http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Engg-college-launches-institute-to-nurture-innovate-minds--ideas/690328/
In an attempt to instill a sense of innovation among youths, the College of Engineering, Pune, (CoEP), has set up an institute in its campus.
The Bhau Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership, according to college authorities, has been set up with a vision to nurture bright ideas of students of colleges in Pune and give them a chance to bring their ideas into reality. To begin its mission, Bhau institute has launched Ignited Innovators of India (I2India), a social change movement, to give every student in Pune a chance to implement social projects of their choice. This will give them, say college authorities, an opportunity to bring about small yet significant changes in the world around them and also evaluate themselves as social entrepreneurs.
Bhau Institute will support the projects with financial aid, mentorship and networking opportunities. Modelled on the widely acclaimed social movement ‘LEAD’ of the Deshpande Foundation, Hubli, I2India will fund 100 projects in the first phase. Working on the philisophy, “I see, I own, I solve”, students want to take up everyday problems and want to use their creativity.
COEP students developing Robot Bank for BDDS
Sushant Kulkarni
Sunday, May 16, 2010 AT 11:47 AM (IST)
Tags: Pune, COEP, robot, BDDS, MCCIA
PUNE: Bridging the gap between the academics and practitioners, students from College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) are developing a Robot Bank for the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of Pune police.
Parivartan, a city-based group of young professionals and Janvani, an initiative of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MCCIA) have been instrumental in bringing together the squad and COEP students, who are now ready with the final designs of these robots after information and knowledge sharing among them.
Shantipal Ohol, who is in-charge of the Centralised Robotics and Automation Lab at COEP, said, “In our first meeting with BDDS, their officers explained to us their basic requirements. A single robot with all these capabilities of detection, handling and disposal would have been a costly and complicated work. So what we decided was a set of small, easy to operate and cost effective robots. The officers from the squad approved the designs and we are now working on it.”
Speaking to Sakàl Times, Dilip Jagdale of BDDS said, “Buying readily available robots built by defence research organisations was a very costly affair. So we asked engineering college students through Parivartan. They will be building for us specialised small robots for performing singular tasks.”
“The most important motive was to establish a connect between this government agency and fresh innovative minds from academics. We and Janvani played the role of catalysts,” explained Hrishikesh Karve of Parivartan. “The funding for prototype building will be borne by COEP. The funds for further improvisations and large scale production will be provided by MCCIA through Janvani,” he added.
CAMERA ROBOT
Shantipal Ohol from COEP’s Robotics Lab said, “In cases of bomb threats, the first task for the squad is the visual detection of explosive and then taking the suspicious object to a safe distance. We have given a demo of the robot which can help in detection of bombs, even from under the cars, with the help of a special camera. The camera has 360 degree rotation facility.”
Photo Gallery
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Well-Play-ed/584540/
The finals this year held on February 24 saw eight college teams pit their cultural skills against one another for the supreme prize. Speaking about the victory, Vaibhav Tatwawadi, of COEP says, “This year we came up with a unique theme for the play when both me and the writer of the play Vinay Narayane were brainstorming on the theme. We decided to showcase a story that showcased the difference in the mindsets of the urban populace, and their power hungry and selfish nature, which cares for none, who come in the way.” Interestingly Tatwawadi also won the award for the best actor in the male category. The play titled Khel Mandla, explores the long drawn battles that leaves farmers stranded on one end, with big companies trying to usurp their fertile lands for their own commercial expansion. Tatwawadi who plays the lead role in the play says, “My character Aditya works for a chemical firm which is bent on aggressive expansion. Aditya however is unaware of the ulterior motives of his firm and when he finds out the same opposes them against the unjust expansion.”
Three Cheers for COEP... :)
Dr. Narendra Dahotre (1980 Metallurgy, COEP), Professor, University of Tennessee, has been recognized by the peers in India through an election to the Fellow of Indian Institute of Metals (IIM). Such fellowships are given to foreign members when his/her accomplishments and services with the field of metallurgy are internationally prominent and also substantial and beneficial to the Indian community.
News item from The Financial Express
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/hemant-nerurkar-appointed-tata-steel-executive-director/428953/
Jamshedpur: The Tata Steel chief operating officer (COO)Hemant M Nerurkar was on Friday appointed as the executive director (India and south-east Asia) of the company. Nerurkar has over 35 years of experience in the industry.
According to sources, Nerurkar is likely to be the next managing director of the steel major after its incumbent managing director B Muthuraman retires later this year.
Nerurkar joined Tata Steel on February 1, 1982 and has held various positions, including chief metallurgist, senior divisional manager (LD-2 projects), deputy general manager (steel and primary mills), general manager (marketing), senior general manager (supply chain), vice-president (flat products) and vice-president (Kalinganagar project), till he was appointed chief operating officer of Tata Steel in November, 2007.
He is currently the chairman of TM International Logistics Ltd, Tata Metaliks, Hooghly Met Coke and Power Co, Jamipol, vice-chairman Tata Steel (Thailand) Public Co (Bangkok), a director of NatSteel Asia Pte (Singapore), NatSteel Holdings Pte (Singapore) and Tata BlueScope Steel Ltd.
Nerurkar has also officiated for several positions and has been actively associated with various academic and professional bodies in different capacities like the Indian Institute of Metals, ULSAC/ULSAS/ULSAB of IISI Brussels, INSDAG, AIMA’s governing council, XIM’s (Bhubaneswar) governing council, Tata Steel rural development society (Jamshedpur) etc.
Annoucement from Yogesh Kulkarni of Vigyan Ashram
=================================================================================
FAB5: The Fifth International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication
FAB5 India is upon us! It’s going to be quite an adventure!
WHO
This series of events is a collaborative effort of the following partners:
College of Engineering, Pune (http://www.coep.org.in/)
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (http://www.iitk.ac.in/)
Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, New Delhi (http://www.nsit.ac.in/)
Symbiosis International University (http://www.symbiosis.ac.in/ )
Vigyan Ashram (http://www.vigyanashram.com/)
India's National Innovation Foundation (http://www.nif.org.in/)
Fab Foundation (http://fabfoundation.org)
MIT-India Program, (http://web.mit.edu/misti/mit-india/)
MIT’s Center for Bits & Atoms (http://cba.mit.edu)
Attending the Forum and Symposium are members of the Fab Lab community, academics, corporations and non-profit organizations interested in and concerned with digital fabrication and the fab lab movement. Registration is required. Please see attached registration form.
WHAT
A draft agenda of the Forum and Symposium:
http://cba.mit.edu/events/09.08.FAB5/
WHEN
The dates:
August 16 to 21, 2009
(Plan to arrive no later than August 16 and leave August 22, the opening event/dinner will be held Sunday evening, August 16.)
WHERE
The events will be held at:
College of Engineering, Pune (COEP)
Symbiosis International University, Pune
Vigyan Ashram, Pabal
Suggested route:
In general for our international travelers we feel it’s best to fly into Mumbai and take a car service from there to Pune (about a 3 hour drive.) Pune does have an international airport, but it doesn’t yet have many direct flights from overseas and you might find yourself waiting in Mumbai or New Delhi a long time for a connection. We can arrange for transportation from the airport, or make dependable suggestions for ground transport.
Ground transport to and from the airport:
There is an on-demand transport service called Sandy's limousine service (be sure that it isn’t providing a limo): Contact Sandy's +91-20-2447 1464 or KK's +91-20-2422 4267, 2422 5510, 2422 5520. Also visit http://kktravels.com/index.asp This is a direct bus service available from Mumbai international Airport ( K. K Travel) which will drop at your residence address in Pune. It is cheapest mode of transport costing ~ INR 600 ($15 US) . They are available at 1 hr frequency. If we inform them in advance they can receive guest with name board sign at the airport. (So please indicate that you want us to arrange this for you on the Registration Form.)
=======================================================================
REGISTRATION:
You must register for the event with us so that we can be sure that:
• there is space for you
• if you are coming from overseas you receive an invitation from COEP to facilitate obtaining your visa
• you have an air ticket
• you have accommodations
• you have ground transportation to and from the airport, and/or to and from the hotels to the events.
Please complete the attached form as soon as possible (and no later than August 1) and return to fab5@fabfoundation.org
Financial Assistance:
For those of you who work in fab labs or occupy a community role in fab labs and require funding assistance, please send us a request in writing for support outlining your need and your relationship to the fab lab. (You can do this on the Registration Form) Even if you have already spoken to us and worked things out, we need this in writing! So complete the form regardless.) Generally we are requiring that each fab lab participant come up with $1000 in funds for this event to help cover airfare, room, board and ground transportation. We estimate that the actual cost per participant is about $2500 to $3500 (airfare is the largest expense by far). We are hoping to see two members from each fab lab community come to the meeting. Funding is first come, first served, and evaluated based on need.
Visa requirements:
We are sending international registrants a formal letter of Invitation from COEP. You should expect to see those in your email the week of July 6. These will be for the purpose of obtaining a business visa. However, many of you will not require a business visa—you can do this on a tourist visa. Tourist visas will be cheaper, and probably faster to acquire. So consult your nearest embassy, consulate or visa service to figure out which will work best for you.
http://www.eindiavisa.com/indian-embassy/index.html
Lass uses a very good, fast, dependable visa service. Try it if you are in doubt. They also give good, clear, general information about what you need to apply and you can download the application form as well:
http://www.us.cibt.com/
Health Travel Advisory:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US suggestions…
http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/india.aspx
Accommodations in Pune:
Currently we have made arrangements with two hotels/guest houses in Pune accommodate workshop/Forum attendees. More hotels will be negotiated, but for the moment, these are the accommodations:
http://www.smartinn.co.in/locations.html
Yashada Guest House (this is a university affiliated facility and bookings can only be made through our hosts)
Raj Bhavan Complex
Baner Road, near Sakal Nagar
Pune 411007
It would be best if fab lab members would let us book the rooms for you to avoid confusion. Just provide us the date of arrival and departure on the Registration Form, and we can do the rest.
There are other hotels to be found online, such as:
http://www.pridehotel.com/
but we encourage you to stay with the rest of us as transportation and food will be provided with these two accommodations in mind.
Suggested route:
In general we feel it’s best to fly into Mumbai and take a car service from there to Pune (about 3 hour drive.) Pune does have an international airport, but it doesn’t yet have many direct flights and you might find yourself waiting in Mumbai or New Delhi a long time for a connection. We can arrange for transportation from the airport, or make dependable suggestions for ground transport.
Weather:
This is the end of monsoon season, so it is hot and humid in India. (0 °C to 28 °C or 50 °F to 82 °F). Please bring light clothing. Long sleeves and long pants are in order during evening hours to help prevent mosquito bites and the transmission of malaria. Also, it can be cool at night so bring a light sweater. Be sure to bring extra antibiotics for whatever ails you
Note from Dhananjay: Regarding Monsoon rains, this year its predicted to be much lower than normal, but its better to be safe than sorry and I would advise having an umbrella.
General Info on Pune:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune
Latitude: 18° 34' North
Longitude: 73° 58' East
Dress code: Pune is by far the most accommodating and liberal city in India. So there are no dress code issues. However, scantily clad persons, especially outside of the city, may be a distraction and therefore discretion is advised.
Digital Fabrication Exhibition:
There will be an Exhibition of Fab Lab inventions, research and future projects during the Symposium. Please plan to bring your demonstrations with you. There will be a big fab lab set up at COEP, but access to the tools will be limited by demand…so try to bring as much as you can already working and don’t depend on making everything at the last minute in India. The exhibition will be organized by the Barcelona fab lab.
FAB5 Contest:
Any ideas?
Dhananjay suggests: Anything that is pleasing to look at or makes sounds or lights? How about an LED contest? How about the furniture contest from FAB4 enhanced with LEDs?
Did we miss anything? Let us know! Fab5@fabfoundation.org
REGISTRATION FORM
FAB5: The Fifth International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication
Draft Agenda: http://cba.mit.edu/events/meetings.html
To be held at:
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE
Shivajinagar, Pune - 411 005, Maharashtra, India
YOUR NAME:
ADDRESS: (for both confirmation and as you would like to see it in the published official meeting list)
PHONE: (if you want us to publish your phone number, please let us know)
EMAIL:
I will attend the International Symposium on Digital Fabrication August 20, 2009.
(Registration Fee for attending the Symposium is $100 per participant. For Not-for-profit institutions, students, and members of the academic and Fab Lab communities this fee is waived. If you qualify for free attendance, please be sure to request financial assistance below.)
Please send us your payment in advance, or plan to give us your payment when you check in at the meeting.
I will attend the Fab Lab Forum August 16-21, 2009.
(Registration fee: $500 for non-Fab Lab members.
Registration is free for members of the Fab Lab community.
Space is limited. Forum attendance is restricted to members of the Fab Lab community and strategic partners. )
TRAVEL LOGISTICS
TO Conference
Departure Date/City:
Arrival Date/City/Flight number**:
• If traveling from overseas, we suggest you fly to Mumbai and travel to Pune by car service
• If traveling within India, we suggest you fly into Pune directly.
**For some of you in the Fab Lab network we will be making your flight arrangements, so no flight number necessary.
Do you need ground transportation from the Airport to your hotel?
HOTEL
Do you need a hotel? If so, please let us know the dates you will need accommodation:
Any special requests?
FROM Conference
Departure Date/City/Flight Number:
Arrival Date/City:
Do you need ground transportation from the hotel in Pune to the Airport ?
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
I require financial assistance for the following reasons. (Please also indicate the amount of financial assistance you are requesting. Limited assistance is available for travel for Fab Lab members.)
OTHER NOTES AND REQUESTS:
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (but no later than August 1, 2009) TO: fab5@fabfoundation.org
We’ll get back to you with a confirmation. Look forward to seeing you in Pune.
Thanks!
The FAB5 Team:
College of Engineering, Pune
Vigyan Ashram
Symbiosis International University
Fab Foundation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Indian Institute of Technology
====================================================================================
SCHEDULE
FAB5: The Fifth International Fab Lab Forum
and Symposium on Digital Fabrication
This event will gather both field practitioners and laboratory researchers for a week of hands-on workshops and a one day symposium on the principles and applications of digital fabrication. It is being hosted in Pune, India, from August 16-21, 2009, by a team including the College of Engineering, Pune, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Vigyan Ashram, the National Innovation Foundation, the Fab Foundation, the MIT-India Program, and MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. FAB5 follows earlier events in the US, South Africa, and Norway; there's background on fab labs and digital fabrication here.
The total cost of attending these events is $100 per day, with support available to assist unfunded participants. The symposium on August 20 is open to anyone interested; because space is limited in the workshops admission to them is by application. The contact for registration and logistics is fab5@fabfoundation.org.
The draft agenda is:
Sunday, August 16
17:00-20:00: Inauguration and Dinner (Symbiosis)
Monday, August 17
9:00-12:00: Morning Meeting (COEP)
Introduction and Overview
Scheduling and Logistics
Fab Lab Review: Africa, Asia, Middle East
12:00-1:30: Lunch (COEP)
13:30-15:30: Parallel Tracks (COEP)
Hands-on Tutorials: CAD, CAM
Hands-on Projects: graphics - screen printing
Programs and Operations: lab management
Research: materials and machines
15:30-17:00: Fab Foo (COEP)
18:00-20:00: Dinner (COEP)
Tuesday, August 18
9:00-10:00: Morning Meeting
Daily Review
Fab Lab Review: Europe, Scandinavia (COEP)
10:00-12:00: Parallel Tracks
Hands-on Tutorials: computer-controlled cutting (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: tools - rapid-prototyping of rapid-prototyping machines (COEP)
Programs and Operations: education (COEP)
Research: agriculature and healthcare (Vigyan Ashram)
12:00-13:30: Lunch (COEP, Vigyan Ashram)
13:30-15:30: Parallel Tracks
Hands-on Tutorials: PCB fabrication and assembly (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: programming - embedded logic kits and environments (COEP)
Programs and Operations: business (COEP)
Research: energy, climate, transportation (Vigyan Ashram)
15:30-17:00: Fab Foo (COEP)
18:00-21:00: Dinner and Cultural Evening (COEP)
Wednesday, August 19
9:00-10:00: Morning Meeting
Daily Review
Fab Lab Review: North America, Latin America, South America (COEP)
10:00-12:00: Parallel Tracks
Hands-on Tutorials: 3D molding and casting (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: communication and computation - IT infrastructure (COEP)
Programs and Operations: outreach (Vigyan Ashram)
Research: communications and computation (COEP)
12:00-13:30: Lunch (COEP, Vigyan Ashram)
13:30-15:30: Parallel Tracks
Hands-on Tutorials: embedded computing (COEP)
Hands-on Projects: construction - furniture, vehicles, houses (COEP)
Programs and Operations: sustainability (Vigyan Ashram)
Research: CAD, CAM, machine control, project management (COEP)
15:30-17:00: Fab Foo (COEP)
18:00-20:00: Dinner (COEP)
Thursday, August 20
Fifth International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication (COEP)
9:00-10:30: Research
10:30-11:00: Break
11:00-12:30: Development
12:00-13:30: Lunch
13:30-15:00: Impact
15:00-15:30: Break
15:30-17:00: Implications
18:00-20:00: Exhibition and Open House
Friday, August 21
9:00-12:00: Fab Ecosystem (COEP)
Fab Foundation
Fab Fund
Fab Academy
Fab Charter
12:00-13:30: Lunch (COEP)
13:30-15:00: Fab Foo (COEP)
15:00-17:00: Concluding Discussion (COEP)
18:30-21:00: Closing and Dinner (Symbiosis)
Dear Alumni,
You may be aware that institute is the rightful owner of the land where Patil Estate slum exists. On 29th June 2009 five men were arrested for possessing illegal arms and ammunition near the Patil Estate adjacent to COEP.
Based on that article, the Director of COEP, Prof A.D. Sahasrabudhe gave an interview to the Mid-day newspaper. The link for this news item is given below for your reference
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jul/010709-Pune-Institute-of-Engineering-and-Technology-Students-slum-dwellers-Patil-Estate.htm
We have already forwarded our concerns to the concerned authorities. A Court case is also pending in this matter. Institute has been trying its best to recover all the land belonging to the College. Your support in this matter is appreciated.
Please post your comments in order to pressurize the Government to take serious steps to get this land vacated and handed over to us.
Thanking you.
Yours’ sincerely,
Prof. A. D. Sahasrabudhe
Director
P.S.:
Please click on the above link and post your comments below the article. - Anjali
From the Director of COEP: Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe:
Please see the link for more details.
Article in Pune Mirror
COEP students, Shaizeen Aga, Swati Gour and Akshay Galande, won Microsoft’s Imagine Cup Egypt ‘09, the world’s premier student technology competition.
The Imagine Cup is billed as the ‘World’s Premier Student Technology Competition’ and is organised by Microsoft Corp.
A team from Class of ’09 of College of Engineering Pune won the first prize of USD 5,000 (Rs 2,37,249) for their project on Parallel Computing at the Imagine Cup Egypt '09.
The competition is a challenge to youngsters to yoke their technology skills to work at solving some of the world’s toughest problems. This is the seventh year of existence for the Imagine Cup.
The ‘imagine’ in the name comes from Microsoft’s challenge “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today”.
This year, more than 3 lakh students from 100 countries registered to be part of the Imagine Cup 2009.
The Pune-based team named Biollel (the members coined it by mating Computational Biology and Parallel Computing) was placed first in the Parallel Computing section.
The three-member team includes Shaizeen Aga, Swati Gour and Akshay Galande, all of whom have just completed their engineering from College Of
Engineering Pune, this May.
The project, according to the team, reduces the computational time for phylogenetic tree construction by efficiently implementing them in parallel so that we get performance benefits on multi-core platforms.
A phylogenetic (phylum=class) tree is an evolutionary tree. It shows the evolutionary relationships among various biologicial species or other entities with a common ancestor.
Biollel used the Maximum Likelihood (MLE) Algorithm, which is most accurate for the task, but is rarely used because it is so time-consuming.
Instead, scientists use algorithms which work faster, but with less statistical accuracy.
So, to make the MLE algorithm work faster, Biollel used parallel implementation (a form of computing in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously).
They used multi-core platforms to make their code run faster, much like getting your colleagues to chip in when you want to to finish your work fast.
Biollel’s project dealt mainly with the parallel implementation of maximum likelihood method of phylogenetic tree construction algorithm for protein
amino acid sequences using Microsoft's Task Parallel Library.
Phylogenetic Tree construction is crucial in drug design as well as protein structure prediction.
Please see the link for details.
Article in Pune Mirror
Article in Pune Mirror