Prof. Sudipta Sarkar of IITR adjudged Winner under the problem domain of “Eco-friendly Explosive Waste Management’”, Log 9 Materials, the first startup incubated by TIDES at IIT Roorkee, wins Second prize under “Materials & Technologies for Fire Suppression/ Protection”.
Prof. Sudipta Sarkar, Associate Professor, IIT Roorkee, and Log9 Materials, a startup incubated at IIT Roorkee – have been adjudged winners in their respective domains in the prestigious “Dare to Dream 2.0” innovation contest announced by Prime Minister and initiated by Defence Minister in memory of the former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted the contest to identify novel ideas and technologies with the potential of future adoption for the Indian defence and aerospace needs and realize the goal of “Atma Nirbhar Bharat.”
Prof. Sudipta Sarkar, who specializes in Environmental Engineering, participated in the problem domain “Eco-friendly Explosive Waste Management” and his entry entitled “Hybrid Anaerobic Reactor and Microbial Fuel Cell for Enhanced Biodegradation and Energy Harvesting from Wastewater containing TNT – HAnMFC” was adjudged the winner. Prof. Sarkar proposed a novel process to remediate waste and wastewater containing TNT using innocuous and inexpensive chemicals and microbes, requiring minimal or no net energy. TNT is an abundantly used explosive in the Indian defence domain. Being a relatively stable compound, TNT is tough to degrade. Besides a cash prize of Rs. 5 Lakhs, he is offered up to 90% of grant-in-aid funding to further develop the technology up to commercialization. Prof. Sarkar is already working to establish a startup to achieve this goal. Prof. Sarkar, in his reaction said, “I feel honoured and humbled to be adjudged winner in the contest. Support from the Civil Engineering Department has been instrumental to the endeavour. I would continue to strive to serve the institution and my nation through my work”.
Log 9 Materials Sci Pvt Ltd. founded in 2015 at IIT Roorkee by Akshay Singhal, Kartik Hajela and Pankaj Sharma, is the first startup incubated by TIDES at IIT Roorkee. It has won the Second Prize in the “Dare 2 Dream 2.0″ innovation contest in the startup category. Log 9 participated in the category “Materials & Technologies for Fire Suppression/Protection” with its innovation entitled “Novel and Efficient Aluminium Crosslinked Graphene Oxide for Fire Protection in Defence Applications”. Log 9 came up with a simple and efficient material, i.e., Aluminum crosslinked Graphene Oxide as a fire-retardant material for defence applications such as devices operating at high temperature, proximity suits, fire survival blankets, military equipment and many others. Also, it resists combustion in ambient air and improves the thermal stability of the product. For the innovative solution, Log 9 won second prize in the domain, including Rs. 8 lakhs. Their work is motivated to lower down the fire hazards and resultant damages to personnel and equipment. Several events have underscored the limitations of conventional fire-retardant coatings and materials, highlighting the urgent need for improvement in the domain.
