Bangkok--27 Aug--Asian Institute of Technology
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has signed a three-year partnership agreement with Indian high-tech pioneer Bilcare Ltd involving multiple aspects of nanotechnology cooperation and higher education.
Signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 20 August 2014 with Bilcare Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Praful Naik, AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai referred to the tie up as an “historic” one for the international institute located in Pathumthani province.
The deal signed with AIT’s Center of Excellence in Nanotechnology (COEN) is intended to foster mutually beneficial cooperation in a number of areas. Officials from both sides see the higher education—industry partnership opening up numerous possibilities for advanced technology synergies in support of sustainable development in the region.
Based in Pune, India, Bilcare Ltd is a global leader in innovation-led packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical industry. The firm recently captured attention with its newly patented nanotechnology-enabled nonClonableID™ technology.
The breakthrough arose as a result of serious concern about the counterfeit drug market as fake drugs pose serious threats to health. The technology, which is based on nanotechnology particle patterns dispersed on a chip, is said to be impossible to copy.
According to Dr. Naik, the new technology offers authorization, verification and product tracking and tracing — and is the only technology available today that is capable of providing all three components in one system. Anti-counterfeiting, e-pedigree (for example, college transcripts) and tamper proof packaging are also applications involved with the technology, Dr. Naik explained at a corporate seminar held at AIT on August 21 to introduce the technology.
Based on the agreement, AIT becomes the first higher education institute to partner with Bilcare Ltd, which has sales in over 100 countries and operates nine manufacturing centers and four R&D centers in Europe, the United States and Asia.
AIT will contribute programs that support product verification, technology adaptation, training and continued research and development of Bilcare’s game-changing nonClonableID™ technology and its collaborative technology offerings. A diverse range of industrial, government and academic segments can benefit from the application of nonClonableID™ technology, said COEN director Dr. Louis Hornyak.
Bilcare Ltd will support a raft of initiatives that will bolster COEN’s stature as a regional hub for nanotechnology higher education and research. The company will provide scholarships for students to study at COEN, and will consider implementing internships for students of nanotechnology at AIT to spend time at its R&D or business centers in Singapore, U.S. and Europe. Bilcare Ltd will also provide funds for an enhanced library of e-resources to support AIT projects aligned to its mission, as well as aid company-sponsored research conducted by COEN.
Photo caption: From left: Dr. Louis Gabor Hornyak, Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Dr. Praful Naik, and Dr. Dr. Siddharth K. Jabade.