IIT goes global by bridging research, commercialisation gap

India’s premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are becoming more ambitious, intent on increasing their global footprint by going beyond traditional internationalisation of research and exchange partnerships.

This month the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, announced the launch of the IIT Madras Research Foundation to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, and to increase engagement with industry and research collaborators to boost the institute’s global presence.

Like other university incubators around the world intent on spawning and nurturing start-ups, but on a global scale, IITMRF will serve as a catalyst for start-ups emerging from the institute’s cutting-edge tech ecosystem, facilitating their access to global markets, capital and funding for research and innovation.

The research foundation bridges the gap between academia and innovations that can be commercialised. It will help scale IITM’s academic programmes to a global level through strategic university collaborations and industry partnerships to “pioneer solutions on a global scale”, according to the institution.

Thirumalai Madhavnarayan, the first CEO of IITMRF, told University World News: “IITM aims to access global markets, international research funding, through its new Research Foundation by setting up in-country operations to connect better with local market needs, industry players, academia and venture capitalists.

“The United States and Dubai are the main countries to push into initially.”

Narayan comes with more than three decades of experience in steering businesses across diverse global markets, including the United Arab Emirates, and also has extensive experience in shaping digital strategies for government entities and forging alliances in the technology sector.

The IITMRF will also bring changes for masters and doctoral students by stepping up university collaborations, and with an enhanced portfolio of interdisciplinary programmes to meet multi-country market needs, as well as industry sponsorship for increased employability, entrepreneurship, intellectual property generation and innovation.

The objective is to “continuously fuel the pipeline of the broader tech ecosystem”, Narayan said. A rise in international ranking for IITM is also one of the expected outcomes of IITMRF, he added.

The foundation will focus on patents and technologies ready for commercialisation; nurturing startups initiated by IITM's faculty, students, alumni and researchers; exploring market-driven concepts such as Green Growth; and providing global exposure and resources to startups originating from IITM, according to a statement from IITM.

Global hub for start-ups

Professor V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras, underscored the crucial role of IITMRF in aligning with India's aspiration to establish itself as a global hub for start-ups. “IITMRF is a strategic initiative aligned with India’s vision to become the Vishwa Guru [world leader)] and to be a creator of global start-ups,” he said in a statement.

IITM, in common with other Indian Institutes of Technology, has an ‘incubator cell’, which incubated some 366 start-ups last year or “one a day”, in the words of Kamakoti. It aims to incubate at least 100 start-ups this year in various sectors including rural technologies. But until now, these start-ups have focused specifically on the Indian market.

The institute points out it has a “robust portfolio” of 161 active patents in the United States and a large and influential alumni network “making noteworthy industry contributions”. It said in a statement this week that IITM “stands poised for global impact,”

More than 10,000 IIT Madras alumni are working across the US, occupying not only senior leadership roles in top corporate entities but also spearheading entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups. For example, in January IITM alumnus Sunil Wadhwani, CEO and cofounder of iGATE Capital Corporation, donated over US$13.75 million to set up a new School of Data Science and AI at IITM, one of the highest individual donations to an institution in India.

Research and innovation incubation and industry collaborations are also an aim of the government’s overarching research funding body, the National Research Foundation or NRF, which came out of one of the major recommendations of the National Education Policy of 2020.

Narayan said IITM may align with the NRF “when and where required”. He added: “IITM believes very strongly in collaboration for mutual long-term benefits.”

Collaboration with AAU

Additionally, “IITMRF may link up with the India-US Task Force, being steered by Association of American Universities when there is an opportunity,” Narayan told University World News.

The objective of that Task Force, established in April 2023, is to explore how the US can work with institutions and institutional leaders in India to expand bilateral research and higher education partnerships as part of the strategic strengthening of the US-India relationship, including on critical and emerging technologies.

It includes setting up commercial ventures resulting from joint India-US research efforts.

The taskforce will create an India-US Global Challenges institute this year to tackle areas of mutual interest, according to the agreement signed by the Council of IITs, which represents all of India’s 23 IITs.

Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, dean of alumni and corporate relations at IIT Madras, emphasised the transformative potential of the IITMRF. “We believe that IITMRF will be a game changer not just for IIT Madras, but for the country because it would have demonstrated a model for an academic institution to take its innovation to the global stage,” he said.

Professor Raghunathan Rengaswamy, dean of global engagement at the institute, said: “This is another significant and substantive effort from IITM in its multi-pronged internationalisation initiatives.”

IITM set up its first overseas campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, last year and has plans for a branch campus in Sri Lanka. This year it set up a Joint Research Academy with Deakin University of Australia.