A Research Cooperation Agreement (RCA) was signed between IIT BBS and National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. on the 9th October, 2017 at IIT Bhubaneswar. Prof R. K. Panda, Dean (R&D) of IIT Bhubaneswar and Mr. Narendra Kumar Nanda, Director (Technical) of NMDC Ltd. signed the RCA in presence of the Director of IIT Bhubaneswar and the faculty members of the School of Minerals, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering of IIT Bhubaneswar. This proposal is approved under the prestigious Uchchatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY), a flagship program of Ministry of Human Resource Development for effective industry-academia collaboration. As per the agreement, the NMDC Ltd., a Government of India NAVARATNA Enterprise will contribute 25% of the project cost, 25% funding will be made by the Ministry of Steel and rest 50% by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. IIT BBS will conduct advanced research on optimization of silos, bins and hoppers designs through modelling, primarily intended for iron ore storage with the active support of NMDC Ltd. Both the organizations agreed to make this cooperation stronger and sustainable in a long-term.