NEWS

22 pacts inked under Lockheed Martin's India Innovation Programme
August 31, 2009, mangalorean.com, Hyderabad

US aerospace major Lockheed Martin's India Innovation Growth Programme achieved another milestone Monday with the signing of 22 commercialization deals by the winners of this unique nation-wide initiative.

The deals, signed at the Hyderabad Technology Expo included six inked with international companies, placing the winners on a global platform.

Many winners of the programme, being run in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and those signing the commercialization deals had technologies that dealt with medical and environmental initiatives.

These included a chemical catalyst based process that converts hydrocarbon based material into fuels; technology to convert algae into diesel fuel; nano polymer coating on coronary stents; heart sound analyzer; and technology to create more efficient and reliable blades for generating wind power.

Inaugurating the Technology Expo, where programme winners of the earlier years had showcased their innovative technologies, Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, Andhra Pradesh's minister of major industries, commerce and export promotion and food processing, said: "India has a number of innovative technologies and ideas but there is lack of structure to take minds to the market.

"Today, mind-to-market initiatives such as the India Innovation Growth Programme are imperative to ensure a win-win situation for both-the innovators and the industry. We have to transform India into a knowledge society with innovation as the thrust area," Narayana added.

Speaking on the occasion, Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin's senior vice president and chief technology officer, said: "This programme, now in its third year, continues to mature and stand out for its uniqueness in helping rising entrepreneurs identify markets and partnerships for their innovation and develop business strategies.

"The collaboration and partnerships we have established with the Indian government's Department of Science and Technology, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and the IC2 Institute, have led to national acceptance for the programme, making it eagerly anticipated by India's growing numbers of inventors and innovators.

"We continue to be impressed with the tremendous spirit for invention and innovation that exists here and are committed to a long-term relationship with India," Johnson added.

According to H.K. Mittal, advisor and head of the DST's National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), "innovation has emerged as an important common instrument in the hands of entrepreneurs, corporate sector and the policy makers that is capable of positively affecting the lives of humanity.

"While it is useful when applied by each of these sectors, individually but when used in synergistic manner and in partnership it leverages the strengths of each partner significantly. The public private partnership established for the India Innovation Growth Programme is a successful example of building on the strengths of each partner," Mittal added.

Arabinda Mitra, executive director of the Indo-US S&T Forum, said: "The India Innovation Growth Programme is an example of seamless public-private partnership model designed to foster an ecosystem that encourages innovation and creativity in India by nurturing and promoting promising early-stage technologies to find markets in India, US and around the world."