Vellore, July 21 (MExN): A team of researchers from the Center for Biomaterials, Cellular & Molecular Theranostics (CBCMT) at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, was declared the winners of Material NEXT 2.0 hosted by TATA Steel on July 9.
A press release received here on Wednesday stated that the Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Centres (TSAMRC) has been actively associating with young college talents through their 'Campus Connect' programmes, and MaterialNEXT is an open innovation pan-India event to identify budding research talents and materialize potential ideas.
Team 'Titans' from VIT, Vellore, mentored by the Director & Senior Professor Dr Geetha Manivasgam of CBCMT, and comprising of interdisciplinary research scholars Pearlin Hameed, Ansheed Raheem, Aswin G and Jishita R bagged a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh after marking a prolific win in the grand finale, it stated.
Competing against 250 teams from across India over six months amid the pandemic restrictions, the team went through four screening levels and faced off with the runner-up 'Team Changemakers' from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and three other teams from IISc-Bangalore, IIT-Guwahati, and IIT-Gandhinagar.
According to the release, the team innovated by designing and developing a novel 3D printed porous Titanium alloy that nearly mimics the properties of natural bone in contrast to conventional titanium alloys that are currently used. This would significantly alleviate many post-surgical complications, which otherwise contributed to implant failure. Currently, the Indian medical sector prevalently uses imported implants for bone repair, which is a cross to bear for an average Indian and a near to impossible luxury for the underprivileged. This material innovation is expected to churn out indigenous porous bone grafts, plates, fixtures, screws, and dental implants, with superior biocompatibility and an affordable price tag, it added.
The finale was juried by Dr Tata Narasinga Rao (Director at ARCI Hyderabad), Dr Debashish Bhattacharjee (Vice President at Technology & New Material Business, Tata Steel), and Ravi Arora (Vice President of Innovation Program, Tata Sons).
In tandem with the 'Make in India' initiative, the next phase of this project will be to translate, commercialize and indigenize the manufacturing of porous orthopedic implants in India through active collaboration between VIT, Vellore, and TATA steel, the release stated.
