Danfoss India, a leading provider of climate and energy solutions inaugurated its First Advanced Drives Laboratory set up at the premier Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) as a part of its Industry Academia initiative to boost skilling in the manufacturing sector. This is the first lab in India, to house the latest global innovations in the field of electric drives within an academic framework giving VIT students an edge over other premier engineering institutes in the Country. This collaboration further strengthens Danfoss' commitment to promote sector specific skill and competency development through industry academia tie-ups.

"Make in India is the new mantra being chanted by all in the industry as well the government. Knowledge, skills and competencies are integral to industrial growth and if India has to strengthen its position as a global manufacturing hub, niche talent creation has to be a pre-requisite. However, the envisaged growth could affect the country's energy intensity and we need to find an efficient yet effective solution to address this. Drives are an essential part of modern industrial, HVAC and Aqua applications and help in conserving energy input. So while companies are yearning to grow in a sustainable manner, the challenges faced by them on competencies and domain expertise can be addressed only through skilling, and this is what we aim to achieve through this collaboration," remarked Mr Ravichandran Purushothaman, President, Danfoss India.

The Advanced Drives Laboratory will house the latest electric drives such as induction motor, permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) and synchronous reluctance motor drives - all indispensible innovations that will help ensure an energy efficient industrial output. Having access to such applications will further allow students to conduct various tests and do advance research within their course framework and avail of research funds from UGC, DST and funding agencies from other countries as well. Additionally, this will help them develop their competency in the sector and equip them with the knowledge to become consultants to local industries or even train their juniors. Most importantly, this lab, the first to be installed by Danfoss in India, will open doors to Post Graduate, PhD research and joint research projects on various aspects of Variable Frequency Drives.

Speaking at the Inaugural function, Mr Ole Jensen, Member of Danfoss India Board and President, Danfoss Power Electronics A/S, Central European Region, said, "Today, the sustainable growth rate of an economy is often estimated by its energy intensity to GDP ratio. India is a fast developing economy and it's only going to peak from hereon. What is more impressive is that the government is taking very progressive steps to ensure that this growth is sustainable by adding more renewables to the energy basket. However, the onus of efficient energy utilization lies with every organization that needs to adopt technologies that will help them achieve more output for less. We hope to inculcate this practice of making the right choice at the earliest possible phase amongst India's emerging talent and hope they benefit from the same tremendously." Through this initiative, both students and faculty at VIT stand to gain from the domain expertise that Danfoss will consistently offer through technical sessions. Students from UG, PG and PhD streams such as Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Power Electronics and Drives, Control and Instrumentation Communication Engineering, Power Systems are set to benefit the most as the lab facilities will be a part of their curriculum.