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AU-KBC RESEARCH CENTRE

About the Centre

Background

The AU-KBC ( Anna University – K B Chandrasekhar ) Research Centre in the MIT (Madras Institute of Technology) Campus of Anna University, Chennai, has its core vision of becoming a multidisciplinary research institution of global standing pursuing the twin goals of

- Extending the frontiers of Scientific Knowledge through high quality research

- Generating Technologies and Products of economic and social value

The Research Centre was set up in 1999 as a collaborative effort between Anna University and one of its alumni Mr. K. B. Chandrasekhar, a global entrepreneur and investor based in the USA. Done as a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the M I T Campus, the Centre was borne through a Memorandum Of Understanding between the Anna University Chennai and the K B C Research Foundation Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.

The Research programs of the Centre combine the Academic with the Industrial, the Theoretical with the Experimental, the Long-term with the Short-term – and cover the areas of Life Sciences and Information Sciences.

The Centre represents a pioneering effort in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in Research in India. It also works with a unique perspective on how a university-based research laboratory can become financially self- supporting through a judicious use of its expertise, skills and resources. The achievements that the centre has realized with in a relatively short period of time working with such a paradigm is making it an attractive model for broad-basing India’s research efforts in a scalable and sustainable manner

Structure and Governance of the Centre

The AU-KBC Research Centre is governed by a Governing Council (GC) with the Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, as the Chairman ( Presently Prof. Dr. D. Viswanathan) and the Chairman/President of KBCRF Pvt. Ltd. as its Co-Chairman (Presently Mr. K.B. Chandrasekhar). In addition to officers representing the University Administration, the GC also has as its members eminent persons drawn from the fields of Academia, Research, Business and Industry. Presently they include

- Prof. K. Ananthapadmanabhan
Professor of Eminence, Anna University (formerly Director, I I T Kanpur)

- Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala
Electrical Engineering, I I T Madras

- Mr. N Kumar
Vice Chairman, Sanmar Group of Companies

- Prof. V S Ramamurthy
Chairman BOG, I I T Delhi ( formerly Secretary, DST)

The administration and management of the Centre is carried out by a Program Implementation Committee (PIC) appointed by the GC whose Convener is the Centre Director (presently Prof. P Manohar) and whose Co-Convener is the Program Director ( presently Prof. C N Krishnan). The Program Director is responsible for the overall development and growth of the Centre and all its activities.

The Centre has its own full-fledged administrative office, and operates with a high degree of financial and administrative autonomy within the overall structure of Anna University, and functions from its Madras Institute of Technology Campus at Chromepet in the suburbs of Chennai.

Core Facilities and Infrastructure at the Centre

The Centre has an independent built-up space of about 15000 sq. ft. area, consisting of air-conditioned labs, conference rooms, class rooms, etc. Stabilised power with full UPS and Diesel Generator backup, a high-end 120-node networked computing environment with a broad band leased line Internet access, Communication facilities, a pantry, etc. are available on a 24x7 basis.

The Centre has the following major laboratories open round-the-clock: A Wet Biology Lab focusing on nano-scale and single-molecule biology studies with advanced instrumentation and facilities, a Bioinformatics Lab, a Communication and Network Security Lab, a Natural Language Processing Lab focusing on Knowledge Discovery techniques, and a Free/Open Source Software Lab.

Additionally, scientists and students at the Centre can get access to the other laboratories and facilities of the University on the basis of collaborative programs with the concerned departments.

The Centre also has access to the common infrastructure of Anna University in both the MIT and the Main campuses, such as the libraries, seminar halls, guesthouses, cafeteria, auditoria, etc., following the university norms.

Growth Plans of the Centre

In the next five years, the Centre plans to reach the following level-

- L.S. area focussed on Human Diseases and Drugs, with emphasis on early and rapid detection/diagnosis of diseases

- I.S. area focused on automated Knowledge Discovery/ Decision Support Technologies

- Over 300 persons strong, with around 30 P.I. s

- 40,000 sq. ft space, annual budget Rs.100 million, corpus of Rs.200 million

- 3-4 high impact companies launched based on our I.P. s