Visitors from the IIT Bombay TU Braunschweig welcomes delegations from India

The Technische Universität Braunschweig and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) are further intensifying their long-standing partnership. Following the successful visit of a TU delegation to Mumbai in March, several representatives of IIT Bombay recently visited TU Braunschweig to deepen the collaboration.

TU President Angela Ittel welcomed the Indian delegation to the campus. From left to right: Prof Ambarish Kunwar, Prof Peter Düking, Prof Sándor Fekete, Prof Hari Varma, Prof Anirban Guha, Prof Thomas Deserno, Prof Swati Pal, TU President Angela Ittel, Prof Nishant Sharma, Dr Eika Auschner. Photo: Simone Fürst/TU Braunschweig

At the beginning of July, a five-member delegation of professors from IIT Bombay took part in a full-day workshop on “Devices for Assisting Human Motion” at TU Braunschweig. The IITB professors from the fields of mechanical engineering, industrial design, medical informatics and medical imaging enjoyed in-depth discussions with Professor Thomas Deserno and Professor Sándor Fekete from the Carl Friedrich Gauß Faculty and Professor Peter Düking from the Faculty of Humanities and Education about their common scientific interests and research activities.

“Internationality is essential in research and science, especially when research is being conducted into the practical application of new technologies, as we do in our institute. We were therefore delighted to welcome the delegation from IIT Bombay,” emphasized Deserno. “We have agreed on further and closer cooperation. One common topic, for example, is the design of smart health environments, such as the smart home or the smart car. The visit was a great pleasure and inspiration for all of us and we agree that it is desirable to deepen our cooperation beyond the existing Memorandum of Understanding,” he said, looking ahead.

Lively discussions and a visit to the summer festival

The Indian delegation’s program also included a visit to the Automotive Research Centre Niedersachsen (NFF). Here, Professor Thomas Vietor and Professor Michael Heere from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and numerous NFF employees from various institutes presented their activities in the fields of vehicle design, electric drives, fuel cells, vehicle technology and virtual worlds for transport development.

Further conversations took place at the Institute for Electrical Measurement Science and Fundamental Electrical Engineering. Professor Meinhard Schilling and Professor Frank Ludwig from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Information Technology and Physics discussed biomedical measurement technology and the application of magnetic nanoparticles in medicine and bioanalysis with the guests.

The annual gathering for the professors at the end of the summer semester was a great opportunity for the international guests to make further contacts. From left to right: Prof Sándor Fekete, Prof Thomas Deserno, Prof Swati Pal, Prof Ambarish Kunwar, President Angela Ittel, Prof Hari Varma, Prof Peter Düking, Prof Anirban Guha, Prof Nishant Sharma, Dr Bala Ramani. Photo: Andreas Rudolph/TU Braunschweig.

The visit was rounded out by a meeting with TU President Professor Angela Ittel. The guests also attended the President’s summer reception for professors, which offered them many more opportunities for exchange, such as with Professor Ludger Frerichs, Head of the Institute for Mobile Machines and Utility Vehicles, and Dr Bala Ramani, Head of recruitment of specialized professionals at Niedersachsen.next, an initiative of the state government of Lower Saxony.

IITB professor and head of the delegation, Anirban Guha, was very pleased with the visit: ” We aregrateful to TU Braunschweig and its team for well organised visit. The detailed tour of the institutes and the interaction with the various faculty members was extremely informative and will lead to the development of new areas of collaboration between the two universities, IIT Bombay and TU Braunschweig. After this pleasant experience, I am sure that many more members of IIT Bombay will want to visit TU Braunschweig.”

During a city tour, the guests from IIT Bombay explored some of the historical sites in Braunschweig together with Professor Sándor Fekete. From left to right: Prof Nishant Sharma, Prof Swati Pal, Prof Hari Varma, Prof Ambarish Kunwar, Prof Sándor Fekete, Prof Anirban Guha. Photo: Eika Auschner/TU Braunschweig

Sunil Kumar (right) and Professor Michael Heere (2nd from right) presented a drone with a fuel cell drive at the Institute for Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Cells at the NFF. (Photo: Eika Auschner/TU Braunschweig)

Visit to the Institute of Automotive Engineering at the NFF: Dr Maximilian Flormann (2nd from right) demonstrates the autonomous shuttle RAION. (Photo: Eika Auschner/TU Braunschweig)

Professor Sándor Fekete (2nd from left), initiator of the student exchange with IIT Bombay, is pleased with the large number of participants from numerous TU Braunschweig institutes in this year's exchange. Photo: Sándor Fekete/TU Braunschweig

Guest lecture at the Faculty of Humanities and Education

There are also notable exchange activities between the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Bombay and the Faculty of Humanities and Education at TU Braunschweig to initiate joint research and teaching. At the beginning of July, IITB Professor Suddhaseel Sen visited the Faculty of Humanities and Education for a guest lecture. On this occassion, he discussed the plans for joint research activities, mutual student exchange and curricular networking with Professor Eckart Voigts, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education, and Professor Rüdiger Heinze from the Department of English and American Studies.

„The visit by Professor Sudhaseel Sen at TU Braunschweig was fruitful and has led to fascinating intercultural conversations. We are very happy that the partnership between both institutions is rapidly evolving, and the Faculty of Humanities and Education is keen to pursue further links with IIT Bombay, intensifying the existing collaboration.”, Voigts stated after the visit.

19 research interns visited TU Braunschweig

19 students from IIT Bombay spent part of the summer semester as guests at the Laboratory for Emerging Nanotechnologies (LENA) and at the institutes of Prof Thomas Deserno, Prof Sándor Fekete, Prof Andreas Waag, Prof Lars Wolf, Prof Thomas Kürner, Prof Eduard Jorswieck, Prof Stefanie Kroker, Prof Andrés Gómez, Prof Vadim Issakov and Prof Tobias Voß. Photo: Sándor Fekete/TU Braunschweig

Since 2011, the collaboration between TU Braunschweig and IIT Bombay has enabled research interns from the IITB to combine international experience with practical research involvement at TU Braunschweig. As in previous years, the students had the opportunity to participate intensively in ongoing research projects over a period of around two months. “These students are among the best in India. They are not only talented and motivated, but also socially committed. This leads to very productive results in a short space of time, which often results in joint publications,” says Professor Sándor Fekete, initiator and coordinator of the collaboration. “Everyone involved really enjoys this collaboration. For experienced scientists, it is always a great pleasure to pass on knowledge and experience to future generations and thus create connections across global borders,” he emphasized.