At the first CSIR Leadership Meet on 26 September 2022, Hon’ble Minister (S&T) Dr Jitendra Singh announced the start of a nationwide campaign of showcasing technological breakthroughs, innovations and products of all the 37 CSIR laboratories. As part of the campaign, each CSIR lab will organise week-long activities including industry & start-up meets, student & society connections, skill development workshops, displays of technologies, etc.
Addressing the first-ever CSIR Leadership Meet attended by the Directors of CSIR labs, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the legacy of CSIR is built on the cumulative contribution of its several national laboratories and institutes. Each laboratory is unique and specialises in diverse areas ranging from genomics to geology, material technology to microbial technology and food to fuel. He said that through the “CSIR One Week, One Lab” programme, various stakeholders including the general public would be able to witness the wide-ranging achievements and technologies of CSIR labs.
The “CSIR One Week, One Lab” campaign was launched by Dr Jitendra Singh with a Curtain Raiser event at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 6 January 2023 where he also inaugurated the first CSIR “One Week, One Lab” programme organised by the CSIR-Central Building Research Institute (CSIR-CBRI), Roorkee, which was held from 6-13 January 2023.
During the Curtain Raiser event, the Hon’ble Minister unveiled logos of the “One Week, One Lab” programme of CSIR and CSIR-CBRI. This was followed by the release of video films and the YouTube channel of CSIR-CBRI. Dr Jitendra Singh also inaugurated an exhibition and released Proceedings of a Workshop on “Innovative and Sustainable Construction Materials & Technologies (ISCMT-2023)”. The DG, CSIR Dr N. Kalaiselvi and Directors from different CSIR labs were also present during the event.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Jitendra Singh noted that with its innovative technologies and innovations, CSIR has left a lasting impression on the nation during the past 80 years. Some of these include indelible ink, the parallel computerFlosolver, Swaraj tractor, Centchroman, DNA Fingerprinting, and Aroma Mission. He emphasised that instead of the technologies developed by CSIR laboratories remaining confined to laboratories, there was a need to establish a resourceful connection between stakeholders, entrepreneurs, industry, students, and the general public.
Dr Jitendra Singh stated that with the "One Week, One Lab" campaign 37 premier CSIR Labs spread across India will showcase their legacy, exclusive innovations, and technological breakthroughs. While the “One Week, One Lab” programme will provide an opportunity for students to gain knowledge on research activities and CSIR facilities, connecting them with future prospects, the campaign will also expand entrepreneurship in the nation by spreading science and technology and supporting more start-ups, the Hon’ble Minister said.
Addressing the gathering, Dr N. Kalaiselvi, DG-CSIR said that CSIR's “One Week, One Lab” campaign will help to establish appropriate connections, not only for the technological breakthroughs and innovations at the CSIR institutes but also for future technologies on which research is ongoing in these labs. She stated that during the campaign scientists will interact with school students through programmes such as Jigyasa and Atal Tinkering Lab. These students are future scientists and it is important to inculcate the temper of science in them, she said.
Prof. R. Pradeep Kumar, Director, CSIR-CBRI, presented a brief of the series of events to be organised by the institute during the week-long campaign. He said that the institute would showcase technologies by holding 20 events that include a workshop, exhibition, industry meets, MSME &Startup meet, stakeholders’ meet, competitions such as quizzes and technology hackathons for college students, visits of school students, meetings with state & district administration, academia meet, meetings with the local public representatives and interaction with press & media.
A Workshop and Exhibition on “Innovative and Sustainable Construction Materials & Technologies (ISCMT-2023)” was organised at the same venue. In an exhibition in New Delhi on the 6th, Dehradun on the 10th and Roorkee 9-13 January 2023, CSIR-CBRIdeveloped technologies were showcased.
An industry meet was arranged in Mumbai on 7th January, while meetings with industries and MSMEstartups were also held on 11th January at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. In Mumbai, more than 60 delegates from industries attended the event and expressed their views, and also gave suggestions for further research. In Delhi, around 40 industries and 25 MSME startups participated in the event. The participants and CSIR-CBRI scientists actively interacted to connect and share valuable knowledge, information, experience, and wisdom. Several suggestions were offered for future collaborative works.
Hands-on training and quiz programme for college students was organised on 9 January 2023 at CSIR-CBRI. In the event, 80 students from Roorkee and nearby areas participated and gained information regarding various aspects of building engineering, such as concrete mix design, geotechnical investigation, non-destructive testing, and prefabricated building components. An interactive event was also organised in Ghaziabad on 13 January, where more than 50 engineering students actively participated.
A meeting with the State & District Administration of Uttarakhand was held in Dehradun on 10 January. Dr KalachandSain, Director, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology was the Chief Guest and Shri Ashok Kumar, DGP, Uttarakhand, was the Guest of Honour. Issues specifically related to the state of Uttarakhand were discussed.
CSIR-CBRI organised an event “Nurturing Entrepreneurship and Startups (NES)” on 10 January 2023 in Roorkee where 134 students from various colleges from Roorkee and Dehradun and 27 industry personnel from Roorkee, Bhagwanpur and Haridwar participated. There were three keynote addresses related to startups and business models delivered by eminent professors and DrSanjeevMajumder from NRDC, New Delhi.
An event "Futuristic Ideas by Young Scientists — A Poster Presentation" was held on 10 January 2023 at the institute. About 80 young scientists, AcSIR students, trainees and project staff presented 55 posters with novel and future-bound ideas.
A Stakeholders’ Meet at India Habitat Centre was organised on 11 January 2023. The event was inaugurated by Dr N. Kalaiselvi, DG-CSIR. The presence of heads of infrastructure-related agencies such as DG, CPWD; Chairman, AAI; MES, DG Railway Safety, ONGC, NTPC, and Shri Mahesh Tandon, Chairman, RC, CSIR-CBRI and many others made this programme special.
“Jigyasa — School Students and Scientist Interaction” was held on 11 January at Roorkee. More than 100 students participated in the event and interacted with the scientists. The Atal Tinkering Lab event was organised on 12 January, in which more than 200 students from four schools in Roorkee participated. They visited the Exhibition and Robotics Lab in CSIR-CBRI.
An Academia Meet was organised at CSIR-CBRI on 12 January 2023 where eminent academicians from various IITs participated. Prof R. Pradeep Kumar, Director CSIR-CBRI, Roorkee, and scientists from the Institute also interacted during the panel discussions.
A “Meeting with the Local Public Representatives” was held on 13 January 2023. The meeting drew huge participation. It was inaugurated by the chief guest Shri Pradeep Batra, MLA, Roorkee, and Shri Gaurav Goel, Mayor, Roorkee was the Guest of Honour. The Joint Magistrate, Roorkee,ShriAnibhav Shah, Shri KiranChoudhary, President, JilaPanchayat, members of Industries Association, Ward members of Roorkee city, Pradhans of Panchayats of nearby villages, engineers from Uttarakhand Electricity Board, Jal Board, Irrigation department, PWD, and others attended the event.
The Closing Ceremony of the week-long “One Week, One Lab”programme of CSIR-CBRI was held on 13 January 2023. During the ceremony, all the event coordinators presented a summary of the respective events. Director Prof. R. Pradeep Kumar highlighted the idea and objectives of the “OneWeek, One Lab programme” and the vision of the Hon’ble Minister for S&T, DrJitendra Singh and support & motivation received from Dr N. Kalaiselvi, DG, CSIR. He also appreciated the team spirit and contribution of each employee and others in conducting different events.
