The Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur have partnered to launch the DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA CoE), a multidisciplinary research centre focused on defensive technologies. The center's mission is to drive targeted research in a number of defense-related fields, including bioengineering, rapid material design, high-energy materials, and advanced nanomaterials.

Senior DRDO scientists, faculty members, and research coordinators from IIT Kanpur attended the DIA CoE inaugural ceremony. IIT Kanpur has selected Sanjay Tandon, a former director of the Institute of Technology Management (ITM) in Mussoorie, as the director of its centre of excellence.

"The centre holds immense potential in indigenizing strategic technologies for long-term defence needs, accelerating the development of futuristic defence systems," said Samir V Kamat, head of DRDO and secretary of the Department of Defence Research and Development (R&D).