Overview
- IIT Madras inaugurated a state‑of‑the‑art on‑campus robotics laboratory costing Rs 3.30 crore under an MoU with Bechtel India that was signed Tuesday and marked the formal start of the collaboration.
- The MoU was signed by Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam for IIT Madras and Bechtel India leaders Raja Yeluri and Ravi Tata, with Profs. T. Asokan and Koshy Varghese named to lead the new lab.
- Bechtel India has committed CSR funding plus in‑kind support that includes industry input to curriculum, mentorship by company engineers and the exploration of internships at Bechtel offices for selected students.
- The facility is meant to support joint research, prototyping, testing and technology demonstration aimed at producing publications, patents and deployable automation solutions for construction and infrastructure.
- The partnership targets a five‑to‑ten year program of projects and training that seeks to fast‑track technology transfer to industry and give students hands‑on experience for careers in construction robotics.