ATIRA gets Focus Incubation Centre for Composites

“There was an era during which the funds were used to generate knowledge, more so by the Government and R&D institutions and now it is the time to utilise the knowledge for commercial success through innovation,” said Anand Parekh, member, Council of Administration of ATIRA, in his inaugural speech.

“The FIC is one such initiative through which the infrastructure and knowledge at ATIRA in innovative product developments in composites will be available to entrepreneurs, researchers, and industry alike,” Parekh said.

Some of the applications for product developments at the incubation centre include: prepeg, where carbon, aramid, glass, cotton, etc used as base material for processes like vacuum bagging, filament winding, and compression moulding; phenolic—cotton fabric laminate for electrical insulation; composite panel—for construction application; fabric based laminates like glass, carbon, aramid, cotton, etc using matric like epoxy, phenolic, polyester, PVC, polyurethane, etc; wood laminate; and moulded component—corrugated sheet.

The products that can be developed include application in aerospace, mass transportation, machinery parts besides host of products that can be used by various industries.

Jute composite laminate, cotton composite panel, cement sheet and phenol formaldehyde (PF) foam, and cement sheet and thermocol sheet are the products that can be developed in FIC.

Prototype samples of these products were displayed as exhibits at the FIC during inauguration.

“In this increasingly competitive and fast changing business environment, small- and mid-sized companies will need to outperform others at business strategy, product, service development, flexible and efficient operations, and effective use of technology. This is where FIC facility helps industries in: increasing customer requirements and expectations, advancing technology, maximising product development opportunities, while being affordable,” says ATIRA in a note on FIC. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India