Tata Steel signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Institute of Technology Madras on August 16, 2016 to set up the Tata Steel Advanced Materials Research Center (TSAMRC) at IIT Madras Research Park. This initiative comes in the light of Tata Steel being entrusted with the responsibility of developing a long-term strategic roadmap in the area of advanced materials.

Over the last few decades, new materials have been engineered by research laboratories worldwide. These materials, often termed "advanced" materials, provide unique combinations of physical and chemical properties that were either absent or difficult to obtain using conventional materials.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Gopichand Katragadda, Group Chief Technology Officer, Tata Sons remarked “I am thrilled at the setup of TSAMRC at IIT Madras Research Park. This centre is part of the Tata group efforts to advance progress in science and materials into technologies that meet market needs. Tata Steel has traditional strength in R&D by virtue of its internal research and external collaborations. I am happy that Tata Steel has taken the onus in the area of advanced materials to provide a global leadership stance for Tata group companies. I look forward to the collaboration with IIT Madras, and am sure that TSAMRC will further strengthen IIT Madras research program.”

According to Mr. Anand Sen, President (Total Quality Management and Steel Business), Tata Steel Limited, Tata Steel has been collaborating extensively with IIT Madras since the last many years, especially in materials characterization, heat transfer and process research. TSAMRC marks a new chapter in this journey and opens up the frontier in advanced materials synthesis, design and solutioning. He stressed that the Centre will initially focus on developing green energy and light weighting technologies using carbon- based materials. Further, TSAMRC will also draw upon the expertise and knowledge of the Tata Group for developing applications beyond steel. Tata Steel is hopeful that this centre would become the nucleus of advanced materials research and technology development in India.

Summing up on the facilities, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director IIT Madras, said that- IIT Madras has world standard faculty, students and equipment that can provide the next breakthrough in creating applications with new materials. The Research Park at IIT Madras provides one of the best ecosystems for collaborative research.