Develop a cost-effective automated toy-making machine
A team of six students from S.R. Engineering College (SREC) in Warangal bagged the top prize at a national-level problem solving competition for their automated toy maker innovation meant for rural toy makers.
College principal V. Mahesh said the competition was organised by Indo-Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE) Student Consortium for Advancement and Learning in Engineering Education at Tyagaraja college of Engineering between January 5 and january 7 at Madurai. The winning students were Paul Vineeth Reddy (4th year ECE), K. Enosh (3rd year Mech), S. Sirihasa (3rd year CSE), Md. Imran Ahmad (3rd year Mech) K. Sricharan (3rd year EEE) and D. Vinay (3rd year ECE).
The award was given to SREC students for developing a cost-effective automated toy making machine that increases productivity four-fold.
The competition saw entrants from 30 colleges across nation, who were asked to submit a solution to a specific problem or challenge. The participants from SREC visited a nearby village to identify the existing problems. They generated multiple ideas and finally decided on a cost-effective solution for toy makers.
“It is indeed a challenge and what gave us immense satisfaction is solving a problem” the students said. Explaining their idea and innovation, the students added that the automated machine would allow toy makers to make 40 toys per day, boosting their productivity. In the conventional manual method, they could produce a maximum of 10 toys.
The machine will have a grinder, conveyor belt, rollers, block cutter, die punch and a furnace.
source: http://www.the hindu.com / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Warangal Urban District – January 11th, 2018
Srikanth Rangachari who invented a new language script using symbols of the world currencies. | Photo Credit: K_V_RAMANA
Srikanth Rangachari uses symbols of different currencies to denote each letter.
Much before the alphabet evolved and scripts were developed for the languages spoken around the world, symbols were used to denote letters in the rudimentary scripts of the ancient times and the Egyptian Hieroglyphic writing is the best example.
Perhaps taking inspiration from the past, Srikanth Rangachari, a teacher in a private school at Tanur mandal headquarters in Nirmal district, has devised a new script using the symbols of different currencies, which, he claims can be utilised for the tribal languages that have no scripts.
Interestingly, Mr. Rangachari has transliterated all the 702 stanzas in 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita and the national anthem into his new script, that has 51 letters. Working day and night for three months, he improvised the script which he has named the ‘Currency Script’.
Hailing from Sunket village of Morthad mandal in the district, the 24-year-old always wanted to be different since childhood and try new things. He had already etched his name in the Telugu Book of Records and Limca Book of Records — breaking the world record of Geetha Smith and Mathew Jackson — by reciting the English alphabet 37 times in a record low time of 1.420 seconds.
Mr. Rangachari used the symbol of US dollar for ‘Da’ in Telugu; the UK pound for ‘A’ and Nigerian nirasigin for ‘Na’ and so on. Slash [/], @ and * denoted ‘Aa’, ‘E’ and ‘Ee’ in Telugu respectively. “ People who do not have a script for their mother tongue can use it for writing their language,” he says.
The young teacher has also incorporated zero, diamond, laokip and symbols of Indian rupee, Japanese Yen and Korean wonsign and Judaism and Swastik of Hindusim. For his endeavour, he secured the recognition of Amazing Book of Indian World Records last month, winning the admiration of his colleagues and friends.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by P. Ram Mohan / Nizamabad – December 25th, 2017
(Second from left) K Vijaya Kaasyapa (class 4) of Takshasila Public School, posing with trophy at Sip All India Artithmetic Genius Inter School National Contest 2017 in Hyderabad on Sunday
Hyderabad:
City student, K Vijaya Kaasyapa (class 4) of Takshasila Public School, emerged first runner- up in SIP All India Arithmetic Genius Inter- School National contest finals held here on Sunday. He shared the prize along with three other contestants –Chinmay Jadhav from Pune and two other students Ajinkya Basaiye and Bhagyesh Jain from Aurangabad.
SIP (Sociable, Intellectual and Progressive).‘I am feeling elated’, said K Vijaya Kaasyapa. His parents, Radha Krishna and Lalitha were on cloud nine and were very happy that their kid proved his mettle in a national level competition. He reached to be one of the 150 finals competing with 2.2 lakh kids from 20 states, 476 schools in 270 towns across India.
The National Champions in Class 2 was Shiyam Sunthar A from Dr. GSK Memorial School, Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu; in class 3, Alisha Manjunatha from Karnataka and Aayush Vairagi from Pune shared the prize and in class 4 it was Ranchi student Rabiz Raza.
The first three National Level Winners each from classes 2, 3 and 4 in the contest were given Rs 25,000/-, 15000/- and 10,000/- cash prize respectively and handed over a trophy and certificate.
Arithmetical Skill is very crucial for the success of the kids future, said Dinesh Victor, who is running SIP Academy for the past 14 years and trained 4.76 kids from across India.
As many as 150 children of class 2, 3, 4 filtered from two lakh kids competed preliminary stages from across 20 States competed in the nationals where they solved 160 arithmetic sums in just ten minutes. They were faster than calculators said Uma Swaminathan, Regional Manager of SIP Academy Telangana, AP and Tamil Nadu.
The objective of the contest was to develop Arithmetic skill, one of those crucial for children’s future development. SIP Academy’s focuses is on improving the Arithmetic Skills in Children at a young age, said Dinesh Victor.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> Young Hans / December 2017
Manmohan Jain of India Literacy Project | Photo Credit: G_RAMAKRISHNA
With courage and conviction by your side, take a chance, exults Manmohan Jain of India Literacy Project (Hyderabad)
Three years ago when Manmohan Jain of India Literacy Project (Hyderabad) had to travel to Bengaluru for a meeting, he wondered how to book tickets! “I knew how to book tickets but till then my travel plans and hotel bookings were taken care by my secretary. Later, I figured it on my own,” he recalls with a smile.
In their office near Kothaguda post office, a small room houses the books and kits for school children. Manmohan looks cheerful as the office boy walks in with a tray and states, ‘Please have water and tea.’ A smile adorns Manmohan’s face; The office boy speaking English is a boost to his ‘literacy for all’ mission.
Software stint
A student of electrical engineering, Manmohan switched to software when he was introduced to programming language in his third year. After graduation, he went to the US to do his masters. “I found programming very interesting and challenging and changed my academic interests into software,” he shares. He spent 18 years in the software industry which included a 10-year and 8-year stint in the US and India.
He joined it as a software engineer/trainee and reached the level of vice president in CA Technologies. “I enjoyed my job. In fact I was in one company for 18 years which was unheard of in the software industry,” he states and defines growth, “I believed that growth is constant when one is learning. One need not look at growth as some promotion. For me, growth happened in two aspects — both vertical in terms of promotion or lateral in terms of handling a new team or domain.”
His comfy life and workplace perks was the dream job for many. “It was interesting and challenging and I kept myself motivated by being in domain or shifting to a new team or changing cities from California to New York to Chennai and then Hyderabad. I would joke that I was able to change jobs while being in the same company. I was able to do different things,”
While continuing his job, he started the Hyderabad chapter of India Literacy Project and was volunteering his time in it. “But software being hectic I could only give limited time and felt if I wanted to scale this and make a significant impact I had to give it dedicated time,” he states and affirms his decision to quit job was not based on a trigger moment. “For me, it was more of a process of things building up to when the inevitable had to happen. Stagnation on career front and the impact being so limited, is what finally made it happen.”
He plunged into it full time in 2014 and broaden the base of ILP. With 20 core volunteers and 40-50 floating volunteers, ILP works in 33 government schools with its focus to improve the quality of education in those schools. The volunteers could teach or read books to the children. “We have a flexible system where volunteers can offer their time; either it could be an hour a week or even two hours a month. All we ask is treat this also professionally and be committed to it.” Speaking about the rising number of volunteers, he shares, “It’s encouraging and heartening to see how the youth is also interested in giving back. Earlier, volunteering was something which was done after retirement. There were various factors to it but now they look at these stints as varied experiences.”
As a parting note, Manmohan affirms positive energy will help one deal with challenges. “If anyone has an inkling, take the plunge and do not be afraid. Even if you fail, re do it. If you are doing this for a good reason, my conviction is things will work out. When people see that you took a chance, they will appreciate it and value that you had the courage and conviction. For someone who is not afraid of trying, failing is a valuable asset.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by Neeraja Murthy / December 14th, 2017
Two students of Paramita High School to fly in May 2018Students of Paramita High School in Karimnagar who have been selected to participate in international competitions in the USA. | Photo Credit: Byarrangement
Two students of Paramita High School (IIT) in Mankammathota of Karimnagar town have been selected to participate in the international robotic presentation which would be organized jointly by Lawrence Technologies, Michigan and RILE university, West Florida in the USA in May 2018.
Class IX students K. Aneesh and Md. Aziz, who participated in the National-level Robo Making Challenge and its functioning analysis organized by Novatech Robo Institute in Bengaluru at Christ University from December 7 to 9, have bagged the first prize in the competition in which more than 300 students from reputed schools across the country participated.
Incidentally, another set of students from the school — Meghana and Nikitha — participated in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Arizona in USA in May 2016. Two students of the school Paramita Schools chairman E. Prasada Rao said that the Atal Tinkering Lab set up by the Union government in their school in 2016 had come in handy for the students to have hands on experience in the robotic designing and participate in the national and international competitions.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Karimnagar – December 12th, 2017
Vidul Thimanna, an ex-student of Army Public School, Bolaram, Secunderabad, has topped the all India merit list of Technical Entry Scheme (TES) to join the Indian Armed Forces. The list was released on November 29. Vidul, who is presently an engineering student at the prestigious Army Institute of Technology, Pune, will discontinue the course and join the Indian army.
Vidul’s father Col CM Thimanna, a Shaurya Chakra awardee, is currently posted at the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering Secunderabad and hails from Coorg (Kodagu) in Karnataka. “It has been my passion to serve the country by joining the Indian Army. To me, the challenging and the adventurous life the army offers is any day better than delivering from a cubicle of a MNC,” he said.
The Technical Entry Scheme is a technical intake of the Indian Army with the aim of transforming young boys into techno-warriors during the course of training of four years. “The modern day operational requirement needs an officer to possess a synergistic blend of healthy body and a sound technical mind. Technical entry scheme is a highly competent entry into the Indian army with a very limited intake and rigorous standards of selection procedures and presently is the most sought after entry,” according to army officials.
Vidul Thimanna had earlier this year cleared class XII examination with a score of 97 per cent.
“We are proud of our son for taking such a decision and positive that he will definitely keep the name of the country above self throughout,” Vidul’s mother, Veena Thimanna said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City News> Hyderabad News / TNN / December 02nd, 2017
Pavani Sree, a PhD Scholar in the department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH) has been selected for a paper presentation in the international conference titled ‘Identity, Alterity and Gender Normativity’ to be held between December 1 and 2nd in Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Pavani is pursuing her PhD in Sociology Disability in the department of Sociology, under the supervision of Prof C Raghava Reddy, UoH.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News> Schools & Colleges / TNN / November 30th, 2017
Optimum “The drug gets released quickly when the pore size of the nanofabric is 100 microns,” says Mudrika Khandelwal (second from right).
The amount of drug in the patch can be modified so that it is released at desired rate
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have developed a novel drug-delivery system that releases a commonly used pain killer (diclofenac sodium) at the target site in a controlled fashion such that there is constant release of the drug for as long as 12 hours. The drug has low half-life of one–two hours and so constant release for up to 12 hours becomes particularly significant.
In normal circumstances, the drug gets metabolised very quickly, thereby requiring frequent dosing to maintain the desired therapeutic levels. The fluctuation of the drug plasma level is one reason why the medicine cases adverse effects.
To prevent burst or quick release of the drug, a team led by Mudrika Khandelwal from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad fabricated a transdermal patch containing the drug and made the patch highly hydrophobic (water repelling). The high hydrophobicity of the patch ensures that the highly water-soluble drug is released in a slow and sustained fashion. The results were published in the journal Applied Surface Science.
Tuning the patch
What makes the transdermal patch particularly significant is the freedom to increase the amount of drug present in the patch so that the drug is constantly released at a therapeutically desirable dosage for a longer duration.
The patch was prepared by mixing the drug with cellulose acetate bio-polymer and electrospun in the form of a nanofabric. Ordinary nylon mesh with different pore sizes (50, 100 and 200 microns) was used at the site of the collector and this allowed the nanofibres to get deposited with micron-sized gaps in between.
“The non-wetting capillary action of the air pockets pushes the water away and this changes the water contact angle from about 30 degrees to 138 degrees and makes the nanofabric hydrophobic.
There is higher non- wetting capillary action of the air pockets when the air gaps are smaller in size,” says Prof. Chandra Shekhar Sharma from the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad and one of the authors of the paper. “Since the drug is released through a diffusion process, the increased water repelling nature (hydrophobicity) of the fabric reduces the effective area in contact resulting in reduced diffusion rate, which also reduces the drug release.”
Constant release
“The drug, which is embedded in the transdermal patch, is released at a constant rate for up to 12 hours, when the pore size of the nanofabric is 50 microns. We achieved constant release for only three hours when the pore size was 100 microns. The drug without any micropatterning was released in just one hour,” says Dr. Khandelwal who is the corresponding author of the paper.
“We tested transdermal release using a membrane that mimics the skin. The membrane separates the drug-loaded nanofabric from a solution that in turn mimics the body fluids,” says Dr. Khandelwal. “Different drugs can be loaded in the nanofibres to achieve constant release for a long time.”
“We embedded ciprofloxacin antibiotic in the patch and achieved similar results. The transdermal patch loaded with the pain killer [diclofenac sodium] can be used for treating local muscular pain. It may not be possible to treat deep-seated pain using this patch,” says Shivakalyani Adepu from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad and the first author of the paper.
The researchers plan to develop transdermal patch prototypes and test them on animals.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sci-Tech> Science / by R. Prasad / November 11th, 2017
Amita is squash, swimming champion who aced competitive exams. Amita Gondi
Hyderabad:
While other students struggle to secure seats at reputed universities, Amita Gondi from Hyderabad is spoilt for choice. This grade XII student of Oakridge International School has received offer letters from Harvard as well as Stanford.
Amita plays squash and racquetball at the international level and is a national-level swimmer. She has many awards to her name and is currently ranked first in India, in squash, in the girls under-17 category. She has finished in the top three at major tournaments including the 2016 US Junior Squash Open, the 2015 Canada Junior Open and the 2016 Canada Junior Open.
Amita received a letter from Harvard University in July 2017, inviting her to visit their campus and finalise the admissions process. She then received an offer from Stanford University, which she accepted earlier this month. Luke Hammond, the assistant coach of the Harvard University Men’s and Women’s Squash Teams, had written to Amita in July, asking her to visit the campus for an official visit and interview, upon which her acceptance would be dependent.
Subsequent to her visit, she received a letter from Stanford which read, “It is a tribute to your outstanding achievements as a student-athlete that our Department of Athletics has requested an early review of your application for admission to Stanford for Fall 2018. I am delighted to share this good news with you ahead of our regular notification period. We offer congratulations on your distinguished accomplishments and welcome you to Stanford.”
Ranked first in India in the girls under-17 category
SAT Score: 1530 (Math: 800, English: 730)
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Anusha Puppala, Deccan Chronicle / October 30th, 2017
The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) is working on components of driverless car technologies.
“We are actually working on components of driverless car. We are not hoping that the car will be running on Hyderabad roads without a driver,” IIIT-H director P J Narayanan told reporters.
But it is a problem that practically every good group in the world is working. It poses several academic challenges,” he said.
Though the goal is a driverless car, the research into the subject would help understand many other things, he said.
“Driverless car, that’s our goal. It’s not easy to have a driverless car on Indian roads… But, the purpose is you develop technologies for it, you learn a lot for other things.
“Instead of driverless car, how can you make our car safer. How can you help our drivers with automatic help…,” he said.
The institute is working on a project for providing data on the condition of roads in Hyderabad to the government agencies, Narayanan said.
Under the project, a car fitted with cameras is proposed to be sent on the roads and the cameras would capture images on the condition of roads.
“…Just send a car with a video. Not driverless. Somebody driving it. And the car will record the video and at the back end information algorithms will detect where are the problem points. This information will help GHMC (Hyderabad civic body) or government to collect,” he said.
The institute runs a car with the technology within its campus under controlled conditions as part of its research, he said.
source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / ET Home> Industry> Auto> News> Industry / PTI / October 24th, 2017
