Indian Minister of Education inspects SMaRT tech

India’s Minister of Education Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and his delegation inspected the SMaRT Centre's Green Ceramics MICROfactorie^TM products at a special visit to UNSW.

The visit on 25 October focused on sharing cutting-edge research, particularly in areas crucial to Australia and India’s futures: clean energy, recycling, and skills development.

Veena explained to the minister and some of his delegation how the Green Ceramics MICROfactorie^TM Technology reforms hard to recycle glass and textiles into high quality, safe ceramics for the built environment, and she also gave an overview of SMaRT's Green Steel Polymer Injection Technology^TM which using end‐of‐life rubber tyres and waste plastic as an alternative to coking coal in steel making.

UNSW Vice Chancellor and President Atilla Brungs (left) greets the Minister and delegates.

This display was part of UNSW's Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE)-backed projects being commercialised:

• Developing green hydrogen from seawater.
• Producing high-performance, non-toxic, green ceramic tiles from recycled waste.
• Integrating stored compressed hydrogen into small drone aircraft.
• Building a workforce ready to lead the net zero transition. 

Trailblazer for Recycling and Clean Energy (TRaCE) showed how collaboration between researchers and industries is accelerating progress toward net zero.

The visit was part of UNSW's innovation and bilateral efforts to share work, best practices, and reinforce links with India, highlighting UNSW’s expertise in solar and clean energy technology, waste recycling and support for startups.

Accompanying Minister Pradhan were Gopal Baglay, Indian High Commissioner to Australia, and representatives from the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Australian Federal Department of Education.

UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Attila Brungs said UNSW valued the important contribution Indian students and staff made to our classrooms, laboratories, campuses and partnerships.

“UNSW and India share a long and deep friendship that extends back 70 years – to the early days of the original Colombo Plan, when students from India first came to study with us.

Read this story and see below video on the Green Ceramics collaboration between UNSW SMaRT Centre and Kandui Technologies: