Amrita School of Engineering

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ACTIVITIES IN CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT, COIMBATORE CAMPUS

CONFERENCES ORGANIZED:

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham jointly organized the "International Conference on Photochemical Conversion of Solar Energy", on 30th and 31st March 2010 at the Ettimadai (Coimbatore) campus of Amrita University.

This conference was conducted under the guidance of our Chief Patron, the renowned scientist, Dr. C.N.R. Rao (JNCASR), with active support and collaboration of Indian Society for Advancement of Materials & Process Engg (ISAMPE), Coimbatore Chapter, as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of ISAMPE.

This conference also received active support and participation of the following world renowned scientists from Switzerland.

Prof. Dr. Michael Gratzel:
Laboratory for Photonics and Interfaces (LPI)
Faculty of Basic Sciences (FSB)
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
(Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Lausanne)
Switzerland.

Prof. Dr. Arvind Shah
Laboratory for Thin Photovoltaics and Electronics,
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland

Prof. Ayodhya Nath Tiwari
Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics,
Swiss National Laboratory for Materials EMPA.

Dr. K. Kalyanasundaram
Laboratory for Photonics and Interfaces (LPI)
Faculty of Basic Sciences (FSB)
Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology at Lausanne (EPF-Lausanne)

Dr. Frank Nuesch
Head, Functional Polymers
EMPA Materials Science & Technology, Uberlandstrasse 129
CH-8600 Dubendorf Tel +41 44 823 47 40 Fax +41 44 823 40 12

The Department organized a two day National Conference on "Smart Electronic Materials and Devices" on 23rd and 24th October, 2009.

The Department organized a two day National Symposium on "Water for All" in collaboration with Indian Desalination Association Co-Sponsored by Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) and Supported by Tamil Nadu Institute of Urban Studies (TNIUS) on 5th and 6th February, 2009.

DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES:

• Invited talk by Dr. G. Arthanareeswaran, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Trichy, on Membrane Separation Technologies, on 2nd April 2011, at the Ettimadai campus.
• Dr. G. Madhu, Head, Division of Safety and Fire Engineering, Chemical Engg Group, CUSAT delivered a seminar on 29th March 2011 on the following topics: Safety and Health concerns in chemical process industry; Hazard identification and Risk assessment; Tools for emergency planning in process plants.
• DR. R.M.V.G.K. Rao, formerly Scientist G, Director Grade, & Founder Head of Fibre Reinforced Plastics Division. at National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR), Bangalore, gave six Invited Talks between 21st and 23rd March 2011 on the following topics: Introduction to Advanced Composites, Potentials and Applications Diversity, Property Relationships and Choice, Processing and Manufacture-Different Approaches, Testing, Evaluation and Design Considerations, Advanced Applications and some Case studies.
• Dr. P. Raveendran, Reader, Department of Chemistry, University of Calicut, gave four Invited Talks on Green Chemistry and Green Technologies, on 18th and 19th March 2011. The topics are as follows: Environment and its protection, Alternative solvents, Ionic liquids, Green plastics, Microwave heating, and Green Chemistry and nanosynthesis.
• Dr. Kalyanasundaram, EPFL, Switzerland gave expert lecture series on Solar Photovoltaics from 18thto 23rd March 2011.
• Dr. Madhusudan V. Atre, President & Managing Director, Applied Materials, Bengaluru, India, visited the Ettimadai campus on 8th February 2011 to inaugurate Techfest, ANOKHA events of Chemical Engineering Department.
• Sri. Shekhar Kumar, Scientist G, Nuclear Reprocessing Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research gave expert lecture on 22nd January 2011. The topics of the lecture were: (i) Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Reprocessing - An Introduction, and (ii) Design and Development of Nuclear Solvent Extraction Equipment.
• Dr. Sriram Devanathan conducted a one-day workshop on “Design of Experiments” for students of IV Year B.Tech Chemical Engineering at Amrita University, Coimbatore campus, on 19th January, 2011.
• Dr. Alok Ray from Stanford India Biodesign (India), IIT Delhi visited the department on 23rd April 2010 to discuss the possible research areas of common interest.
• Dr. Lakshmi Vaideeswaran, of Dow Chemical International Pvt Ltd gave a guest lecture on 12th February 2010.
• Dr. A.V. Rama Rao, CMD of Avra Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, gave a guest lecture on 30th January 2010.
• Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science organized a one-day program on “Career Opportunities in Chemical Technology” by Dr. N.S. Venkat Raman and Mr. P. Shyamasundar of Nandini Chemicals Consultancy Center, Chennai in collaboration with CIR for all students of chemical engineering in and around Coimbatore on 23rd January 2010.
• Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science organized a guest lecture on “Role and function of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board" by Mr. S. E. Kannan, Director, Safety Research Institute, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, IGCAR, Kalpakkam, Chennai On 31st October 2009.
• Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science organized a one day guest lecture series on 29th August 2009. Dr. S. Antony Swamy, Head, MPCS, CG, IGCAR, Kalpakkam gave guest lectures on Nanocrystalline nuclear materials / nano nuclear ceramics, nuclear materials (Fabrication and Thermochemistry) and phase equilibria (theory and experimental methods), and solution thermodynamics. Dr R.V. Subba Rao delivered lectures on Fundamentals of Separation Sciences and Solvent Extraction, Ion Exchange, Liquid Membranes, and Process Chemistry Aspects of Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Chemical Engineering Mr. Varun Mukthinuthalapati of 2007-2011 batch of B.Tech was selected for the BARC-OCES-2011 programme and will be working at IGCAR on completion of the training program at BARC.
• Chemical Engineerig students, Mr. Hari. S. Ganesh and Ms. Sharmila S. of 2007-2011 batch of B.Tech joined Indian Institute of Science for M.Sc (Engineering).
• Polymer Engineering student, Mr. C. Rajasundar was selected for the Willpower Erasmus Mundus Programmes 2010 for the 2 year Research Masters in Nanosciences at Ecole Centrale Paris, France, which comes under the category of elite universities called the Grande Ecoles. He will be doing his first semester in 3 universities at Ecole Centrale, Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Normale Superiere de Cachan.
• BTech Chemical Engineering II Year students, Mr. Hariharan, Ms. Suhanya, and Ms. Vijayalakshmy won the 3rd prize at the TechFest Pragyan in the event “Delta T” held in February, 2010 at NIT, Trichy.
• Fourth Year Polymer engineering students, Mr. C. Raja Sundar, Mr. M. Aravind and Mr. B. Arun were awarded silver medal in Chemical Engineering discipline for their project, “Design and Fabrication of a Spin Coater Machine for Thin Film Coating and its potential Applications” in the 40th All India Student Design Competition by National Design Research Forum, Bangalore on November 1, 2009.
• The Student Chapter of I.I.Ch.E. was inaugurated on 15th September 2009 by Dr. Ramesh Ramachandran, President and CEO of Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd. He was accompanied by Dr. Balaji Venkatraman, President of India Engineering Center, Dow Chemicals, Chennai.
• Third Year Polymer Engineering students, Ms. P. Vidyalakshmi and Ms. S. Srividya, won second prize in Technical quiz contest and presented a paper titled “Polymer Opals” in the national conference Elastoplaz ‘09 at MIT Chennai, in March 2009.
• Plastindia Foundation has awarded the following Scholarships to the students of B.Tech Polymer engineering :
• Mr. K.N. Prabhu-3rd Year Topper .Rs. 25,000/-
• Ms. Harini -4th Year TopperRs. 25,000/-
• Ms. Hema Priya- All Round Topper Gold Medal
  
• Final Year Polymer engineering students, Mr. C. Raja Sundar, Mr. M. Aravind and Mr. B. Arun secured the first prize at Futura- 2009, a National Level Technical Symposium organized by Bannari Amman Institute, beating 92 contestants across India. They were given a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/- and a Plaque for their project, "Design and Fabrication of a Spin Coater Machine for Thin Film Coating and its potential Applications".