<p>Multi Institutional Department of Science and Technology sponsored Water Innovation Centre: Technology, Research and Education (WICTRE) inaugurated at IIT Bombay on March 26, 2019 at IIT Bombay.</p><p>Water Innovation Center: Technology, Research and Education (WICTRE) is an initiative for synergized and collective efforts of faculty members from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, National Chemical Laboratory Pune and Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar for working together under the umbrella of a research and innovation centre at IIT Bombay. The WICTRE has been funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science of Technology.</p><p>The WICTRE is envisioned to develop academia - industry partnership and undertake foundational research activities in various areas of water purification to address the societal needs in Indian as well as in global scenario. The areas of activity include treatment of effluents and heavy metal contamination, water mapping, desalination, sensing to name a few through outreach projects, knowledge generation and management, educational outreach activities along with setting up collaborative facilities. The Center was innaugrated by Prof. Devang V. Khakhar, Director of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.</p><p>Speaking on this occasion, Professor Devang V Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay emphasised on the problems faced by the society due to scarcity of safe water and said that the setting up of WICTRE is a timely step taken in this direction to find sustainable solutions. He expressed his happiness on involvement of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay through this Center in addressing the grand challenge of generating safe water by potential industry - academia interactions. He said, “I am confident the WICTRE will innovate affordable solutions for the industrial and societal needs”.</p><p align="justify">Speaking on this association, Dr. Sanjay Bajpai, Head, Department of Science and Technology remarked that with the rapidly changing business landscape, increasing population and the growing industrial pace, it is imperative for us to foresee and plan a world-class innovation centre to address the problem of scarcity of safe water. “By working with esteemed institutions like IIT Bombay, we endeavour to continuously develop new technology to meet the societal demands for safe water. With this partnership, we intend to bridge academic excellence of these esteemed institutions with the industries,” he said.</p><p align="justify">A compendium on the research activities of the newly-established WICTRE was released by Prof. P. V. Balaji, Dean of Research and Development, IIT Bombay. </p><p> </p>