Smart Structures. They include designing advanced materials, modeling stress, developing protective facades to absorb blasts, and moving 'bearing' foundations to allow the earth's motion to transfer the energy to the building as a gentle nudge rather than as a sharp jolt. Dr. J.H. Agarwal presented a paper at the Mid Term Symposium of IETE on smart structures that are recently being experimented with. They can sense the environment, process information and then react appropriately to control undesirable vibrations. Several methods are used e.g. placing structures on large resilient supports to isolate them from ground vibrations and using large shock absorbers inside the structures to dampen the vibrations. Designers are now turning to smart materials with controllable properties. For example, piezoelectric materials that change shape on passage of an electric current. In another development, a magneto-rheological (MR) fluid is used in mass dampers. MR fluids are suspension of micron-sized, magnetizable soft iron particles and can undergo considerable change in its viscosity when subjected to a magnetic field. These fluids can be transformed from consistency of water to that of a highly viscous media within a few milliseconds. Typical dampers filled with MR fluids generate active force of up to 20 tons with as little as 50 watts of power. Buildings fitted with MR fluid dampers can mitigate vibrations created by earthquakes.

Supercomputing. Almost all cutting edge technologies hinge on supercomputing. Weather forecasting capability is entirely dependent on the computing power that can be functionally mustered. The US Government has imposed sanctions on supply of supercomputers placing India in Category C. This makes our efforts all the more burdensome.

Underwater Search and Rescue (SAR). In the underwater environment, regardless of depth, primary cutting-edge technologies involve sonar and optical systems. Other equally interesting emerging technologies are long term, pre-programmed sampling systems such as with UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles), ALACE Floats and the Slocum Explorer, marine measurement instrumentation, and side scan sonar. Logging side scan sonar data directly to computer and displaying the record on a monitor enhances the operator's ability to interpret sonar data accurately. Recent developments in side scan sonar software bring the tasks of data acquisition, processing and data storage to the small computer or laptop level. Also under development are acoustic location systems to detect aircraft data recorder beacons at greater ranges. This technology will decrease the time-to-recovery of cockpit voice and flight data recorders, which help determine causal factors in aircraft crashes. Once general targets are located using acoustics, optical instrumentation comes into play.

Virtual Reality. A virtual-reality arson-investigation training programme has been developed that examines how particular fires start and propagate through a structure. The program employs new, sophisticated software to place examiners inside a burning building that simulates a real-life fire site. Virtual laboratories have been created to experiment on containment technologies in hazardous environment.