Hon’ble Minister of Education Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan launches the Engineering Field Testing Platform at GSCOE, IIT Palakkad
The 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐄𝐅𝐓) 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 established at the Global Sanitation Center of Excellence (GSCOE) of IIT Palakkad was soft-launched and formally dedicated on 18th July 2025 by Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Government of India.
The Hon’ble Minister was accompanied by Prof. A. Seshadri Sekhar, Director, IIT Palakkad and other dignitaries and officials of the Institute. Dr.Praveena Gangadharan, Project Director, GSCOE and Dr. Devasena M., CTO of GSCOE, welcomed the dignitaries, highlighting the significance of this inventive testing platform designed to accelerate innovation, enable technical validation, and support field trials of next-generation sanitation technologies.
Established in 2022, the GSCOE of IIT Palakkad is the center of excellence set up as a strategic initiative through the Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, with the funding support from the Gates Foundation and HDFC Parivartan CSR initiative. The EFT Platform by the centre acts as a bridge between research, industry, and implementation partners by offering advanced testing, performance benchmarking, and technical guidance. Its goal is to fast-track the commercialization and field adoption of transformative sanitation systems, ensuring they meet global quality and sustainability standards while being adaptable to local contexts.
Following the launch ceremony, the dignitaries toured the GSCOE lab , engaging with researchers, staff, and officials of the center. They apprehended the state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure, ongoing innovation efforts, and outreach initiatives aimed at advancing transformative sanitation solutions.
