RV-TIFAC Composites Design Centre is established in a 15,000
sq. ft., four storied Building, on a 2 acre site in the RV College of Engineering Campus,which is about 15 Km on Bangalore-Mysore National Highway. A 5000 sq.ft. hangar for housing the fabrication and testing machinery and equipment and other facilities is also coming up adjacent to the main building.
For fully establishing the Centre with all the necessary design and fabrication, training and other facilities, initial grants totaling a sum of Rs. 473.00 lakhs ($1.4 million) have been jointly contributed by TIFAC and the Rasthreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust over a period of 42 months beginning from Feb. 1997.
The Centre is managed by an autonomous Board of Governors. The Director is the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, assisted by a specialized team of design and fabrication engineers and other technical and supporting staff.
SCOPE AND FUNCTIONS 
The Scope and Functions of the Composite Design Centre are :
Establishing the necessary infrastructure with modern design, fabrication, testing and other facilities.
Undertaking projects for design and development of Composite products of relevance to the industrial development of the country.
Undertaking Advanced Generic Technology in collaboration with other R & D and academic institutions in India and abroad.
Organizing technology transfer and absorption, up gradation, training and information dissemination programmes for the industry.
Organizing current technological awareness programmes to promote composite technology and its applications for manufactures and end-users.
Conducting continuous education and training programmes on composites at various levels-students, moulders and entrepreneurs manufactures and users.
MAIN FOCUS OF ACTIVITIES
The complete Composite Design Centre will focus mainly on the design and development of selected composite products having high value as well as high volume requirements in the country. The range of products identified for development in the immediate future is :
Transportation sector - automotive, railway and marine applications
Construction/ housing Sector - doors, sandwich building panels, decorative panels, bath-room fittings.
Energy Sector - windmill blades, compressed natural gas bottles and other corrosion resistant applications.
Societal Sector - bio-medical components for rehabilitation and low cost sanitation shelters.
Sports and Leisure Goods Sector - sport goods and musical instruments.
Generic Technology Development - integral structural elements, stiffened sandwich structures, smart structures, up gradation of high-volume processing techniques with pultrusion, filament winding, RTM, SMC machines etc.
FACILITIES AND SERVICES OFFERED
Pending setting up of major fabrication facilities for composites products consisting of latest and most modern machines for filament winding, RTM, SMC, testing, coating and painting etc., temporary fabrication facilities have already been set up for taking up in house and sponsored product development. Already, a number of products of interest to the housing and construction sector has been developed to test their market acceptability and commercialization possibilities.
A Composite Product Design Centre, fully-equipped with modern computers, design software packages, drawing office, instrumentation and other facilities is being set up.
A Composite Product Display Centre has been set up as a facility and service to the industry. The products that have been developed by the Centre and some of those received from the industry and organizations like HAL are already on display. This facility is open to the industry to display some of their best products on a regular basis for the purpose of wider publicity and dissemination of information.
A HRD & training Centre fully equipped with modern projection and display facility has been set up. The first training course on Composites Product Development for engineers and moulding technicians and construction industry is to begin shortly.
An Institutional Membership Scheme has been introduced in order to maintain close and continuous interaction with the composite product designers and manufactures and to facilitate optimum utilization of the facilities and services offered by the Composite Design Centre.
OTHER RELATED ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES
Standardization - Standards for composites product design and manufacture based on current good manufacturing practices and existing national and international standards will be developed in consultation with the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Industry.
Testing and Quality Control - Adequate inspection and testing facilities are being set up in the centre and these facilities will be made available to the industry, as and when required.
Prototype Development - Facilities for prototype development of selected products will be offered to the industry on sponsorship basis, making use where necessary, of the advanced facilities and expertise available in various organization like the National Aerospace Laboratories, Aeronautical Development Agency, Hindustan Aeronautics limited, etc.
Tooling and Machinery - The Centre would provide assistance to the industry for the development of tooling and machinery for design and manufacture of composite products on cost-sharing basis.
A Technical Information & Publication Centre - Fully equipped with latest books, journals, facilities for access to the Internet and on line databases like TIFACLINE, photocopying facilities for editing and publishing information bulletins, manuals, course materials etc. has been set up.
Seminars & Exhibition - A series of seminars and exhibitions of topical interest to the composite industry will be organized on the continuous basis. As a first step, a Seminar & Exhibition on Composites in the Building and Construction Industry is being organized by the Centre on 8th-9th December 1997.
