New research initiative aims to build the next generation of Physical AI science in India, anchored at IIT Roorkee's Department of Computer Science & Engineering
ROORKEE, India — September 8, 2026 : Avathon, a leader in Autonomy for Operations, and the Indian
Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), one of India's premier
institutions of national importance, today announced the launch of the Avathon
Physical AI Lab (Avathon PAL), a research initiative dedicated to advancing the
science of Physical AI for the industrial economy. The proposed laboratory will
be established in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at IIT
Roorkee. The laboratory is envisaged to serve as a centre for collaborative
research in Physical AI and to deepen collaboration with leading academic
institutions across India and around the world.
The partnership pairs Avathon's leadership
in bringing autonomy to industrial operations with IIT Roorkee's deep bench of
research talent in optimization, machine learning, knowledge representation,
and multi-agent systems. Together, the parties intend to build a durable
foundation for cutting-edge Physical AI research focused on the most difficult
problems in the industrial economy, from supply planning and logistics at scale
to knowledge-driven, continuously learning autonomous systems.
"IIT Roorkee shaped how I think about
the world and what’s possible within it. Returning to build something lasting
here is deeply personal," said Pervinder Johar, Chief Executive Officer of
Avathon and an alumnus of IIT Roorkee. "The talent and rigor at this
institution are extraordinary, and the challenges facing the industrial world
today are exactly the problems this partnership is built to solve. Physical AI
is how we bring autonomy to the industrial economy, and there is no better
place to advance that science than where my own journey began."
Prof. K.K. Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee
highlighted that “The proposed Avathon Physical AI Lab marks an important step
in strengthening the bridge between cutting-edge research and real-world
industrial challenges. Physical AI is emerging as a transformative frontier,
bringing together artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and physical
operations. At IIT Roorkee, we are committed to fostering such
interdisciplinary and industry-driven research that not only advances
scientific knowledge but also contributes to India’s technological
self-reliance and the vision of a Viksit Bharat 2047. This collaboration with
Avathon will provide our researchers and students an opportunity to work on
complex, high-impact problems and translate innovation into meaningful
industrial applications.”
The Avathon PAL will work in close concert
with Avathon's newly formed AI Center of Excellence (COE) in Bangalore.
Together, the lab and the COE are designed to form a bridge between frontier
research and real-world deployment, with science emerging from IIT Roorkee
feeding directly into solutions that put autonomy into production across
mining, energy, manufacturing, logistics, aerospace, and other industrial
sectors. The Bangalore COE will anchor Avathon's growing research and
engineering presence in India and serve as the primary industrial counterpart
to the lab's academic work.
"This partnership brings a rare
combination of academic freedom and real-world industrial relevance to our
research community," said Prof. Sugata Gangopadhyay, Principal Investigator
of the Avathon PAL, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT
Roorkee. "Working alongside Avathon, a company at the forefront of
bringing Physical AI to industrial operations, gives our researchers both the
problems and the ambition worthy of them."
The Avathon PAL intends to support a range
of activities, including sponsored doctoral fellowships, collaborative research
across multiple problem areas, student internships and industry exposure at
Avathon, and workshops and technical events that connect the initiative to the
broader research community. The lab reflects a shared conviction that the next
frontier of artificial intelligence lies not in enterprise IT but on the
factory floor, in the supply chain, and across critical infrastructure – the
physical operations that move and sustain the global economy.
About Avathon
Avathon is a leading AI provider of
Autonomy for Operations, bringing Industrial AI into the physical world. The
Avathon Autonomy Platform enables organizations to intelligently plan,
orchestrate, and execute complex manufacturing, supply chain, and asset
management operations by transforming data into knowledge. Designed to scale
securely across industrial environments, Avathon improves asset performance and
strengthens operational resilience. Learn more at www.avathon.com
About IIT Roorkee
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT
Roorkee), established in 1847 as the Thomason College of Civil Engineering, is
one of the oldest technical institutions in Asia. It was declared an IIT in
2001 and is recognised as an Institution of National Importance. IIT Roorkee
offers undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral programmes
across engineering, architecture, sciences, management, humanities, and social
sciences. The Institute is committed to excellence in education, research,
innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology development, addressing national
and global challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration.
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