Building a new future

The Machinist
January 2014

As a valued R&;D partner to the Aditya Birla Group, the Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company provides next generation products and technologies for the Group.

The Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company (ABSTC) is the corporate research and development centre for the Aditya Birla Group. Located in Taloja, just outside of Mumbai in India, ABSTC supports the broad diversity of the Group's businesses through multi-disciplinary teams of expert scientists and engineers who lead fundamental and applied research projects. The company aims to be a world-class organisation that delivers innovative solutions, continuously improves core competencies and executes effectively. The centre is supported by state-of-the-art equipment set in a one-of-a-kind brand new technology-led environment.

The Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company is ably led by its CEO Roger D'Souza, who is also the CTO of Aditya Birla Group since March 2013. D'Souza has spent the last 27 years in research &development, process development &intensification and new technology and innovation. His experience has been with large multi-national organisations in the US, Europe and Asia.

In his role as the CEO of ABSTC, he is responsible for leading it to be a valued R&;D partner to the Aditya Birla Group of businesses, and to set up ABSTC as a premier world class R&;D organisation that provides the next generation of products and technologies for the Group. ABSTC will also become the technology mentor to businesses, identifying new business opportunities, new product opportunities and enhanced process modifications, all to differentiate group businesses in their respective market segments while making them the most cost effective a;lternative.

Some of the innovative and significant products developed at ABSTC are Kara wipes, improved efficiency urea, particulate aluminium matrix nano composites and a value-added fibre technology. There are also remarkable contributions from ABSTC to help the Aditya Birla Group's manufacturing businesses achieve enhanced operational performance, including carbon black reactor design for higher yield, copper slag advisor a dynamic feeding system in aluminium smelting and design of a copper waste heat boiler.

ABSTC has generated extensive intellectual property for the Group, with the filing of more than 60 patent applications that cover novel products and applications. The organisation, that has so far focused more on development rather than research, envisages that ABSTC should become the big "R" and smaller "d" centre.

Built on a 20-acre plot, the 30,000 sq m facility comprises modem laboratories, multi-purpose scale-up facilities as well as modelling and simulation areas. In addition, the campus also encompasses a 2,500 sq m multipurpose process scale-up and pilot facility, and a Knowledge Centre along with a patent cell. The Knowledge Centre has access to databases on areas of interest and information on patents, periodicals and other publications.

At ABSTC, research and development is based on two strong capabilities. The Process Engineering and Sciences Laboratory focuses on advanced processes &designs, process control &automation, and process engineering platforms &scale-up. The Science and Technology Platforms Laboratory provides expertise in metallurgy, fibre science &textiles, material &surface sciences, and chemistry.

ABSTC is supported by the Analytical Science and Technology Laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment that will enable advanced measurement and characterisation techniques. The analytical services laboratory will support all the needs of the Group units and, in the future, even those of external customers.

Corporate Technical and Energy Services (CTES), a sister organisation of ABSTC, provides services across the Group for technical problem solving and cost reduction by means of energy conservation, waste heat recovery, optimisation of manpower and material handling systems, improved operational and maintenance practices, water conservation, electrical systems, etc. CTES also provides support services for heat transfer enhancement, thermography and trouble-shooting for plant equipment.