Jagruti Shenoy | Scintilla Weekly
Bengaluru: On Day 1 of 2014, an educational
journey commenced as the Third Year Engineering students of SIES Graduate School of Technology set out on
their official industrial visit to India’s Silicon Valley ‘Bengaluru’.
The tour, organised by the Students’
Council of SIES Graduate School of Technology along with the Purple Squirrel Eduventures Pvt. Ltd.,
encompassed visits to a host of reputed companies specific to the streams of
engineering of the student visitors, sight-seeing around the ‘garden
city’ and a few cultural
events, over a period of five days.
The recrudescence of the
excursion happened at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 7 a.m. on January 1st,
2014 where around 280 students and 9 faculty members had assembled to board the
Udyan Express to embark on their journey to Bengaluru. After commuting for 24
long hours, the destination was reached and the students checked in at J. P.
Cordial, a 3-star budget hotel in the heart of the city.
Day 2 of the tour started off
with students visiting companies and attending seminars as per their branches
of engineering and according to the sub-divisions that were made for the sake
of convenience. Day 3 and day 4 followed suit with another round of seminars
and industrial visits.
The itinerary for day 3 and 4
also included sight-seeing and shopping. So, without much ado, students and
staff members set out to explore some of the best tourist locations in and
around the city. To their delight, Bengaluru had something to offer to everyone
as per what appeals to their taste; Cubbon Park for the nature lovers and for
those seeking tranquillity, ISKCON temple for Sri Krishna devotees, Visveswaraya
technological museum for those with affection for science, Brigade road, M G
road and UB city for those on shopping spree, and much more.
A play by “yours truly”,
a Bangalore-based impromptu theatre group, on day 3, proved to be the cherry on the cake, with the
elated audience claiming it to be the most enjoyable segment of the tour.
Another highlight of the evening was DJ night which was attended and enjoyed by
one and all.
After five fun-filled days,
everyone returned to Mumbai on the evening of January 5th, 2014,
replete with technical knowledge gained from the company visits as well as
memories of the fun they had with friends during the tour. As the journey came
to an end, everyone was looking forward to another amazing industrial tour with
heartfelt gratitude towards SIES Graduate School of Technology for having consented and organised this
one.
Here’s a brief
summary of the company visits and seminars:
Seminar by SELCO: The
seminar saw huge participation from zealous GSTians irrespective of their
branch of engineering. Mr Sudipto Ghosh, Senior Manager – Mission
Projects and Customer Support – SELCO, acquainted the zestful crowd
with the basic objectives of Solar Electric and Lighting Company. SELCO, a
social enterprise, aims at providing sustainable technologies and energy
services to rural markets in India and other developing countries. Together, Ms
Meghana Iyer, Marketing manager- SELCO, and Mr Ghosh, explained the strong
linkages between poverty alleviation, sustainable energy, social business and
micro-finance. Some of the popular products manufactured by SELCO, which were
discussed during the seminar, are solar PV devices used in lighting rural homes
and community centres, solar cook-stoves, solar-powered sewing machines etc. A
few students, who had queries regarding the commercial viability and
environmental virtues of these products, got relevant answers to their
questions; while others focused on the engineering aspects of the SELCO
products. En bloc, the seminar proved to be a very educative experience for one
and all.
Seminar by Cycloid: Mr Viral Sachde, an engineer at
Cycloid, a company known for their innovative 3D printing venture, put forward
an interesting seminar for the students with the motive of sharing his
unparalleled knowledge of 3D printing and the c4l beta. The concept of
ultra-fast rapid prototyping, without large upfront investment in moulding, but
by the use of a 3D printer from Cycloid, was the main highlight of this
seminar. By the end of the seminar, students had acquired the elementary
knowledge of 3D printing technology.
Visit to ISAC (ISRO Satellite
Centre): ISRO Satellite Centre,
Bangalore, popularly known as ISAC, is engaged in developing satellite
technology and implementation of satellite systems for remote sensing and
communication-related missions. It is functionally organised into five major
areas; mechanical systems area including structures, thermal systems and spacecraft
mechanisms; digital and communications area including digital systems and
communications systems; integration and power area comprising spacecraft
checkout; reliability and components area; and control and missions area.
Laboratory of electro-optic systems (LEOS) and ISRO Satellite Integration and
Testing Establishment (ISITE) work under the umbrella of ISAC. For the 60 students from the Computers
and EXTC departments, the tour of the facility began with viewing miniature
prototypes of more than 50 satellites including the INSAT series, the IRS
series as well as the GSAT communication satellites produced by the centre over
a period of 40 fruitful years. Apart from these, models of various satellite
launching vehicles; for instance, PSLV, GSLV, ASLV were available on display.
This was followed by a short audio-visual presentation on the conceptualization, design, development, functioning, testing and launch of
India’s first unmanned lunar probe Chandrayaan-I. The AV proved to
be very informative wherein the students gained basic idea about specifications
of the satellite as well as the launch rocket PSLV-XL, its earth orbit burns
and lunar orbit insertion, and impact of the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) on the
lunar surface. The students then had the opportunity to ISAC’s
satellite assembly area through the clean room and also get themselves
acquainted with the tests that the satellite undergoes at the facility, for
example, the ThermoVac. The tour concluded with a short documentary on ISRO’s
present and forthcoming missions. The ISAC tour proved to be a productive
experience for every student who had the opportunity to visit this organisation
of national importance.
Seminar by Lumos: Mr Gandharv Bakshi, Promoter at Lumos
Design Technology Pvt. Ltd., opened the seminar with a brief introduction to
his own career and gradually proceeded to share his experiences at Lumos. He
narrated the story behind Lumos’ popular solar bag pack. The seminar was
basically a guidance programme for those aiming at entrepreneurship, sales and
marketing after a Bachelor’s degree in engineering. Students
acquired preliminary knowledge as to how they can set their first foot in the
commercial aspects of engineering and technology. For those focusing on
placements after their graduation, Mr Bakshi put forward various suggestions to
enhance their resume; for instance, he opined that LinkedIn profiles and
internships could prove to be the key to a bright job offer from various
established core engineering companies. Lastly, Mr Bakshi made himself
available for a quick Q&A session which worked really well for some curious
minds in the audience.
Visit to Avery Dennison
Knowledge Centre: A team of 16 students from the PPT department visited the
company on day 2 and 3 and were welcomed by Mr Navin Chandra, from Avery
Dennison knowledge centre. On the first day, information about the company was
given and then all different departments and processes in those departments
were shown. Mr Navin then gave the students very valuable information and knowledge
regarding each and every process. He also encouraged students to ask doubts and
helped them solve those doubts. The students were allowed to perform some work
as a practical on the machinery in the plant, under the able guidance of Mr
Navin which helped them understand the exact working of the machinery. The next
day, there was special discussion session with Mr Navin, in which he discussed
different label stacks, their identification and latest trends in the label
industry. What followed was another seminar with Mr Sandeep, the Marketing head
for Asia and Pacific Region, Avery Dennison. This seminar covered the topics
like latest trends and improvements and upcoming technologies in packaging
Industry. Both the seminars gave students valuable knowledge and opened them to
new ideas about printing and packaging industry.
Visit to Tata Consultancy
Services: The TCS’ office in Whitefield was visited by the
zealous students from Computers and IT department who were received by Mr
Srinivasa Ramanujan, its HR manager. The seminar began with a presentation
which included basic information about the company and its work-spaces. Mr
Ramanujan then shared some of his experiences in the IT domain and also made
the students aware of recent trends in the software industry. He also focused on how engineers should prepare themselves for an IT job. A brief Q&A
session followed the seminar. Students learnt a lot from the visit and their
dream to be successful in the IT industry gained momentum with the tips that they
received during the seminar.
Visit to L&T-Komatsu:
17 students from the mechanical department and 30 from the EXTC department
visited L&T-Komatsu’s Bangalore workplace comprising of
machinery and hydraulics work areas.
The real shop-floor
experience gained during the visit helped the students in understanding the
concept of fabrication and assemblies in a production line. The principle of ‘Safety First’ was well visible in the industry.
This was followed by a motivating speech by Mr. Upendra Hide, Asst. General
Manager, L & T, which left each one inspired to be more competitive and
hardworking. Students’ queries regarding the firm and its
operation were successfully answered.
Seminar by GEKO: Tagging stuffs and making a note of things so
that they don’t get misplaced is a task made easy
by Connovate, a company that has launched a product – GEKO tag. The seminar began with the addressing of the company
delegates who then introduced the concept of tags and internet of objects.
These tags, connected to smartphones, operate on Bluetooth technology. The
company also discussed their future plans for the improvement of the product
with students.
Visit to Goonj: The students from
EXTC and BT departments visited Goonj, one of the most prominent NGO’s
in India which has helped many-a-lives with their various schemes. After a tour
through Goonj’s major collection centre of Bengaluru, the students were made
aware of how reusing and recycling of discarded materials like clothes could
help those who cannot buy these products. Many products that could be reused
were on display. Also the students were briefed as to how they could use
everything around them in the most efficient manner and that a technical
background can give rise to a lot of different ideas and ease the work started
by Goonj. Overall, the visit to Goonj was very successful one with students
realizing the importance of resources.
Visit to Coca Cola factory: Students from the PPT and EXTC
departments visited Coca cola’s manufacturing and packaging plant
situated on the outskirts of Bengaluru. An extensively large company, Coca Cola
had the best of infrastructure. All the students were provided with a coca cola
as a welcome drink. Then the students were accompanied to the main plant where
the product was made and packaged. The tour of the company started with the
section of the company where the actual product i.e. coca cola is mixed with
sugar syrup and sent for further processing. The filling plant was adjacent to
the product making section. There, automated machines were used to handle most
of the process, thus man power required was limited. All the aspects about
mixing, filling, bottle cleaning was explained in a very simple manner and
charts were put everywhere for more detailed understanding of each process.
Visit to SamiLabs
: Sami Labs manufactures and markets phytonutrients and standardized herbal extracts, specialty fine chemicals and organic intermediates used in the
nutritional, pharmaceutical and food industries. Students from the
biotechnology department had the opportunity to visit Samitech laboratories
wherein they were made to understand the various processes and tests that a
Sami product goes through before it is actually marketed. Moreover, the
students visited the manufacturing plant of Samitech where they acquired
knowledge about how a biotechnology industry actually works and the kind of
equipments and machinery it utilizes. The visit proved to be quite an
informative experience for the students.
(With inputs from I.V. organisers and volunteers)
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