IISc bags US military contract for R&D on solar powered micro-grid

Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has bagged a United States military contract for research and development (R&D) on solar powered micro-grid.
The federal contract worth US 52,900 dollars was awarded to IISc by the US Pacific Air Forces (PAF), Yokota Air Base in Japan. Under this contract IISc will develop solar powered micro-grid with battery and super capacitor energy storage system.
It is considered as one of the rare instances as US military has awarded a federal contract to an Indian scientific institute known for its high-end cutting edge research.
The announcement of the contract comes on the eve of the meeting between Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at Pentagon.
Mr Parrikar is on his maiden visit to the US to discuss ways to deepen the long term strategic partnership between both nations. Earlier, he had visited the US Pacific Command (PACOM) headquarters in Hawaii, becoming the the first-ever Indian Defence Minister to visit the key defence facility of US.

About Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

IISc is a public university for scientific research and higher education located in Bangalore, India. It was established in 1909 with active support from industrialist and philanthropist Jamsetji Tata.
IISc is widely regarded as India’s finest institution in its field. It is the first Indian institute to feature on Times Higher Education World University Rankings for engineering and technology at 99th position in the year 2015-16.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2015