Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2015

Mechanical Aspire
Achievements in Sports, Projects, Industry, Research and Education

Our Salutations to the Greatest Teacher

Who instilled Confidence and Courage
among Indian Youth

A Tribute to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam    By Dr.Vijay Sekar KS

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam breathed his last at the IIM Campus in Shillong doing what he loved all through
his journey - talking and encouraging the youth to realise their true potential and help India grow into a
great reservoir of strength. That in essence shows the determination and commitment of this great son
of the soil in walking the talk and also talking the walk. 

India has lost a great scientist, the world has lost a noble citizen and humanity has lost a positive
soul. 

From  humble  origins  in  a  Rameswaram 

fishing  hamlet,  his  journey  criss-crossing 
many  hurdles  of  poverty  and  hardship 
found  its  way  to  St.  Joseph's,  Madras 
Institute  of  Technology  and  then  found 
solace  in  the  sanctum  walls  of  Defence 
research  and  development  organisation 
and  later  to  the  Indian  space  research 
organisation.
His inquisitive mind from a young age helped him create an impression in the hallowed portals of
these truly world class Indian sectors, where giants such as Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan,
inspired young Kalam to dream the un- dreamt and think the unthinkable. Kalam grew in stature in his
chosen field of defence and space research and pioneered and shepherded many path breaking
projects notable among them being the SLV- III and PSLV satellite launch vehicles indigenously built
and successfully catapulted into space.

The  patriot  in  him  found  new  grounds  to 

show  his  love  for  the  country  when  he 
helped  us  successfully  test  our  nuclear 
capability.  That  was  a  historical  event  for 
this great nation. He continued his scientific 
quest  to  successfully  test  fire  the Agni  and 
Prithvi  ballistic  missiles  which  earned  him 
the sobriquet " Missile Man".

He went on to become the 11th President of India in 2002 and till date is affectionately remembered as
one of the greatest and simplest gentlemen and supreme commanders to have straddled the sanctum
walls of the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. His journey until then was scientific in nature, hailed as one of our
path breaking scientists, but he found his true calling during the five years he resonated from the
Presidential campus.

He struck a distinct chord with the youth of this country making it a point to meet thousands of young
children cutting across race, creed, origin, sect and gender, traversing the length and breadth of this
nation with a single mindedness of purpose, articulating his vision for a great, strong and corruption
free India.

For Dr.Kalam, the progression from a great scientist to a people's president came naturally - the
reason being his austerity and humility. He lived a simple and caring life and took the ups and downs
with equal felicity. 

He  continued  his  never  say  die  spirit, 

We always Work for a Better Tomorrow.. relentlessly  pursuing  his  ambition  to  reach  as 
But When Tomorrow Comes, many students in the time that God gave him to 
Instead of Enjoying, preach  his  vision.  In  this  selfless  act,  he 
We Again Think of a Better Tomorrow!" transcended  religion,  politics  and  region.   For 
Let's Have a Better Today first" him, humanity came first and last. Nothing else 
mattered.  

When the end came yesterday, he was in the midst of students delivering a lecture at the IIM Campus
- the footage of his arrival in the morning at the Guwahati airport showing no signs of what was to
come that evening. 

The ever smiling person that he was, it was only deserving that his last minutes were amongst those
he loved the most and in a way he has passed on the baton to those who loved and understood him -
the Youth of India.

Jai Hind.
Quotes Courtesy:http://apjabdul.weebly.com
 All about Nobel Prize-Part 20 How Laureates utilise the Awarded Money...

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, celebrated her 18th birthday in
Lebanon on Sunday (July 12) by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls and called on world leaders
to invest in 'books not bullets'.

Malala became a symbol of defiance after she was shot on a school bus in Pakistan 2012 by the
Taliban for advocating girls' rights to education. She continued campaigning and won the Nobel in
2014.'I decided to be in Lebanon because I believe that the voices of the Syrian refugees need to be
heard and they have been ignored for so long,' Malala told Reuters in a schoolroom decorated with
drawings of butterflies.

The Malala Fund, a non-profit organisation that supports local education projects, provided most of the
funding for the school, set up by Lebanon's Kayany Foundation in the Bekaa Valley, close to the
Syrian border. The Malala school can welcome up to 200 girls aged 14 to 18.

'Today on my first day as an adult, on behalf of the world's children, I demand of leaders we must

invest in books instead of bullets,' Malala said in a speech. Lebanon is home to at least 1.2 million
of the 4 million refugees that have fled Syria's war to neighbouring countries. There are about 500,000
Syrian school-age children in Lebanon, but only a fifth are in formal education.'We are in danger of
losing generations of young Syrian girls due to the lack of education,' Joumblatt said in a speech at
the opening of the school. Her father Ziauddin said he was proud she was carrying on her activism
into adulthood.
Announcement dates of the 2015 Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences 
set-  The Count down starts....
The date and time for the announcements of the recipients of the Nobel Prize and the Sveriges
Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel are now set.
PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE Monday 5 October, 11:30 a.m. at the earliest
PHYSICS Tuesday 6 October, 11:45 a.m. at the earliest
CHEMISTRY Wednesday 7 October, 11:45 a.m. at the earliest
PEACE Friday 9 October, 11:00 a.m.
ECONOMIC SCIENCES Monday 12 October, 1:00 p.m. at the earliest
LITERATURE The date will be set later
Times listed are local time in Sweden (CET).

Info to Alumni-Campus Update The  Orientation  program  for  first  year  students  was  held  on 
July  20.  The  Freshers  are  now  undergoing  Language 
Proficiency  program  till  regular  classes  start  in  August  first 
week. As usual, the speech by Scholarship holders was moving 
and almost every parent was in an elated mood that their wards 
are now in safe hands.

President  impressed upon the differences in learning between 
School  and  College.  She  said,  “While  rote  learning  is  enough 
for school  level, at  College  level,  one  has  to  learn  to question 
the  answers.  Unless we  keep thinking of ways  to improve,  we 
will never progress. It was because of this urge to improve that 
the  first  computer  which  weighed  around  1300  kilograms  has 
now become as light as our palm top.”

Info to Alumni-Department Update

External recognition 1 External recognition 2

Dr.M.S.Alphin's  proposal  under  the  Young  Visveshwar of Fifth sem B section, has been 

Scientist  Scheme  has  been  approved  for  awarded ‘B’ grade by All India Radio, for his 
funding of Rs.17 Lakhs,  by  the  Science  flute performance. 
and Engineering Research Board.
His flute concert was broadcast LIVE by All 
The  proposal  is  on  the  “Design  and  India Radio Chennai A Station on Monday, 
Development  of  Novel  handle  shapes  to  06.07.2015 from 12.10 pm to 12.40 pm. 
overcome vibration discomfort”.
 I am Parthiban.A from Final year, Mechanical engineering B section. I 
External recognition 3 think  you  already  know  that  I  was  selected  as a  student  reporter  for 
Famous Tamil Magazine vikatan last year.

Now  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  I 

have  successfully  completed  my  one 
year student reporting and photography 
program  in  vikatan  student  reporter 
scheme 2014-15.
 I got excellence award and won Rs.2500 as reward. The function was held recently in T.Nagar, Chennai. 

Some details  about this scheme...

The leading Tamil Magazine Group-Vikatan is conducting Student reporting scheme every year for college
students.   Initially around 3000 people applied for this test.  After   several   rounds of tests (including writing,
personal interview, Group discussion and field work ) they select   75 students for one year training program.
During the period of training, students are encouraged to write articles, take photographs and interview
Celebrities, for vikatan. After   the training, they provide awards based on the student's performance.(like
Outstanding, excellence,  distinction and first class). 

External recognition 4

Prof.V.E.Annamalai 
completed the
Certified Trainer Program
in Corporate Social
Responsibility, 
conducted by the Indian 
Institute of Corporate 
Affairs, the apex body that 
administers Government of 
India's Schemes on CSR 
funding from Corporates. 

This empowers us to take 
up training programs for 
Corporates on CSR Policy 
and Administration.
 External recognition 5 External recognition 6
Professor  N.Nallusamy,  was  invited  to 
deliver a guest lecture on "Bio-diesel: An 
alternate  fuel  for  CI  Engines"  at  Sri  Sai 
Ram  Institute  of  Technology,  West 
Tambaram, Chennai on 16-07-2015.

Dr. B. Anand Ronald's article on  External recognition 7

"The Journey of a Research 
Scholar" was published in the 4th  Dr.  R.  Damodaram  was  invited 
edition of the IIT Madras Alumni  to  review  a  paper  for  the 
Association's yearbook "Journey's  Transactions  of  the  Indian 
2015" pp.64 Institute of Metals - Published by 
Springer
(http://www.iitmaa.org/2015/JOURNEY%27S-2015.pdf )

Research Publications

Mrs.R.Rajeswari and  K.M.Nambiraj,  M.E.  Manufacturing  Engg.  student  (2015 

passed  out)  published  a  paper  titled,  "AlN-TiB2  based  self-lubricating  ceramic 
insert  fabricated  by  spark  plasma  sintering  for  dry  turning  applications"  in  the 
Materials  Science  Forum  Journal,  Vols.  830-831  (2015)  pp  67-70,  July  2015, 
Trans  Tech  Publications,  Switzerland,  doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.830-
831.67

Dr.L.Poovazhagan writes...I am happy to inform you that one of my research papers 
titled 'Processing and performance characteristics of aluminum-nano boron carbide  
metal matrix nanocomposites' has been published in the international Journal of 
Materials and Manufacturing Processes (Taylor & Francis) with Thomson Reuters
impact factor1.629.  
Dr.L.Poovazhagan  published the following papers also in Applied Mechanics and Materials Journal indexed in
Anna University Annexure 2
1.       a paper titled "Abrasive Assisted Electrochemical Machining of Al-B4C Nanocomposite" (Co-authored by
Dr.K.Rajkumar, and M.E Manufacturing students)
2.        a paper titled "Effect of Magnesium Addition on Processing the Al-0.8 Mg-0.7 Si/SiCp Metal Matrix
Composites" (Co-authored by M.E Manufacturing students)
3.        a paper titled "Influence of Particle Feeding Methods on Processing the AA6061/SiC Metal Matrix
Nanocomposites" (Co-authored by Final Year Mechanical Engineering students)
4. a paper titled "Upshot of Ultrasonic Amplitude on Developing the AA6061/SiCp Metal Matrix
Nanocomposites"  (Co-authored by Final Year Mechanical Engineering students) 

Mr.D.Ebenzer, published two papers in international journals
1. Arun shravan L A, Ebenezer D, Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for a solar 
photovoltaic  system: A  review,Applied  Mechanics  and  Materials,  Vol.  787 (2015) pp 
227-232.
2.  A.Kirthivasan,  Amitesh  Jain  J,  Akhilnandh  Ramesh,  and  D.Ebenezer.  “Effect  of 
ethanol  on  the  fuel  consumption  of  a  Two  stroke  unmodified  commercial  petrol 
engine” Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 756-760.
Dr. R.Prakash published the following papers in the International Journal

1.R Prakash, Karthik Srinivas V, Anand H, Adithya G Lakshmi Narayanan N, "Effect of 
swirl on the performance of an Annular Diffuser",   I. Journal of Applied Mechanics and 
Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 318-321.

2.B.Jayakishan,  R.Prakash,  K.Kumarrathinam,  and  D.Christopher,  "Performance  and 

Emission Evaluation of A Compression Ignition  Engine Using Agitated Diesel Fuel", I. 
Journal of Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 692-696.
3.R.Prakash, D.Christopher and K.Kumarrathinam,"Analysis of Surface Waste Heat Recovery in IC Engine by
Using TEG", I. Journal of Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 782-786.
4.R.Prakash, Adithyan.K and Adithya.V, "Comparative Analysis of Performance and Emission Characteristics of
Diesel Engine with Biodiesel Prepared from Waste Cooking Oil and Pongamia Oil", I. Journal of Applied
Mechanics and Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 787-791.
5.A.Kirthivasan, Akhilnandh Ramesh, Amitesh Jain J, D. Ebenezer, R Prakash, “Experimental optimization of
ethanol gasoline blends for a two stroke commercial gasoline engine”, Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Special Issue 7: 2015, pp190-193.

Dr. M.Suresh, published the following papers in the International Journal

1. V.Naveen Prabhu and M.Suresh, 2015, “Performance evaluation of tube-in-
tube heat exchanger using nanofluids”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 
787, pp. 72-76, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

2.  N.Manigandan  and  M.Suresh,  2015,  “Numerical  Investigation  of  a  Chevron 

Type Brazed Plate Heat Exchanger”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 787, 
pp. 222-226, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland
3. A.K.Lakshminarayanan and M.Suresh, 2015, “Thermal Performance Evaluation of Friction Stir Welded
Flat Plate Heat Sink Using CFD Analysis”, AppliedMechanics and Materials, vol. 787, pp. 505-509, Trans
Tech Publications, Switzerland
4. M.AjaiThangaswami, S.R.Arjun, M.K.Easwar and M.Suresh, “Numerical Studies on Convergent Tube-in-Tube
Heat Exchanger” Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 787, pp. 62-66, Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

Professor N. Nallusamy, published the following papers in the International Journal

1. Vaibhav Prakash, Praveen R, Sanjeev Nivedan, Nallusamy N, Raghu P, “Effect of various injection pressures
on spray characteristics of karanja oil methyl ester and diesel in a DI diesel engine”, Applied Mechanics and
Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 815-819.
2. M. Gajendiran, P.M. Sivaram, N. Nallusamy, “Performance of Latent Heat Solar Thermal Energy Storage
system using various Heat Transfer Fluids”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 27-31.
3. M. Mohandass, J. Venkatesan, N. Nallusamy, “Influence of Cooling Rate on Fatigue Behaviour of Eutectic Al-
Si (A413) Alloy Casting”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 490-494.
4. Raghu. P, Nallusamy. N, Pitchandi. K, “Spray characteristics of diesel and biodiesel fuels for various injection
timings under non evaporating conditions” Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 682-686
5. Tamilselvan, K. Vignesh, N. Nallusamy, “Performance and emission studies of biodiesel fuelled diesel engines:
A Review”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 797-802.
6. V. Venkatesan, N. Nallusamy, “A Review on Microalgae Biodiesel Production and its Usage in Direct Injection
Diesel Engines as Alternate Fuel”, Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015), pp. 776-781.
 Dr. S. Rajkumar, published the following papers in the International Journal, 
Applied Mechanics and Materials

1. Febi Ponwin S P R and S. Rajkumar, Methods for improving lift force of wind 
turbine aerofoil blades during low wind speed conditions – A review. Applied 
Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015) pp 134-137.

2.  Thangaraja  and  S.  Rajkumar.  Effect  of  Saturation  and  Unsaturation  of  Fatty 
Methyl Esters  on  Biodiesel  NOx  Emission  Characteristics, Applied Mechanics  and 
Materials Vol. 787 (2015) pp 766-770.

3. R. Maradona and S. Rajkumar, CFD analysis of Heat transfer characteristics of Helical Coil Heat Exchangers.
Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015) pp 172-176.
4. S. Rajkumar and G. Sudarshan, Influence of engine speed on mixing and emission characteristics of multiple-
injection common rail direct injection diesel engine. Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015) pp 702-
706
5. G. Sudarshan and S. Rajkumar, Zero-Dimensional Analysis of Combustion in a Multiple-Injection CRDI Engine
using Wiebe Law. Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol. 787 (2015) pp 707-711.

Dr. A.S. Ramana,  T.V. Ashokumaar and K. Vignesh, ME Energy 

Engineering students, published a paper titled "Review On 
Performance Enhancement Studies on Solar Dryer" in Applied 
Mechanics and Materials Journal Vol. 787 (2015) pp 129-133

Dr.M.Nalla Mohamed  published  paper  titled  "  Energy 

enhancement of long cylindrical tubes with grooves subjected to 
axial  impact"  in  Applied  Mechanics  and  Materials  Journal 
indexed  in  Anna  University  Annexure  2  (Co-authored  by  UG 
students)

Dr. S. Soma Sundaram  co-authored  a  research  paper  titled  “Innovative  passive 

flame  ameliorator  for  a  diffusion  flame  burner  using  chevrons”  in  Applied 
Mechanics and  Materials Journal, Vol. 787  (2015)  pp.732-735. The other  authors 
are  A.Alaguraja,  S.  Balaji,  Inti  Sandeep  and  M.  Karthikeyan,  Final  year  B.E. 
Mechanical students.

Conference Presentations

Dr.L.Poovazhagan, presented a paper titled "Investigations of Microhardness and Impact Properties of Silicon 
Carbide Nanoparticulates Reinforced Aluminum Metal Nanocomposites" at the international conference on 
Recent Advances in Nano Science and Technology 2015 (RAINSAT-2015, July 8-10), conducted by Sathyabama
University, Chennai
Dr. K. Jayakumar co-authored a paper titled "Synthesis and machining 
characterization of ultrasonication assisted stir cast SiCp reinforced aluminum 
nanocomposites", along with Dr. L. Poovazhagan and UG students (R. Bharat, 
Kailash Viswanathan, M. Akshay and Adithya Jaikumar) which was presented 
in the International conference on Recent Advances in Nano Science and 
Technology (RAINSAT-2015, July 8-10), at Sathyabama University
Research Editing

Dr. N. Nallusamy, Dr. M. Suresh, Dr. S. Rajkumar and Dr. A.K.Lakshminarayan were invited to serve as editors
for the International conference ISERMAT2015 proceedings on "Alternate Energy Sources, Materials and
Technologies" published in Applied Mechanics and Materials journal, Volume 787, 945 pages.

Programs Conducted

On 7-7-15, Dr.M.Nallamohamed, Dr.R.Prakash, Dr.M.S.Alphin arranged a guest lecture for third year mechanical
engineering students on the topic "Introduction to condition monitoring systems". Dr.D.Dinakaran, Professor,
Hindustan University, Chennai was the speaker.

On 9 & 10 July, Dr.K.S.Vijay Sekar along with Shivaram and Sankar Raju of Final Year Mechanical, SSN
organised the annual Glider workshop for the benefit of II year Mechanical Students from SSN.

During 13-14 July, SAE SSN Collegiate Club Conducted Tier - I (College level) event for SAE member at SSN 
CE

Programs attended
Mr.D.Ebenezer,attended three day course on 'Welding technology, metallurgy and Quality assurance' 04-06,
June, 2015, Hotel Radha Regent, Chennai.
Dr. R. Damodaram, attended a workshop on "Continuing Education Program on use of physical simulation in
Materials Research", at IIT Madras-Chennai during 17-07-2015 to 18-07-2015.
Dr.K.S.Vijay Sekar, Associate Professor, attended a One day Seminar on "Simulation powers Innovation"
organised by Simulia Technology Forum at The Hilton, Chennai.[23-7-2015]
Dr.B. Anand Ronald, Dr. R. Prakash, Dr. L. Poovazhagan, Dr. K. Jayakumar, D. Ebenezer, attended AICTE
Sponsored two weeks FDP on 'Computer Aided Product Design' 15-27, June, 2015, SSN College of Engg

DC meetings / Research Examinations

Dr M S Alphin , convened Doctoral Commitee Meeting for the Research Scholars Mr Tony B Jain (1514299728)
and Dr Sachin G Sarate (1515499891) to finalise the Course papers for their research work.[6-7-15]
Dr. K. Jayakumar, conducted first DC Meeting for his Research Scholar (Mr. A. Madhan Kumar - 1512299801) to
finalise course work papers.[7-7-15]

On  10-7-2015,  Dr.L.Poovazhagan,  represented  as  a  DC  member  for  the 

research  scholar  Mr.C.Arun  (Reg.No:1512299816)  at  Adhiparasakthi 
Engineering College, Melmaruvathur.

Dr.K.S.Vijay  Sekar,  presided  over  the  PhD  Viva  Voce  Examination  as  " 
External Examiner" for a PhD research scholar in AMET University, Chennai.

Professor V.E.Annamalai conducted First DC meeting for his Scholar Ms.Hepsi 
Beula on 14-7-2015.

On completion of  his Ph.D., 
Harikrishna has been promoted as
Assoc.Prof. with effect from July 1st, 2015.
Congrats to Hari.....
STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
Students of various classes list out what they did in addition to Academics...

Third Year A

• A.Arjun- In-plant training at BESMAK Components located at Oragadam From 1/06/15 to 11/0615
• Keshavakrishnan S- Went for In-plant Training at TNSTC, Pasumalai, Madurai From  3/5/15 to 12/05/15

Third Year B

• Ram sharma -went to Reserved forest for cleaning program organised by Tamilnadu Forest department 
alongwith Forest Range Officers at Tambaram (NSS-activity) on 18/7/15
• Rishikesh G R- Completed an inplant training at Sundaram Clayton Limited  Padi Chennai - 600026. 
During this time period, i worked on and completed a project that aims for 100% adherence on the 
foundry shop floor .
• Velchandru M -Went for  Inplant Training at Tuticorin Thermal Power Station 15/06/15 to 19/06/15
• T.Surya Bharathi Volunteered in Forest cleaning organised by Tamil Nadu Forest Department, 
Tambaram  on 18/07/15
• S.Prem Kumar- Volunteered in Forest cleaning organised by Tamil Nadu forest Department,Tambaram  
on 18/07/15
• Ram sharma.R- I had attended international youth conference named as IYONS organized by Jeppiaar 
engineering college on 24/07/15
• V Sai Sriram -I attended the IN-PLANT TRAINING during the above mentioned days in Indian Railways -
Central Workshop Ponmalai - Tiruchirappalli on 15/06/015 to 19/06/15 
• Surya Raghavan -underwent Vehicle(Maruthi 800) overhauling program at Prigma Edutech services, 
Nandanam Arts College ,Chennai

Final Year A

• Anish P- 1.Internship at Sundaram Fasteners Limited., Padi, Chennai on 1/06/15 to 01/07/15
Project on 'Erection and Fault Diagnosis of Park Pawl Swagging Machine'.
2.Power train Head of the 'Mach Racing Team', participated in the SAE SUPRA event      conducted 
at MMRT, Irungattukotai, Chennai. 
3.Also lead the Marketing Management group for the same event on 15/0715 to 19/07/15
• Akhilnandh Ramesh- Internship at Toyota Kirloskar Motors in Paint Process Engineering, Vehicle 
Engineering Department from 09/06/15 to 14/07/15
• M.Jaya Arun Prasanth- Internship on "Documentation of Inspection Line and aiding other 
miscellaneous activities" in Toyota Kirloskar Motor,Bidadi,Bangalore from 09/06/15 to 15/07/
• A.Kirthivasan -Internship in Engine Product Development Centre l ( Engines PD), Ashok 
Leyland,Vellivoyal Chavadi from 10/06/15 to 10/07/15
• Ajay Anandhan S R- Designed a fixture to correct the nozzle squareness with respect to work plate 
for a cnc Oxy fuel cutting machine on 22/06/15 to 04/0715
• Arun K V J-1.Attended International Conference on Youth empowerment By IYONS 2015, at Jeppier
College of Engineering,Navallur on 24/07/15    
2.Volunteered for Blood Doantion,MIOT Hospital,Porur on 21/07/15
Final Year B
• Vivek Munirathinam-1. Went for internship in L& T shipyard international container terminal located at 
katupalli during 10th june to 10th july.
2. Attended national level automotive SUPRA competition organised by SAE INDIA and placed among 
top 20,during 15th july to 16th july 
• B.Sakthivel & B.Raghul Participated national level technical symposium conducted by prince 
Dr.K.Vasudeven college of engineering. Got first prize in technical quiz and participated in paper 
presentation.
• Subbiah Nagappan-(Internship Abroad) I worked as a student intern technician in the Nebraska Tractor
Test Lab (NTTL) during the month of June, 2015. The lab is under the University of Lincoln, Nebraska 
(UNL), US. Tractor companies like John Deere and Case IH bring their new models to the lab, to get 
their tractors tested. I am glad that I had the opportunity to aid the engineers in the tractor test lab in 
tractor testing. Various tests like draw bar test, PTO test, sound test, hydraulic flow test and three point 
hitch test were conducted. I was amazed by the level at which they tested the tractors and the 
equipments they had to do the tests. I thank our department and college for giving me the permission to 
attend this internship.
• Naveenraj D I attended the cleaning project called "GOOD BYE To KUPPAI" conducted by Tamil Nadu 
Forest Department,Tambaram.
• K.Sharma- 1.Inplant training at Ashok leyland from 14-7-2015 to 18-7-2015.
2.Attended technical symposium at Velammal institute of technology on July 11-7-2015
• Prasanna, Saravanan, Tarun -Baja Design Competetion @ Chandigarh,Punjab 10 and 11 July,15

On behalf of our SAE collegiate club of Department of Mechanical Engineering, a

Report on Guest Lecture guest lecture was arranged for our third and final year mechanical engineering
students on 07.07.2015 by Dr. M.Nalla Mohamed, Dr.M.S.Alphin and Dr.R.Prakash. Dr.D.Dinakaran, Professor, Hindustan
University, Chennai was the speaker of the day.
With a huge experience in teaching of about 20 years,
he delivered a memorable guest lecture on the topic
“condition monitoring systems” which, in many ways,
was highly beneficial to the students. The first part of
the lecture covered the basic understanding needed on
monitoring systems. The next part addressed the
different methods on monitoring systems available.
The third part of the lecture covered how to apply
monitoring systems under various circumstances. The
lecture was well received with interesting questions
from the audience. This session was a beautiful
combination of knowledge, humour, experience and
values.

Dr.M.S.Alphin in action...

Lecture on Creativity in Design at St 
Josephs Institute of Technology,

addressing 200 students and 
faculty .  He was invited invited to 
deliver the guest lecture on 06 July 
2015, Monday 
 ANNUAL GLIDER WORKSHOP
9th and 10th of July 2015
Report by Shivaram P R, Final Year Mechanical
Faculty Coordinator: Dr. K.S. Vijay Sekar
A fabrication workshop cum competition in making of gliders was successfully conducted by the SSN AERO
MODELLING (SSN Aero) Team on the 9th and 10th of July 2015. It was a two day workshop on the whole with
one day allotted to each section of the second years (2014-2018 batch). The workshop began with a lecture from
the leaders of the club (Shivaram P R & Sankar Raju N- 4 th years, supported by our Faculty coordinator Dr. Vijay
Sekar K S) followed by a comprehensive & practical tutoring by the enthusiasts from 3rd year.
The main objective of the workshop was to provide a cognitive insight to the fresh students so that they can
develop interest in the field of aerospace and cultivate a sense of passion towards it. SSN Aero firmly believed
that basics of aeromodelling were best learnt through hands-on experience. In its simplest form, aerodynamics
reveals itself through gliders. Basics of aeromodelling were covered during the lecture. The participants were
escorted to EG hall where the tutors initiated and went on with their endeavours. 
The workshop was received well by the participants, which was understood from the feedback that was collected
from them. The registration count went up to 65 and all of them thoroughly enjoyed the experience. After the
fabrication, a competition was held on the same day to judge which glider was best fabricated. The time of flight
was the key factor in judgement. The winners of the competition were Surraj R (Mech B) and Hemanth Kumar
S(Mech A). 
A huge token of thanks from SSN Aero to our Faculty coordinator  for providing us with appropriate facilities for
conducting the workshop. SSN Aero will venture deeper into helping the students learn, participate, win and
have fun in the various aerospace related arenas in the future. 

The Student Trainers

 Participants from Mech A

Participants from Mech B

 Mechies build their own car

Mach  Racing  Team,  comprising  final  year  students  of  the  batches  of  2015  and  2016  participated  in  the 
national level automotive design and racing competition, SUPRA, organized by SAEINDIA. The team under 
the  leadership  of  S.  Nandha  Kumar,  a  returning  member  of  the  team’s  maiden  entry  into  the  competition, 
showcased the new and improved car at the Madras Motor Race Track in Irungattukotai between 16 and 19 
July.

Nandha Kumar S.  Krishnan R. Amith SC   

Prasanna R.  Lakshmi Narayanan N.  Navin Kumar Krishnan   
Vivek M.  Madan Lal D R.  Arvind G E   
Nagarajan P.  Manikanda Balaji V.  K.Nallendran  
Gokul R.  Kirthivasan Aruljothi   R.Praveen    The Team
Thamil Mani M  Anish Pasumarthy    Preetham Harinath   
Arun Karthik S. Ashwin Raja    Gokul A G   
Ashwin Clement H.  Lekhaj K    Roopan Doss   

After finishing 53rd out of 110 teams in the virtual round earlier in the year, we set about procuring, fabricating
and assembling the various components of the vehicle. With the primary objective of improving on last year’s
performance, several changes were made to different aspects of the car’s design.

Compared to its predecessor, the car weighs about 40kg less, which is primarily down to a lighter roll cage and
FRP body. The overall dimensions of the vehicle have been reduced, rendering it a more compact and
aerodynamic profile. The new power train sees a 500cc Royal Enfield engine replacing the 600cc Kawasaki
Ninja engine. Double-wishbone mono-cross suspensions incorporated on both front and rear wheels and a
diagonal brake biasing are also part of the updated package. The rack-and-pinion steering mechanism based on
the Ackermann geometry, however, remains unchanged.
With such a vast number of changes needing to implemented and very little time in which to do so,nothing short
of a 100% was required from each and every one of us. Often, we would find ourselves working through the
night, despite having put in long and exhausting shifts during the day. Countless complications and setbacks
arose over the past few months and we showed immense resolve and courage in tackling the challenges head
on. 

More than the physical strain from traveling from one extreme of the city to the other to procure components or
from fabricating various parts, it was the mental strain that the team members felt the most. We had to find a
delicate balance between competition related activities, regular college classes and co-curricular activities such
as internships and projects if we were to not lose out on any of them. Ultimately, individual sacrifices had to be
made for the greater good of the team 

After completing most of the work and conducting a few test runs, we transported the car to the track on July 16.
Upon arriving at the track, we were directed towards the pit area with the garages of all the participating teams.
Most of the first day was spent in making last minute adjustments to the car and inspecting the designs of the
100 or so other competitors who came from all over the country.

The first round of the competition consists of a Technical Inspection of the car. Experts from various automotive
companies such as Volkswagen and Maruti and regulatory bodies like SAEINDIA  and FMSCI judge the car
based on the rules and regulations as laid down in the rule book. The scrutineers stringently evaluate the various
aspects of the design such as safety, performance, ergonomics and aesthetics and suggest changes. Each team
is given five opportunities to satisfy the judges and move on to the next round.

Our first attempt to clear Technical Inspection proved to be unsuccessful. After a seemingly endless inspection 
by the judge, we were told to make no less than 25 changes if we had any chance of progressing to the next 
round. Fortunately, we avoided the urge to panic and set about making as many changes as were practically 
possible. The second inspection was much better for us as the judges were satisfied that we had made most of 
the recommended changes and suggested only a few more.
In  the morning of the third day we had made the changes and went in for our third attempt. Despite knowing that
we could still be rejected, we were quietly optimistic about progressing. The moment the captain and the other 
team members stepped out of the Scrutiny Bay with a smile on their faces, we knew we were through. We were 
all ecstatic since we managed to do what last year’s team failed to do, clear Technical Inspection.

We had very little time to celebrate though, as we still had to complete the various static events and dynamic 
tests if we were to compete in the race on the final day. The static events include a Cost and Manufacturing 
Report evaluation, a Design Report evaluation and a Business Logic Plan evaluation.

The Cost and Manufacturing Report evaluation seeks to evaluate how a team has manufactured its car and the 
costs it has incurred in doing so. Teams are required to provide thorough documentation to support their claims 
in the form of receipts and technical drawings of the components they fabricated on their own. In preparing for 
the event, teams learn how to prepare a Bill of Materials (BoM) and various principles of cost accounting.

Closely tied to the Cost event is the Business Logic Plan evaluation. It asks teams to present a hypothetical 
business plan as if it were a company producing cars on a large scale. Here, the emphasis is placed on a 
number of industrially relevant management concepts such as Total Quality Management, Lean Manufacturing 
and Six Sigma.

The Design Report evaluation, unlike the other two static events is completely technical. Here, the team must 
provide an in-depth analysis of the various systems on the car such as the steering, power train, suspension, 
chassis, and brakes.  It must justify the design philosophies it has incorporated in each of these systems in terms
of various performance characteristics such as fuel economy, speed, ergonomics, safety and handling.

After successfully completing the static events, it was time to move on to the dynamic tests. First up was the 
egress test which determines the ability of the driver to exit the vehicle in no more than 5 seconds in case of 
emergency. Both drivers were able to exit the car in around 4 seconds.

Following the Egress Test was the Tilt Test where the car is placed on a hydraulically actuated platform and tilted
to progressively larger inclinations. The aim of the test is to determine that the car will not roll and that the driver 
will not fall out when inclined. We were one of the few teams to go past 70o.

Unfortunately, we could not clear the next round which was the Noise Test. Due to a minor wiring error, a short 
circuit occurred leading to a small fire. Though we were able to quickly put out the flames and change the wiring,
we had exceeded the time allotted to us and were thus, knocked out.

Had we passed the Noise Test, we would have had to pass Skid Pad, Brake and Acceleration Tests before being
allowed to enter the showpiece Endurance event on the final day. Having cleared Technical Inspection, however,
we were allowed to drive our car on track on the final day.

Though we were disappointed for having been knocked out in a fairly soft manner, we felt nothing but pride 
seeing our car running on track. It was an emotional moment, representing the culmination of months of hard 
work finally bearing fruit.

We hope that our achievements this year will be a launchpad for much greater things to come for Mach Racing 
Team. If we manage to put in the same amount of effort or more, the sky is the limit.

In the end, it was about more than just building a car and having fun; it was about learning to face challenges, 
make sacrifices and work in a team. It taught us so many things that a class never could. It is an experience that 
will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

We are forever indebted to the numerous people who helped us on our way this year, starting with our sponsors,
IBACO, Professional Elevators, Mohan Jewellery, Venus Water Heaters, EEE Infratech and Kobelco.

We are extremely grateful to Mr.KalaiSelvan, alumnus of the 2014 batch for his unwavering help and boundless 
expertise. We would like to thank our President, Principal , Head of Construction and Facilities and Dr. R. 
Prakash, our faculty advisor, for their encouragement and Support.
 Respected Sir,(Received from Dr.N.Lakshmi Narasimhan)
Alumni News 1
Hope you are doing well. With the first week of my life as an employee under a 
big umbrella of a corporate , i am excited to share my experience with you.

The  amount  of  help  and  courtesy  extended  to  me  here  in  TVS  Sundram 
Fasteners Limited, Krishnapuram (Madurai) is not measurable by any standards. From 
helping us out  in finding a house for rent (that too for four bachelors, colleagues from 
other colleges), to taking their time off to explain how things work here at a corporate. 
Of  course  we  produce  only  Class  C  items  (fasteners)  but  I  have  been  given  a  huge 
amount  of  responsibility  and  accountability  to  carry  out  my  projects.  I  have  been 
receiving  so  much  information  that  only  a  computer  can  take.  More  than  technical 
aspects , managerial concepts are expected from us. 

How are the placement activities now sir? have they started yet? 
M.Arvind, 2011-15 Thank you sir, you have been and will always be my mentor, teacher and role model.

Alumni News 2 Dear sir,

Hope you and everyone in the department are doing good! I've been 
reading Aspire every month and its been great to know the happenings 
and updates from college and the department!

I would love to inform you that I will be pursuing my Masters in Industrial 
Engineering specializing in Data Analytics at The Ohio State University 
this fall. I will be leaving in the first week of August.

Our department's practical balance of academics and extra/co curriculars 
definitely has played and will continue to play a vital role in shaping all of 
us! Looking forward to sharing my experiences in the future!
Thanks and regards,
Arjhun Hariharan
(2010-14 batch)
Alumni News 3 Alumni News 4
Gowri Manohar of M.E.Mfg Murugesan has completed his
[2012-14 batch] got an offer Masters at Hamburg University of
from SRM University- Technology (TUHH), Netherlands
Vadapalani campus for the and submitted his thesis on “End-of-
post of Assistant Professor in Life Vehicle recycling in India:
Mechanical Engg. Dept. Balancing Economy and Ecology Murugesan
from grave to cradle” 2008-12
(info from Dr.K.S.Vijaysekar)

Alumni News 5
I am writing this email to sincerely thank you for your Letter of 
Recommendation to help me pursue my graduate studies. I am glad to inform 
you that I have been admitted to the Delft university of technology, 
Netherlands for my Master of Science in mechanical engineering ( Solid and 
Fluid mechanics track) and I am going to attend the same.

Once again I would like to thank you for all your help and support during the 
past 4 years .

Yours sincerely,
Veeraraghavan V
2011-2015 batch
 Respected Sir,(received from Dr.N.LakshmiNarasimhan)
Alumni News 6                                 I am Deepak kumar from 2011-2015 batch . Hope you 
are doing good . I got placed in Rane through campus placement and joined 
Rane  Engine  Valves  Limited  on  July  22nd     as GET  .  I  will  be  working  in   
Manufacturing  engineering  department  at  the     head  office  which  is  at 
Ekkaduthangal   .

                        Right from the starting date everything has been going on 
systematically  and  I  have  been  given  a  personal learning diary  where  I 
need to write down weekly and monthly learnings .Though I will be working 
at head office I need to go to the plant at Ponneri for two months. The joining 
formalities have  been completed today and I will be going to the plant from 
tomorrow .  

 Among our students who got selected, Dularish and Shivram will be working 
at Rane Die casting ,a newly opened plant at Hyderabad while Kumaran will 
G S Deepak Kumar  
be working in Rane Madras Limited .             

 I would like to continue receiving Aspire, so that I can be informed about the various programs happening in our 
department . 

(received from Dr.K.S.Vijaysekar)
Alumni News 7
Hope you are doing fine. I am also doing good. Sorry for not being in 
touch  for  such  a  long  time.  Everyday  I  think  of  my  college  days 
though.  Those  most  interesting  and  unforgettable  project  period 
under  you  and  personal  learning  during  the  same.  We  have  also 
shared lot of inspirational philosophies of life which now gives me a 
lot of meaning during some demotivated times.
  
Every month I do take a good look at our Aspire, as it makes me feel 
connected and some good memories comes rushing back. Now the 
college has been beautifully modified and seems to have one of the 
best ambiance. Not to forget, the gigantic and breath taking cricket 
ground, the SSN has constructed, makes us all proud. Also heard 
that it is going to host the India(A) Vs Aussi(A) Test match.

I am doing good in my job. Marketing has become my option. Few people did ask me why did I suddenly choose 
a completely non-engineering stream. The answer to them was "Do what you like and like what you do", which of
course you might remember was our main point of discussion during project period. 

Of course I am in the learning stage and everything is different and hostile around me. But I guess this is where 
learning starts when one is put into such a scenario. I am getting a good exposure of business and finance as I 
have to take care of both the business and viability of my two dealers in my territory. Adding to this, I am also 
exposed to man power management, as dealer's sales force are always demanding and aggressive. This work 
force involves people across all ages starting from 22 years till 54 years, holding various positions from Sales 
executive to General Manager. These insights are giving me a good exposure on how  a real organization works 
and what is team building. I am presently posted at Siliguri, taking care of Marketing and Sales operations
of North Bengal.

Your facebook posts also throw out some light on this where I indirectly get a hint sometimes on how to manage 
these hostilities in everyday life to make my career successful. After getting myself involved in a complete 
business environment, I started preparing for MBA, which I hope would give me necessary skills to excel further. 
So, I have started preparing for GMAT as the first step. 

 Please convey my regards to all the faculties and wishing a bright future for all my juniors. 

Thanks and Regards, Seshadri. (2010-14)
 Alumni News 8 I hope you are doing fine. Its extremely nice to read the ASPIRE 
newsletters every month, and getting informed about the pursuits 
of the staff, Alumni and the students. 

It  is  good  to  know  the  developments  in  the  department  and  its 
wide  range  of  activities.  Thanks  for  being  that  link  which  we 
always cherish to be a part of.

I  am  also  glad  to  inform  you  that  I  have  been  offered  an 
internship at SIEMENS, Germany.  The  topic  is  film  cooling 
performance  and  flow  analysis  on  grid  transformers.  I  will  be 
moving to  Nürnberg, Germany from Delft, the Netherlands. I shall 
keep you informed about my status and progress in the next few 
months.
Girish Sundar (2010-14)

Mech Marvel -8

Whether they're floods, earthquakes or landslides, natural disasters have a nasty habit of cutting survivors off 
from aid by destroying bridges. While traditional portable bridges can already be set up in such situations, 
researchers from Hiroshima University recently demonstrated a new model that is said to be "the world’s
fastest, largest, strongest, and lightest expanding temporary bridge."
Developed by a team led by Dr. Ichiro Ario, the Mobile Bridge Version 4.0 (MB4.0) was inspired by the Japanese 
folded-paper art of origami.
When not in use, the MB4.0 is contracted like an accordion and can be towed on a trailer. Once it gets to the site
of a destroyed bridge, however, it employs a scissor-like action to fold out, its sections of decking sliding out end-
to-end to provide a platform for vehicles.

From the time it arrives until the time that it can 
be used is about an hour, with no foundation 
construction or cranes being required – a fact 
that makes it more economical than some other 
options. In fact, the amount of time it takes to 
actually expand across the river is only about five 
minutes, and it can receive traffic as soon it's 
done so. 

An MB4.0 prototype was demonstrated at a 
symposium of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers on 
June 23rd, where it was successfully set up and used 
by cars to cross the Hongo River in Fukuyama City.
 Amazing Innovations -1 Effective Communication on Pollution

China is thought to have more than 500,000 people die every year from various diseases caused by air pollution.
Xiao Zhu, a company selling air purifiers, is highlighting the dangers of this through its Breathe Again ad
campaign. The installation is comprised of a series of arresting images of youngsters — crying and coughing
— projected ominously onto factory plant pollution, accompanied by the text
‘Clear the air, let the future breathe again’.
By directly targeting the biggest culprits of environmental damage and using actual pollution as a medium, the
company effectively conveys the message of promoting sustainable businesses and clean air.
How could techniques such as projection be used beyond marketing and awareness campaigns? Perhaps a
similar system — projecting onto murky air — be used to for fog warnings?
Website: www.exiaozhu.com watch a demo at https://youtu.be/1e1qGc66W9k

Amazing Innovations -2 Robots that blend with Nature

If you're enjoying a serene natural area, 
you might not appreciate seeing a very 
techy-looking pollution-hunting robot 
putting along the surface. 

That's why scientists at the National 
University of Singapore have developed 
an alternative – water-quality-monitoring 
robots that look like swans. 

The robots are the product of the 
NUSwan program, which cleverly 
enough stands for New Smart Water 
Assessment Network.
 Each robot incorporates a battery pack, electric motors and dual props 
(sorry, they don't actually kick their feet), along with sensors for 
measuring factors such as pH, turbidity, chlorophyll content and 
dissolved oxygen. 

Although they can be manually piloted by remote control, the general 
idea is that they use their own on-board GPS guidance system to 
autonomously cruise reservoirs or other bodies of water, without going 
over the same areas twice – unless that's what's desired.

Data is transmitted to the cloud by Wi-Fi, and the robots automatically return to a charging station when their 
batteries start to run low. They're also said to be reasonably tough, built to withstand the inevitable collisions with
small boats.
While such water quality measurements are currently conducted in Singapore by people in boats, it is believed 
that the NUSwan system should be less expensive, quicker and logistically simpler.
According to a report by Channel NewsAsia, the robots were first conceived of in 2010. Plans now call for the 
implementation of other types of sensors, along with adaptation of the technology for use in salt water.

Amazing Innovations -3 Dedicated test track for Autonomous Vehicles

Mcity at the University of Michigan is defined by over 28 acres (11 hectares) of fake buildings, purposefully 
defaced road signs, and pedestrians pointedly standing in roadways. While this could tax any human driver, the 
Mcity simulation is designed to test the university's fleet of connected and autonomous vehicles as they interact 
with an everchanging research facility that's the first of its kind. 

Opened  on  July  20,  Mcity 

allows researchers to test new 
technologies,  such  as  its 
recent 
3D-printed autonomous car,  in 
a  dedicated  but  controlled 
environment  before  pushing 
out  vehicles  to  the  streets  of 
Ann  Arbor  or  beyond.  Unlike 
public streets, Mcity's movable 
building  facades,  changeable 
traffic  signal networks,  and full 
control  over  things  such  as 
lane  width  allows  a  fully 
flexible sandbox.

Some other features that have been built into the "city's" 5 miles (8 km) of lanes include a 1,000-ft (304-m) road 
that's located precisely north/south to test GPS, a simulated downtown area with blind corners, and realistic 
materials that include old signs and graffitied materials.

Everything that a car may encounter has been included: 120 road signs (how many could you actually 

name?), numerous road materials, pedestrians, bikes, roundabouts, tunnels, freeway entrances, rural train 
crossings, and the universal constant, construction.
Mcity represents part of a plan to roll out autonomous vehicles from its controlled boundaries to the (real) city by 
2021. Partners representing all stakeholders in a connected road landscape were involved, including car 
manufacturers, lawmakers, data management hardware and software companies, telecommunication firms, and 
even the companies that make traffic signaling technology. 

In the video below, the director of the program provides an introduction while you tour parts of Mcity 
https://youtu.be/aKduQC8wNu4
 Amazing Innovations -4 Hacking into an Autonomous car

The minute you connect a car to the internet, you’re exposing it to the risk of hacking – and even if it’s only the 
entertainment system that’s supposed to be online, a skilled hacker can now remotely take control of just about 
any electronically controlled part of your car, including the steering, throttle and brakes. And this isn't some 
distant thing to worry about in the future. One Wired reporter just had the terrifying experience of having his Jeep
Cherokee taken over by hackers while he was on the freeway. Like a scene in a horror movie, he found himself a
helpless passenger in his car as he lost control of its functions one by one.
If you drive a late model car, driver assist technology now operates an awful lot of it on your behalf. But if that car
is connected to the internet as well, as a lot of them are, you could be exposing a horrifying amount of control to 
hackers.

A pair of Missouri-based hackers have put on an extraordinary demonstration by logging into a Jeep Cherokee 
remotely, while it was being driven by a Wired reporter Andy Greenberg, and systematically taking over the car’s 
functionality. First, they hit him with cold air through the air-con system, then they blasted Kanye West through 
the stereo at full volume, rendering the volume knob completely useless. They flashed up a picture of 
themselves on the car’s console and set the windscreen wipers going full blast, squirting cleaning fluid onto the 
windscreen and making it difficult to see.

But these were just warmups to the main event – 
next, they took over the engine and shut it off 
completely, leaving the driver powerless and 
coasting on the freeway as traffic flashed past 
around him. 

Then, once he was off the highway, they showed 
how they could completely disable the brakes, and 
take over the steering of the car – only at slow 
speeds and in reverse, but they’re working on 
unlocking new abilities every day.

If the safety implications of this kind of hack aren't scary enough, consider the privacy angle. The pair say they 
can easily track the car through its on-board GPS, plotting out its course neatly on a map in real time.

Worse still, this was an unmodified car. The two hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, had previously 
demonstrated similar capabilities when plugged into a car’s on-board diagnostics port, but this time they broke in
from their lounge room, using an exploit they’ve found in the Jeep’s internet-enabled entertainment system – 
Uconnect. They believe it’s an exploit that should work on the majority of internet-connected late model 
Chryslers - all they need is the car’s IP address and they’re in. In fact, as reporter Andy Greenberg looked on, 
they located and hacked into a series of other moving cars all around the country.

Miller and Valasek are preparing to release some details of the hack at the Black Hat security conference in 
Vegas next month. They’ve been working with Chrysler to make sure this exploit is patched and the 471,000-odd
vulnerable vehicles in the US are secured well before the Black Hat conference. Still, the whole thing is a big 
wake-up call for auto manufacturers: connected car cybersecurity is going to have to be absolutely paramount 
going forward. This goes double for anyone building an autonomous car, in which the terrified victim won’t even 
have access to a steering wheel when things start going skewiff. Scary stuff.
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/
 Corporate Story -8

In 1896, Henry Ford built the

first car . It was called a
Qudricycle, since it was riding
on four bicycle wheels.

The engine was of 4 horse

power. There was no steering.
It had a tiller.

The gearbox had just two

forward gears and no reverse
provision.
The Ford Motor Company was incorporated in 1903.
The cars were named as Ford Model A , 
model B etc. The adjoining picture shows 
a Model T car which was the world's first 
“best  -selling”  vehicle.  Ford  had  sold  13 
million cars of Model T. 

In  1908,  when  Model  T  was  introduced, 

there  were  only  18,000  miles  of  paved 
roads  in  the  US.  Roads  were  very 
primitive and cars in existence  were only 
of  luxury  value  not  being  easy  to 
maintain. In order to make it affordable to 
mass market, Ford used light weight and 
strong  vanadium  alloys for the wheels in 
Model  T,  so  that  they  can  withstand  all 
the vagaries of the roads. This was easy 
to maintain and reliable. It was an instant 
hit with car users.

The  next  step  was  to  reduce 

manufacturing cost.

In  1913,  Ford  introduced  the  Assembly 

Line  concept.  As  a  result,  the  Chassis 
assembling  time  came  down  from  12.5 
hours to just 1.5 hours. 

This  was  a  revolution  in  Manufacturing. 

The cost of Model T was further reduced, 
because  of  lowered  production  cost, 
enabled by the novel Assembly Line.
But workers felt there is too much work and strain-and started leaving the company! Ford quickly responded with
the famous “$5 Day.” in 1914. As per this scheme, workers would eb paid $5 per day (which was double the 
normal salary of any other company) and also reduced working hours from 9 to 8 hours. The catch was “less 
time and more money.” The result was phenomenal.
• 10,000 workers queued up to get employed.
• Those who were already employed never thought of leaving Ford.[Employee retention became high]
• Less working hour meant leisure time with family. 
• More money enabled some of the workers to purchase the car that they were producing.
• Above all, because of eight hours, Ford was able to introduce three shift production instead of the 
previous two shift system followed by all other companies.
• By reducing working hours per shift, they were able to finally increase production by three shifts!
Learn more about such innovations at http://corporate.ford.com/company/history.html

Using Technology

1.Ford uses 3D printing for automotive prototyping.

2.Today, carbon fiber is largely limited to expensive, low volume, high-performance vehicles. The material’s high 
strength and low weight make it a smart choice for cars with a focus on speed and handling – like the upcoming 
Ford GT. But lightweight materials can also pay big dividends in fuel economy and even hauling capacity, as in 
the case of the lighter aluminum-intensive 2015 Ford F-150.

Today, carbon fiber’s high cost makes it impractical for most everyday vehicles. That’s why Ford is collaborating 
with DowAksa to advance research on cost-effective, high-volume manufacturing of affordable carbon fiber auto 
parts.  DowAksa brings experience with carbon fiber production, while Ford offers expertise with automotive 
design and high-volume manufacturing.  

Long-term, the hope is this relationship will enable car buyers to benefit from the use of carbon fiber in an 
affordable way.  Learn more

3.Available new technology from Ford – Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection – is designed to reduce 
the severity of and, in some cases, even eliminate frontal collisions involving pedestrians 

• Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection – debuting on the 2015 Ford Mondeo in Europe
– provides a collision warning to the driver and, if the driver does not respond in time, can
automatically apply the vehicle brakes
• Other available Ford driver-assist technologies include lane-keeping system with lane-keeping
aid, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) with cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and
collision warning with brake support, and active park assist

Support to Startups in automotive area

Techstars Mobility, driven by Detroit, is a startup accelerator with support from Ford and other businesses. Out of
hundreds of applicants, the program has selected 10 startup companies with business models that have the 
potential to shape the future of mobility. Over the next three months, each of these new companies will receive 
$120,000 in funding, as well as intensive training and mentorship from industry leaders.

The winning entrepreneurs have plans for a web browser that operates without data or Wi-Fi, a Kevlar separator 
for longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries, and an innovative communication platform for the shipping industry. 

These startups were selected out of submissions from 42 countries, and they will all set up shop in downtown 
Detroit to incubate their ideas through fall 2015.  Learn More

For careers at Ford visit http://corporate.ford.com/careers.html

 Forthcoming Events
K.S.Rangasamy college of technology, Mechatronics Dept. is organizing Two Day National Level Workshop on,
“LabVIEW for Engineers & Researchers”on 13th&14 August 2015.

Fee Rs.1000 per student. Contact [email protected]

Internship Info-Attention Third Years

This is Srinivasan of Final year Mechanical. 
Last  week  I  talked  to  you  about  a  research  internship  in  Canada 
conducted by Mitacs. 

I learnt it today that only the third year students are allowed to attend 
that  program  i.e.  they  want  the  students  to  have  minimum  1  to 
maximum of 3 semesters of their B.E. course remaining to be finished 
AFTER COMPLETING the internship. 

This  program  will  be  very  useful  for  the  current  III  years.  Please 
circulate it to them.  

The link is https://www.mitacs.ca/en/programs/globalink/globalink-research-internship

CRANK-X is scheduled on Sept 4, Friday

 Understanding the impact of your research
• As a Researcher, we often face the question “What is the use of all my research findings?”.
• The best utility for a research paper is when somebody else finds that work useful and builds
further knowledge based on the work reported by us.
• Whenever someone else uses our research finding, s/he refers to our paper in their work.
• Therefore, if we have a way to count how many people have referred to our work (as explicitly
listed in the reference section of their research paper), that could be a measure of our impact.

Thomson Reuters , a publishing company is a pioneer in developing this metric. Since it is difficult to
go individual by individual, the first attempt was to get the impact of the journals that publish our
papers. They coined the term Journal Impact Factor. (JIF)

Total number of papers published by the Journal, in the year 1 = A

Total number of papers published by the Journal, in the year 2 = B
Number of citations of A and B in papers published in year 3 in any journal = C
Impact Factor = C / (A+B)

1.Naturally, Impact Factor will increase if C increases or if (A+B) decreases. C depends on the
database of the analysis. Naturally, if more Journals are in database, chances of more citations are high.

2.Many Journals have found a clever way to manage these . Some journals insist that at least 50% of all
references must be papers from their own journal. This increases C. The presence of review papers also
boosts the citations. This is self citation by Journals.

3.Authors also try to cite their own paper again and again-thereby increasing the C. This is called Self-
citation by authors and must be removed.

4.Some Journals start non research communications like “editorial” “comments on a paper” “reply to
comments on a paper” etc(these are termed as “Non-citable” items). These are some information
referring to a paper published and therefore become citations. Ironically, even if a letter to editor says a
particular paper has a wrong approach- since that refers to the paper which did the mistake, it also will
count as a citation!. Surprisingly, these are not counted in A and B. These will contribute only to the
numerator!

Total number of papers published by the Journal, in the year 1 = A

Non-research communications in year 1 referring to some paper of that journal= a
Total number of papers published by the Journal, in the year 2 = B
Non-research communications in year 2 referring to some paper of that journal = b
Number of citations of A,a, B,b in papers published in year 3 in any journal = C
Impact Factor = C / (A+B)
Note that the non-research communication is cleverly used to boost the numerator without contributing to the
denominator. Let us say A=75, B=100, C=200 , a=20 and b=15
Then calculated JIF= 200 / (75+100) = 200 /175 = 1.143
But actual value must be 200 / (75+100+20+15) = 200 /210 =0.952

We need a program that uses all items contributing to the numerator, in the denominator also.
5.All journals are not alike .Citation in prestigious journals must have a higher weightage. Thomson
Reuters treats all journals alike- a citation is a citation irrespective of Journal ranking.

6.Finally, the system should be available free of cost and capable of several analysis.
All these shortcomings are addressed by Scopus proposed SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR).

1.Scopus has large database 22,878 titles, whereas JIF deals with only 11,149 journal listings (in their
recently released 2015 listing).

2.SJR clearly differentiates self citations by the same journal.

3.SJR clearly differentiates self citations by the author.

4.SJR includes non citable items in the denominator. (as a result, SJR is always lower than JIF).

Since all these tend to lower the impact factor, SJR considers citations over a three year period
(Thomson Reuters uses a two year base). For comparison, SJR also provides JIF equivalent calculation
as “2Y”

5.Scopus has a method of generating ranking for Journals and a weightage for these rankings. So, a
citation in a high ranking journal will get a larger value than in a low ranking Journal.

6.SJR is free of cost and enables several graphical analysis.

http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php

There are 504 titles in mech engg, 1038 in Materials Sc, 527 in Chemical engg , 1445 in CSE, 1284 in
Mathematics etc.The search can be done based on journal title, keywords of journal title or by ISSN
number.
As an example, we will see SJR data for Journal of Materials Processing Technology

The SJR indicator measures the scientific influence of the average article in a journal, it expresses how
central to the global scientific discussion an average article of the journal is.

Cites per Doc. (2y) measures the scientific impact of an average article published in the journal, it is
computed using the same formula that journal impact factor ™ (Thomson Reuters).
Evolution of the total number of citations and journal's self-citations received by a journal's published
documents during the three previous years.

Evolution of the number of total cites per document and external cites per document (i.e. journal self-
citations removed) received by a journal's published documents during the three previous years.
International Collaboration accounts for the articles that have been produced by researchers from
several countries. The chart shows the ratio of a journal's documents signed by researchers from more
than one country.

This identifies how many items are non citable, out of a total number of articles published.
Ratio of a journal's items, grouped in three years windows, that have been cited at least once vs. those
not cited during the following year.

(Non clarity of graphs is due to conversion from website through screen print mode and pdf).
For better clarity, visit the website and search these data for the journal of your interest.

Even in a good journal, several articles may not be cited at all. For example, in the period 96-98, out of
1600 papers published, 1300 papers have not been cited at all. Still the author of that paper (which is
not cited) enjoys the same credit as that of the cited author-because his paper is published in the same
journal as that of the cited paper!
How to resolve this contradiction? Will see next month.....
A write up on the editorial experience of bringing out a Research Journal......

Write up by
Dr.M.Suresh

· Our Department conducted an International Conference on the theme of Sustainable Energy

Resources, Materials and Technologies (ISERMAT 2015) during 8th and 9th of January 2015.
· Conference related activities were initiated one year before the conference dates.
· Our college provided Rs. 2 lakhs as financial grant for conducting the conference
· Various government agencies like DST, CSIR, AICTE and some leading industries were also
approached for financial grant. DST granted Rs. 1 lakh, Cognizant Technology Solutions
granted Rs. 1 lakh and TVS Srichakra Ltd. provided Rs. 50000/-.
· Various international journals were approached for publishing conference proceedings. An
international journal of Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland "Applied Mechanics and
Materials" agreed for publication.
· Conference website was launched in July 2014.
· Conference brochure was released in July 2014.
· Call for abstracts and full papers was announced in August 2014 and brochures were sent to
reputed engineering institutions and universities throughout India.
· 288 abstracts were received and 253 of them were accepted in October 2014.
· 217 full papers were received in October/November 2014.
· Manuscripts were reviewed by 19 experts from various engineering disciplines. After
revisions, 193 papers were accepted for oral presentation in the conference.
· Camera ready papers were submitted by the participants in December 2014.
· On day 1 of the conference, a book on abstracts was released.
· The conference provided 19 major technical sessions in the areas of Alternate fuels, IC
Engines-Combustion, Heat transfer and thermal properties, Environment, Optimization,
Simulation, Energy storage, Photovoltaics, Renewable Energy, HVAC, Composites, Electrical
systems, Welding, Machining, Tribology, Mechanical characterization and testing,
Emissions/Fluid flow machinery/NDT.
· 193 technical papers were presented by scholars, academicians, experts and researchers from
India/abroad.
· After successfully conducting the conference, activities related to publication of conference
proceedings was initiated in January 2015.
· Second review process was conducted in February/March/April 2015, with the help of 46
professors from reputed engineering institutions/universities to meet the publication
requirements of the international journal, "Applied Mechanics and Materials". After revisions,
183 papers were accepted for publication.
· Authors were given access by the journal, to view and download their papers, from journal
website, in June 2015.
· Conference proceedings in book and CD were received in July 2015.
· All 183 papers will be available online in the journal, "Applied Mechanics and Materials" as
volume 787, in August/September 2015.

First Round-288 abstracts, 253 accepted

Second Round-193 cleared for full length paper
Third Round-183 cleared by double blind review-for Journal publication
At the end of Seven months of untiring online editorial work
The editors were awarded “A” grade by the Journal
Congrats to the Task Masters.
 Corporate Wisdom 20- Good to have a bad boss
We are all working in policy and process driven organization and most 
of us have worked previously in such organizations.   At some point of 
time we feel or felt that we had a bad boss and the question comes to 
us  “ What do I do if I get a bad boss ?  

First  remember, ‘bad boss’   is  a  perception  and  all  perceptions  are 
relative  and  subjective.   A  ‘bad  boss’  just  means  that  the  chemistry 
between  you  and  your  boss  isn’t  working,  and  it  may  be  working 
perfectly with someone else.
Secondly, tell yourself, “I know what it feels 
like to work for  a  bad boss,” and resolve  to 
be a good boss when you become a boss.   
Don’t do to others what you don’t want to be 
done to you.   

Take  this  as  your  training  ground  to  build 

your  ‘What  not  to  do’  qualities  of  a 
professional.   See this as your training and 
learning  ground.   Every  professional  who 
hit  the  top,  at  some  point  of  his  career, 
would have served an ‘Oh no’ boss.  

• In fact, ‘bad’ is the best training ground for ‘good’.  
• Failures teach you some of the best lessons in life, which success cannot. 
• Strength of character is developed by the obstacles you overcome.  
• Tough times mold the personality of a man. 
• Actually tough students mold good teachers into great teachers.  
• Wars provided the context to develop great technology.  The cross became the symbol 
of Christianity and the Kurukshetra gave the world the Bhagawad Gita. 
• Compressed coal becomes diamond. 
• Bad always brings along good. 

A bad boss can be the context for you to become an outstanding professional.

Of course, it’s needless to remind the present-day professionals – if need be,

a few lines on a paper and a signature will give you a new boss.
But running away from a situation is not the immediate answer and it is the last one.

Wishing you Most & More
Have a wonderful day & great week

R.Ramakrishnan
Group Chairman’s Office
GMR Group-Corporate office 

Compiled and released by HoD Mech Feedback to [email protected]