praveen007
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2010
- Messages
- 927
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
- Location
The war machine fights back
LASER 4 BOMB DISPOSAL. light-portable
LASER 4 BOMB DISPOSAL. light-portable
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The war machine fights back"Nearly 95 per cent of the technologies that we work on can be used in other areas," says Ravi Gupta, director of public interface, DRDO. One of its earliest adaptations was the Kalam-Raju stent, a low-cost medical insert made using a new variety of stainless steel created by scientists at a DRDO lab in Hyderabad.
All DRDO labs are now, at the time of submitting proposals, required to list possible applications of their research.
Technology created by the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) to package food for soldiers in high-altitude areas has found its way to MTR Foods Ltd's range of processed foods. DRDO's laboratory in Leh has figured a way of preserving seabuckthorn juice, creating the successful 'Leh Berry' brand.
DRDO has also made advances in insect control. Its latest product, Attracticide, promises to "lure and kill" the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the carrier of Dengue, with military precision. The insecticide uses the tendency of mosquitoes to lay eggs on water that already contains larvae of the same species. Pheromones lure them, and the insect growth regulators that Attracticide contains prevent the larvae from developing into adults. The technology, DRDO says, has been tried successfully by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Another one of DRDO's technology transfers has been to Jyothy Laboratories Ltd, giving the company exclusive global rights to market a range of insect repellent creams, lotions and sprays developed by DRDO. Jyothy Laboratories estimates these to be 4-5 times more effective than other similar products, and expects revenue of Rs30-40 crore from these this financial year.
With the increasing emphasis on spin-offs, the process of commercialising technologies at DRDO has been formalised. In January, the research agency, along with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), launched an accelerated technology assessment and commercialisation (Atac) programme. Ficci assessed more than 200 products from 26 DRDO labs and chose 45 for commercialisation.
These include bio-larvicides; techniques for treating effluents and contaminated water; a heat-setting technology for fabrics like nylon, developed originally for parachute rigging lines, that gives them longer and better elasticity.
Also on offer are lightweight ceramics that can find applications in underwater structures, and phase-change materials that can absorb and retain heat for long stretches, making them useful for cooling telecom equipment, boiler rooms, high temperature areas in the construction industry, etc.
Eittee Gupta, assistant director, Ficci, says the market response to these technologies has been "excellent". "The best thing about them," she adds, "is their cost-effectiveness."
Gupta, however, refused to give the costs at which these technologies were transferred.
DRDO's most significant contributions however have been in medicine. Apart from the stent, the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) lab in Gwalior has created an H1N1 detection kit as part of its nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) programme. The kit costs just Rs 3,000 and can, according to Ravi Gupta, analyse a sample in 2-4 hours as opposed to the two days that most other kits need. DRDO will begin marketing the kit after clearance from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Close to Lastec is another lab where much of DRDO's medical research is taking place. The buildings in the sprawling campus of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (Inmas) bristle with equipment. The lab was the first in India to acquire an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine, and is one of the few to possess a cyclotron, used to synthesise short-lived radioactive isotopes.
Inmas runs a drug development and evaluation programme that started as a means of studying the effects of various stresses on soldiers. The lab has been able to 'radio-label' drugs to study how they are absorbed by the body and to determine which anatomical parts they act on. Co-relating the two is a challenging task but doing so successfully can cut drug development costs significantly. The lab has so far radio-labeled and evaluated 25 drugs, some for pharmaceutical companies.
It's been a busy day for Rajendra Prashad Tripathi, director of the lab.
The institute has been roped into the investigation of the Cobalt 60 radiation leak in Delhi, and a team of scientists is on its way to the Army Research and Referral Hospital to collect blood and urine samples from one of the victims. "Gauging the level of radiation exposure is a very difficult task," he says. It's also a rare research opportunity that will "be useful for our NBC program."
According to Tripathi, Inmas has created 40 new drugs. It has also pioneered the use of the molecule 2-deoxyglucose in the treatment of cancer. The technology has been transferred to Dr Reddy's Laboratory Ltd, and is in advanced clinical trials.
Inmas has in collaboration with hospitals and research institutes around the country, come up with a range of medical devices, from titanium dental and bone implants to inhalers that can dispense drugs for mountain sickness, high-altitude oedema and asthma more effectively
A 500MW laser is strong stuff, if it really is this effective, this system is great for WoT.............
not 500megawatts but 500watts, they would be dragging along a nuclear reactor for those 500mw