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Prof. Krishnan B.| He X-Rays Bridges & Planes | He Left USA to Build Non-Destructive Testing | Ep. 8

Professor Krishnan's journey from Silicon Valley to IIT Madras with nothing but a suitcase will leave you inspired! Watch how he revolutionized non-destructive testing in India and created a startup ecosystem that employs 1200+ professionals globally. From preventing train accidents to extending the life of nuclear power plants - this episode is packed with mind-bending engineering stories you won't believe! 🚂☢️ Chapterisation 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:00 Professor Balasubramanian's Journey at IIT Madras 00:03:30 Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) Explained 00:06:30 Destructive vs. Non-Destructive Testing 00:09:45 Real World Applications of NDT 00:11:45 Technologies Used in NDT 00:14:15 Evolution of NDT 00:17:15 Setting Up the Center for NDT at IIT Madras 00:21:00 ICSR: IIT Madras’ Window to Industry 00:24:30 Building Impact Through Intellectual Property (IP) 00:29:00 ICSR: Solving Global and Socially Relevant Problems 00:32:30 The Genesis of the Incubation Policy at IIT Madras 00:38:45 Setting Up the Incubation Cell 00:41:50 Dhwani: Automating Non-Destructive Testing 00:46:45 Planys Technologies: Revolutionizing Underwater Inspection 00:52:00 Detect Technologies: AI-Powered Asset and Safety Management 00:59:15 Xyma: Pioneering High-Temperature Sensing Technology 01:03:45 IIT Madras: The Best Place to Build? 01:05:50 CFI: Inspiring a Culture of Making 01:06:45 Nirmaan: Supporting Student Entrepreneurs 01:07:30 The Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship 01:11:45 The I-Corps Programme: Cultivating an Entrepreneurial Mindset 01:13:30 The Success of the I-Corps Programme in India 01:14:30 The Evolving Ecosystem at IIT Madras 01:15:00 Professor Balasubramanian's Current Teaching and Interests 01:16:45 The Importance of Deep Tech Ventures 01:21:45 Conclusion References Dhvani - https://www.dhvani-research.com/ Playns - https://planystech.com/ Xyma - https://xyma.in/media Indian Society for Non Destructive Testing (ISNT) - https://isnt.in/home/index.php Detect - https://detecttechnologies.com/ CNDE - https://www.cnde.in/ CFI - https://cfi.iitm.ac.in/ IC&SR - https://icandsr.iitm.ac.in/ To know more about what makes IIT Madras- the Best Place to Build- browse https://www.bestplacetobuild.com/

Krishnan Balasubramanianguest
Jan 9, 20251h 22mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

How IIT Madras scaled deep-tech NDT into startups and impact

  1. Non-destructive testing (NDT) is positioned as “engineering diagnostics,” using tools like X-ray and ultrasound to detect internal defects and prevent catastrophic failures in assets from trains to pipelines.
  2. Balasubramanian recounts returning from the US in 2000 to build IIT Madras’ Center for NDE from scratch, quickly attracting strategic-sector and industrial support and scaling it into a high-impact capability.
  3. As Dean (ICSR), he describes ICSR as IIT Madras’ industry-facing window and highlights process reforms that accelerated IP protection and increased patent filings dramatically while preserving academic publication velocity.
  4. He details how IIT Madras’ incubation policy and institutional structures (Incubation Cell under Research Park, CFI, Nirmaan, Research Park) made commercialization repeatable rather than ad hoc.
  5. Multiple startups (Dhvani, Planys, Detect, Xyma) are presented as case studies in “hard problem solutions,” combining hardware, sensing, robotics, and AI to create durable moats and global customers.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

NDT is the maintenance-and-safety backbone of modern infrastructure.

Balasubramanian frames NDT as the equivalent of medical imaging for engineered assets, enabling early detection so repairs happen during downtime, improving both safety and availability.

Materials and manufacturing evolve faster than biology—so inspection must keep evolving.

Unlike human anatomy, engineered materials, weld processes, and designs change frequently; this makes NDT a continuously moving technical target rather than a solved discipline.

Quality assurance is needed both at manufacturing and throughout service life.

He distinguishes “as-built” defect detection (e.g., welding entropy/variability) from in-service degradation monitoring (e.g., corrosion as a multi-trillion-dollar global problem).

Fast, faculty-friendly IP processes can shift a campus from publishing-only to impact-driven.

ICSR reforms aimed to protect inventions without slowing papers; he cites reducing patent-processing timelines (down to ~24 hours in exceptional cases) and scaling filings to hundreds per year.

Incubation succeeds when governance, legal structure, and handoffs are engineered—not improvised.

IITM’s approach navigated Board approvals and state legal constraints (Tamil Nadu Society Act), ultimately using a Section 8 structure under Research Park to enable equity and proper incubation.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We look inside materials… just the way a diagnostic center… looks inside your anatomy.

— Krishnan Balasubramanian

[On welding assurance] …his answer he gave me was one word. He said, “Entropy”… And his answer is, “Probably never.”

— Krishnan Balasubramanian

I landed here with nothing… except my suitcase… And then they gave me a small office and said, “Do something.”

— Krishnan Balasubramanian

We are just not curating ideas, we are curating entrepreneurs.

— Krishnan Balasubramanian

Unlike X, SpaceX is not going to go away that easily… when you have deep tech… [it] will keep growing.

— Krishnan Balasubramanian

NDT vs destructive testingReal-world failure prevention (rail wheels, corrosion)NDT modalities (X-ray, ultrasound, IR, radar, terahertz)Founding and scaling IITM’s Center for NDE (CNDE)ICSR as industry interface and research funding engineIP policy reforms and fast patent filingIncubation policy, Research Park, and ecosystem buildingStartup case studies: Dhvani, Planys, Detect, XymaI-Corps India and “curating entrepreneurs”Deep-tech vs software-only product cycles

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