New Delhi, Oct 17 : The Indian Navy has signed an MoU with IIT Delhi for the creation of Subject Matter Expertise in crew-centred warship design, it said on Friday.

Signed on October 16, the MoU said, 'The partnership brings a structured, process-based approach towards improving habitability onboard, enabling the Indian Navy to evolve indigenous crew-centric standards & reduce reliance on external benchmarks.'

The MoU was signed by Rear Admiral Arvind Rawal, Assistant Chief of Materiel (Dockyard & Refit), Indian Navy, and Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi. Under the MoU, IIT Delhi researchers from its Department of Design will research the safety, efficiency, and habitability of various ongoing and future new construction projects and provide inputs in ship designs.

"Indian Navy and IIT Delhi will work towards the overarching aim of improving the Quality of Life (QoL) onboard Indian Naval ships, which may also be extended to the mercantile marine and any other Indian ethnicity-based habitability requirement," IIT Delhi said in its press note.

The Institute will study existing ship designs by the Indian Navy and will study existing ship designs by the Indian Navy and will conduct comparative analysis of their designs with international standards, along with safety, user experience, comfort and other parameters.

Speaking about the MoU with IIT Delhi, RAdm Arvind Rawal, Asst Chief of Materiel (Dockyard & Refit), Indian Navy, said, 'This MoU marks a significant step forward in our shared endeavour to make Indian warships not just formidable in combat but also exemplary in terms of crew comfort, efficiency, and habitability. Through this partnership, we are joining hands with one of the nation's premier academic institutions to build subject matter expertise in crew-centric warship design."

"The initiative introduces a scientific, process-based approach to habitability, bringing in the disciplines of ergonomics, human factors, and design optimisation into naval architecture," he added.

Prof. Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, said, 'We are delighted to be working with the Indian Navy to improve the comfort conditions for our naval officers and crew using the latest scientific design tools and techniques. This MoU will broaden IIT Delhi's existing links with the Navy in underwater and electronics and postgraduate programmes in naval construction."

/IANS