On September 23, 2022, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to set up a collaborative research centre on intelligent transportation, which will enhance electric mobility systems including automobiles, rail, marine craft. The collaboration and interaction between the two will be fostered by the Indo-German Collaborative Research Centre of Intelligent Transportation Systems (IGCRCoITS), as stated in a report by PTI.
On Friday, September 23, IIT Kharagpur issued a statement saying that the collaborative Research and Development (R&D) between both the institutions will emphasise the main areas of intelligent transportation enhancing electric mobility systems, including automobiles, rail, marine craft and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The major focus will be laid on vehicle energy management, battery management systems, transportation software and security, public transportation, data-driven transport planning and emerging mobility solutions.
Speaking on this, Director of IIT Kharagpur Prof Virendra Kumar remarked, "This centre would form the umbrella academic unit orchestrating and synergising with several research centres and facilities on transportation at IIT Kharagpur, including the IGCRCoITS." Further, he said, the future project assures the self-sustainability of IGCRCoITS in terms of resources and expansion, along with the inclusion of new participants from the academia and industrial domains, for both India and Germany. He went on to elaborate, saying, "Advanced research, consultancy, advisory and training programmes with participation of various beneficiary partners will create new domains to implement intelligent transportation systems."
It was in 2018, the first phase of the future trans project started involving workshops, research groups-sponsored, as well as doctoral research, in the diversified areas of academia along with numerous publications in reputed journals and conference papers in the area of intelligent transportation.
