ABB India signed a MoU with NITTTR to establish a first of its kind SCoE for teachers, students and industry engineers to develop a deeper understanding of the underlying multi-physics and design principles for the manufacturing of various best in class electro-mechanical equipment in India. The electro-mechanical equipment industry is a critical element in the success of the proposed exponential growth in the Indian power sector and needs to reach a quality level among the best in class to become a manufacturing hub of global repute.

The transformation of the power generation, transmission and distribution sector as well as of manufacturing industries increases the demand for competitive and high quality products, both to satisfy the domestic demand and to increase India’s export. Optimal and robust design of electro-mechanical equipment in the current context is guided by the recent advances in high performance computing machines, parallel processing and simulation tools. Digitalisation is starting to pervade human activities, be this leisure or business, still manufacturing of any equipment must be based on reliable design to handle the basic natural phenomena, namely thermal, mechanical and electromagnetics.

“In a bid to partner India’s vision of becoming a manufacturing hub, the SCoE is our endeavour to build a robust eco-system of next level training and support technologies to further the design, development and manufacturing of critical electro-mechanical equipment in the country,” said Giandomenico Testi, CTO, ABB India. “Such a center will provide an exposure, currently scarce, in the areas of modelling, simulations and design with expert guidance to engineers, scientists, researchers and faculties across industry oriented topics. The centre will be a key step in providing a differentiating technology platform and focus on quality in the midst of increasing price pressure and competition in the sector,” he added.

Dr M P Poonia, Director, National Institute of Technical Teachers Training & Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh, emphasized the importance of simulation in product design and development. He elaborated the role NITTTR, Chandigarh will play through SCoE in addressing the industrial requirements as well as providing an opportunity to the faculty and research scholars to work on real life industrial projects through cutting edge technologies. Dr M P Poonia thanked ABB, India for collaborating with NITTTR, Chandigarh which will result in much needed industry-institute partnership.

Scope of the centre includes establishing a high performance computing platform with necessary advanced computational tools. The centre is expected to be operational by 2017. It will be funded by ABB’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to promote education and skill improvement for graduating engineers, research students, industry professionals as well as faculty.

By 2022, the installed power capacity in India is expected to exceed 400 GW from 255 GW in 2014 (Dec 2014), on the back of projected increasing demand from industrialization and economic development. The Indian Electrical Equipment Industry Mission Plan 2012-2022 has a vision of making India the country of choice for the production of electrical equipment and reach an output of 100 BUSD from 24 BUSD in 2013 by balancing exports and imports.