Ahmedabad: The state-run Institute of Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Management (
), will establish a high-tech aerodynamics and propulsion laboratory in the coming months, for both defense and civilian applications. A special team established by the
department of mechanical and aerospace engineering
identifies agencies to set up the laboratory for the institute. “The lab will expose students to the basics of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
) and focus on engaging with the user community and finding practical solutions for both defense and civil applications,” said a senior IITRAM official. The laboratory will feature a high-resolution complementary metal oxide semiconductor (
) cameras and a wind tunnel to study the aerodynamics of UAVs of different sizes. The official added that the driving laboratory and the wind tunnel will simulate wind speeds of up to 50 meters per second. and that they are also developing an aerodynamics trainer facility alongside the new laboratory. Once the propulsion laboratory facility is ready, it will be used to develop technologies for aerial robotics. The facility will be state of the art in aerospace engineering and there will be room to add to the laboratory in the future. “Undergraduate and postgraduate programs in aerospace engineering are being planned. Apart from the aerodynamics trainer, we will have a gas turbine test rig and a wind tunnel with necessary accessories,” added the IITRAM official. IITRAM’s aerospace engineering unit has also planned research activities around unsteady aerodynamics, airfoil icing effects, flow control, motor sports aerodynamics, wind turbine blades, distributed propulsion systems, plasma assisted combustion and turbojet bypass flows. At the heart of the laboratory, IITRAM has designed state-of-the-art diagnostics and instrumentation for aerodynamic studies. “All this equipment will be used for conducting laboratory sessions for BTech and
students and will also be used for research,” the IITRAM official added.
