9 Ways IIT Madras Is Making India Proud, From Helping Cure Cancer To Improving Batteries

India has a long-recorded history with scientific research and innovations. And we've carried that drive to innovate into current day as well.

Take IIT Madras for instance, where students and professors have delivered so many breakthroughs in just the last couple of years.

1. Iron-ion battery

Batteries are used in everything from our phones, to our cars, and much more. Most of these are Lithium-Ion batteries, which are somewhat cheap to manufacture now and offer many recharging cycles. However, they have a tendency to overheat, rupture and leak, and leach toxic chemicals when disposed of in dumps.

That's why a team at IIT Madras came up with the world's first 'iron-ion' battery. It uses an anode made from low-carbon steel along with a cathode of vanadium pentoxide and an electrolyte made using iron chlorate. Not only is this cheaper to make than lithium-ion batteries, since iron isn't expensive, it also offers more energy storage and is more stable.

2. Hyperloop Pod

Avishkar, a team of students from IIT Madras, participated alongside 1,600 teams from around the world, to build the best design for the Hyperloop's transport system. They were one of only 21 teams to make it to the final round, and the only Asian team. Their pod was able to reach more than 1000 km/h top speeds in the Hyperloop vacuum tube.

3. Cancer cell research

An IIT Madras team found in a study recently that subjecting cancer cells to simulated microgravity encourages the formation of giant cancer cells with stem-cell characteristics. This is mid-state cancer takes when it's metastasizing, so being able to induce that at will in human tissue could seriously advance research into how to treat different forms of cancer.

4. Wave power turbines

IIT-Madras, in partnership with the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), is developing better turbines in order to harness the energy from waves pummeling our country's 7,500 km-long coastline. The idea is to build an efficient turbine so our country has the incentive to turn to the cheaper, and greener, energy that can be generated from the ocean.

5. Sewer-cleaning robot

Approximately 23,000 workers who clean sewage in India die every year. So an IIT Madras team built a robot that could do the work in their place, and possibly save thousands of lives. SEPoy, as it's called, can be lowered into a sewer and then controlled remotely using the mounted camera. It then "swims" through the sludge using its fins, while also cutting it up so it can be easily pumped out.

6. "Made in India" computer chip

Shakti is India's first indigenously-built microprocessor, for use in mobile computing and wireless devices. The team claims they can be used in place of imported processors as they're up to international standards, and they're less vulnerable to hardware Trojans.

7. Housing 3D printer

A team of IIT Madras alumni built a scale 3D printer, the first of its kind in India, that they used to build a 320 square foot single storey hut in an incredibly short time. Aside from an initial investment cost for the machines, the process is cheaper than employing only human labour, as well as much faster. Additionally, with the right kind of concrete mixture, 3D printers can produce much more complex shapes and styles of buildings, which could help with providing more residential space from limited build area. Eventually, they want to have the whole process automated.

8. Surgery robots

Just earlier this week, researchers at IIT Madras created India's first robot to conduct surgery on the spinal cord. It promises to be less painful as well as more affordable for patients. The 'Spine Surgery Robot' uses a conventional image-guided robotic system for its operation. The surgery is also minimally invasive, meaning a faster recovery time, lower infections and better outcomes.

9. Upskilling Indian engineers for AI and Deep Learning jobs

Two different startups incubated at IIT-Madras have come together. They're promising to train at least 1 lakh Indian engineers to become experts in artificial intelligence and deep learning by 2020. Not only could this provide more job opportunities, it also means we'll have more experienced AI developers and researchers in the field.