The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched the BCC&I Knowledge Forum: Bridging the Industry and Academia on 27th December 2017 in the Chamber premises.

The Chamber, along with Global Change Program, Jadavpur University, also launched the Special Publication – ‘Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies - A Transformational Journey', published by Springer.

The forum has been conceptualized to bring on board experts from Industry and Academia to discuss the critical areas of convergence for Industry and Academia especially in the realm of sustainable energy. The publication has contributed significantly in bringing together perspectives of experts from industry and academia across the globe in the realm of the transformational journey of sustainable energy.

The Inaugural Session commenced with the addresses by Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mr. Deb A Mukherjee, Vice President and Chairperson of Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Mr. Deb A Mukherjee spoke about the Chamber’s special initiative inbridging Industry and Academia and in building a Knowledge Forum with global expertise. His address included creating a supportive ecosystem to nurture innovation and helping in value generation, knowledge dissemination, business led research, benchmarking and application driven skill development through online training on an interactive digital platform.

Prof. Ajoy Kumar Ray, Director, IIEST, Kolkata shared his perspectives on Industry-Academia Collaboration. His insights included, importance of energy and environment for humanity, importance of energy saving in today’s life, renewable energy in foreseeable future, focusing on clean coal technology to reduce CO2 emissions during the process of thermal power generation, importance of biomass and others.

Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna, Director (PMSSS & SWAYAM), Government of India, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) addressed on Inclusive Education – SWAYAM. His address covered issues ranging from importance of energy conservation and convergence in today’s context,comparative importance of thermal energy and renewable energy, teaching citizens through SWAYAM also about saving energy, storing energy and converting energy. He also spoke about Digital India and Automation.

Dr. Manpreet Singh Manna launched the publication titled, ‘Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies- A Transformational Journey’, published by Springer, in the presence of the Editors- Mr. Deb A Mukherjee; Prof. Mohsen Assadi, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger; Prof. Santanu Bandyopadhyay, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay; Prof. (Dr) Sudipta De, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University and Key Resource Member, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the publisher, Ms. Swati Meherishi, Executive Editor, Applied Science & Engineering, Springer and other dignitaries. The Inaugural Session was moderated by Mr. Arun Mukherjee, Chairperson Emeritus, Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

There was an interaction with the Editors on the publication. During the interaction, the highlights that emerged were, Industry-Academia Collaboration with focus on Energy System in Transition; Utilization of Education / Research outcome in Industry; EU-projects and national programs to stimulate close collaboration; some EU projects with Stavanger University as consortium partner and The Indo-Norwegian collaborative program (INCP). Prof. Mohsen Assadi commented on this.

The forum also featured a Panel Discussion on I:A(Industry to Academia)- The Road Map. Mr. Aloke Mookherjea, Past President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry chaired the Discussion. The Panelists included Mr. Indrajit Sen, Managing Director, International Combustion (India) Limited and President Designate, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Shri P S Bhattacharyya, Former Chairman, Coal India Ltd. and Dr. Mohsen Assadi. The forum was followed by aQ/A session.