To mark the celebration of 19th National Technology Day, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) organized Technology Day Lecture on “Importance of energy and role of nuclear energy in global energy mix” at its Corporate Office on 11th May 2017. Padma Shri Dr. Ravi Bhushan Grover, Homi Bhabha Chair Professor and Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Govt. of India was the Chief Speaker. In his address, Dr Grover mentioned that demand for energy can be a threat to lifestyle because of inequality among consumers and issues of economic and political stability. Rising demand requires the efficient use of energy as well as its affordability. Importantly, he said, the supply side needs focus in the context of resources, technologies, costs besides social and environmental impact. Given all the constraints of conventional resources & limitations of renewable resources he emphasized on the usage of nuclear energy considering the emerging demand in the country. He said, “Nuclear energy, having high energy density and high EROI (Energy Returned / Energy Invested in production), needs to be pursued rigorously in the present scenario.” He stressed on evolution of technology to address issues pertaining to energy generation and consumption while focusing on safety, security and sustainability.
Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, NALCO in his presidential address, mentioned technology has brought tremendous development and qualitative changes in the standards of living of the people. “In the industry we use technology to increase production, enhance productivity, improve quality, generate revenue from waste and promote sustainability,” he said. Dr Chand also informed that new technologies in the areas of robotics, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, augmented reality, virtual reality are all likely to bring in drastic changes in the employment pattern, for which industries need to prepare themselves. He also informed that NALCO has adopted the EMRION-Nano technology, for the first time globally, for effluent treatment. The same technology, he said, can be put to use in fluoride affected regions and benefit the society also.
Delivering the welcome address Shri S.K. Roy, Director (Project & Technical) informed that NALCO has been spending 1% of its PAT of previous year on R&D activities. He mentioned that NALCO has undertaken several R&D projects in-house and in collaboration with premier institutions in India and organizations in Canada, China and Australia. Shri Roy said “NALCOs R&D expenditure in 2016-17 is about Rs 30 crores which is about 4% of the PAT in 2015-16. Till date NALCO has filed 31 patents of which 9 have been granted and 5 have been commercialized.”
On this occasion, NALCO Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das Quality Awards for the year 2017 were conferred to organizations for their outstanding practices and results achieved through implementation of Total Quality Management, in different categories. Tata Steel, Joda East Iron Mines was awarded in Large Manufacturing Enterprise category, Manishri Refractories & Ceramics (P) Ltd., Cuttack received the award as a Medium Enterprise in Manufacturing Sector and Amritesh Industries Pvt. Ltd., Angul bagged the award as a Small Enterprise in Manufacturing Sector.
At the outset, Shri S.K. Satpathy, General Manager (BD and R&D) of the company introduced the Chief Speaker and Shri Subrat Kar, GM (R&D) proposed a vote of thanks.
The programme was attended by eminent Scientists, Technologists and Engineers, drawn from various organizations apart from NALCO employees.