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    Op-Ed                                                                     MAY 08, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 17

            really makes the IITK-NYU part-
            nership successful.”
                De Pablo echoes this sentiment,
            noting that NYU brings globally rec-
            ognized centers in cybersecurity and
            6G wireless, plus a New York ecosys-
            tem that matters for commercializa-
            tion, while IITK contributes a highly
            competitive faculty, student base,
            and experience operating at India’s
            scale.
                 From lab research to
                  real world systems
                This focus on complementary
            strengths is most visible in the range
            of  technologies the  partnership
            is advancing. A major area of the
            IITK-NYU collaboration focuses
            on secure authentication systems for
            supply chains and biomedical appli-
            cations, particularly through physi-
            cally unclonable materials and bio-
            chip technologies. Research teams
            have  developed  fingerprinting  sys-                                          The NYU group
            tems that generate unique material
            signatures for authentication.    Agrawal describes this as system-ori-                               engineering, and smart cities. “We
                These patterns are processed                                         Advancing strategic
            using machine learning models to   ented engineering research. “The    technology partnerships        are looking forward to extending the
            enable  high-accuracy  identification   work was carried out by focusing   Both institutions frame the part-  partnership with IIT Kanpur into
                                                                                                                  these areas,” he says.
                                              electromagnetic waves using engi-
            under noisy conditions. This makes
                                                                                                                      He adds that this collaboration
            it possible to create highly secure,   neered  surfaces  to  enable  efficient   nership as part of a broader conver-  reflects a broader structural balance
                                              wireless  power  transfer,”  he  says.  gence in U.S.-India collaboration in
            hard-to-replicate  identification  sys-  This  research  is  significant  because   advanced technologies.   between the two countries.  “India
            tems.  These systems can help pre-  the team is developing advanced an-  “The U.S. and India have many   has the engineering talent pool, the
            vent counterfeiting in supply chains   tennas that use engineered surfaces   complementary  strengths,”  says   domestic scale, and increasingly the
            and ensure reliable authentication in   to  direct  signals  more  efficiently  in   Agrawal, adding that collaborations   ambition to lead in these fields. The
            sensitive biomedical applications.   a  specific  direction.  The  approach   like these can bring together their   United  States  brings research infra-
                According to Agrawal, the sys-
            tem achieves both precision and re-  holds strong potential for improving   unique capabilities for frontier re-  structure and  global industry net-
                                                                                search in critical and emerging tech-
                                              power  transfer  to  millimeter-scale
                                                                                                                  works. Neither country or university
            silience. “These physical features are   biomedical implants.       nologies.                         has everything required on its own,”
            processed and authenticated using
                                                                                    Moving forward, de Pablo says,  he says.
            deep learning techniques, achieving     Driving deployment          there are multiple areas of research   “When institutions from both
            95.8 percent accuracy and demon-      A defining feature of the collab-  in which the NYU Tandon School of   countries build genuine working
            strating robustness against adversar-  oration is its focus on translating re-
            ial noise,” he explains.          search into deployable technologies   Engineering is making major invest-  relationships, not just signed agree-
                                                                                ments. They include AI and robotics,  ments, they develop technical capac-
                Beyond secure systems, the col-  and commercial applications.
            laboration extends into biomedical    De Pablo highlights several proj-  quantum information sciences, chip   ity that is far more durable than any
                                                                                                                  single research project.”
                                                                                design, materials science, systems
            research,  where  the  partnership  ex-  ects explicitly designed with com-
            plores therapeutic pathways. De Pab-  mercialization in mind, including
            lo describes the significance of this   wireless electric vehicle charging sys-
            direction. “One, for example, is devel-  tems that integrate advanced safe-
            oping a specialized protein designed   ty features.  “All our joint projects
            to cut off a key survival signal that   reflect the same principle: research
            allows cancer tumors to keep grow-  that is designed for real deployment
            ing, offering a potential new path-  from day one.”
            way  for  cancer  treatment,”  he  says.   He also points to early intellectu-
                The emphasis, he adds, is on im-  al property outcomes emerging from
            mediacy  of  application  rather than   the collaboration, particularly a
            long-horizon  theoretical  explora-  biochip authentication technology,
            tion. “What I think is so important   which has already resulted in a pend-
            about this work is the real-world im-  ing U.S. patent application.
            mediacy,” he says.                    Agrawal emphasizes that joint
                A similar applied focus extends   structures and funding mechanisms
            to advanced engineering systems. A   enable faster progress from research
            key area of collaboration involves   to application. “Researchers work-
            wireless power transfer and the de-  ing together get access to major
            sign of engineered surfaces that op-  funding opportunities and advanced
            erate in the radio frequency range.  research facilities,” he says.

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