The mission is categorized into three levels to meet the broader vision of UDA in IOR: (a) The maritime strategy formulation with the UDA framework in the IOR. Here, MRC will engage with the practitioners, decision makers and policy formulators to drive the Indian Maritime Strategy with an effective UDA framework at its core. (b) The technology and innovation required to provide effective and enhanced UDA in the IOR is critical, particularly in the light of significant challenges due to tropical littoral limitation causing sub-optimal sonar performance. MRC will identify specific challenges and work towards providing scientific inputs on multi-disciplinary aspects. (c) The human resource that understands the various facets of UDA to drive effective Maritime Strategy is extremely scarce in this country. MRC will work towards generating the critical pool of young graduates in multi-disciplinary areas that appreciates the nuances of UDA in the IOR.
The prime vision of the MRC is to be a nodal research center on maritime issues and contribute as a technology driven think tank on the broader Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) framework (discussed at the end) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Towards that it will formulate specific research areas that can generate significant local inputs in the IOR both scientific and strategic to guide technology development, business environment and regulatory formulations.
The Maritime Research Centre (MRC) was founded by Dr(Cdr) Arnab Das in Feb 2017. Initially it was functioning under the aegis of the Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) and continued to grow under the leadership of Dr(Cdr) Arnab Das as its Director. MRC got reasonable recognition for its efforts in progressing the Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA) Framework on all the three aspects, namely the policy, technology & innovation and human resource development. MRC along with its managing partner M/S NirDhwani Technology Pvt Ltd (NDT) undertook multiple events and also generated a reasonable body of work in terms of projects and scholarly papers.
The Foundation for Underwater Domain Awareness (FUDA) was formed in Mar 2019, to give an independent and single minded push to the UDA framework. FUDA was registered as a Section 8 (Not for Profit) company under the registrar of companies. MRC continues to work with IMF as an esteemed partner and MRC operates from the Maritime Museum and Library managed by IMF. Dr (Cdr) Arnab Das is a council member of the IMF and is the member secretary of the Maritime Research Coordination Committee (MRCC) of the IMF for managing the scholarship for book project instituted by IMF in 2004.
MRC under the FUDA is managed independently by Dr (Cdr) Arnab Das as its Founder & Director. He is guided by a governing council comprising of Cmde Rajan Vir (Retd), Col (Dr) Aswini Kumar Das and Dr(Cdr) Arnab Das. MRC functions with the support of a high level advisory panel and a subject specific expert panel. Multiple multi-disciplinary interns and fellows continue to contribute towards the body of work being generated at MRC on the UDA framework. MRC hosts six weeks and six months project internship programs and one year research fellowship programs.
MRC gets donations from maritime enthusiasts and program specific financial support from individual donors and institutional entities. It has institutional membership model to generate some resources to manage its institutional expenses. Academic institutes and corporate partners aligned to the UDA vision, become institutional members of MRC and build joint collaborative programs. MRC is working on User-Academia-Industry partnerships across multiple applications like water resource management, underwater radiated noise management, acoustic habitat degradation, inland water transport and many more. MRC has substantial expertise for institutional capacity and capability building on varied aspects of the UDA framework. MRC expertise range from underwater signal processing, underwater robotics, AI and ML based data analytics, modelling & simulations, field experimental real data collection in water bodies, field validation of sonar applications, tropical littoral underwater channel and ambient noise characterization and more.
The UDA framework as proposed by MRC is completely aligned with the Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision of the Honourable Prime Minister. MRC efforts have relevance to the Government of India’s mega initiatives like Make in India, Skill India, Digital India, Start-up India and more. The UDA framework has potential to building diplomatic bridges across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the Indo-Pacific Strategic Space and beyond. MRC is engaging with multiple government agencies and other organizations to build comprehensive policy frameworks and organizational structure to manage this niche initiative in an effective manner.
Individually, we are one drop.
Together, we are an ocean.~Ryunosuke Satoro
Director
Ex Naval officer with 2 decades of active services and PhD holder from IIT delhi with specialization in Underwater Acoustics. He has worked on several projects and has a plathora of publications to his credit.
director.mrc@foundationforuda.in
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Research Fellow
A Bachelor in Computer Science, currently pursuing research in Shipping Radiated Noise and AIS Data.
shridhar.mrc@foundationforuda.in
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Research Fellow
MSc in Applied Mathematics and currently pursuing MTech in Modeliing and Simulation. A serving officer of Indian Navy.
richard.mrc@foundationforuda.in
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Research Fellow (PhD Candidate)
Dr. Rajveer K. Shastri received his Ph.D. in the area of underwater signal processing, from Shri Guru Govind Singh Engineering and Technology, Nanded. During his tenure at MRC, his work for PhD, primarily addressed 'Shallow water ambient noise characterization using passive sonar data'.He has presented his research papers in USA and Brazil and has visited universities abroad like North Carolina State University, Michigan Tech. University and San Jose University USA. He is a Member of IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society (80628231), life member of ISTE (LM75643) and IETE (M-223285). Currently he is Professor and Dean Academics at VPKBIET, Baramati.
rajveer.shastri@vpkbiet.org
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Research Fellow (PhD Candidate)
Dr. Piyush has degree in Electronics and Telecommunication and during his tenure at MRC, his work for PhD primarily addressed 'Modelling and Simulation of Underwater Ambient Noise'. Dr. Piyush has published papers in IEEE, Elsevier, Springer and Acoustical Society of America and he is active reviewer for IEEE, Elsevier and JASA. Currently he is working as Lead and Artificial Intelligence architect in Tata Consultance Services Pvt. Lmt.
piyushasolkar@gmail.com
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Research Fellow
A Bachelor in History with two Masters in Archaeology & Museology respectively. During her tenure at MRC, her work revolved around research in Submerged Archaelogical Marine Sites in India, and has recently written a book titled 'Marine Archaeology in India : The Lost Enigma', which is scheduled to be released in Feb 2020.
tiyachatterji@yahoo.co.in
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These include the Navy, Coast Guard, Coastal Police, etc. They are entrusted with the security and defence of the country in the IOR. At times they are also required to play the critical role of maritime diplomacy.
All corporate entities engaged in maritime activities for commercial purposes. This includes the shipping industry, oil and gas industry, undersea mining, etc., that are engaged in maximizing the contribution of the maritime sector to the GDP.
Regulatory authorities and disaster management agencies involved in ensuring safe and sustainable growth.
Agencies involved in providing scientific and technical inputs in the undersea space.
In the short term, we need to generate awareness regarding the concept of UDA and its potential contribution for the stakeholders. Multiple workshops, seminars, collaborative training sessions, lecture series, internships, etc., will be undertaken at MRC, stakeholders premises and other venues to sensitize them of MRC activities and expertise.
MRC will participate in joint research and training. The joint research will translate to student project guidance at training institutes and universities. Submission of research projects to funding agencies will be another area that will be accorded priority along with joint research guidance for the students registered in universities in topics related to the UDA.
MRC will work as a think tank and contribute towards maritime policy formulation and strategic guidance. MRC will work towards developing our in-house expertise and provide a platform to freelance experts and young researchers to use our resources for their research and projects. It will present itself as an independent and unbiased knowledge partner to industry and activists for their strategic planning and operational management.
This submission form can be used to contact the Maritime Research Center for any queries
Dr (Cdr) Arnab Das
Director, MRC
+91 9665033463
director.mrcpune01@gmail.com
