New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras is hosting a ‘Global water and Climate Adaptation Centre’ being established with support from a German Government Agency to tackle the global challenges of water security and adaptation to a changing climate. The Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre is intended to work as an enabling platform that incentivizes, bundles and magnifies further joint action in higher education, research, technology and knowledge transfer. The Centre is being led by Professor SA Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras.
IIT Madras will host the main hub with a satellite hub coming up at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok. It was inaugurated on June 30 in a virtual event in the presence of eminent dignitaries from IIT Madras and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
This centre is being formed by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and is being set up in collaboration with the German institutes of Technical University of Dresden and RWTH Aachen University. This Centre is named ‘ABCD’ (Aachen-Bangkok-Chennai-Dresden).
With its geographical reach of four major cities, the Centre represents a strategic expansion of existing networks between leading German and Asian universities under a common thematic umbrella.
Speaking on the occasion, Karin Stoll, Consul General, Federal Republic of Germany, Chennai, said, “Digitization has advantages as this project was not delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is not over yet but we have to be optimistic and make use of the opportunities. There are lots of opportunities in academics. From Chennai perspective, I am very happy to note that IIT Madras is the main project hub and one of the pillars of the project.”
Further, Ms Karin Stoll said, “Indo-German academic exchange has been very intense. Two years ago, I had the privilege of attending the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of IIT Madras. Passing the new climate initiative bill in the Germany Parliament just four days back and initiating such a Centre proves that we are in right track and this new consortium will bring fruitful and benefits to many students across country and institutes.”
Addressing the inaugural event, Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, appreciated the new venture of collaboration between India, Germany, and Thailand across esteemed institutes of excellence.
Original News Link
https://www.ndtv.com/education/global-water-and-climate-adaptation-centre-launched-at-iit-madras
