Tech That, COVID-19

IISc researchers and industry partners have developed software tools driven by AI that can complement the healthcare system in fighting COVID-19   The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease we know as COVID-19, has kept us occupied through the first half of 2020. It is the first pandemic in a hundred years, affecting nearly every […]

Taking on TB

India is the world’s tuberculosis capital, accounting for 27 percent of the 10 million patients globally. Understanding how drug resistance emerges and improving vaccine efficacy are key to fighting this disease. Macrophage (red) engulfing tuberculosis bacteria (yellow), taken with ZEISS FE-SEM (Image courtesy: Volker Brinkmann)   In 1890, Robert Koch believed he was going to […]

From pipette to patient: Tools for better disease diagnosis

An overview of IISc labs involved in developing novel diagnostic tools for infectious diseases   With the recent emergence of the coronavirus infection, the world has been reminded of the lethal nature of disease outbreaks. Infectious diseases, caused by bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and other parasites, can be transmitted to a healthy individual from another infected […]

The Birth of Wipro’s Computer Systems Business

IISc’s role in helping Wipro launch its minicomputers in 1981 As one of India’s leading technology companies, Wipro is today largely known for its Information Technology (IT), engineering, and consulting services. But what brought Wipro into the IT industry was its computer systems business in the 1980s. The origins of the company’s most flourishing business […]

The Postdoc Predicament

Why do some find life as a postdoctoral fellow in India so challenging? Ask any PhD student about their next endeavour and the most common answer you would receive is a postdoctoral stint, preferably abroad. Postdoctoral positions allow one to pursue independent research in one’s field of interest, paving the way for a future academic […]

Satish Dhawan: The Father of Experimental Fluid Dynamics in India

It was in 1946 that Dhawan arrived at the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT, now Graduate Aerospace Laboratories), wanting to work with Hans Liepmann. But the Indian students Liepmann had worked with until then had given him the impression that “perhaps the select group that came to Caltech from India […]

A Centre Dedicated to the Jigsaw Puzzle of Hypersonic Research

In 2011, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) signed an MoU with BrahMos Aerospace to create a new centre for studying an exciting aspect of scientific research in today’s world: hypersonic flight. The Centre of Excellence for Hypersonics was inaugurated that year by APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India and eminent aerospace scientist. Although […]

Participants of an INUP Hands-on Training Program (Photo courtesy: INUP/CeNSE)

Nanotechnology for the Nation

The Indian Nanoelectronics Users’ Program (INUP), at IISc and IIT Bombay, is training researchers across the country to build national capability in nanoelectronics Since it began in 2008, the Indian Nanoelectronics Users’ Program (INUP) has received exceptional positive feedback from its participants. Among them are college teachers who say that their participation in the training […]

Climate Change, an Evening in Paris, and a Calculator from IISc to See into Our Future

An interactive climate change calculator from IISc reveals the path we can take to ensure that global temperatures are kept in check. It also shows us the path to disaster On a sunny spring afternoon at the Rose Garden in the White House, the US President Donald Trump made a sweeping proclamation. “We’re getting out,” […]