DIIT (Naval Construction) Program | Department of Applied Mechanics

The Naval Construction Wing (NCW) at the Dept of Applied Mechanics, is a unique defence-academia partnership that has been in existence at IIT Delhi since 1977. NCW at IIT Delhi has emerged to be a strategic national asset because of its key role in generating the specialised human resources, which has helped revive and sustain the indigenous warship and submarine design & building capability in the country through its unique post graduate programme on warship and submarine design – the only such course in the country. Through this programme, NCW has equipped all the Constructor Officers of the Indian Navy with specialist skill sets and capabilities for performing key functions in indigenous design, acquisition, construction, repair and modernisation of warships and submarines.

History of NCW

NCW was initially established at IIT Kharagpur in 1967 with an aim to create a pool of specialist Naval Architects for Indian Navy at par with MIT (USA), UCL (UK), and Adm AA Grechko Naval Academy (Russia). NCW shifted to the Applied Mechanics Department of IIT Delhi in 1977, so as to introduce the student officers to concepts and application of Fluid and Solid Mechanics in the field of Naval Architecture and Ship Design.

Aim of naval construction wing

The primary aim of NCW is to generate specialized human resources, to revive and sustain the indigenous warship and submarine design & building capability in the country through its unique post graduate programme on warship and submarine design. In addition to graduates of Naval Architecture, the induction into Corps of Naval Constructors of the Indian Navy is open for graduates of Mechanical, Civil, Aeronautical and Metallurgy specializations as well.

Therefore, the objectives of the post graduate programme in warship and submarine design imparted by NCW, Dept of Applied Mechanics, IIT Delhi are the following: -

Specialization in warship and submarine naval architecture with a capability of undertaking concept design of a marine vehicle with naval applications.
To convert officers with non-Naval Architecture background, into Naval Constructors.
NCW also aims at undertaking high impact applied research in the field of Naval Architecture, in areas of interest to Indian Navy, in the form of doctoral, post-doctoral and sponsored research.

Mission of NCW

Maintain a post graduate program in Naval Construction in close cooperation with IIT Delhi, which will provide the trainee officers of Indian Navy and Coast Guard a comprehensive education in Naval Architecture with an emphasis on concept design, that will prepare them for their future roles in design, acquisition, construction, repair, and modernisation of Warships and Submarines.
Equip the trainees with advanced analytical skills and a broad based interdisciplinary knowledge in Engineering Design, Manufacture and Life Cycle Management of marine vehicles and complex systems.
Facilitate Professional Development of Naval Officers through Continuing Education Programs and Short Courses in the area of Naval Construction.
Provide Industry-Academia interface by undertaking Analysis and Applied Research of problems encountered by Indian Navy in areas of Design, Construction and Repair of Naval Platforms.

Pre-Requisites for the course

The minimum eligibility for admission to the course is BTech/ MSc or equivalent with a CGPA 6.75 on a 10-point scale or 60% marks in aggregate. The sponsored officers of the Navy and Coast Guard are required to undergo a Departmental Research Committee (DRC) interview at IIT Delhi, prior to their enrollment. Only the successful candidates after the interview are admitted to PGDIIT (Naval Construction) Course.

Academic model at NCW, Dept of Applied Mechanics

From the academic year 1977–1978 through the year 2000, the unique (4 semester) Post Graduate Diploma Program in Naval Construction was offered at IIT Delhi.

From the academic year 2000–2001, the course's length was cut to three semesters to meet IIT and Naval training requirements. To keep abreast with the ever-changing technical environment, Minor projects were reintroduced in the academic curriculum in 2009. The syllabus is being reviewed periodically for examining the need of updating and revision to impart the latest knowledge and skill to the under-trainee officers.

Since the inception, naval officers have been posted as adjunct faculty at NCW, IIT Delhi. About 50% of the PG Diploma coursework is covered by the NCW faculty (for teaching specialized warship/submarine courses, including supervising minor and major projects), and the other 50% courses are conducted by IIT faculty for teaching engineering analysis subjects.

Training Infrastructure at NCW

NCW IIT Delhi has striven hard to provide computational facilities for carrying out engineering analysis. Software and hardware with authentic licenses are available at the wing for learning and application purposes. As on date NCW computational Lab boasts of 11 Workstations for High End Computing with up to 128 GB memory and up to Intel i9
processors.

Maxsurf, Paramarine and Napa licenses have been sourced for undertaking Ship and Submarine Design exercises. ANSYS Fluent, STAR CCM+, Abaqus, MATLAB are available at NCW for undertaking engineering analysis in solid or fluid mechanics.

NCW Library & Reference Section

NCW library is one of the best repositories of Naval Architecture, Warship and submarine design, and Engineering references. Over 3500 Volumes of Naval Architecture & Engineering textbooks are held at the library. Subscription to eight International Journals relevant to the field have been made available through IIT Delhi. Additionally, access to E-resources of Central Library of IIT D is granted to all trainees and staff officers of NCW.

Research Undertaken at NCW

The DIIT course is the only part of a Constructor's training where he is trained in warship design. The course provides a sound theoretical and computational background for undertaking the diversity of problems in warship design.

Additionally, since 2009, trainee officers also get an opportunity to solve practical application-based problems through engineering analysis based minor projects. The problem statements for these minor projects are sought from the parent and design directorates. The exercise is aimed at inculcating problem solving acumen in the trainees through application of knowledge and educational skills. The outcome of many of these project works have been published in reputed journals, presented at conferences and exhibited at national events.

The students get hands-on experience of the complete concept design of a warship or submarine as part of their Major Project. The Statement of requirement for these projects is received from parent and design directorates of the Navy. These final semester projects are evaluated jointly by Dept of Applied Mechanics, NCW and Naval Headquarters. Many interesting concepts like Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Hydrofoil Missile Craft, Theatre Support Catamaran, Air-Independent Propulsion Submarine, Wing-in-Ground Effect Craft, Trimaran Multi-role Frigate have been designed in these projects.