trends
IntechXication 2007
‘foCus’ing on R&D
This year, a new event, ‘foCus,’ was added to the annual technical fest, ‘IntechXication,’
of MIT, Pune. Envisioned to focus on a particular area of concern—especially one that
affects technology, academia and industry—its theme this time was ‘R&D’.
t
he first edition of foCus
took a closer look at the
R&D scenario in India,
its unpopularity as a career
choice and where it was
headed, particularly as an outsourced
service. The programme featured three
groups of panellists face-to-face on the
conference table discussing, debating
and analysing situations. And some of
the conclusions and facts that came to
the fore were interesting indeed.
IntechXication 2007—the panellists who participated in the symposium
32 | May 2007 | www.itmagz.com | i.t.­­­­­­­­
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R&D–full of
opportunities, but
without glamour!
Dr Kalpana Joshi, reader in
S.P. College, Pune, stressed on
looking for global opportunities
for research. She highlighted the
fields of semiconductor devices, fast
computing, and parallel processing,
as good research areas. She said, “I
also suggest that one must look at
the patent database while doing any
sort of research. And now it is even
available on the Internet.”
Dr Sachin Lodha, from the
Tata Research Development &
Design Centre (TRDDC), said that
four primary questions needed to
be answered before any concrete
conclusion could be reached regarding
R&D: “Why R&D?”, “Should
Indians do R&D?”, “What are the
R&D options in India?”, and “What
are the obstacles?” He also stressed the
need to add “glamour” to the field.
“Scientists haven’t tried to glamorise
R&D. Whether we like it or not, an
initial effort to attract people to R&D
needs to be taken up. We need to
create more role models,” Dr Lodha
pointed out.
Needed–a change of
culture!
The panellists also cited a lack of an
‘enquiring culture’ and a ‘credible
eco-system’ that hampered R&D as
a career option. Prof V.Y. Kulkarni,
convener of foCus, added, “Due
to the current scenario in the IT
industry, students are interested
only in degrees that can get them
fat pay cheques. They don’t think
of the future or of doing something
innovative.” TRDDC’s Ravindra
Naik pointed out that, “Big, unusual
innovations are not necessary.
Just look out for problems and
work on them.” On the industry
front, Vinod Kulkarni, associate
president, Persistent Systems Private
Ltd (PSPL), added, “ In academic
research, one should not worry
about the fructification of research.
It must be done sincerely. And I
must add that there is research in the
corporate world too. Perhaps, the
amalgamation of the two–academic
as well as corporate research–for
mutual benefit is appropriate.”
Panellists also highlighted the
use of the Internet in changing the
face of research, and the need for
awakening creativity, curiosity and
interest in R&D. Dr Lodha stressed
that people needed to “…start
enjoying frustrations. R&D is not
always about unknown problems,”
and raised a few eyebrows when
he bluntly stated: “We don’t need
more IITs to encourage R&D,”
and that impetus should instead
be given to promoting an R&D
culture.
Putting the
education system in
the dock
The student panel raised the
question as to why students were
blamed for not getting into R&D,
when the education system and
teaching faculty failed to generate
interest in the field, fostering
instead a ‘get-the-marks-and get-a-
job culture.’ Dr Joshi felt that the
situation was improving.
“Basically, Indian industry is
using the fruits of efforts by the
West. And there is a ‘don’t-risk-it’
attitude. So there is a convention,
which is followed and promoted
by the system. Nobody is being
blamed. But of course, knowledge is
critical, and learning is a continuous
process. Nonetheless, teachers
should make more attempts to
encourage R&D,” she said.
It was felt that since one could
progress faster in terms of money
and position, in a regular job
as compared to R&D, students
were not being attracted to the
field. Another reason was a lack
of research resources. Dr Lodha
dispelled the myth that one needed
a PhD for research, pointing out
that a PhD was unnecessary and was
“…just a formal way to carry out
research.”
The Indian scene
The panellists also discussed
the R&D scenario in India. The
Some of the panellists
at foCus:
• Vinod Kulkarni, associate VP, Persistent
Systems Pvt Ltd
• Dr Sachin Lodha, TRDDC
• Gargash, senior faculty member, MIT, Pune
• Ravindra Naik, TRDDC
• Dr Kalpana Joshi, researcher and faculty at
S.P. College, Pune
• Prof Mucharikar, Cummins College, Pune
• Prof Udai Raj Bal, PICT, Pune
• Prof V.Y. Kulkarni, MIT, Pune (convener of
foCus)
• Prof S.D. Sirsikar, MIT, Pune
• Rohit Prabhavalkar, a current Pune University
student topper
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researchers pointed out that
trends
there was tremendous scope for
R&D in Indian markets, and the
spread of global consultations in
R&D. Naik also explained the
difference between off-shoring
technical work and R&D. He
dismissed doubts about US
companies thinking twice before
off-shoring R&D work to India,
considering there was already
resentment among American
professions about Indians usurping
their jobs, and also their being
more productive. Talking about
productivity, Dr Joshi pointed out
that though an Indian can work
much harder and productively
than an average American or
European, Germans worked
hardest amongst all, and the
Chinese were more persevering
than the Indians.
A number of fascinating
statistics were thrown up by the
discussions. For instance, the
number of R&D researchers per
million people in India is less
than 200, compared to 400 in
Brazil, over 600 in China, and
a whopping 5,000 and 4,500 in
Japan and the US respectively.
Similarly, the number of PhDs
per million in the US is 89, 75 in
Japan, 52 in South Korea but a
paltry 5 in India!
At the end of it all…
All of this made the debut
edition of foCus a fairly lively one.
At the end, it was agreed that
there was a lot more to be done
on all fronts by all stakeholders,
for the maturity of R&D. Now,
if that were to actually happen,
the event would have more than
served its purpose.
Maulik Chandarana
The author is a freelance writer with interests in varied
subjects, both technical and non-technical. He may be
contacted at maulik_c@yahoo.com
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