Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

Some R&D Hits From 2005

Posted : December 31, 2005 at 11:08 pm [IST]

Innovations through R&D had been the best differentiators of the developed and developing countries. Some are really of interest for every one. Here are some:

1.I had been talking about some thing flexible and fast that can replace automobile for quick transportation, and shall not need wide roads. AirScooter or air taxi may provide a practical solution one day. People then can fly from their terrace garage and get down to the place wherever they want without facing the usual traffic jams.

The AirScooter II, a personal aircraft that can fly at 55 knots may be one such answer. The AirScooter II weighs around 300 pounds and doesn’t require a pilot’s license. The AirScooter II has two rotors that function as the helicopter rotors do, but the vehicle is easier to fly. It sports motorcycle-style handlebars that contain flight controls, but there are no pedals–so people without the use of their legs should be able to operate it. The company also offers a movie of the device in flight. All this will sell for less than $50,000.

2.Fuel cost pinches car enthusiasts the maximum today. A race is on for energy efficient cars. Major automobile manufacturer are tinkering with a technology called Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), which could boost fuel economy in cars by about 20 percent and generate fewer polluting hydrocarbons. In HCCI, the combustion process occurs by moderating the pressure and temperature inside the cylinder. Igniting the fuel with a spark is not required.

3.Hydrogen is another craze to solve the energy crisis, Even Indian automobile manufacturers are talking about bringing in hydrogen driven cars. J. Craig Venter, who gained worldwide fame in 2000 when he mapped the human genetic code, is behind a new start-up called Synthetic Genomics, which plans to create new types of organisms that, ideally, would produce hydrogen, secrete nonpolluting heating oil or be able to break down greenhouse gases. The initial focus will be on creating “biofactories” for hydrogen and ethanol, two fuels seen as playing an increasing role in powering cars in the future. Hydrogen also holds promise for heating homes and putting juice into electronic devices. New York City-based Signa has also come up with a new–and fairly efficient–way to produce hydrogen. Conceivably, the company’s technology could be incorporated into fuel cells that could generate enough electricity to run a cell phone for a week, or a car in emergency situations.

4.And from Ramayana we know Ravana wanted to build a staircase from the earth to heaven, if there was one. Here is one company that can make that happen. Liftport, a space-infrastucture company, has been among those who support construction of a space elevator, a long thin cable made of carbon nanotubes anchored to a platform or ship at sea and extending out into space. Held in place by the earth’s rotation, the space elevator, with the help of robots, would ferry materials to outer space. The carbon nanotube ribbon that is central to building an elevator to space will actually have more practical and immediate applications.

5.And even on this last day of this year 2005, we in Delhi had the worst of the fog, and we know how difficult it is to drive under this condition. MIT scientists are trying to provide the solution. Scientists from MIT have developed a new material–which consists of thin, alternating layers of tiny glass particles and polymers–that will resist fogging and work in a far wider range of environments than current fog-resistant glass and plastics. In two to five years, glasses, ski goggles and car windshields could be made with the material.

6.And many like me with heart trouble are always under mental tension about the condition of the heart ticking in us. San Diego-based Triage Wireless has created, and hopes to bring to the market in the near future, a patch applied to the skin that continuously monitors a person’s blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs, and then forwards that information to their doctor’s computer via wireless links. And Dr. Nitish Chandra, my doctor of Escort Heart Research Institute will have to worry and not me.

And then the news that excited me a lot came on the last day of the year 2005. M&M is setting up a $100million R&D and product development center as a part of Mahindra Research Valley, that will flaunt amenities comparable to the best in he world. The valley will have all the facilities required to build a vehicle, from paper to its prototype stage. Apart from a designers’ den, which will create 3D models of designs, it will have labs for crash testing vehicles and refining engines. It will also sport a fuel and polymers research cell that will work on emerging alternative technologies.

India is on right track, and many are taking R&D route to compete and excel.

I WISH A VERY VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2006. LET US TRY AND BUILD A NEW WORLD OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR EVERYONE.

- Indra

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