Created in March 2000, the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), established under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America functions to synthesize collaborative research and promote substantive interaction among government, academia and industry. The overall goal of IUSSTF is “to provide opportunities, to exchange ideas, information, skills and technologies, and to collaborate on scientific and technological endeavours of mutual interest that can translate the power of science for the benefit of mankind at large.” (http://indousstf.org/)
This Forum has a specific biomaterials area in which Brown University and Indian Institute Technology (ITT) Kanpur (along with other affiliated schools and companies) had a competitive proposal accepted in November 2008. Co-Coordinator Bikramjit Basu of ITT Kanpur most recent visit in Phase I of this project was to fellow coordinator Thomas Webster at Brown University. This July 2009 visit included many collaborative meetings and a talk on the biomaterials research in Dr. Basu’s lab. The goals of these types of visits are to facilitate collaboration and increase their outreach potential. A core deliverable of the project is to “train the next generation of scientists in the international interdisciplinary arena.” (http://www.iitk.ac.in/indo_us_biomaterials/)
Dr. Basu explains, “This collaboration depends on the two way visits between researchers in the US and India.” It is clear that these visits help researchers develop concrete projects. The dialogue between the different institutions and researchers allows for sharing of research results and a better understanding of the challenges faced by each group. The biomaterials area specifically faces the unique challenge of bridging the gap between traditional biology and materials engineering. The next steps for this project include working to integrate more industrial partners and medical professionals into the research collaborations.
Pictured above are National Metallurgical Laboratory Scientist Dr. S. Nayar, Associate Professor at IIT Kanpur Bikramjit Basu, and Associate Professor at Brown Thomas Webster.
