Following the success of the first three editions of Shell Lubricants Global Lecture Series at Imperial College, London; Tsinghua University, Beijing and IIT Madras, Shell Lubricants, the global market share leader in finished lubricants organised the 4thedition of the lecture series today at IIM Bangalore to envision and deliberate on“Preparing you for the Future Energy shifts in Industry & Transport”. The discussions emphasized on the importance of technological collaboration while chalking out solutions for the energy challenges and adapting a cohesive approach towards the development of new grade technologies and equipment.
Addressing the 4th edition of the Shell Lubricants Global Lecture series, Nitin Prasad, Managing Director, Shell Lubricants India, said, “The Shell Lubricants Global Lecture Series is a unique platform to collaborate across industry and academia; it is an initiative driven by our core philosophy of innovation and collaboration. With this edition of the global lecture series we have established it as an annual property of Shell Lubricants India. This year the focus has been on highlighting the connect between global energy efficiency and adoption of fuel-efficient practices on a daily basis. We believe that the right set of lubricants, can not only bring efficiency to an industrial unit but in due course of time, to an entire industry. We are very happy to see the positive response from the industry professionals as well as the academia on the initiative.”
The event was attended by leading experts from automotive, power, construction, mining and manufacturing industry in India along with IIM Bangalore faculty and students. Distinguished speakers present at the event discussed across sectors’ specific energy challenges and solutions. These included Mr P. Panda, Sr. Vice President (Product Development), Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Mr. K.K. Gandhi, Executive Director (Technical), Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Dr. S Gomathinayagam, Director General, National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) and Mr. Rajendra Petkar Head- Power Systems Engineering, Tata Motors, to name a few.
Dr. Cameron Watson, General Manager of Shell’s OEM and Direct Sector Technology, while commenting on Shell’s technical partnerships in India and abroad, said, “The scale of our energy challenges is such that a run-of-mill approach cannot make a difference. At Shell, we aspire for continuous improvement in efficiency; by taking an innovative and collaborative approach towards our products. We actively invest in R&D and creating collaborative platforms and avenues for our leading OEMs and academic institutions. Such initiatives help keep us abreast with the trends specific to various sectors, their consumers and to the global energy scenario.”
“The global energy landscape today is marked with numerous challenges. Depleting resources, increased energy demand and wasteful use of fuel are some of the key concerns that tend to lower the output of our industries, equipment and machinery. The need for judicious use of energy resources and maximisation of fuel economy across application streams is the need of the hour. Lubricants are an important element in the larger picture of energy efficiency. Keeping this in mind, at Shell, we give complete consideration to the energy scenarios and carefully design our lubricants”, said Dr. Felix Guerzoni, Global Product Application Specialist, Shell Global Solutions.
On the technological aspect, Mr. Akhil Jha, Vice President – Technical, Shell Lubricants India said, “The global energy scenario today is influenced by multiple factors, both technological and non-technological. Some of these issues are product & hardware technologies, application & process engineering, rapidly increasing demand & shrinking supply base of conventional sources of energy. Political, economic, social and environmental factors also cast an influence on these. A comprehensive thought leadership forum such as Shell Lubricants Global Lecture Series, provides the best of the minds from diverse sections of the industry to come together and debate future possibilities to address these challenges.”
Professor Padmini Srinivasan of IIM Bangalore said, “We are happy to host an important event like the Shell Lubricants Global Lecture Series. Events such as these provide students a great platforms where they get a chance to interact closely with industry experts. The agenda of this year’s lecture series has been of great interest to students and faculty and will enable them to look at the future energy scenario from a fresh and well-rounded perspective.”