the goan I network
PANAJI
In a bid to spread awareness among students about the field of marine robotics, the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) recently organised a Marine Robotics School from February 12 to 17.
Marine robotics is an emerging science, which has several applications like underwater environments, inspection of underwater pipelines, understanding weather patterns and monitoring of offshore aquaculture.
Speaking to media persons, Prof Sunil Singh, director, NIO, said, “You need a lot of data when you are dealing with oceanographic research, whether related to climate change or sea level change. Sampling a measurement using ships is very expensive. Therefore, we need robots.”
“Using sensors, robots can transmit data through satellite from anywhere in the ocean thus making it really easy for an oceanographer to study data,” he continued. The per day cost of operating a highly sophisticated research vessel to get data from oceans is between Rs 15-25 lakhs. A lot of money can be saved by using marine robots.
Despite India having a huge coastline and marine robots having immense potential, students show very little interest in this area. Prof Singh said, “This is why we are trying to create awareness among students of the huge career opportunities in the field of marine robotics.”
The Marine Robotics School was organised with the help of Prof Antonio Pascoal, who is adjunct scientist at NIO and also a professor at IST, University of Lisbon in Portugal.
Prof Pascoal said, “This school is unique because it is targeted at scientists, researchers and commercial operators so that they can have a bird’s eye view of the vast potential of marine robotics. This time, we had speakers from Korea and Abu Dhabi. Next time, we intend to bring participants from Africa and South America.”
At the just concluded Marine Robotics School, 5 scientists from National Physical Oceanographic Laboratory, 9 researchers from L&T, PhD students from IIT Madras ad IIT Kanpur, professors from engineering colleges in Goa and several under graduate and post graduate students from all over India participated. Approximately 30% of the students who participated were from Goa.
