Globally, India ranks among the first few countries in food production. Both the so-called green and white revolutions have propelled us to a food-surplus position. Unfortunately, we have not been able to exploit such gains through better distribution, or adoption of new technologies for improved processing, storage and preservation of food. However dimly, images of undernourishment still haunt the nation's consciousness. This issue of UPDATE focuses on the road ahead for our food processing industry, and presents some of the relevant technologies that IITB has developed.

We also feature in-depth reviews of two other areas: Collaborative Engineering for advanced manufacturing, and Human Resource issues that are proving critical in the IT sector today. The use of collaborative engineering for providing end-to-end solutions to design, manufacture, and marketing of products has become popular with many international organizations. Faculty at IITB has been working to establish the concept locally by allying with several large Indian manufacturing companies. We review the essence of the approach and IITB's achievements in the area. Parallely, the high-growth IT sector of the country is having to take recourse to innovative HR strategies in order to perform successfully in the international business arena. The finding of a team from IITB which has researched the issue widely is presented here.

Apart from other features, we review various developments and initiatives underway at the IRCC. As all indications are today, the R&D carried out by our institute is on an upswing and is metamorphosing rapidly through the establishment of newer mechanisms to help move innovations beyond the laboratory into the fabric of the larger society.
 

Sandip Roy
Editor

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