technology in Northeast

GUWAHATI: Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with M/S Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (AMTRON), and M/S RC Hobbytech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (RCH) on January 18, 2023, with a motive to work together on strengthening and expanding drone-based training, research and development, manufacturing for varied sectors such as agriculture, disaster management, wildlife conservation and health care, among others.

Prof Parameswar K Iyer, Officiating Director, IIT Guwahati, Mr S Sundar, IFS - Managing Director, AMTRON and Mr Biswajit Dey, Co-Founder - RC Hobbytech Solutions Pvt Ltd signed the MoU.

Prof Parameswar K Iyer said, "The three organizations will work in tandem to actively engage in research and development activities. The esteemed members of IIT Guwahati Drone Centre and Technology Incubation Hub will be an integral part of the endeavour for the greater interest of the region."

The scope of operations under the new collaboration will include -

The establishment of a commercial drone flying school at IIT Guwahati that will offer commercial drone flying fresher courses and other related advisory and consultancy services such as renewing their drone flying license, securing necessary commercial drone permits and helping prepare students for drone flying tests. The school will also connect the students with organizations that need professional drone flyers.

Professional courses on drones will offer a wide range of services such as drone-based survey and mapping, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) courses, coding and AI-related courses and other related courses.

IIT Guwahati, along with the industry partners, will work initially on developing a few prototype drones and get them certified by the Quality Council of India (QCI) for use in activities, including agriculture, spraying/ seeding and crop health monitoring, and vertical take-off and landing fixed-wing drone for payload delivery, mapping and surveillance.

By utilizing the expertise of all stakeholders, it develops a Disaster Response Management System to address, identify and actuate any disaster in Assam. IIT Guwahati will develop drone prototypes to cater to the needs of the state to contain disasters, AMTRON will provide communication support, and RCH will provide the necessary technical expertise in developing drones and associated systems.

They will also establish a Disaster Response Cell at IIT Guwahati.

Mr Biswajit Dey, Co-Founder -EduRade, said, "Our mission is to train youths of North Eastern region in emerging technology so that they can up-skill themselves and find relevance in the ever-growing technological landscape of the current world. We are quite optimistic that our efforts will bear fruit, and the youths of this region will be able to take the self-employment route at large scale."

The collaboration will lead towards strengthening the Disaster Management Strategy for Assam.

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