Significant Research Activities
The department is organized in terms of three groups (Design Group, Thermal engineering Group and Production & Industrial Group) for academic and administrative purpose.There has been a significant improvement in research output in recent years which is made possible through liberal grants provided by the institute administration and resources generated by faculty from funding sources outside the institute.
Refereed Research Papers in Journals Published by the Department
Department faculty is actively engaged in carrying out sponsored research work with funding from many national and international funding agencies which include Department of Science & Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO), Simulator Development Division (Ministry of Defense), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, European Commission, Naval Science & Technology Laboratory (NSTL), UK-Indian Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), Ministry of Textiles, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Finance and Alstom Technology Center.
Department faculty takes up many industrial consultancy projects annually. Some of the notable sponsors of consultancy projects in recent years include LG Electronics, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, TATA Steel Limited, Anest Iwata Motherson Ltd., INFRAS, Minda Industries Ltd., National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Simulator Development Division (Army), Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bajaj Electricals Limited, Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC) - DRDO, Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd., Naval Science & Technology Laboratory (NSTL), Japan Automotive Research Institute (JARI), SIMPRI Investments, General Motors India Ltd., Bank Note Press (Govt of India), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd., Alstom Technology Center, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India Pvt Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd. etc.
Last 5 year saw a significant increase in research projects, product development activities and enrolment in PhD programmes. During this period 41 new sponsored research projects with an outlay of Rs 1469 Lakhs and more than 100 consulting projects with an outlay of Rs 250 Lakhs were undertaken. Following paragraphs give some selected significant accomplishments in terms of research and development activities.
Department faculty were responsible for development of facilities for dynamic characterization human body soft tissues and bones. It is first ever successful attempt in using split Hopkinson pressure bar on these materials.
Many department faculty were involved in a major rural industrialization programme funded by Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC). One of the objectives of this programme is to revamp The Jamnalal Bajaj Central Research Institute (JBCRI), Wardha, giving birth to Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) which is expected to play a dominant role in the development of suitable technological innovations in the village industries compatible with the demands of the day. The institute is designed to have six divisions: Khadi and Textiles, Chemical Industries, Biological industries, Rural Engineering and Craft, Rural Energy and Infrastructure and Marketing and Management. During the project period, IIT faculty ran these divisions using project staff just in the same way as it would be expected to run once the project is over. Under each division, several technologies were developed, dissemination workshops were held to share these technologies with the rural industries. Mechanical Engineering faculty P.L. Dhar. R. R. Gaur, S.G. Deshmukh, N. Bhatnagar, P.M.V. Subbarao, M.R. Ravi and Sangeeta Kohli participated in the project, under Rural Engineering and Craft, Rural Energy and Infrastructure and Management and Marketing divisions.
IIT Delhi has taken a lead in setting up countries first and unique research facility for mechanical micromanufacturing. This focused synergetic capacity building activity for the nation addresses the science, tools, methodologies and applications of mechanical micromanufacturing. It is expected that this unique facility funded under DST's FIST programme will provide opportunity for development of technology required for building products in various areas including defence, optics and medicine.
IIT Delhi is one of the consortium partners in ICAR initiative on Enhancement of Livelihood Security through Sustainable Farming Systems and Related Farm Enterprises in North-West Himalayas. The role of IIT Delhi is to design, develop, deploy and provide training in Ultra Micro-Hydel Turbines for Rural Energy Needs.
IIT Delhi is one of the project partners in CSIR's The New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI) which is the largest public-private-partnership effort within the R&D domain in the country. The role of IIT Delhi is to develop technology for manufacturing dental and medical implants which are presently imported. CSIR has extended the role of IIT in setting up a facility for dental and medical implant manufacturing after proof-of-concept studies have been successfully demonstrated by IIT.