VELLORE: “There is a lot to learn from the time-tested heritage building structures. The present day technocrats must learn from this while designing modern structures to ensure long time viability and sustainability,” Dr Baskar Ramamurthi, director of Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai said while inaugurating the three-day second international conference on ‘advances in mechanical, manufacturing and building sciences’, ICAMB 2011, at VIT University on Monday.The conference is being held under the aegis of the School of Mechanical and Building Sciences (SMBS) and the Centre for Disaster Mitigation and Management in collaboration with Queensland University, Australia and State University of New York, Binghamton, USA.“It is the question of latching on to traditional wisdom to give an impetus to new technology,” Ramamurthi pointed out while urging the need for recycling old buildings such as temples as they had existed for many hundred years. “We must be able to build sustainable structures like our ancestors by applying their knowledge to the current scenario”, he further addedTerming challenges faced by India as the first step towards finding solutions and opportunities, Ramamurthi said today the universities have had opportunities to usher in changes. Students today have immense opportunities in the areas of building and manufacturing sciences with the application of flexible manufacturing systems and frugal engineering technologies which become buzzwords today. Pressure to make significant changes at rapid pace, given the resource use pattern, has signaled for new growth for India, he added.“What we make must be made useful, efficient to suit our life style to ensure waste minimisation, resource optimisation and effective management,” Ramamurthi said, adding that the country was in the direction for a good transformation.Speaking on the occasion, VIT chancellor G Viswanathan pointed out that the challenge the country faced was to progress without destroying the fragile habitat. The burden of progress and development has to be borne by entrepreneurs, technocrats and tax payers. Viswanathan also underlined the need for a resource-deficient country like India to quickly go green and develop appropriate and innovative technologies that are affordable, clean, efficient, culture sensitive and globally adaptive to provide basic amenities, transportation, healthcare and infrastructure development on a long-time basis.Professor Senthil Kumar, dean said, the meet will have 26 sessions chaired by 33 eminent speakers .
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