June 2013campus diary

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I N D I A N I N S T I T U T E O F T E C H N O L O G Y B O M B A Y

http://www.iitb.ac.in/CampusDiary/CD.htmlJune 2013

campus diaryIIT BOMBAY - edX PARTNERSHIP

IIT Bombay signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with edX in Delhi on June 25,2013. Through this MoU, the institute has entered into a partnership with edX, a not-for-profitcompany set up by MIT and Harvard, and joined xConsortium of top global universities. Thepartnership with edX will strengthen the massive Open On-line Courses (MOOCs) that arealready gaining rapid popularity.

Using information and communication technologies, IIT Bombay has developed and deployedtraining programmes, engaging thousands of participants at a time, through national missionprojects sponsored by MHRD. Its research programme in education technology aims atevolving cutting edge technologies and appropriate pedagogy to improve quality educationand to achieve scale. Collaboration with edX and the partner universities will help IIT Bombaybetter understand and solve issues in scaling up quality education. Enhancement to theopen source edX platform will add to key areas of its research focus and enable technologyto be deployed in other areas of education such as vocational training, school education,and faculty empowerment. Some of the regular courses of IIT Bombay will now be availableto lakhs of students across the country, and to others globally. Quality education, impartedto its students on campus, can now be accessed by all learners.

June 2013campus diary

SOCIETY FORINNOVATION AND

ENTREPRENEURSHIP(SINE)

SINE is an umbrella forpromotion of entrepreneurshipat IIT Bombay. It administers abusiness incubator whichprovides support for tech-nology-based entrepreneur-ship thus extend-ing the role ofIIT Bombay by facilitating theconversion of research activityinto entrepreneurial ventures.

As on date, 46 companieshave been incubated. In theyear 2012-13, SINE hosted 14companies, of which four havegraduated from the incubator.Of its current companies, twohave received investments fromVenture Capital firms andAngel Investors. Three of thegraduate companies havereceived second round ofinvestment. The existingcompanies are from varioustechnologies such aseducation, cleantech, mecha-tronics, audio technologies,nano technology, engineeringsoftware, geometric simulationfor foundries, and marketingsolutions for retail network.

With a view to expanding itsincubation activity, SINE isfocusing on promoting pre-incubation and enabling virtualincubation outside Mumbai. Tobegin with, virtual incubation inPune area will be taken up ona pilot basis. SINE has beenoperationally self-sufficientsince inception.

Prof. Pushpak Bhattacharyya,Department of ComputerScience and Engineering, hasbeen elected as Chairman of theAsian Language ResourceCommittee under the aegis ofAsian Federation of NaturalLanguage Processing for theyear 2013-14. He will beresponsible for activities andevents related to languageresource development in Asianlanguages, which is crucial forlanguage technology in Asia.

Prof. Dharamveer Singh,Department of Civil Engineering,has been appointed as VisitingResearch Scholar at theDepartment of Civil Engineering,University of Oklahoma, Norman,USA, May-June 2013.

Prof. Dharamveer Singh,Department of Civil Engineering,has been selected as Reviewerfor the International Journal ofSolid Waste Technology andManagement.

Department of Humanitiesand Social Sciences

Dr. Sudha Shastri presented apaper titled “Literary Migrations,Cultural Transformations: FromA Midsummer Night’s Dream ToKamdev ka Apna, Vasant Rituka Sapna” at the InternationalMultidisciplinary Conference onTranscultural Imaginaries,organised by the Centre forLiberal Arts & Social Sciencesand Division of English, NanyangTechnological University,Singapore, June 14-17, 2013.

Prof. Azizuddin Khanpresented a paper titled“Impulsivity & Task Condition in

Prospective Memory Perfor-mance: Converging Evidencefrom Experimental andQuestionnaire Study” at the 5thInternational Conference inCognitive Sciences (ICCS 2013),Tehran, Iran, May 17-09, 2013.

Prof. Khan also made a posterpresentation on “Time EstimationDeficit in DevelopmentalDyslexia” at the InternationalWorkshop on Reading andDevelopmental Dyslexia held inBasque Centre on Cognition,Brain and Language, DonostiaSan Sebastian, Spain, May 30 toJune 1, 2013.

Mohita, J., and Khan, A.,“Eyewitness Identification:Importance of Belief in MemoryAccuracy,” Indian Journal ofPsychology and Education, Vol.3 (1), 1-20.

Department of CivilEngineering

Ghabchi, R., Singh, D.V., andZaman, M., Tian, Q.,”MechanisticEvaluation of Effect of WMA-Additives on Wettability andMoisture Susceptibility Propertiesof Asphalt Mixes,” ASTM Journalof Testing and Evaluation (2013).

Singh, D.V., Zaman, M., andCommuri, S.,”Comparison ofMorphological Properties ofDifferent Types of CoarseAggregates”(paper submitted toASCE), Air Field and HighwayPavements Conference, 2013,held at the Transportation andDevelopment Institute, June 9-12,2013, Los Angeles, California,USA.

Ghabchi, R., Singh, D.V., Zaman,M., and Tian, Q.,”A LaboratoryStudy of Warm Mix Asphalt forMoisture Damage Potential UsingSurface Free Energy Method”

Awards and Distinctions

Publications/ Presentations

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June 2013campus diary

(paper submitted to ASCE), AirField and Highway PavementsConference, Transportation andDevelopment Institute, June 9-12,2013, Los Angeles, California,USA.

Department of PhysicsMr. Harihar Behera and Prof.Gautam Mukhopadhyay,”TheEffect of Biaxial Strain on theStructural and ElectronicProperties of ZnS Monolayer: Full-Potential DFT Calculations,”h t t p : / / a r X i v . o r g / a b s / :arXiv.1305.6895v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall] (2013).

Prof. Gautam Mukhopadhyayand Mr. Harihar Behera,“Emerging Two-dimensionalMaterials: Graphene and its OtherStructural Analogues”, http://arXiv.org/abs/: arXiv.1306.0809v1[cond-mat.mtrl-sci] (2013).

Dr. Jennifer Smith, Dean of theCollege of Arts and Sciences,Washington University, US,spoke on “The Role of Climate inHuman Migration in theArchaeological Past: CaseStudies from Paleolithic Egypt”,at an Institute Lecture on June 5,2013.

Dr. Pawan Malhotra, StaffResearch Scientist, InternationalCentre for Genetic Engineeringand Biotechnology, New Delhi,delivered a seminar on“Plasmodium falciparumcysteine/serine proteases atasexual blood stages and theirrole(s) in Hemozoin formation”atthe Department of Biosciencesand Bioengineering on June 14,2013.

Prof. Shefali Moitra, formerlyProfessor of Philosophy,Jadavpur University, gave aseminar on”Rationality and theSubjective/Objective Divide”at theDepartment of Humanities andSocial Sciences on July 3, 2013.

Dr. Sankara Papavinasam,President, CorrMagnetConsulting Inc., Canada,delivered a seminar on “RecentAdvancements in the InternalCorrosion Control of OilTransmission Pipelines”at theDepartment of MetallurgicalEngineering and MaterialsScience on June 21, 2013.

Centre for Research inNanotechnology and ScienceDr. K.P. Madhusudanan, formerHead of SAIF, CDRI Lucknow,gave a presentation on “ModernMass Spectrometry for SmallMolecules”at the Centre forResearch in Nanotechnology andScience on July 2, 2013.

Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava,Department of Biosciences andBioengineering, gave an invitedlecture on “Proteomics andSystems Level Tools forIdentification of Biomarkers:Challenges and Opportunities” ata Workshop on ClinicalProteomics held at Madurai, heldon June 24-26, 2013.

Prof. T.I. Eldho, Department ofCivil Engineering, delivered aninvited lecture on “ComputerModeling of HydrologicProcesses for Water ResourcesManagement”at a NationalSymposium on ComputationalFluid Dynamics application inWater Engineering organized byIISc Bangalore, Bangaluru, heldon June 1, 2013.

Prof. T.I. Eldho, Department ofCivil Engineering, organised a 3-day CEP course on “RainwaterHarvesting and SustainableWater Management” for INGCEngineeris at IIT Bombay, held onApril 4-6, 2013.

Prof. S.G. Dani, Department ofMathematics, visited the InstituteMathematique de Luminy, Aix-Marseille University, Marseile,France, on a collaborativeresearch programme from May 9to June 14, 2013, and gave aninvited talk on “Large Subsets ofPoints with Atypical Behavior, inNumber Theory and Dynamics”at the Ergodic Theory Seminar,on June 4, 2013.Prof. Dani also gave invited talkson”Dynamics of the GeodesicFlow on the Modular Surface andApplications in Number Theory”at a Conference on StatisticalPhysics and DynamicalSystems at the University ofStrasbourg, France, May 30 -June 1, 2013; “Dynamics andDiophantine Approximation” and“Dynamics and HyperbolicGeometry” at a Workshop onComplex Analysis at theUniversity of Central Rajasthan,Kishangarh, held on 24 June2013; and “Curiosities aboutNumbers - From Ancient toModern Times” at the JECRCUniversity, Jaipur, held on 25 June2013.

Prof. V.D. Sharma, Departmentof Mathematics, visited theCourant Institute of MathematicalSciences (CIMS), USA, duringMay 13 - June 30, 2013, to carryout a collaborative research onMixed Hyperbolic-parabolicSystems of PDEs that appear inthe Hall MHD.

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Institute Colloquium/Lectures & Seminars

Faculty News

June 2013campus diary

Prof. J.K. Nayak, Department ofEnergy Science and Engineering,organised a CEP course on“Solar Thermal Power”, at IITBombay during 29th April - 1stMay 2013. Lectures on variousaspects of solar thermal powerincluding its economic viabilitywere delivered during the course.A visit to the Solar ThermalLaboratory of the institute wasalso arranged. Eighteenparticipants from various Indianindustries and three fromacademic institutions attendedthe course. Participants werebriefed on the MWe grid-connected Solar Thermal PowerPlant being built by IIT Bombayon the campus of Solar EnergyCentre of MNRE at Gwalpahari,near Gurgaon.

Prof. P. Ramadevi, Departmentof Physics, gave three invitedlectures on” Physics andMathematics of Link Homology”in a meeting held at the Universityof Montreal, June 24-July 5, 2013.

“State Bank Day” is celebrated onthe 1st of July every year. Thisyear, at a function organized onthe eve of State Bank Daycelebrations, the bank honouredpersons who had done innovativework in the field of technology.Among them was Mr. SamiullaShaikh, an M.Tech. student fromthe Department of ComputerScience and Engineering whoworked under the guidance ofProf. Pushpak Bhattacharyya.Mr. Shaikh was honoured for hiscontributions to Indian LanguageWordnet Development and WordSense Disambiguation. Theaward carried a trophy and giftvouchers worth Rs.10,000.

Solar Decathlon Europe 2014Competition

IIT Bombay and RachanaSansad’s Academy ofArchitecture recently formed thefirst team from India to participatein the prestigious SolarDecathlon Europe 2014competition. It is an 18-month-long challenge culminating in theconstruction of a life-size 700sq.ft. solar powered house withinIITB campus. The house will thenbe disassembled and shipped tothe competition site at Versaillesand re-erected there in merely 10days – another feat in itself. There-constructed houses arevisited and inspected byorganisers, industry, media andthe local public over the following14-day period, typically seeingover 200,000 visitors.

Named “Team Shunya”, thestudents are currently working onthe design and technical featuresof the house. The house isjudged on 10 different aspectslike Architecture, Engineering,Innovation, etc.; hence, the name“Decathlon”. The efforts of theteam are streamlined by the ableguidance of Prof. RanganBanerjee, Faculty Advisor, alongwith regular help and mentoringby professors in various fields.Prof. M.V. Rane, Prof. MonikaJain, Prof. Siddhartha Ghosh,Prof. Suneet Singh, Prof. ChetanSingh Solanki, Prof. RohitShinkre (AoA), and Prof. JatinPrajapati (AoA) are all part of themanagement committee to seethe team through in this ambitiousventure.The students plan to bring abouta change in the Indian buildingindustry by demonstrating theaffordability of sustainablehousing. The number of middle-

class homes in India currentlystands at 32 million and isexpected to grow up to 147 millionby the year 2030. The rapidincrease in housing infrastructurewill pose significant challenges toenergy demand-and-supplydynamics. They aspire toformulate and document a designprocess, which can be replicatedto create sustainable homes in aresource-efficient manner.In addition to engineering andarchitecture, the participatingteams will also be judged on thequantum of awareness andinterest that they are able togenerate towards the competitionand to the broader cause ofenergy efficiency in buildings.The cost of the project includingconstruction, travel & lodging ofteam members in France, and allthe communication activities, isestimated to be 2 crores; themoney has to be raised by theteam in the form of corporate andgovernment sponsorships.The team was selected inDecember 2012, and willshowcase the final product inVersailles during June-July 2014.

Prof. IndradevSamajdar, Dept. ofM e t a l l u r g i c a lEngineering andMaterials Science,has been appointedas Head, Centre for

Research in Nanotechnology andScience (CRNTS), for a period ofthree years with effect from May30, 2013.

Student News

Appointments

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June 2013campus diary

Dr. Ravindra D.Gudi, Departmentof ChemicalEngineering, hasbeen appointed as

Professor on June 10, 2013.

Dr. Munish KumarChandel, CESE,has been appointedas Assistant Prof.on June 6, 2013.

Dr. Lokesh P.Padhye, CESE,has been appo-inted as AssistantProfessor on June13, 2013.

Retirements(June 30, 2013)

Prof. Emmela P.Rao, AssociateP r o f e s s o r ,Department of CivilEngg., retired after42 years of service.

Shri Babu N.Bagade, SeniorSuperintendent,M a t e r i a lM a n a g e m e n tDivision, retired

after 35 years of service.

Shri ChandrakantMore, Superin-tendent, Centre forResearch in Nano-technology andScience, retired

after 38 years of service.

Shri EknathKedare, Superint-endent, AccountsSection, retiredafter 40 years ofservice.

Ms. ShantaS r e e r a m a n ,Superintendent,Dean (SA) Office,retired after 36years of service.

.Shri AttukadavilS. Chacko, Super-intendent, Hostel 8,retired after 29years of service.

Ms. NishaValavalkar, JuniorSuperintendent,Central Library,retired after 38years of service.

Shri KharksinghD. Singh, JuniorSuperintendent,NCC, retired after35 years of service.

.Shri Rajkumar R.Gurda, JuniorTechnical Supt.,Department ofChemical Engg.,retired after 32years of service.

Shri Vasant L.K s h i r s a g a r ,Attendant (SG),Dept. of ElectricalEngg., retired after33 years of service.

Shri NarayanSatve, Attendant(SG), IIT Hospital,retired after 34years of service.

Shri AnkushW a g h m a r e ,Helper (SG),Estate Office,retired after 34years of service.

Shri Sadashiv M.Sonawane, Sr.W a t c h m a n ,Security Section,retired after 33years of service.

Ms. Leelabai M.Pawar, Cleaner,Public HealthOffice, retired afterseven years ofservice

ERRATAIn the March-April-May 2013issue of the Campus Diary,under ‘Appointments’, thedesignation of Dr. Shireesh B.Kedare was wrongly shown.The correct information is asfollows:

“Dr. Shireesh B. Kedare,Department of EnergyScience & Engineering, hasbeen appointed as Professoron May 27, 2013.”

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Salt’n Pepperby Dr. Arun Inamdar

June 2013campus diary

In the Wilderness

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June 2013

Campus Diary is edited and published byPublic Relations Officer,IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai - 400 076.Printed at IITB Printing PressFor Private Circulation Only.Material for publication in Campus Diaryshould reach PPR section by the 25th ofevery month (email : pro@iitb.ac.in)

BOOK POST

campus diary

CEP courses scheduled during July-August, 2013

No. Course Title Course Coordinator Department Duration

1 Finite Element Method and Prof. T.I. Eldho & Civil Engg. July 01 – 05, 2013Applications in Civil Engineering Prof. Y.M. Desai

2 Proteomics – Principles and Prof. Sanjeeva Srivastava Biosciences July 02, 2013Techniques & Bioengineering

3 Urban Drainage Management: Prof. Kapil Gupta Civil Engg. July 04 – 06, 2013State-of-the-art

4 10th Batch of Executive Prof. S. Bhargava SJMSoM July 06, 2013 toProgramme in Management April 27, 2014

5 Systems Engineering Principles Prof. Ashok Joshi Aerospace Engg. July 08 – 10, 2013

6 Integrated Navigation of Prof. H.B. Hablani Aerospace Engg. July 08 –12, 2013Flight Vehicles

7 Water Resources Management Prof. RAAJ. Ramsankaran & Civil Engg. July 08 – 12, 2013Studies using Geospatial Prof. T.I. Eldho

8 Monsoon HCI Prof. Anirudha Joshi IDC July 10 – 24, 2013

9 Product Semantics Prof. U.A. Athavankar IDC July 15 – 20, 2013

10 Taking Product form Decisions Prof. U.A. Athavankar IDC July 23 – 30, 2013using Semantic Creatively

11 IC Design and Fabrication Prof. V.R. Rao Electrical Engg. July 25, 2013

12 EXPO CD Prof. Ravi Poovaiah IDC Aug 28 – 30, 2013

by Mr. C.P. Joglekar