Page 17 - The Indian EYE 050826

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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