JOIN USSpeaking at the inauguration of the two-day “Bangalore Nano 2010” here on Wednesday, DRDO Chief Controller Dr W Selvamurthy said nano-technology, being developed by the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory in Bangalore, will be utilised to improve the efficacy of these vests in difficult conditions.
He said the smart vest is part of the 'soldier-as-a-system' project, whereby it will be possible to monitor whether a soldier is healthy or injured, alive or dead. A GPS system will also be woven into the vest so that every soldier can be tracked, he added. DRDO is also planning to set up a nano foundry by investing Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore. “This project will be a cluster with the partnering of IITs and other academic institutions of India. DRDO will also fund nano research at the academic institutions.”, he said.
Bangalore Nano is being organised by the Department of Science and Technology, with JNCASR and MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications.
Award for Prof Ajay Sood
The Bangalore Nano national award was conferred on Prof Ajay Sood, a professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science.
Sood is the third recipient of the award since its inception, following Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister Prof C N R Rao and Prof Dipankar Chakravorty in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Sood, who is also the president of Indian Academy of Science, has been recognised for his work in the physics of nano systems like nano-tubes and graphene, and physics of soft condensed matter. He has published more than 268 papers in the international journals and holds four Indian patents and two US patents. He has got several awards including the S S Bhatnagar prize, G D Birla award and DAE Raja Ramanna award of JNCASR.