The Smart Materials, Structures, and Systems (SMSS) Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, has completed 25 years in 2025. The 8th of June 2025 marks the 26th Foundation Day of this renowned laboratory.The laboratory has been developed through generous Grant-in-Aid support from the AR&DB, ACECOST project as a Centre of Excellence in Smart Materials, along with the supports from the Institute and the Ministry of Education (then MHRD, through the MODROB Grant). Subsequently, ISRO, HAL and GAIL have funded the laboratory significantly in various phases of development.

We are delighted to reflect upon the incredible journey of our research group. Since its establishment on 8th June 2000, the SMSS Lab has been at the forefront of cutting-edge research, consistently striving for excellence in the fields of smart sensors, actuators, intelligent system design and robotics.

Over the past two and a half decades, the SMSS Lab has etched its humble contributions to the academic community through the thesis supervision of 116 M.Tech, MS(R) and M. Des and 22 PhD students. This year, we celebrate a significant milestone with the graduation of 5 Ph.D. and 2 M.Tech students at the 58th Convocation of IIT Kanpur. Their research has enriched diverse areas including Shape Memory Alloy based fin cooling for Electric Vehicles, Metamaterial-based Electro-magnetic acoustic transducers for Structural Health Monitoring, Design and development of Agro-robots for precision Agriculture, Intelligent grippers for harvesting soft vegetables and fruits, and Autonomous River and Lake water quality monitoring systems related to the PhD students, while the M.Tech students have contributed enormously to the ongoing research on AI based Design and Development of Acoustic Black Hole.

We also take great pride this year in handing over the Substation Inspection Robot (SIR) developed in the SMSS Lab to POWERGRID at GRIDCON 2025. Our lab is now working on the national mission projects on Cargo Hyperloop for goods transportation sponsored by CMPDI, Medical assistive devices including a staircase-climbing wheelchair sponsored by IIT Kanpur, UGV and UAV swarm system for the Health Monitoring of Power-infrastructure sponsored by CPRI, and SMA based rotary actuators sponsored by Portescape.

With close to 200 journal publications, participation in over 60 international and national conferences, and 25+ awarded patents, active collaborations with international academicians from Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Sweden, UK, USA and Australia, the SMSS Lab stands as a testament to the spirit of innovation, capacity building and academic excellence.

Last but not least, we extend our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all our Lab alumni, students, interns, lab staff, Department of Mechanical Engineering-IITK, collaborators, and funding agencies. Your unwavering support and dedication have been instrumental in building and sustaining such a strong pillar of education and innovation for the past 25 years.

About IIT Kanpur:

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, established in 1959, is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India through an Act of Parliament. Renowned for its excellence in science and engineering education, IIT Kanpur has significantly contributed to research and development over the decades. Its expansive, lush green campus spans 1,050 acres and hosts various academic and research resources. The institute comprises 19 departments, 26 centers, three interdisciplinary programs, and three specialized schools across engineering, science, design, humanities, and management disciplines. With over 590 full-time faculty members and more than 9,500 students, IIT Kanpur fosters innovation and academic rigor.

For more information, visit www.iitk.ac.in.