Open Projects in School of Sustainability
Explore research and CSR opportunities at IIT Madras in this domain.
School of Sustainability
9 proposals
Centre for Urbanization, Buildings & Environment (CUBE)
The CUBE centre at IIT Madras acts as a trusted partner for cities and organisations seeking science-backed solutions for safer, healthier, and more sustainable urban communities. By integrating academic research, government facilitation, and multidisciplinary expertise, CUBE offers environmental laboratory services for water, wastewater, solid waste, and soil, while also enabling collaborative projects that tackle complex urban development challenges through holistic, systems-level approaches.?
By: IITM
Cause: Infrastructure
Energy Consortium & SECURE
The Energy Consortium & SECURE centre at IIT Madras aims to serve as a comprehensive partner for industries seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy performance. By advancing pathways that span energy efficiency, renewable integration, enhanced utilisation, and carbon capture and utilization, including initiatives such as the KISEM Save Energy Mission, the programme offers collaborative projects that guide companies toward resilient, low-carbon operations.?
By: IITM
Cause: Energy
SUTRAM- Sustainability Venture Studio
The Sustainability Venture Studio at IIT Madras, under SuTRAM, is a dynamic platform that turns sustainability-focused ideas into market-ready products through programmes such as Ideas to Impact and the Carbon Zero Challenge. By offering grants, prototyping support, training, and a structured TRL 1?6 pipeline, SVS has backed dozens of prototypes, catalysed thousands of eco-innovative ideas, and helped launch climate startups, including several women-led teams.?
By: IITM
Cause: Energy
Aquamap - Centre for Water Management & Policies
AquaMAP is a dedicated water management and policy centre at IIT Madras, established with alumni support to tackle India?s growing water crises by bridging gaps between demand and reliable supply. Working closely with faculty, utilities, and civil society partners, the centre adapts proven technologies and best practices to varied field conditions, providing technical support for flagship initiatives such as 24x7 Drink from Tap projects and other community water programmes.?
By: IITM
Cause: Water
TLC2- Providing academic leadership in the areas of building science, construction management and construction materials
TLC2 at IIT Madras advances building science, construction management, and materials research with a mission to enable zero-carbon, zero-waste construction practices aligned with the SDGs. Through basic and applied research, organisational and policy work, and pilot-scale technology testing, the centre aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions, train a new generation of sustainability-focused practitioners, and convert construction waste into valuable resource streams backed by robust codes and standards.?
By: IITM
Cause: Infrastructure
CO2 Capture, Utilisation & Sequestration
This project investigates CO2 capture technologies that extract carbon dioxide from air streams and prepare it for sequestration or conversion into synthetic fuels and industrial feedstocks for cement and chemical production. Combining methods such as physical and chemical absorption, adsorption, cryogenic distillation, and membrane diffusion with advanced monitoring of heat, mass transfer, humidity, temperature, and pressure, the initiative aims to build efficient CCUS systems that support deep decarbonisation of energy-intensive sectors.?
By: IITM
Cause: Energy
Architected and sustainable materials-Sustainable manufacturing and Sustainable mobility
This centre focuses on transforming India-specific agricultural waste into high-value, architected materials that support sustainable manufacturing and mobility applications. Combining fundamental research with product-oriented development and an integrated design?materials?manufacturing approach using zero-waste additive technologies, the initiative aims to cut pollution from crop burning, advance circular economy pathways, and create new revenue streams that enhance farmer welfare while helping India meet its UN SDG commitments.?
By: Prof. Gnanamoorthy
Cause: Energy
Geophysical flows lab
The Geophysical Flows Lab at IIT Madras aims to become an international centre of excellence unifying research on geophysical processes that affect water, land, and air systems. Leveraging drone technologies, advanced weather modelling, and studies of microplastics and pollutant transport, the lab will support seasonal predictions of cyclones and monsoons, climate monitoring, and large-scale community field campaigns, while also building critical infrastructure for India?s drone development ecosystem.?
By: IITM
Cause: Energy
International Centre for Clean Water
The International Centre for Clean Water at IIT Madras is dedicated to making safe, affordable water accessible to all by integrating research, implementation, and innovation support. Through work on low-cost sensors, real-time monitoring, advanced treatment materials, wastewater recovery, and hydroinformatics modelling, the centre provides consultancy, technology interventions, capacity-building programmes, and startup incubation to scale clean water solutions across diverse contexts.?
By: T Pradeep
Cause: Water