Southern Star Army Academia Industry Interface seminar

 Hyderabad: In a move towards achieving self-reliance in defence production, a seminar, ‘Southern Star Army-Academia-Industry Interface (S² A² I²), sought to fortify bonds between the military, industry and academia and aligning them with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

The event was organised by the 1 EME Centre under the aegis of HQ Telangana and Andhra Sub Area, where the theme was the challenges faced by the Indian Army and expectations from industry in defence technology, according to a statement.

Lt Gen. J.S. Sidana, Commandant, Military College of Electronics & Mechanical Engineers (MCEME) highlighted the government's initiatives to simplify business rules to encourage maximum industry participation in defence production, fast-tracking research and development (R&D), and accelerating procurement procedures.

Lt Gen. Sidana urged the stakeholders to foster the exchange of ideas to enhance the Army’s capabilities through technological infusion and reduce dependency on expensive, unreliable imports. He spoke about the pivotal role of academia in developing next-generation defence technologies, the statement said.

The event featured talks by industry representatives and speakers, including P.A. Praveen, director, aerospace & defence of the state government; Dr Sandeep Raut, general manager of Tech Business Incubation at BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad; and Dr Kishore Nuthalapati. The technical session delved into challenges faced by industry and academia in meeting the expectations of the Indian army, featuring experts like Col Rudra B. Jadeja, Anish Anthony and Shiva Rao T.

The seminar's second half focused on technical talks and a panel discussion, wherein Brig. Suresh G., Commandant, 1 EME Centre, presented the findings and commended panelists for their innovative ideas.