Gandhinagar: In a proud moment for the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), Dr Manish Kumar, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, IITGN, has been honoured with the Commendation Card (a badge that is worn at the chest) for providing overall leadership and guidance in developing 3D printed defence structures for the Indian Army. Lieutenant General Jai Singh Nain, AVSM, SM, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command, Indian Army, presented the Commendation Card to him as a recognition of exemplary contribution and services to the Indian Army.
This work was a part of the PhD thesis of Mr Shashank Shekhar, a PhD Scholar in Civil Engineering at IITGN and co-founder of MiCoB Pvt Ltd, a startup incubated at the IIT Gandhinagar Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IIEC). Col Naval Joshi of Indian Army and Mr Rishabh Mathur and Dr Ankita Sinha, PhD alumni of Mechanical Engineering at IITGN & team members of MiCoB, also contributed significantly towards the development of these defence structures.
Sharing his thoughts on receiving this honour, Dr Manish Kumar, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, IITGN, said, “I am deeply humbled by this honour. It is indeed very satisfying for all of us at IITGN that we could contribute in some way to the Indian Army. 3D concrete printing technology has immense potential to serve for various futuristic applications. With this honour, we feel more determined to develop innovative solutions that can serve the nation.”Talking about this significant achievement, Mr Shashank Shekhar, a PhD Scholar in Civil Engineering at IITGN and co-founder of MiCoB Pvt Ltd, said, “Developing 3D printed defence structures for the Indian Army was a major stepping-stone for MiCoB. This project has demonstrated the utility and performance of our 3D printed structures. We are delighted to be a part of this development and look forward to providing safer, economical, customised and fast construction solutions for use at various levels.”