R&D HUB Hyderabad Updates

[Prodigist]

BHEL to setp up Nano Tech Research Center in Hyderabad

Source: NDTV Profit

BHEL is establishing a Centre for Nano Technology (CNT) at its Corporate R&D division at Hyderabad. The facility will explore the application of nano materials in products and systems relevant to BHEL. Material development for applications like power plant components, nano structured wear-resistant coatings, electrical insulating materials, solar cells, carbon nano tube applications, nano fluidics, fuel cells and sensors will be studied at this facility.

[Gudavalli]

Source: http://www.cisionwire.com/saab/r/saa...rabad,c9177038

Saab India Technologies Pvt. Ltd. today inaugurated the Saab India Technology Centre, a Research and Development Centre, in partnership with Mahindra Satyam in Hyderabad.

The Saab India Technology Centre, SITC, will form a bridge between India and Sweden. The aim of the centre is to support the internal operational excellence and optimization initiatives within Saab, while also supporting Saab to expand in the Indian market. An initial base of 100 skilled Indian engineers to be inducted by the close of 2012 will form the backbone of the Centre. The SITC is expected to increase its headcount to at least 300 over the next three years.
The Centre will undertake Research and Development in aerospace, defence and urban innovation including civil security. The primary areas of development will include Software Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The SITC envisages future development in the areas of Signal processing and Systems Engineering.
Inaugurating the SITC, Saab President and CEO Håkan Buskhe, said:
“With the establishment of this Research and Development Centre, Saab has invested in a sustainable and long term relationship with Mahindra Satyam to co-develop critical technologies not only for India but to support our global markets. This Centre is a part of Saab’s future offer for the world market.”
C P Gurnani, CEO, Mahindra Satyam said:
“Aerospace & Defence is a major growth area for us and establishment of SITC is a strategic step towards synergizing Mahindra Satyam’s unique strengths in mission critical systems, engineering services, systems integration and Saab’s expertise in aerospace, Network centric warfare, special IT systems.”
According to Saab India Technologies Managing Director Inderjit Sial:
“This Centre represents Saab’s commitment to investing in India and partnering in creating India’s technology base in areas of national security and defence needs. Saab is providing technological and knowledge partnership to support India’s ambition to be an independent player within the defence technology market, with special focus on aerospace technology.”

[S Chigurupati]

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/10599615.cms

HYDERABAD: Principal scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Utpal Bhadra has been selected for the prestigious Ranbaxy research award for the year 2010 in recognition of his research in gene silencing and RNAi biogenesis and mechanisms. The award consists of a plaque and Rs one lakh cash.

Utpal Bhadra has published more than 50 research articles in national and international journals such as Science, Nature Genetics, Cell, and Molecular Cell whose impact on biological sciences has been rated high. His work published in Science Journal ranked among the top 10 papers for three years.

According to a CCMB press release, Dr Bhadra is currently engaged in CSIR network project of validation of identified models and development of new alternative models for evaluation of new drug entities.

Dr Krishnan Ravi Kumar of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology ( IICT) too was selected for the Ranbaxy award for his contributions in the field of pharmaceutical sciences. He shares the award with Dr Sanjayan of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) scientist Prasanta K Patro was awarded the Krishnan Gold Medal for the year 2011 by the Indian Geophysical Union.

He was chosen for his contributions towards electrical imaging of the Indian peninsular shield which provided insights into the make up of earth's interior beneath the Deccan volcanic province.

[Prodigist]

IIIT Hyderabad ties up with global majors for research

Source: The Hindu Business Line

Hyderabad, Nov. 5:
International Institute of Information Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) has forged a new mode of collaborative research with the industry called ‘nurture an area'. It has successfully attracted big companies like TCS, Amazon, Hitachi, Yahoo, Samsung, GE, Rockwell Collins — to join hands.

The idea was to focus on specific areas with key industry players to develop technology and expertise. The institute has been working with public-sector organisations in sectors like space, defence and nuclear, in addition to the private sector.

IIIT-H placed all its 343 students in 2011. About 50 companies participated in the recruitment and most students preferred placement in product companies, said Professor Rajeev Sanghal, Director.

In his report at the 10th convocation on Saturday, Mr Singhal said the institute was helping train teachers at engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh. About 320 teachers have been trained through a two-month contact programme. Andhra Pradesh has more than 200 engineering colleges and produces nearly two lakh engineering graduates annually.

He said the alumni of the institute have raised Rs 40 lakh in donations. The money is being used to provide financial support to 17 students at the campus. Similarly, an alumnus has committed to bear the entire cost of education of a student for four years under a scheme called Chaduvulatalli deevena.

Earlier, Professor Rajeeva Ratna Shah, Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the US and former Member of the Planning Commission, in his convocation address talked about opportunities awaiting IT graduates. Both in research and social application areas, IT has opened up tremendous options. From bio-informatics to nano-materials to transforming efficiency of companies and organisations, the role of IT was growing, he said.

[Prodigist]

High-end DRDO unit in Hyderabad

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/highend-d...14-60-114.html

VIGNYAN KANCHA (Hyderabad): The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is all set to launch its new hi-tech facility at the outskirts of the city.

Housed in a concrete masterpiece built just under four years, the Navigation and Embedded Computer Complex will house some of its discreet and critical missile technologies.

The facility, situated close to the Shamshabad airport and Pahadisharief Dargah and set in a picturesque background of lakes, hillocks and manicured lawns, will be inaugurated by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on December 9.

Part of DRDO's Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the new Complex will develop navigation sensors like fibre-optic gyroscopes (FOGs), ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs), accelerometers (for accuracy requirements of longrange missiles), resonating gyros and star sensors - all pivotal to missile and military applications.

An advanced very large scale integration (VLSI) and simulation lab for the design of integrated circuit and system on chip (SOC) is also being incorporated into the building.

While DRDO is tightlipped about the details about the new Complex, defence sources told Express that the facility will house gen-next clean rooms of the Class 10- 10000 (parts per million particles) category.
The Complex will also have a limited series production facility, with industry participation on governmentowned- company-operated basis, to manufacture some of the systems and components.

While technologically and design-wise, the Complex is sure to outsmart many of DRDO establishments in India, the icing on the cake is a museum featuring navigation and computer equipment from the latest to those dating back to 100 years.

This Xshaped installation with a tow, is tipped to play a lead tole in DRDO's current and futuristic tactical and strategic missile programmes.
Though the state-of-theart facility will go fully live only in the next four months, it will be yet another fulfillment of Dr Kalam's dream to be on par with world leaders in the art of making home-grown missiles.
The denial of technology stemming from the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) unleashed by the West, forced the lab to derive ways and means to develop FOGs (control grade and inertial grade) for missiles, tanks and aircraft, RLGs for long-range long-endurance missiles and flight vehicles.

[Prodigist]

Hitachi Zosen to set up R&D center in Hyderabad

Source: Business Standard

Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (HZI), a Zurich-headquartered company that provides technology solutions for waste-to-energy projects, is aiming to add Euro 40 million (approximately Rs 280 crore) from India for its global topline in the next two to three years, according to Georg Silbermann, chief executive officer of HZI.

HZI, which entered India and the neighbouring Sri Lankan market in collaboration with Hyderabad-based municipal solid waste disposal solutions provider Hyquip in August this year, reported revenues of Euro 500 million (Rs 3,500 crore) last year.

“Presently, there is little activity in India, in terms of turning waste to power. However, looking at the potential in the country, we think we can definitely do anywhere between 10 projects and 20 projects a year,” Silbermann said.

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) international symposium on solid waste management in Hyderabad on Tuesday, he said the company was in the process of executing around 10 projects through its tie-up with Hyquip. While a couple of them are in their advanced stages, others are in very-early stages of development, he added.

“We have developed a standard and proven technology for the Indian market, which requires 580 tonnes of waste a day to generate 8 Mw of power. Waste-to-energy projects require an investment of Rs 10 crore to generate 1 Mw of power, as against Rs 4 crore for thermal plants,” he said.

Silbermann said, HZI, together with its parent company, the $3-billion Hitachi Zosen Corporation of Japan, would make an incremental investment of Euro 2 million (Rs 14 crore) in the next two years, which involves floating a separate legal entity and setting up a R&D centre in Hyderabad.

“We are in the final stages of concluding land and other contracts. We will open our office in Hyderabad by January 2012 which will have five people initially and will be scaled up to 20-25 in due course. The R&D centre here will predominantly cater to the Indian market,” he said, adding if that turned out to be a success, the company would explore solutions for other countries.

[rizwan3]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/11609132.cms
Cisco plans development centre in Hyderabad
TNN | Jan 24, 2012, 02.32AM IST


HYDERABAD: Hyderabad's T-troubles not withstanding, global IT giant Cisco Systems is exploring the possibility of setting up a development centre in the city as part of its India expansion plans.

Cisco, which currently has a marketing office with a total headcount of around 200 people, is looking at a development centre manned by 6,000 people over the next couple of years if it does decide in favour of Hyderabad, IT department sources said.

If sources are to be believed, the company, which has been considering Pune as the destination for this big-ticket expansion has not yet ruled out Hyderabad with top level Cisco officials meeting state IT and Communications minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah on Monday. Cisco has a presence in Bangalore, Pune and Chennai apart from Hyderabad.

The Cisco team, headed by senior vice president, emerging solutions and advanced services, Faiyaz Shahpurwala not only met Lakshmaiah but is also understood to have checked out available space options for the company's proposed expansion.

"Though Cisco had almost frozen on Pune for their expansion, we made an aggressive and convincing pitch for Hyderabad. We still have a chance," the IT minister confirmed.

"We showed them the space available at the three SEZs in Shamshabad area. They also saw the Outer Ring Road and Madhapur areas. We also assured them of proper power supply," Lakshmaiah said. According to sources, though the Cisco top brass had some concerns on the T-uncertainty, they were quite impressed with the infrastructure, talent pool, investment climate and economic viability of setting up their expansion project here.

[Gudavalli]

Source: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/companies...-hyderabad-899

Healthcare products provider Covidien has set up its Research & Development centre in Hyderabad, its first one in India. This could enhance the company’s science engineering services for the medical products business from here, with focus on innovating to meet local needs.

The Covidien India Engineering centre would be spread across 40,000 sq ft in the city and it may further expand its independent facility in the due course. The company is also looking at hiring 350 employees in the coming two years. “The company devotes significant resources to invent and develop technology that physicians utilize to improve patient outcomes. Our company is expanding our R&D capabilities worldwide and this new facility in India is playing an integral role in our global strategy,” said Randel Frazier, VP R&D, emerging markets of the firm.

The healthcare devices market in India is estimated to be around $4 billion and is growing at a 15 per cent rate. “ We would increase spending on R&D activities from this year from 5 per cent of total sales to 6 per cent. After having launched 100 odd new products so far, we hope to add another 50 to our kitty in the next couple years,” he said.

The Hyderabad centre will provide services like design, hardware, software and testing and develop a footprint for future products. “Our new facility is up and running with more than 30 engineers and staff involved in Covidien’s global R&D efforts,” he said. The company however earlier had other commercial presence in India through locations like Chennai, Gurgoan and Mumbai. These distribution networks currently hire around 200 employees altogether. Globally the company has 41,000 employees in around 65 countries.

[Gudavalli]

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sil...dia-2012-02-17

New R&D Center Supports Company's Commitment to Development of Advanced Mobile and Consumer Electronics Connectivity Solutions

SUNNYVALE, Calif. & HYDERABAD, India, Feb 17, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Silicon Image SIMG +1.68% , a leading provider of wireless and wired HD connectivity solutions, today announced the opening of its newest research and development (R&D) center in Hyderabad, India. Opened on January 27, 2012, the facility located in Hyderabad's technology hub, focuses on the design and development of semiconductor and IP core technologies for implementation in mobile, wireless and consumer electronics (CE) products from manufacturers across the globe.

"The technology innovation and growth occurring in Hyderabad made the location a natural fit for Silicon Image's expanding R&D portfolio," said Rashid Osmani, vice president of worldwide engineering at Silicon Image, Inc. "The expertise of Silicon Image's worldwide engineering team has been strengthened by the addition of the talented engineers in Hyderabad, who we foresee becoming an integral part of new product development."

The Silicon Image India R&D center expands the company's current worldwide R&D operations which include facilities in Sunnyvale, CA, USA and Shanghai, China. The India office currently has 80 employees.

About Silicon Image, Inc.

Silicon Image is a leading provider of wireless and wired connectivity solutions that enable the reliable distribution and presentation of high-definition content for consumer electronics, mobile, and PC markets. The company delivers its technology via semiconductor and intellectual property products that are compliant with global industry standards and feature market leading Silicon Image innovations such as InstaPort(TM) and InstaPrevue(TM). Silicon Image's products are deployed by the world's leading electronics manufacturers in devices such as desktop and notebook PCs, DTVs, Blu-ray Disc(TM) players, audio-video receivers, as well as mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras. Silicon Image has driven the creation of the highly successful HDMI(R) and DVI(TM) industry standards, the latest standards for mobile devices - SPMT(TM) and MHL(TM), and the standard for 60GHz wireless HD video -- WirelessHD(TM). Via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Simplay Labs, Silicon Image offers manufacturers comprehensive standards interoperability and compliance testing services. For more information, visit us at http://www.siliconimage.com/ .

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the expected benefits of the Silicon Image R&D Center. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk that the Silicon Image India Design Center may not provide the benefits described in this news release, as well as those risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Silicon Image's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Silicon Image assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Silicon Image and the Silicon Image logo are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of Silicon Image, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners in the United States and/or other countries.

[Prodigist]

Sikorsky to set up global R&D hub in Hyderabad

Source: Financial Chronicle

Having launched a massive hunt, Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of US-based United Technologies has zeroed-in on India as its research and development hub for catering to its global operations. It proposes to set up its R&D base in Hyderabad shortly. This will be in sync with the company’s move to manufacture large chunk of components for its helicopters in the country for global markets.

“We see opportunities not just for manufacturing, but for R&D as well. It would provide opportunities internal to the country as well as globally for helicopters. With our aerospace experience, we see a natural alignment here to tap technical expertise,” Mark Miller, VP (research & engineering), Sikorsky Aircraft who is on his first visit to India told Financial Chronicle. He, however, declined to comment on the number of people that the firm is looking to hire in India.

The Indian R&D hub will be its biggest such center in Asia, as the firm has minimal R&D operations in other Asian countries. The upcoming center in Hyderabad will operate in direct co-ordination with ‘Sikorsky Innovations’ — the firm’s US-based R&D headquarters. Sikorsky operates two manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad — TASL (Tata Advanced Systems), a helicopter cabin making JV with the Tata Group in which it owns 26 per cent stake and Tara Aerospace Systems, which manufactures helicopters components.

Miller revealed that Sikorsky is looking for potential collaborations in India to boost technical expertise for local know-how. The firm is looking to form one such collaboration with a BSE-listed technological design firm Tata Elxsi, part of the Tata Group. “We looked at Tata Elxsi and we will see how might we partner with them. We can leverage two skill sets and put them together,” Miller said.

The firm is also in final stages of finalising a tie-up with another local technological firm to boost its ‘technology mix’. It didn’t share the name of the firm. Tara aerospace systems may also provide helicopter components to American aerospace company Lockheed Martin, whose manufacturing facility is based in the same city, Miller said.

Though only about 300 helicopters ply in India, the demand is expected to surge manifold in next few years with government preparing infrastructure for helipads coupled with rising number of billionaires needing an alternative to combat road traffic.

[rizwan3]

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...ue&ref=wl_home

Xilinx opens expanded R&D facility
Hyderabad, March 20:

Chip-designer Xilinx Inc has inaugurated its expanded facility here.

“The facility, Xilinx's largest research and development centre outside the US, would continue to support all programmable technologies and devices,'' Mr Moshe Gavrielov, President and Chief Executive Officer, Xilinx Inc, told newspersons here on Tuesday.

The US-based company's advanced solutions including 28 nanometre next-generation technology were associated with India development centre.

``We have grown here from 60 professionals four years ago to 400 now. The investments here will be continued,'' he said.

All these employees in Hyderabad report to Xilinx's programmable platforms development and worldwide technical support groups.

Mr Neeraj Varma, Director Sales – India, Xilinx, said India became a crucial market for his company.

Segments such as telecom and Defence would drive growth in Indian businesses, he added.

Citing industry estimates, Mr Varma said the addressable semi-conductor market in India was estimated at $3.2 billion.

[rockystone]

India Agri Business Fund Invests R50Cr In Super Agri Seeds

http://www.dealcurry.com/2012042-Ind...Agri-Seeds.htm

India Agri Business Fund has invested R50Cr in Hyderabad-based Super Agri Seeds Pvt. Ltd.

Super Agri Seeds will use the funds to finance its expansion and set up Research and development centres in Hyderabad and in Bangalore.

Super Agri markets about 140 hybrids and varietal seeds under the ‘Super Seeds’ brand, mainly in the Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh markets. The company, with strengths in cotton, corn, rice and vegetable, has lined up 60-62 new hybrid products in the next two years.

The company is planning to tie-up with two European agro-based companies for R&D by next year. The company is targeting to achieve a R350Cr turnover by 2015, as against the expected turnover of R75Cr this year.

India Agri Business Fund, a $120Mn fund instituted in 2008 for which Rabo Equity Advisors is an investment advisor, is planning to close the fund by this calendar year. Rabo is also planning its second fund, valued at $250Mn.

India Agri Business Fund makes investments in Agro and food sector. It is backed by IFC, Dutch development bank - FMO and DEG (member of the German KfW Group). So far, it has invested in Global Green Company Pvt. Ltd.($10 Mn), Daawat Foods($5 Mn), LT Foods($5.46 Mn), GeePee Agri and Sri Biotech($8.71 Mn).

This is onle the second PE investment in a seed company since Summit Partners' $30Mn investment in Krishidhan Seeds Limited in April 2010, however ther have been a number of M&A transactions in this space

[SRIK43]

Source:TOI

HYDERABAD: India's defence forces and security agencies have the option of making use of DuPont's world-class integrated ballistics facility which is now open at the DuPont Knowledge Centre in the city after inauguration on Thursday.

The defence forces largely rely on technology developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the ordnance factories when it come to domestic defence procurement. Now, with DuPont's state-of-the-art integrated ballistics facility available to them, security agencies can get products developed as per local needs.

The Indian facility is DuPont's first such in the Asia-Pacific and the fifth DuPont location in the world for testing of protection materials in ballistics applications. The others centres being Richmond (Virginia), Wilmington (Delaware, both USA) and Meyrin (Switzerland) and Paulina (Brazil).

"We will work with DRDO, ordnance factories and security agencies to provide the right solution for security needs in India. Our aim is to help protect those who protect us," Rajeev Vaidya, DuPont president (South Asia), said at a news conference at the DKC in Genome Valley near Shamirpet.

Law enforcement agencies and security forces can make use of the international testing facilities at the integrated ballistics facility to come up with solutions for their specific needs. Jeroen B Jacobs, global marketing director, DuPont Protection Technologies, said that protection needs differ from country to country and according to different situations. With Kevlar (a high-strength material), jackets can be made to guard against bullets and sharp weapons.

Yati Waghray, technology leader at the Knowledge Centre, said that even within the country, security agencies working in different environments may have very specific protection needs and expressed confidence that the ballistics facility would help in the development and testing of gear which answers to those requirements.

For instance, the integrated ballistics facility also has a 600-ton helmet press that will allow customers to leverage the company's global knowledge of helmet-making processes. Vivek Sharma, DuPont Protection Technologies business head (India), said that the main focus of the newly-opened ballistics facility would be to develop solutions to meet local needs.

[rockystone]

Ineda Systems to raise $20 mn

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...-20-mn/478543/

Ineda Systems Private Limited, a Hyderabad-based fabless semiconductor start-up working on next-generation mobile computing platforms, is planning to raise $20 million in the next three to four months.

“We have already started discussions with a bunch of investors, including venture capitals, private equities and individual investors. It will be debt-based. As timing is a key factor in the technology space, we will raise the money within the next four months,” Balaji Kanigicherla, founder and chief executive officer of Ineda Systems, told Business Standard on the sidelines of the ‘Mentor forum for verification 2012’ organised at Hyderabad.

According to an ESDM (Electronic System Design and Manufacturing) study, the electronics import market in India is going to cross the country’s oil import by 2020. Quoting the report, he said, “The semiconductor industry in India is now pegged at $10 billion, and is expected to become a $100-billion market by 2020 with an annual growth rate of 40 per cent.”
“Seeing the tremendous growth opportunity, we are hopeful of reaching a turnover of $200-300 million by 2015,” he said.

The start-up, with a team of 150 engineers, has plans to add 50 engineers in the next six to eight months for its research and development (R&D) centre in Hyderabad. The two-year-old company currently has a portfolio of 28 patents.

It has plans to launch three products by next year to cater to the tablets, laptops and smartphones market.

“Currently, the products are in the prototype stage. The manufacturing will be done by some semiconductor fab companies in Taiwan,” he said. It will focus on the converging technology for the tablets and laptops.

Ineda Systems’ clientele base includes original equipment manufacturers and large corporations mainly based out of the US, Taiwan and Japan.It has offices in Hyderabad and Santa Clara

[Gudavalli]

Minister wants IT R&D institute in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: IT minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah has requested Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal to set up an information technology research and development institute here on the line of the one existing in Taiwan. Ponnala discussed the matter with Sibal when the latter attended the convocation at the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences here on Sunday.
Speaking to mediapersons later, Ponnala said that there was a need for R & D for ‘surviving’ in the competitive global software market and the city is the best place for a research institute to produce cost-effective software products. Ponnala suggested that the institution could be a joint initiative of the Union and state governments and the electronic industry. He claimed that Sibal had responded positively to his proposal.
Earlier, he had pointed out that Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan was an applied research organisation that reaches across multiple industrial technology fields.

[sriece19]

Navy plans to replace Chetak with light copters

In order to replace its ageing fleet of Chetak and Cheetah helicopters, the Indian Navy has put in a request for 56 Light Utility Helicopters. The Chetak and Cheetah helicopters manufactured by the government-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, are licenced Indian versions of the French Aérospatiale Alouette III and Alouette II. The Chetaks were inducted into the Indian Navy 30 years ago.

Officials disclosed that these LUHs will have twin-engines. Eight major helicopter manufacturers, including HAL, have been approached. Currently in the race are France’s Eurocopter, Russia’s Kamov and Kazan, the US-made Bell and Sikorsky, and the Italian Augusta Westland. These companies have been asked for field trials in India. Bids are expected in January next year, and the helicopters will be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2016. The demand for these helicopters has been hanging fire for the last five years. The Army and Air Force are close to finalising a deal for 197 LUHs, with the Eurocopter and Kamov reportedly in the lead for bagging the contract. The Navy is also in the process of procuring multi-role helicopters for which the European NH 90 and the Sikorsky are in the race.

[Prodigist]

DST-Lockheed Martin tech expo begins tomorrow

Source: The Hindu Business Line

The DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth programme will hold a technology expo in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The winners will showcase their latest technologies and innovations as part of the event.

There will also be interactive meetings between the winning technology innovators and potential investors. Several commercialisation deals are expected to be signed, according to a press release.

The programme was launched in 2007 by the Lockheed Martin-FICCI and the IC2 Institute, University of Texas at Austin. Later the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indo-US S&T Forum also joined. The Indo-US S&T Forum promotes several joint research projects between the two countries in cutting-edge technologies.

So far, the programme has received 2,000 applications. The objective is to focus on technology commercialistion strategies, venture formation, venture finance, marketing etc. So far, above 170 innovators have benefited and 150 agreements signed.

Top executives of Lockheed Martin, DST and FICCI will be participating in the expo.

One of the major objectives of the programme is to accelerate Indian technologies into markets in the US and around the world. It is one of its kind initiative, essentially as it emphasises on teaching and using world-class commercialisation strategies, the release said.

somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in

[rockystone]

OpenText Expands in India: Growing Customer Base, Expanded R&D Capacity

http://www.menafn.com/menafn/2408c41...acity?src=main

Company Doubles Capacity in its Hyderabad Research and Development Center and Opens New Office in Mumbai

OpenTextTM OTEX, leading provider of Enterprise Information Management (EIM) solutions, today announced the expansion of its Hyderabad research and development center and the opening of its new Mumbai office to address the company's significant market opportunity in the emerging EIM market and to support its rapidly growing customer base in India, which currently exceeds 300.

More than 300 employees are currently based in OpenText's 67,000 square foot Hyderabad office. The company is adding more space as it prepares to double the size of its workforce in India over the next few years. The expansion, which will see OpenText occupy a total of nearly 100,000 square feet in Hyderabad, will allow the company to accelerate its EIM strategy and leadership.

"With India being a major research and technology hub, the growth of OpenText Hyderabad and the opening of a new Mumbai sales office represent a natural progression and important investment for us," said Mark J. Barrenechea, President and CEO of OpenText. "As a technology leader and pioneer, we see great opportunity in India and look forward to selecting the talented individuals who will drive OpenText's EIM vision there and around the globe."

The Hyderabad expansion is supported and aligned with the initiatives of the Indian government as the office is located in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that is oriented towards export and foreign direct investment in the country. These regions designated by the government are regulated by unique laws that encourage employment and economic growth through several channels such as regulatory and taxation breaks.

In conjunction with the Hyderabad expansion, OpenText is opening a commercial hub in Mumbai to address customer demand for OpenText's offerings and to support its technology and reseller partners including Tata Consulting Services, WIPRO and SAP in developing the EIM market in India. The office in Mumbai is scheduled to open this month and will become the home base for a country manager and his team of dedicated account development managers and partner support roles.

Major areas of concentration at OpenText Hyderabad include research, product development and global services.

[rizwan3]

http://businesstoday.intoday.in/stor.../1/190021.html

DuPont to expand Hyderabad knowledge centre
November 21, 2012 | 20:32 IST

On November 21, 2008, global chemicals company DuPont launched its $50 million knowledge centre in Shamirpet mandal, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Today, four years on, the company is positioning the centre as its largest seed research centre outside the US.

Spread over 20 acres, the centre will now increase its focus on the traits of a wide variety of crops. Specifically, it will look at areas such as yield improvement, pest resistance and drought tolerance.

DuPont is best known for its Teflon brand of non-stick coatings. In India, its focus areas have been marketing and sales of its products as well as research and development (R&D). Thus far, its R&D efforts have been focused on agriculture, food and nutrition, automotives, safety and protection (including defence), among other fields.

The knowledge centre will add new focus areas and work on developing new applications. These include "light weight" polymer applications for automobiles - products that can replace metals with high strength, high-end plastics. On the packaging front, it will look for solutions that will keep food fresh for long periods, thereby increasing shelf life and reducing wastage.

While announcing the knowledge centre's expansion plans, the $38 billion global chemicals company's senior officials in India noted that DuPont spends about $2 billion on R&D annually. However, they were not willing to share specific investment numbers for India.

According to Rajeev Vaidya, President (South Asia), DuPont, the knowledge centre is the company's only R&D location outside the US that undertakes developmental activities in all three areas - food, energy and protection - under one roof.

[Gudavalli]

GE to hire engineers for R&D jobs in India

BANGALORE: General Electric (GE) will make an additional investment of $60 million in its technology centre in Bangalore over the next three years and take the headcount in the centre to 5,000 by the end of this financial year. The centre currently has over 4,500 people doing cutting edge research and development in areas like energy, healthcare and aviation and is GE's largest integrated multidisciplinary R&D centre outside the US.

The $147-billion company's MD for the India technology centre, Gopichand Katragadda, said here on Thursday that new hiring would focus on senior level positions to further deepen the technological strength of the centre. "We have what we call chief engineers, who are people who finally clear designs of products, and principal engineers who support the chief engineers. We will increase the numbers of these engineers," he said. There is one chief engineer each for aviation and energy in India now; globally, GE has 15 in aviation and 20-25 in energy.

Over the past two years, the centre has developed some 30 products for the Indian market, notably low wind turbines, air circuit breakers, portable ECG machines, and maternal-infant care products like baby warmers. In many of these, the focus has been on keeping costs down through frugal engineering. "The products developed here now account for 10% of our India revenue," Katragadda said. GE does not disclose country specific revenue.

The target is to add another 30 products by 2015. The focus on energy and healthcare products will continue and GE plans to add sensing, locomotive and signaling products, the last two if it wins the bid for the Indian Railways' upcoming order for locomotives.

Katragadda said more of the R&D hiring in the coming years would happen at its Hyderabad and Pune facilities. Hyderabad already has about 1,000 employees. In Pune, the company is establishing a manufacturing plant at a cost of $200 million - to manufacture a range of products including wind turbines, sensing products, gas engine components and aviation components. The plant will be operational in the third quarter of 2013. Katragadda plans to co-locate an R&D facility there.

GE's 12-year-old R&D operation in India has filed 1,850 patent applications, of which over 350 have been granted. More than 800 of the filings have happened in just 2011 and 2012. "Earlier only our research staff were filing patents, now our engineering teams too are doing it, so the numbers have risen sharply. Our per capita patent filings are as good as any of our other global centre," Katragadda said.

For GE's global operations, India has done work in areas such as wind micrositing - helping choose the type of wind turbine to use and its exact position in a wind farm; improving fuel efficiency in locomotives - by understanding signaling conditions and when to accelerate, brake; plant optimization; and healthcare imaging.

Katragadda said future work will focus on building all-glass wind turbines (glass is cheaper than the alloys that are used now), biomass gasification, wind-solar hybrid systems (enables solar to be used during day and wind at night), improving rural water (there is a lot of arsenic in water now), and ultrasound machines that would automate foetal measurement and reporting so that they could be used by untrained people.