IIT : Indian Institute of Technology

Pages (1) : [1]

 

Samtel Sets Eye on Becoming Global Leader in OLED Display Technology

India, despite its talent pool, has never been a global leader in technological development. Lack of investments in research and development and infrastructure have often been cited as reasons for the country lagging behind in terms of innovation and discoveries.

Things are, however, changing with the concept of partnership between the government, industry and university taking shape. In certain instances it has almost reached a stage of fructification and ready to take the global leadership position in various areas of technology.

A case in point is the prototype development unit in the Samtel Centre for Display Technologies at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. A collaborative effort between the Samtel Group, IIT Kapur and Department of Science and Technology, the centre was set up with a total investment of around Rs 25 crore with the private partner pumping in Rs 10 crore.

The prototype unit, which was recently dedicated to the nation by Union Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, is set to become the nursery for India’s quest to be leaders in the Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), which are now finding increasing usages as full colour displays in applications such as digital cameras and mobile phones.

In a fast and rapidly developing technological global environment, it is important to choose the right kind of areas to work on if India wants to be a leader and hence the choice of OLED as the focus area for the centre is a well thought out decision.

“In plasma and LCD technologies we are far behind the global leaders like Japan and Korea, it will take up about 10-15 years for us to catch up. By the time we catch up they would have moved on to the next one,” Samtel Colour Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Satish K Kaura explains.

Therefore, picking OLED display technology, which is at a nascent stage of development, is a move that gives India the chance to be a leader in the field. “Currently the technology is about to take off globally and we are in the right position to take advantage,” he said. With the prototype development through, the centre is ready to go for the pilot project of using the OLED display screen in small appliances.

“We can now go for the pilot project of using this new technology for devices like the mobile handsets. In another 18 months time we are expecting to go for the commercial production of OLED screens,” Kaura said.

Once the technology is successfully used in smaller screens, Samtel is looking to make its utilization in bigger devices too.

“The good thing about OLED is that it is not size restricted unlike the plasma and LCDs. Our next aim is to take this technology to bigger applications of 15 inches screens,” Samtel Vice-President Strategic Planning and Business Development Rajesh Kakkar said.

Kakkar said the next challenge for the centre would be how to make OLED screen applicable in a variety of applications. The challenge, however, does not appear to be too big considering the spirit of the people involved in the centre. “The creation of the Centre is a testimony to the faith that Indian industry has on IIT Kanpur. It is powered by the graduates, undergraduate students and project scientists and engineers from the institute and also from Samtel,” IIT Kanpur Director Sanjay Govind Dhande said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Sibal said university system was the nursery for innovations and the government and private partners should come together to encourage such centres.

“If any nation wants to move forward, the centre for innovation has to be the universities. It is the young minds who drive the faculty to lead them to innovation and discoveries,” Sibal said.

Strongly supporting giving free hand to the universities for innovation-led researches, he said, “the more we allow university system more freedom, the more we give them autonomy the more there will be innovation and discoveries.” Sibal also said the government would actively continue to support R&D in universities acknowledging the fact that private players take the risk of investing heavily on development of new technologies.

He said the government was planning to protect the ownership of its citizens for the innovations they made.

“In the coming monsoon session of Parliament, the government is planning to introduce a bill to give innovators the ownership of intellectual property for the creation they made,” Sibal said.

Having secured the support of the government and the academia, and its OLED screens ready to take off, Samtel is also focusing on expanding its existing business. The leading entertainment display devices manufacturer has embarked on a Rs 310 crore capacity expansion for its television picture tube manufacturing, while it has also decided to foray into plasma and flat panel screen manufacturing.

“By next year the total picture tube capacity of the company will reach about 10 million units from the current level of half a million as our capacities are being expanded,” Kaura said.

He said the company has invested about Rs 310 crore in total for expanding the existing capacity of its Dadri (UP) plant and setting up of a greenfield plant at Kota in Rajasthan.

“This year, our overall picture tube production capacity should be 8.5 millon units,” he said, adding of the total of 10 million units expected next year, 3.3 units would be exported.

Kuara also said, going forward, the company planned to foray into the plasma and flat screen manufacturing.

“At present the plan is being discussed and will take about 6-8 months for finalisation,” he said when asked what further investments would be required for the foray into the new technology product.

Kaura said once that is decided, Samtel would focus on the domestic market for marketing plasma and flat screens. With the OLED technology more or less in the pocket and the planned foray into plasma and flat panels, Samtel in now poised to enhance its portfolio to enhance its position the market.

Source : http://www.advancedimagingpro.com/

Related News from IIT

Closed Counters Cause Delay To Metro Commuters

Kolkata Metro had set standards in cleanliness and efficient functioning of the underground rapid transit system. But in recent times stations are often littered with dirt and filth while majority ticket counters are kept closed during peak travel time causing inconvenience to commuters. Shreya Mukherjee and Poonam Choudhury Anupam Gupta, had almost missed his interview. All his plans had gone haywire when the serpentine queues at the metro rail ticket counter delayed him. Anupam, who had to board the train from the terminal station in Dum Dum is not an isolated case. With not all ticket counters remaining open, the crowd is

Troubling Signs for Indian Tech Outsourcers

Troubling Signs for Indian Tech Outsourcers If you are an investor in one of the many U.S.-listed technology outsourcing giants such as Infosys, then I have some bad news for you: they are no longer the cherished destination for the brightest and the smartest in India. Instead, they are being viewed derisively as code factories. What gives? Read on… One of the most amazing things you notice about Indian newspapers recently is the lack of technology headlines. Instead the focus is on telecom and manufacturing and organized retail. This is in sharp contrast from a few years ago, when I encountered newspapers

IIT Students Seek Action Against Dean

The quota controversy refuses to die down — at least in IIT Delhi. In the latest twist in the quota protests, representatives of the Pan IIT Foundation for Rural Development (PIFort) have lodged a police complaint against the Dean, Director and some senior members of the management for allegedly threatening students demonstrating peacefully against caste-based reservations. The students said they would approach the judicial magistrate if no action is taken. The police confirmed that they had received the complaint, but said that no case had been registered so far. The row erupted on Friday. “The students were sitting on a relay hunger

Pub Meals Worse Than Plane Food

Pub grub was never exactly cordon bleu but now it has suffered the ultimate insult - and been branded even worse than airline food. Leading chef Marcus Wareing claims airlines have 'upped their game' and standards are now 'simply higher' than the 'pathetic' offerings found on the ground. Mr Wareing, of the Michelin-starred Pétrus restaurant in London, added: 'In most people's locals, the menu rarely gets better than tinned soup, stale sandwiches or a heap of tasteless meat that's been deep-fried to hell and back. 'If you want a decent bite to eat, you'd be better off getting on a

Andhra gets green signal to set up IIT

Andhra gets green signal to set up IIT The central government has sanctioned an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced in the state assembly on Tuesday. Making a statement in the house, he said the union human resource development (HRD) ministry had given a green signal for the premier institute that would come up at Isnapur near Sanga Reddy in Medak district. I am happy to inform this house that I have just received a communication from (HRD Minister) Arjun Singh informing that one IIT is sanctioned to Andhra Pradesh in response

All The World A Stage At DU

What's common among actors Amitabh Bachchan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Lillette Dubey, dancer Geeta Chandran and singer Kay Kay? All performers, yes, and all trace their roots to Delhi University where they had been members of respective extracurricular societies of disciplines they later went on to make their mark in. Thanks to the thriving social and cultural life in DU colleges, there is much more to a bachelor's degree in the university than just academics. So much so that for a lot of students, the deciding factor when zeroing in on a college is the society that he/she wants to

Revamp varsity system, PM tells states

Revamp varsity system, PM tells states Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today urged the state governments to revamp the university system, saying their deteriorating health over the past two decades has hobbled our scientific research base. Laying the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) here, Singh called for the realisation of Jawaharlal Nehrus dream of scientists by the thousands. Reconstruction of our university system must be a top priority and it has to be addressed comprehensively, not in a piecemeal fashion, he said. Singh said that though a few good scientific institutions had come up in recent years, they

Protesting IIT Students Confined To Campus

HUGE police deployment at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) to prevent any untoward incident during a mass hunger strike called by students turned the campus into a khaki garrison today. In spite of a ban imposed by the district administration, the students had called the hunger strike, to intensify their agitation against the quota hike for OBCs. Hundreds of students had gathered at the IIT campus gate to proceed to Phoolbagh, the site identified for the strike. However, the police did not allow even a single student to move out of campus, which also led to a scuffle

IIT Alumni To Meet In Mumbai

The three-day fourth IIT Alumni global conference, 2006, in Mumbai from December 23 is expected to discuss nation-building projects that IITians could take up, conference chairman Ashank Desai has said. "These professionals have benefited immensely from studying in IITs and it is their turn now to do something for the nation", Desai said. The theme of the conference is "Inspire IITians to Involve and Transform India". Besides, topics like "Building India into a Knowledge Economy" and "Getting the Governance You Want" will be deliberated during the meet for which over 500 former IITians are expected to participate, he said. He

IIT Teachers Join Protest Against Proposed Reservation Policy

The protest by the students of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) against Union government's proposed policy of reservation in central educational institutions has further strengthened with the teachers of the institute joining the fortnight-long stir. Over one dozen teachers of IIT Kanpur today supported the anti-reservation agitation by the students under the banner of Forum of Indian against Reservation (FIR). This apart, about 125 teacher of IIT Kanpur have written a letter to Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh, appealing him not to take any decision on reservation. H C Verma, a teacher of IIT Kanpur, said that the country