About Us
Director, IIT Madras
Prof. V Kamakoti
IIT Madras established the Centre for Excellence to shape the future of India’s cities by combining traditional urban values with modern technology. The Centre aims to promote sustainability, livability, and inclusiveness in rapidly growing urban spaces. It focuses on developing innovative, cost-effective solutions that address the challenges of climate change, resource management, and urban well-being.
Taking a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, the Centre brings together experts from various fields to tackle environmental, social, and technological issues faced by human settlements. Its mission is to become a leading hub for sustainable urban innovation, driving the transformation toward healthier, resilient, and future-ready cities across India.
Major General Retired, CEO
L. PADMANABAN
Cities today face complex challenges — from climate change and sustainability to rapid urbanization and technological advancement. Addressing these issues requires an integrated, multidisciplinary approach that balances environmental, social, and economic needs.
CUBE, an Applied Research and Consultancy Centre established in 2017 by IIT Madras and the Government of Tamil Nadu, works to create sustainable, technology-driven, and policy-based solutions for modern urban challenges. Recognized as a Centre of Excellence, CUBE partners with academia, government, and industry to develop innovative, practical, and cost-effective solutions that shape healthier and more livable cities.
With successful collaborations across Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Daman & Diu, and Jammu & Kashmir, CUBE has emerged as a trusted partner in sustainable urban development—delivering impactful, future-ready, and holistic solutions for India’s evolving cities.
Transforming Cities with Technology
Our vision
Innovative research and engineering with IIT Madras, creating sustainable and future-ready human habitats.
Our mission
Innovative solutions empowering enterprises to grow and succeed in the digital era.
Global Connections
Local Impact
Core Values
Driven by Integrity Innovation and Sustainability
Leadership
Good leadership requires you to surround yourself with people of diverse perspectives who can disagree with you without fear of retaliation.
Excellence
Excellence is not achieved by chance but through consistent actions, discipline, and dedication — it becomes a way of life.
Harmony
True excellence lies in harmony and balance, where unity brings clarity, allowing us to see both the whole and the details.
Intrepid
It is easier to find a score of men wise enough to discover the truth than to find one intrepid enough, in the face of opposition, to stand up for it.
Innovation
Innovation defines true leadership — it inspires change, drives progress, and transforms vision into reality, setting leaders apart from followers.
Decisive
The cure for most obstacles is to be decisive, to act with clarity, confidence, and commitment toward achieving meaningful progress.
Strategic Goals and Objectives
- Achieve organizational excellence through well laid out policies, guidelines & procedures.
- Put in place an ISO Acredited Quality Management System.
- Bench Mark “Process Models” for both Third Party Quality Assurance Services and Project Management Consulting Sevices.
- Extend Quality Assurance services into specialized Infrastructure; Airport, Tunnels, Metros, Dams, Railways, Harbour & Ports, Power Grids.
- Enable Hybrid Affordable Housing Technologies and carry out a Bench Marking Housing Project from conceptualisation to implementation.
- Establish ‘Advanced Investigative Surveys’ Sub-vertical with capabilities in the areas of LiDAR Surveys, Drones and Geomatics.
- Advancement of Urban Planning Services in Tamil Nadu & beyond.
- Establish at least one CUBE branded technology for Waste Water or Solid waste.