Sponsored Research

Sponsored Research Programme (RESPOND) of DOS has the main objective to strengthen the academic interaction through collaborative research, educational and scientific activities at the academic institutions. The major activities supported under RESPOND are: (a) research and developmental projects (b) Space Technology Cells (c) institution of ISRO Chairs and (d) educational programmes, conferences, symposiums and promotional activities. RESPOND helps generate human resources to support the Indian space programmes. The sponsored projects are periodically reviewed by experts at DOS Centres and the project results are utilised for DOS projects/programmes.

During the year ten projects supported at nine academic institutions have been completed. They are: 1) Preparation and characterisation of E-glass reinforced polyuretane matrix composites 2) Modified hydroxy polybutadiene for high energy propellants 3) Electro-thermo-elastic formulation and analysis of smart structures 4) Development of linear motor 5) development of polymer ceramic composite 6) Preparation of quantum Dot Samples in Polymer Matrix 7) Design and analysis of impact resistant structures 8) Electrolytic preparation of sulphur depolarised nickel anode 9) Development of image compression algorithms and 10) Identification of nutrient deficiencies through remote sensing.

Forty new projects have been initiated during the year at 27 academic institutions. The projects in space science are: 1) Plasma conditions in the inner corona 2) Cosmic ray induced ionisation changes in aerosol and cloud micro-physical properties 3) Supramolecular organisation in chemical evolution and origin of life 4) Study of galactic ionised regions using radio recombination lines 5) Studies of finite amplitude double layers in space plasma and 6) Development of a theoretical model for investigation of the equatorial and low latitude ionosphere in Chhatisgarh.

Comparison of experimental fold formulation with numerical
prediction - a project under RESPOND

The space technology projects supported are: 1) High speed architectures for satellite image compression 2) Development of a ceramic composite based aerospace component 3) Liquid sloshing in spherical tanks under micro-gravity 4) Effect of liquid propellant spillage on soil, groundwater and ecology and mitigation measures 5) Study of radiation induced degradation of electronic devices 6) Effect of ionised plasma medium on antenna structures 7) Investigation of different neural network techniques for rocket estimation 8) Specification based object testing and 9) Software for design and simulation of sensors, and liquid crystal line thermosets.

The space applications projects supported include: 1) Development and characterisation of high temperature thin film thermocouples 2) Corrosion behaviour and characterisation of Al alloy in different media 3) Heat transfer studies in a porous media 4) Synthesis and electrical resistivity studies on filled skutterudites 5) Thermal analysis of various elements in an enclosure 6) Development of particulate reinforced MMCs 7) Development of Al foam for structural application 8) Development of remote sensing and GIS based methodology for ground water protection 9) Deterministic predictions of meteorological parameters with a meso-scale model 10) Image fusion for improvement in quality and classification accuracy 11) Development of site specific management through precision farming technology 12) Estimation of sediment flux and shoreline change prediction along Godavari delta 13) Remote Sensing-GIS studies for biodiversity characte risation at landscape level in Jharkhand forests 14) Number theoretic approach to crypto-analysis 15) Development of space qualified high temperature super-conducting thin film 16) Development of microwave dielectric resonators 17) Socio-cultural dynamics of watershed development 18) Remote sensing for identification and study of palaeo-channels and archaeological sites 19) Detection and impact assessment of moisture stress on crop yield of maize using remote sensing 20) Soil fertility assessment and nutrient management using remote sensing and GIS and 21) Impact of Remote Sensing technology on joint forest management.

Space Technology Cells (STC) have been established at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Indian Institutes of Technology at Chennai, Mumbai, Kanpur and Kharagpur and University of Pune to carry out research and development activities in space technology. The projects in progress at the STC's include: 1) Study on optimisation of welding parameters 2) Optimisation approaches for two-class classification problem 3) Measurement of convective surface heat transfer rates 4) Exploratory study on micro-machined micro-strip patch antennas 5) DC to DC converters for high efficiency 6) Studies on high energy density super-capacitors 7) Finite element techniques for nonlinear analyses of membranes 8) Studies on damage mechanics and residual strength evaluation of composites 9) Effect of inertia on macroscopic response of layered composites 10) Optimal design of axially symmetrical stiffened thin shell structures 11) Analysis and design of force-torque sensor 12) Trajectory optimisation 13) Application of chaos in DC-DC converters 14) Development and characterisation of nano-fluid 15) Contoured beam synthesis for array antenna 16) Beam forming architecture generation of large number of multiple beams 17) Study of adaptive array antenna 18) Development of built-in self-test for VLSI circuits 19) Design of silicon based MEMS accelerometer 20) Development of MEMS based liquid micro-thruster 21) Development of intelligent scheme for electro-hydraulic actuation 22) Feasibility study of compact foldable type trans/receive antenna 23) Design methodologies for air collection 24) Investigation of ultrasound for de-stratification of cryogenic liquids 25) Development of a radiative transfer model 26) Control of liquid sprays 27) Implementation of phase shifting techniques 28) Vanadium oxide thin films for temperature sensor 29) Synthesis of Ni-Ti thin films 30) Numerical study of jets with particulate suspension 31) Approximating height data by tensor product cubic B-Spleens 32) Multimedia tutor for digital image processing 33) Nonlinear neural control of satellite formation flying 34) Super resolution and restoration of satellite images 35) evelopment of capacitance probe sensor for measurement of small distances 36) Powder metallurgical processing 37) Data- mining and knowledge discovery 38)Deve- lopment of image data compressionalgori thms 39) Development and control of a flexible link robot 40) Measurement of refractive index of turbid suspensions 41) Use of optical fibre as sensor 42) Investigations of the behavior of polymeric adhesives. 43) Synthesis of bulk and thin films 44) Studies on phase stabilisation of ammonium nitrate 45) Synthesis of elastomer nano composite 46) Behaviour of high strength FRCC 47) Study of phased array feed and 48) Electronic method of soil testing and materials for magneto elastic sensors.

Four ISRO Chairs one each at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Pune University have been instituted. A fifth Sir M Visweswaraih Chair for remote sensing and space application studies, has been established at Bangalore University.

During the year, 65 conferences, symposia, educational and promotional activities in space science, application and technology were supported.