Vision

Design for Future (DeF) lab is envisioned to create visions for new design solutions that contribute in social, environmental and economic benefit of new transforming India through design and active research.

Introduction

DeF lab is an interdisciplinary lab that aims at exploring, experimenting, digital prototyping, visualising and evaluating new mobility and automotive solutions via the synthesis of design and research. It provides support to designers and researchers to envision, conceptualise, create, digitise and simulate creative ideas.DeF lab aims to integrate emerging technologies in concept generation, digitisation of physical artefacts and visualisation of creative concepts to empower the future design students and researchers. Such facilities are coming up fast in all the leading design and technology institutions of the word.

With improved infrastructure and in time, DeF shall leverage from researches in the field of people,
social, cultural and environmental context to support new visions for the future. DeF lab shall
facilitate integration of design and technology to enable concept creation and digital visualisation
of future design solutions for India.

Current Offerings

DeF lab offers three main facilities:

1. Design for Future concept generation
2. Digitisation of physical artefacts
3. Digital visualisation of creative concepts

DeF lab aims to collaborate with business, academic, government and voluntary sector partners and exchange knowledge via education, events, publications, industrial collaboration and strategic partnerships to foster creative explorations of the future of mobility and design.

Unique value of DeF Lab

DeF lab is one of the first of a new generation of research facilities at IDC School of Design to
highlight IIT Bombay’s commitment to transform students and researchers into thought leaders
that are equipped to work on solving real problems through application of technology and design
solutions. The lab will offer creative concept generation and visualisation infrastructure to the
BDes, BTech, MTech, MDes students and PhD researchers to cultivate excellent research and
design outputs. Via its unique electives, DeF lab shall pioneer new teaching methods in subject
areas traditionally focused on conventional design skills.

Beneficiaries

1. Students (BTech, BDes, MTech, MDes): for skill development through electives and projects
2. Researchers (pursuing PhD, Post-Doc)
3. Interns (from RECs, other Engg colleges), 4-6 months long degree projects
4. Industry (projects, collaborative partnerships)
5. Research collaborations (other Indian research centres, global research centres in leading
   institutions)
6. Support and collaboration to IITB Racing and such competitive teams

Infrastructure

1. Lab space: 600 Sqft
2. Computer systems: 2
3. Basic level simulator systems with controllers: 2
4. VR headsets (7 nos): tethered and non-tethered
5. Digital scanner: 1 (hand held with acceptable quality point
   cloud data generation)

Contact

Sugandh Malhotra, Professor – sugandh@iitb.ac.in

Krishnanunni K.U. (PhD Researcher)

Shivam Vats (PhD Researcher)

Piyush Soni (Intern)

Dhiru Boro (Intern)