Kochi: DRDO orders product of Maker Village firm

Kochi: The 'Delgado Coating and Technology Solutions' incubated at Maker Village at Kalamassery here has received an order for its advanced spray coater from the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). Dr Ajay Kumar, secretary, Defence Production, handed over the purchase order to Delgado CEO R. Sree Kumar at the 'Hardtech 19' organised by Maker Village at Technology Innovation Zone, Kalamassery, on Saturday.

The technology is used in solar cells as transparent electrode, touch-screen devices (mobiles), flat panel displays, OLEDs, energy saving smart windows, nanocoating and bio-medical coatings over needles and surgical stents. The coater can slash the production cost by 30 per cent compared to the present technology used by other countries.

Sree Kumar said that the product was manufactured after incubating at Maker Village. The idea of the product was developed while doing his postdoctoral research and it was manufactured within the first year of reaching Maker Village, he said.

Dr Ajay Kumar also launched the improved and upgraded robotic arm developed by Sastra Robotics. The product is 100 percent safe to work in human environment and helps reduce the burden of human work.

Sastra CEO P. Aronin said this robotic is three times more powerful than the presently available product. The life span is also four times greater and the maintenance can be conducted at a lower cost, he added.

 Dr Ajay Kumar earlier said a high-level team of officials from Defence Production will soon visit Maker Village which may pave the way for startups from Kerala to enter the defence ecosystem.

The visiting team will comprise officials from Army, Navy and Air Force, he said during discussions with Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, CEO, Maker Village.

Addressing a gathering at the meet, Dr Ajay Kumar said his office has, for the first time, been keenly watching startups for solutions of various kinds. "Startups will be an important part of our defence ecosystem. Users like Army and Air Force want them to identify problems and seek ways to resolve them," he said on the concluding day of the April 5-6 meet at Kinfra Hi-Tech Park in Kalamassery.

He recalled that a Defence India Startup Challenge that the government launched in August last had received 520 outstanding proposals from new companies.

 "I want startups from Maker Village to feature in the list of next edition of the Defence India Startup Challenge," he said. "It is high time startups explored sectors like aerospace and penetrate into new sectors," he added.