Tata Steel launches 4th edition of MaterialNEXT open innovation event | So Good News

The main theme of this publication is “Amazing Materials”, which aims to gather ideas around emerging materials and their unique applications, the company said in a statement.

The program includes two parallel tracks – “Research Track” focuses on the concepts of major academic institutes and research facilities in India; and the Start-up track will focus on startups emerging from incubator cells at the institute level.

Four main material/technology disciplines were introduced with the launch of MaterialNEXT 4.0 – Applied Nanomaterials, New Composites, Emerging Building Materials and Energy Materials. Within each of these four topic areas, multiple application issues are identified, making it easy for participating groups to begin registering ideas.

Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology and New Materials Business, Tata Steel said, “At Tata Steel, we continue to develop innovative solutions and breakthrough technologies across the steel value chain, leveraging our strengths in research and development and collaborating with the wider community. of scientists, researchers, start-ups and industrial organizations. Our MaterialNEXT platform incubates young minds in the advanced materials space to promote technological thought leadership. These advanced materials have the potential to shape breakthrough products and processes in emerging industries.”

Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Center (TSAMRC) oversees the company’s ‘Technology Entrepreneur’ initiative in the field of new and emerging materials and has been organizing the initiative since 2019. Starting from the IIT Madras campus, the program has expanded to pan-India level. and reporting to leading academic institutions and research centers over the years. MaterialNEXT has played a role in expanding TSAMRC’s technology portfolio.

MaterialNEXT 4.0 consists of three five-month phases: sampling (idea selection), performance (idea development) and conclusion (idea evaluation). After group registration, the Selection stage is a 2-stage process of online screening followed by a discussion-evaluation stage conducted by subject matter experts. The final will be held on Technology Day, May 11, 2023.

In addition to mentoring and incubation support provided by TSAMRC during the ideation phase of the event, internal and external subject matter experts participate in various stages of the event. The winning and runner-up teams of each track will receive cash prizes along with funding offers for the most promising concepts to develop into long-term joint ventures.