According to the statement, the Centre of Excellence will focus on emerging areas of research and technology, such as information warfare or security, wireless communication and many other fields in the larger domain of defence and security

Photo Credit : IIT Ropar,

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar has agreed to establish a joint Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Studies and Applied Research in Defence and Security with the Army Training Command, Indian Army. 

Professor Rajeev Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar and Lieutenant General SS Mahal, PVSM, VSM General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Army Training Command (ARTRAC) signed the agreement.

According to the media report, the CoE will be established with the goal of leveraging IIT Ropar's technical expertise and ARTRAC's operational expertise in advanced materials and manufacturing, design and development of deep learning algorithms, multipath and wireless networks, data transmission tools, remote sensing and forecasting, cyber security and other areas.

IIT Ropar will also curate training programmes for security practitioners in the armed forces, Central Armed Police Forces, intelligence agencies and state police forces as part of its on-campus and off-campus research and innovation programs, according to the university.

“Today, IIT Ropar and ARTRAC, Indian Army, signed a historic agreement to establish a joint Centre of Excellence for Studies and Applied Research in Defence and Security at IIT Ropar. The agreement was signed by Professor Rajeev Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar, and Lieutenant General SS Mahal, PVSM, VSM, GOC-in-ARTRAC,” IIT Ropar said in a tweet.

The ARTRAC will fund officers’ attendance at on-campus and off-campus educational programmes. Collaborative research and innovation in management and social sciences will be undertaken, as will visits by faculty and students of IIT Ropar to Army establishments to better understand the educational, research and technology needs of the Army, as well as visits by Army officers to IIT Ropar to engage in research and innovation, according to the statement.

Ahuja said during the signing ceremony that IIT, Ropar has the best infrastructure and young and dynamic faculty and we are ready to set up this centre in collaboration with the Army and will establish CoE at IIT Ropar campus, which will provide a platform to foster and promote several forms of initiatives including collaborative research, formal education of Army officers, short-term training and short visits (exchange programs) by personnel from IIT Ropar and Army.

The Centre of Excellence will be known as the ‘Centre of Excellence for Studies and Applied Research in Defence and Security.’ According to the statement, the CoE will focus on emerging areas of research and technology, such as information warfare or security (quadcopters and drones, medium and light weaponry, missile technologies, body armour, force survivability, hypersonic applications, energy-directed weapons and so on), wireless communication and many other fields in the larger domain of defence and security.