83rd CSIR Foundation Day Celebrations
INN/Chennai, @Infodeaofficial
The 83rd foundation day of CSIR was celebrated with great enthusiasm at the CSIR Campus in Taramani, Chennai, by CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC) and CSIR Madras Complex (CMC).
Open Day was observed on the occasion of the 83rd Foundation Day celebrations of CSIR, on 26 September 2024, at CSIR Campus, Taramani, Chennai, by CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC) and CSIR Madras Complex comprising the regional units of CSIR-CECRI, CSIR-CEERI, CSIR-CSIO, CSIR-NEERI and CSIR-NML. All laboratories in the CSIR Campus were kept open for the general public between 9:30 AM and 3 PM. Elaborate arrangements were made to receive the visitors. Technologies, products, and state-of-the-art facilities were showcased and demonstrated for the benefit of the visitors. A record number of 9200 visitors, including school and college students, teachers, professionals from the industry, entrepreneurs, and the general public, visited the CSIR campus and the Tower Testing & Research Station (TTRS) campus of CSIR-SERC with great enthusiasm. They had a first-hand glimpse of multifarious and multi-discipline R&D programmes currently going on in the laboratories and the technologies developed. The visitors showed keen interest and passionately interacted with the scientific staff.
The foundation day function was held on 4 October 2023 at 3 PM and was presided over by Dr. N. Anandavalli, Director, CSIR-SERC and Coordinating Director, CMC. Shri M.S. Unnikrishnan, Chief Executive Officer, IITB-Monash Research Academy Mumbai was the chief guest of the function.
In her Foundation Day address, Dr. Anandavalli, in brief, talked about the genesis, history, legacy, and transformation of CSIR in the eight decades of its existence. She also highlighted the contributions and significant achievements of CSIR and its pivotal role in nation-building and in shaping the growth of science and technology in the country since its inception on 26 September 1942. She also highlighted the significant technologies of CSIR that had hugely contributed to the society, such as indelible ink, baby food, tractors, cold-formed bars, Hansa, biofuel, and waste-to-wealth technologies. She said that CSIR had placed itself as a contemporary R&D organization with a pan-India presence covering a wide spectrum of scientific and industrial research and has been marching towards global leadership since 2020. Dr. Anandavalli also spoke on the six thrust areas of CSIR-SERC – structural health monitoring and life extension, disaster mitigation, advanced materials for sustainable structures, special and multi-functional structures, energy infrastructure, and offshore structures, and the research being done in these areas. She also spoke about the significant research contributions of the laboratories under CSIR Madras Complex – energy storage devices, environmental assessment, energy audit system, column flotation technology, plastic sorting system, etc.
Dr. J.Rajasankar, Chief Scientist, CSIR-SERC, introduced the chief guest to the audience. Shri Unnikrishnan delivered the CSIR Foundation Day lecture. In his lecture, he highlighted the significance of research organizations such as CSIR and the vital role they are going to play in the growth and sustenance of our economy. He pointed out that technology is the key in facing the critical constraints and challenges faced by our economy – mainly the limited availability of energy and land. He highlighted on the need for an innovation economy – often characterized by rapid technological advancements and digitalization – a shift from traditional industries to more knowledge-based ones, where ideas, innovation, and intellectual capital drive economic growth. He said that scientists and technologists have a critical role to play in achieving an innovation-based economy. He remembered the technological contributions of CSIR in the past when India was deprived of the technologies by the developed nations and said that CSIR is much more relevant now to achieve the goal/need of an innovation/technology-driven economy. He also stressed on the need for real partnership between the academia and said that the industry is also greatly realizing the importance of science.
Every year, during the foundation day function, Dr. M. Ramaiah Prize is presented for the best technical papers published by the scientists of CSIR-SERC. For the year 2023-2024, two papers were selected by the Committee as best papers and two papers were chosen for certificate of merit. The Director congratulated all the authors of the papers selected, and the chief guest presented Dr. M. Ramaiah Prize to the winners. The selected papers are as follows:
Best technical papers:
- A novel retrofitting strategy for restoring railway masonry arch bridge undergoing failure by settlement due to scouring, published in Engineering Failure Analysis, authored by Arun Sundaram B, Aravindan M, Srinivas Voggu, Kanchana Devi A, Parivallal S, Prathebha Padmanaban
- Experimental validation of optimal TMD for wind turbines using real-time hybrid simulation, published in Journal of Vibration and Control, authored by Yadukrishnan A, Subbulakshmi A, Verma M
Certificate of merit papers:
- Mixing approach for 3D printable concrete: method of optimisation of superplasticiser dosage, published in Magazine of Concrete Research, authored by Ambily PS, Senthil Kumar K, Shilpa Sebastian, Deepadharshan Shekar
- Segmental instability failures in transmission line towers, published in Journal of Constructional Steel Research, authored by Prasad Rao, R.P. Rokade, R. Balagopal, G.S. Palani
As a part of the function, Director, CSIR-SERC and Coordinating Director, CMC, honoured the employees of CSIR-SERC and CMC, who have superannuated during the past year. The employees who have completed 25 years of service in CSIR were also felicitated. A brief report on open day was presented by Dr. P. Kamatchi, Chairperson, Common Core Committee. Dr. Alok Kumar Ramkrishna Paul, Chairman, Open Day Committee, CSIR-CMC proposed vote of thanks at the end of the function.
Every year, as a part of CSIR foundation day celebrations, an inter-school quiz programme, Eureka, and CSIR open day science competitions for the wards of employees of CSIR-SERC and CMC are organized. This year, Eureka 2024 was organized on 23 September 2024 at the CSIR Campus, which turned out to be a success. Twenty-four schools from in and around Chennai participated in the event. CSIR open day science competition was held on 8 September 2024 at the CSIR campus and more than 100 students participated. Prizes were distributed for the winners of the competitions on 4 October 2024, during the foundation day function by Dr. Anandavalli.