Exploring stainless steel’s role in defence innovation, Dr SK Vasudeva, President, Global Association for Research Education, discusses its impact on high-pressure systems, explosive welding, and sustainability.
Dr SK Vasudeva, a distinguished scientist and defense technologist, has over four decades of experience in R&D, design, and integration of armament systems, with significant contributions to explosive welding and high-pressure physics. He has received numerous accolades, including the Prime Minister’s Lifetime Achievement Award, for his work in strategic systems and defense technologies. He is also Visiting Fellow at Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and Distinguished Fellow of Aerospace and Defence Consultants Association of India.
Tell us about your current work profile and your past experience.
I am a pharma med scientist, and I got the training at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, Giri Nagar, Pune. And I joined DRDO in 1970. And after my retirement from DRDO, I got the assignment of Office of Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. Now, I am at present the President of the Global Association for Research Education.
How do you see stainless steel contributing to modern defence technology, especially in high-pressure systems and explosive welding?
Stainless steel is one of the contact materials that is used in nuclear as well as in defence. Because of the structure, it doesn’t get corroded easily. That’s one of the reasons why stainless steel is a preferred material.
What steps should the stainless steel industry take to align with the ‘Make in India’ initiative in defence manufacturing?
One of the most important things that I see is research. I am not aware of how much research we are doing. Of course, we are doing research in stainless steel – the transferring of the lab to fab. I do something in the lab. I do the procedures. But I can’t take it to the fabrication. This is what is happening in most of our technologies because there is a value called the value of death. We develop the product to technology readiness level 3 or 4. And after that, we can’t take it further. There are many issues. So that gap needs to be filled. And we can be world leaders if we fill that type of gap from research to fab.
Can you share any material defence breakthroughs that could benefit the stainless steel industry?
The laser technology, the use of lasers, and the friction stir building are the very popular techniques. I am talking from the defence point of view. These are the preferred techniques. And this is definitely a game changer. And I was also working in the field of explosive welding, which is a very versatile welding technique in which you can join the two dissimilar metals by the use of the explosive force. But the only problem was we couldn’t bring it to the industry because of the limitation of use of explosives.
How can the stainless steel industry support sustainability in the defence system?
For sustainability you can use other materials, too. It is applicable to not only stainless steel. But the stainless steel, you see, the recyclability and all those things, we are not putting too much on the resources that are available to us. Stainless steel definitely is a very good material. We can reuse and recycle. So, this is one of the factors that is attractive for the industry.
What government policies are crucial for driving growth and innovation for the stainless steel industry?
Growth is, you see, slowly taking up in defence, especially in the sophisticated systems. Stainless steel is being used as a material. And I think it is taking up very fast. The growth rate is in the order of about 6 percent to 10 percent, I think. It is my estimation.
How can the Indian stainless steel industry benefit from international R&D collaboration?
The government can support this by creating more skill centres because building starts with the skill of the welders. So, if we have state-of-the-art skill centres, we will be able to produce so many welders. And not only welders will be used here; they will be available for worldwide jobs. Advanced countries, like Korea and the US, are looking for trained welders. And the government can support the skill.
With regards to equipment, I think we need not do much on the equipment at present. The R&D on equipment is not bad. We can get the equipment from abroad. But on that, skilling is important. Because importing equipment is easier than making your own equipment. That can go parallel. But we should do the job of integration. Integration of welding with stainless steel equipment is important. That is the goal!
