Outsourcing of engineering services business comprising CAD/CAE and related computer simulation technologies to India is poised to grow at 30 percent and reach $40 billion business by 2020. This surge in engineering design and analysis can create an employment potential of 1.5 to 2.25 lakh, according to a study conducted by Nasscom and Allen and Booz consultants.

However, the challenge is how the country addresses the severe lack of skilled engineers to meet this opportunity, said Dr S Shamasundar, director, ProSIM, in conversation with Deccan Herald on the sidelines of a three-day seminar ‘Engineering Design.in2007’ at IISc on Thursday.

Education
“We have the numbers but not at the level of qualification required. Educational requirements of engineers from the present ITI level and above will have to be addressed if our graduates must make an impact,” he said.

Earlier, while addressing the audience, he noted that some of the threats to India taking a lead in engineering design and R&D were the alarmingly high levels of salary in India (the highest in the world) as also the flight of Indian companies abroad. As of now, the nation is present only at the lower levels of entry in the business, he said while pointing to the success of China and eastern Europe. Giving an example of how crucial a role is played by design in product development, he noted that ProSIM (a total engineering solution provider) has helped come up with design and development of high strength steels that save up on weight without compromising on performance. Using CAD and analysis they have been able to bring about a 10 percent weight reduction in truck wheels. “This directly translates to cost savings and fuel efficiency,” he said.

Influence
Product design accounts for hardly five percent of the development time but has almost 70 percent influence on the total costs. This is why new softwares like DFMA (Design for manufacture and assembly) are being used more frequently. Its impact in sectors like aerospace, automotives, consumer electronics is sizeable.

But while India has gradually changed from users to developers to designers, much still needs to be done, said Prof B Gurumurthy, chairman, Centre for Product Design and Manufacture, IISc. “We still lack maturity in identifying new products, analysis and taking the prototype to manufacture level,” he said.

Minister of Industries and Commerce, Katta Subramanya Naidu assured of all support from the government for concrete proposals. He however urged the academics and experts to develop human resource skill and to take the technological benefits to the poor.

The Engineering-Design.IN 2007 addresses the latest development in computer aided applications in the product development life cycle. It is organised by CPDM, IISc, ProSIM, Indian Society for Technical Education and MECMA.

NANO PARK
There are three to four IT companies registering themselves in Bangalore every week and a similar number of biotech companies too! Bangalore has the largest number of Nasscom-certified manufacturing companies in the world, next only to Tokyo.

A state-of-art biotech park will soon be completed while plans are on for the world’s first nano-park in the city. A first of its kind nano-event will be launched later this month and be inaugurated in December.

The 21st century thus belongs to India, pronounced M N Vidyashankar, secretary, dept of IT, BT and S&T, Karnataka, while enumerating some of the State Government’s initiatives in the areas of science and technology.