Kerala IT Explores Synergies to Unlock Aerospace Potential: AoC in C, Southern Air Command Visits Technopark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Air Marshal Manish Khanna, UYSM, AVSM, VM, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command, visited Technopark on Wednesday and held an interactive session with industry leaders and startups with a focused interest in the defence and aerospace sectors.

Technopark CEO Col Sanjeev Nair (Retd) received Air Marshal Manish Khanna and presented an overview of the state’s IT sector and about the Kerala Defence Innovation Zone (K-DIZ). The visiting dignitary was accompanied by his staff officer Squadron Leader Archana Singh.

“Kerala stands as India’s most digitally empowered state where a thriving startup ecosystem, cutting-edge digital infrastructure, world-class institutions and a deep pool of innovators come together to shape the future of technology,” said Col Sanjeev Nair (Retd) during his presentation.

“With K-DIZ enabling a strong Industry–Academia–Armed Forces connect, Kerala is poised to transform defence innovation. As innovators gain deeper insight into the challenges faced by our Forces and leverage opportunities like iDEX and TDF, the state can emerge as a premier hub, attracting leading private defence and aerospace players from across the country,” he noted.

Impressed by the strength of Kerala’s digital ecosystem, Air Marshal Khanna, during the interactive session, responded to the collaboration possibilities raised by industry leaders and noted that the Air Force offers substantial avenues for startups to engage with the aerospace and defence sectors.

“Startups and companies in the aerospace domain can reach out to the Regional Aerospace Innovation Division (RAID) for guidance, user perspectives and insights into operational challenges. An IAF officer from RAID will also participate as a panelist at the upcoming Huddle Global event, where he will share deeper inputs on aerospace design, innovation and indigenisation, and outline emerging opportunities for collaboration,” he said. He added that, as part of the stakeholder mapping under K-DIZ, the entity from IAF could be RAID. During the interaction, a compendium of IAF challenges was also shared with the industry forum.

G Levin, CEO of Kerala Spacepark (KSPACE); Varun G, Project Director of Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM); Pius Varghese CEO, Vinvish Technologies; Manesh Mathen, Director Delivery & Customer Engagement, Testhouse; Rakhee Surendran, Senior Manager, Quest Global ; Aneesh, BU Head, SFO Technologies; Lt Cdr Arun Sivapalan (Retd), COO & President, Axldrone; Devan Chandrasekharan, Fuselage Innovations; Jaleesh P – CTO (Chief Technology Officer), Genrobotics; ⁠Abi Simhan- BD Manager- Defence, Genrobotics; Agil Ajith Senior Marketing Manager Genrobotics and Eapen Toni, CEO, GTech attended the interactive session. Vasanth Varada, Deputy Vice President, Marketing & Customer Relationship, Technopark and Abhilash D S Asst. Vice President (Administration & Industrial Relations), Technopark also attended the session.

Following the interactive session, Air Marshal Manish Khanna visited the iconic UST campus in Technopark Phase II. The visit was hosted by the UST leadership team comprising Shilpa Menon, Centre Head, Senior Director & High-Performance Coach, and Hari Krishnan Mohan Kumar, Senior Director & Head – Workspace Management & Operations. He also visited Zafin-India at Technopark phase 3.