Centre for Advanced Materials and Innovative Technologies (CAMIT)
Preamble:
The fast pace of technological advances in recent times mandates students to be industry-ready by acquiring broader skills while graduating from the institutes of higher education. In line with the above, the Centre for Advanced Materials and Innovative Technologies (CAMIT) has been established to act as a forum to enable students to implement their novel, and creative ideas originating from fundamental concepts learned in the classroom and to perpetuate the hands-on knowledge gained in the laboratory into a new product or a novel process.
The CAMIT at VIT Chennai aims to develop new hardware and software products that will have a social impact by leveraging exhaustive technology.
Vision:
- To develop innovative prototypes and process technologies and transfer the technologies to the industry for product development
Mission :
- To create an ambiance for interdisciplinary learning by loosening the complexities set by the conventional boundaries of department/school structure.
- To encourage research scholars, students, and faculty members across schools and departments to come together and utilize the ideas, perspectives, and exclusive skills of one another to solve problems beyond the scope of a single discipline.
Focus Areas of Product Development
- Development of micro-/nano-scale devices/sensors for space, environmental, and bio-sensing applications using innovative processes and low-cost materials
- Sensor Technology & IoT
- Electrochemical Sensors for Agriculture & Healthcare applications
- Sensors for Cancer Biomarkers Identification
- Fully Automated Hydroponics Fodder
- Materials/FSS for EMI Shielding Applications
- Hybrid supercapacitors
- AI-based Smart Bin
- Green packaging products for food/consumer products, Soundproof products
- Electrical switches; switch board
- Flow control devices
- Bladeless fan for Human Comfort
- Aerodynamic Devices to alter the Flow for various applications such as Rockets, Subsonic & Supersonic Flights, Agriculture requirements etc.,
The primary research areas and objectives of CAMIT are:
i) Robotics and Product Development: To design and develop vision sensor integrated algorithms for automatic assembly systems for industries
ii) MEMS and Micro-/Nano-sensors: To develop micro-/nano-scale devices/sensors for space-, environmental-, and bio-sensing applications using innovative processes and low-cost materials
iii) New Material and Product Development: To develop products from natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials
iv) Aerodynamics: To develop Aerodynamic aids for better cornering stability and drag reduction on commercial vehicles and
v) Applications of Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Sciences for innovative process and product development
Research
The list of selected journals in which the CAMIT research faculty have published manuscripts with VIT affiliation is given here, with their corresponding 2022 impact factors (published in June 2023).
| S. No | Journal Title | Impact Factor |
| 1 | Nano-Micro Letters | 26.6 |
| 2 | Journal of Energy Storage | 9.4 |
| 3 | Materials Science and Engineering: A | 6.4 |
| 4 | Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation | 5.6 |
| 5 | Building Simulation | 5.5 |
| 6 | Nanomaterials | 5.4 |
| 7 | Polymer Composites | 5.2 |
| 8 | Polymers | 5.0 |
| 9 | Materials and Manufacturing Processes | 4.8 |
| 10 | Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical | 4.6 |
| S. No. | Name of Authors | Title of the book/chapters published | Year of publication with month | ISBN/ISSN number | Name of the publisher | DOI |
| 1 | Vinayagamurthy G, Parammasivam K M, Selvirajan, Abhay Gupta, Shuyang Cao | Recent Developments in Wind Engineering, Select Proceedings of NCWE 2024 | 2025 | ISSN: 2195-4356, ISBN: 978-981-97-9947-3 | Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Springer | 10.1007/978-981-97-9947-3 |
| 2 | Subbulakshmi, P and Pavithra, L K and Manikandan, E and Karthigeyan, K A and Inbarani | Cyber–physical system enabled 3D printed devices: 3D Printed Smart Sensors and Energy Harvesting Devices | 2024 | 978-0-7503-5351-9 | IOP | 10.1088/978-0-7503-5351-9ch9 |
| 3 | G. Lakshmi Priya, M. Venkatesh, S. Preethi, T. Venish Kumar, and N. B. Balamurugan | Performance Analysis of Emerging Low-Power Junctionless Tunnel FETs | Aug-22 | 9781032147291 | CRC Press, Taylor & Francis | 10.1201/9781003240778 |
| 4 | M. Venkatesh, G. Lakshmi Priya, T. S. Arun Samuel, and M. Karthigai Pandian | Modeling and Simulation of Emerging Low-Power Devices | Aug-22 | 9781032147291 | CRC Press, Taylor & Francis | 10.1201/9781003240778 |
| 5 | Karthigeyan, K.A., Elakkiya, A., Manikandan, E., Indhu, R. | Micromachined Terahertz Metamaterials | Sep-22 | 978-981-19-4105-4 | Springer | 10.1007/978-981-19-4105-4_14 |
| 6 | Andrew Robert, M. Venkatesh, G. Lakshmi Priya, G. Gifta, L. Jerart Julus | Challenges of Conventional CMOS Technology in Perspective of Low-Power Applications | Jun-23 | 9781003327035 | CRC Press, Taylor & Francis | 10.1201/9781003327035 |
| 7 | Rajasekarababu Kompala Baskar, Selvi Rajan, Vinayagamurthy Ganeshan | Peak Wind Pressure Coefficient on a Setback Building | Jun-23 | – | AIP Conf. Proc. | 10.1063/5.0139315 |
| 8 | K. B. Rajasekarababu, G. Vinayagamurthy | Assessment of local pressure coefficient over conventional and unconventional tall buildings | 2020 | 978-981-13-2696-7 | Springer | 10.1007/978-981-15-6619-6 |
Insights
The details of the research scholars (Ph.D. and M. S. (by Research)) worked/working under the supervision of the faculty members of the research center are provided hereunder:
Doctoral Research Scholars – Completed
| S. No | Name of the Scholar | Title of the Thesis | Supervisor | Year of completion |
| 1 | SATONKAR NILESH NANDKUMAR | Investigations and optimizations of process / geometric parameters of electromagnetic forming of perforated aluminium sheet metals | Dr. G. Venkatachalam | 2024 |
| 2 | ANUSINDHYA K | Investigation on jet flow characteristics using tabs | Dr. G. Vinayagamurthy | 2024 |
| 3 | S. LAKSHMI NARAYANA | Investigations on mechanical behaviors of ceramic particles/woven jute fabric reinforced epoxy composite | Dr. G. Venkatachalam | 2024 |
| 4 | S. ARAVINDH | Development of coir fiber reinforced plasticized polyvinyl chloride composite for multifunctional applications | Dr. G. Venkatachalam | 2024 |
| 5 | DINESH R. SALUNKE | Investigations on thermal and electrical behaviours of boron nitride/banana fiber reinforced polymer matrix composite | Dr. G. Venkatachalam | 2024 |
| 6 | K B RAJASEKARABABU | Computational evaluation of wind pressure and flow field on and round the setback building | Dr. G. Vinayagamurthy | 2021 |
INDUSTRIAL MoU
Signed MoU with “Magnitudo Technologies” on 03.08.2023
Technical Areas of Collaboration with Magnitudo Technologies
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- Smart trolley and automation system
- Automotive electronics
- Agriculture and health monitoring applications using IoT
- Future farming techniques
- Sensors for environmental monitoring applications
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The details of the consultancy work carried out (both completed and ongoing) by the research faculty of CAMIT jointly with the colleagues of the other Schools and Centres in the recent past are provided hereunder.
| S. No | Name of the Faculty | Topic | Funding Agency | Duration | Status | Amount (Rs.) |
| 1 | Dr. G. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | Noise minimization of the Frontload Washing machine using vibroacoustic analysis and measurements |
IFB | 1 Year | Ongoing | 18,88,000 |
| 2 | Dr. K. Rajendra Kumar (CAMIT) | SYNTHESIS OF CHEMILUMINESCENT LUMINOL BASED ACRYLAMIDE | ACHIRA LABS PRIVATE LIMITED, BANGALORE | 3 Months | Ongoing | 58, 410 |
| 3 | Dr. E Manikandan (CAMIT) Dr. Papanasam E | Smart Water Bottle | Aazhiyar Technologies | 3 Months | Ongoing | 7,03,000 |
| 4 | Dr. Subbulakshmi P Dr. E Manikandan (CAMIT) | Analyze the Emotions within the Realm of Education using NLP | Magnitudo Technologies Private Limited | 3 Months | Completed | 83,000 |
| 5 | Dr. Richards Joe Stanislaus Dr. Vinayagamurthy G (CAMIT) | Electromagnetic and Structural Analysis for Flat Radome | ST Advanced Composites Private Limited | 3 Months | Completed | 112068 |
| 6 | Dr. K. Rajendra Kumar (CAMIT) | Studies on Crater formation In Automotive Surface Coatings | PPG ASIAN Paints Pvt. Ltd. Chennai | 1 Year | Ongoing | 243080 |
| S. No. | Name of the Event | Title | Name of the Coordinators | Resource Person Details | Date |
| 1 | Workshop | ENGINEERING FAILURE ANALYSIS | Dr. G. VENKATACHALAM, Dr. SHENBAGA VELU P | Dr. Abhijeet V. Marathe, ARAI, Pune Dr. Atul R. Deshmukh, JCB India Ltd, Pune Dr. K. Annamalai, VIT Chennai Dr. G. Venkatachalam, VIT Chennai Dr. Mrutyunjay Panigrahi, VIT Chennai |
28-08-2024 |
| 2 | Workshop | Prototype to Product: A Practical Session | Dr. G. Lakshmi Priya & Dr. A. Ravi Sankar | 1. Mr. Dhinesh B Entrepreneur | Founder and CEO at Vividobots 2. Ms. Ishwariya Senthilnathan, Director, Blinc Smart Homes Pvt. Ltd. 3. Mr. Iyyappan M CTO & Founder – IMROBONIX Pvt. Ltd. 4. Mr. Akash J Co-Founder at AtumX Building Next-Gen Social Robots 5.Dr. Ravi Sankar A Director & Professor, Centre for Advanced Materials and Innovative Technologies (CAMIT), VIT University, Chennai |
24-02-2023 |
| 3 | Workshop | Workshop on Device Engineering using Visual TCAD | Dr. Lucky Agarwal (SENSE) and Dr. G. Lakshmi Priya (CAMIT) | Amit Saini Director of Cadre Design Systems |
21-11-2022 to
22-11-2022 |
| 4 | Make-a-thon | Design of High-speed VLSI Circuits using CADENCETM EDA tools | Dr. A. Ravi Sankar (CAMIT) & Dr. S. Umadevi (CNVD) | Dr. A. Ravi Sankar (CAMIT) & Dr. S. Umadevi (CNVD) | 05-11-2022 |
| 5 | Make-a-thon | Domestic appliances | Dr. Davidson (SMEC), Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Raghukiran (SMEC) | – | 21-04-2022 to
23-04-2022 |
| 6 | Workshop | Composites: Materials, Mechanics, Computations, and Applications | Dr. G Venkatachalam (CAMIT), Dr. R Narayanan (SMEC)& Dr. Raja Annamalai (SMEC/Vellore Campus) | Dr. G Venkatachalam (CAMIT), Dr. R Narayanan (SMEC) & Dr. Raja Annamalai (SMEC/Vellore Campus) | 05-01-2022 to
07-01-2022 |
| 7 | VAP | Computational Fluid Dynamics for TNPESU students | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | 15-11-2021 to
01-12-2022 |
| 8 | VAP | Sports Aerodynamics for VIT Chennai students | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | Dr. Ramakrishnan, TNPESU | 15-11-2021 to 01-12-2022 |
| 9 | VAP | CFD Applications in Fluid flow and Heat transfer | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | 12-07-2021 to
31-07-2021 |
| 10 | VAP | Experimental and Computational Methods in Bluff Body Aerodynamics | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | 09/12/2020 to 31/12/2020 |
| 11 | Workshop | Metallurgy for Non-Metallurgists | Dr. G Venkatachalam (CAMIT), Dr. R Narayanan (SMEC) & Dr Raja Annamalai (SMEC/Vellore Campus) | Dr.A.Raja Annamalai, Dr.R.Narayanan, Dr. Giribaskar Sivaswamy, Shri. Peranandhanathan.M and Ms. Sukanya | 14-12-2020 to
18-12-2020 |
| 12 | Workshop | CFD analysis of Rotating Machinery (CFDRM) | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) and Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) | 19/09/2020 |
| 13 | Workshop | Experimental and Computational methods in Wind Engineering | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | 02-02-2019 |
| 14 | Workshop | Experimental and Computational methods in Wind Engineering | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | Dr. Vinayagamurthy (CAMIT) and Dr. Sivakumar (SMEC) | 29/01/2018 |
| S. No. | Faculty Member | Award | Year |
| 1 | Dr. A. Ravi Sankar | Outstanding Reviewer Award – Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering | 2022 |
| IOP Outstanding Reviewer Award – Measurement Science and Technology | 2021 | ||
| IEEE Journal Publication Award | 2021 | ||
| IOP Outstanding Reviewer Award – Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering | 2020 | ||
| IOP Outstanding Reviewer Award –Nanotechnology | 2020 | ||
| IOP Trusted Reviewer Award | 2020 | ||
| CTS Best Faculty Award | 2018 |
Apart from the Doctoral research scholars and the students of the M. S. (by Research) program, a few undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students have participated in the research activities with the faculty members of the CAMIT to publish articles in peer-reviewed journals. The details are given in the table hereunder.
Product Development
The list of the innovative process and products developed in the recent past and the products being developed at present are provided in the table below:
| Sl. No. | Name of the Faculty | List of In-House Products being developed | Current TRL Level | SDG |
| 1 | Dr. G. Lakshmi Priya | Flexible low-cost nano-biosensors to aid early detection of diseases | TRL 2 | 3 |
| 2 | AI – assisted Hydroponics System | TRL 4 | 15 | |
| 3 | Dr. E. Manikandan | Fully automated Hydroponics System | TRL 3 | 11 |
| 4 | Smart Trolley system | TRL 4 | 11 | |
| 5 | Sensors for soil nitrate and contamination detection | TRL 3 | 14 | |
| 6 | Dr. A. Ravi Sankar | Lithography-free fabrication of a glass-based microthruster for the propulsion of micro-/nano-/pico-satellites | TRL 4 | 9 |
| 7 | Development of heavy-metal ion | TRL 3 | 6 | |
| 8 | Development of dopamine sensor | TRL 4 | 3 | |
| 9 | Glass-micromachined micro-heater | TRL 3 | 9 | |
| 10 | Dr. K. Rajendra Kumar | Green packaging films and containers | TRL 4 | 12 |
| 11 | Sound proof panels | TRL 4 | 3 | |
| 12 | Dr. G. Venkatachalam | Electrical switches; switch board | TRL 4 | 5 |
| 13 | Dr. G. Vinayagamurthy | Diagonal Slotted Rectangular Mechanical Tabs for Subsonic Jet flow Control | TRL 5 | 8, 9, 15 |
| 14 | Bladeless fan for Human Comfort | TRL 2 | 7, 13 | |
| 15 | Variable profile spoiler for sports and race car | TRL 4 | 9 |
* TRL – Technology Readiness Level
*SDG – Sustainable Development Goal
The Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai signed an agreement for the Technology Transfer of “Smart Livestock Monitoring System” with PGM TECK INNOVATIONS. VIT Chennai will contribute its advanced research and intellectual expertise in IoT and AI technology, while the industry will leverage its manufacturing capabilities to bring the developed prototype into a compact, fully functional system. This system will enhance animal health management by providing real-time monitoring, tracking and health data analysis. In addition, the entire system is powered by cost-effective solar panels and capable of utilizing QR codes to store and retrieve medical history. There are two variants in the developed technology. The first variant uses sending the data to the cloud for processing using an internet service. In the second variant, the LoRa module is used for data collection where getting a proper signal is difficult. The designed system is expected to have a transformative impact on the livestock management sector.
Team Members:
Dr.E.Manikandan, Associate Professor/CAMIT & Dr.G.Guga Priya, Associate Professor/SENSE
