Pratt & Whitney sets up endowed Chair in IISC

Employment was an issue in this field. But if there are more people to hire, then, more interest will be generated,” said Prof B N Raghunandan, divisional chairman, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), here on Tuesday.

Inaugurating the Pratt & Whitney Chair in Gas Turbine Engineering at the Institute, he said endowed professorships would ensure sustainable research. As for who will hold the position, he said, “We have received some nominations for the Chair. But we haven’t selected anyone yet.”

The Pratt & Whitney chair will focus on advanced research in propulsion system technology. The department has already signed a MoU with Pratt & Whitney’s sister organisation in Canada.

Paul Adams, senior vice-president, Pratt & Whitney, said that as IISc had outstanding technical capabilities, it complemented their fundamental research needs in the area of gas turbine engines. “We  are interested in incubating the next generation scientists, who will in turn help us build next generation aircraft engines,” he pointed out.  Adams said that they had donated a sizeable donation to the institution as corpus fund.

1200 acres for new campus

IISc has received government sanction on land for its new campus. The 1200-acre campus will be located in Chitradurga district and is close to the Defence area. The institute will conduct practical activities in fields like aerospace and energy in this campus. “As the campus is adjacent to DRDO land, we are looking at aeronautical activities there. So it seems appropriate to shift the practical applications,” said Raghunandan.