IITs to develop knowledge hub for safety critical systems

Kolkata: A networked knowledge and research centre aimed at safety and reliability of electronics and hardware will be launched at IIT Kharagpur, a statement said on Thursday.

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in partnership with the Ministry of Railways, under its IMPRINT programme, is setting up FMSAFE, India`s first knowledge centre on Formal Methods on Safety Critical Systems. 

The MHRD-supported IMPRINT is a Pan-IIT + IISc joint initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges in the country.

Formal methods are a new genre of techniques which use logic based on Artificial Intelligence theories to prove the correctness of software and electronic systems before they are deployed in safety critical applications.

A coordinated formal methods programme in India will help indigenous developers to aim for a high degree of safety assurance essential for global competence.

"What will be needed is a deep understanding on what is safety critical in Indian operating contexts and developing design and validation practices accordingly. This is what the new centre aims to catalyse," said Pallab Dasgupta, who will lead the FMSAFE centre at IIT Kharagpur.

The FMSAFE centre will function as a networked knowledge and research centre and students working on cutting edge projects under this centre will spend time at all three IITs.

The centre will be led by Dasgupta from IIT Kharagpur along with Sandeep Shukla from IIT Kanpur and Supratik Chakraborty from IIT Bombay.