Palaj, Gandhinagar

A group of Chinese and Indian engineers are exploring Safety, Health Care Devices, Big Data and Clean Water issues at Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN). The discussion is a part of the first Indo-Chinese Young Engineering Leaders’ Conclave (ICON-1), a three-day-long event which began on Wednesday (October 7, 2015).

13 engineers from China and 28 engineers from India from different IITs, BARC, IISER, JMPF Medical Rehabilitation Centre, TCS, etc. are attending the conclave.

Space Scientist Dr K Kasturirangan, who was the Chief Guest, said that four themes of the conclave are major challenges for both countries. Dr Kasturirangan said, “Over 80% of water is used in agriculture. The challenge is how to optimize its use in agriculture so that it could meet other needs. Similarly we gather huge amount of data for various researches and activities. The management and analysis of these data is another challenge.” Dr Kasturirangan said that the youth of both countries should be encouraged to interact with each other and to identify different areas for collaborations.

Talking about the benefits of the conclave, Dr Yonghui Song of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences in China said, “It is our first visit to India and we see so many similarities here with China. Apart from the large population, both the countries are developing countries with fast economic growth. This means that we have a lot of similar opportunities and challenges about which we can learn from each other.”

(INAE) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) have agreed to organize conclaves for young engineering leaders of both countries every year. The annual event invites eminent and young engineering professionals from both the countries to present and discuss pioneering technical work and leading-edge research across a range of engineering fields of global importance.