NEWSLETTER
A House  Journal of
IEEE Kerala Section
Volume 12 Number 3
July - September 2003

Contents

Diary of Events
Forthcoming Events
Chairman's Message
Slate for 2004
Section Activities
News Around the IEEE
Smart-Dust Sensors N.T. Nair
PES Activities
Editorial
Women in Engineering
Gold Activities

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Diary of Events

02-07-2003	“Harnessing Daylight”, K.K.Vasu, Director, Electrical Design Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
09-07-2003	“Effluents from Hospitals-A Major Public Health Hazard”, V.S.S. Nair, Technical Consultant, Indian Medical Association.
16-07-2003	“Sending and Receiving e-Mail in Indian Languages”, E.M. George, Formerly of VSSC.
23-07-2003	“Bioinformatics – Application in monitoring and maintenance of Public Health”, V. Thankamoni, Head, Department of Biotechnology, University of Kerala.
30-07-2003	“Role of Engineers in Sustainable Development”, K.Ravi, Advisor to Chief Minister, Government of Kerala.
06-08-2003	“Energy Management for Sustainable Development”, P.S.Chandramohan Nair, Prof. Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.
13-08-2003	“The Chromatic Scale, Microtonality and Implications for Karnatic Music”, Satish Babu, InApp, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram.
13-08-2003	Executive Committee Meeting of IEEE Kerala at Harmonieee, Thiruvananthapuram.
20-08-2003	“Strategy for the Implimentation of Participatory Irrigation Management in Kerala”, George Chackachery, Scientist, CWRDM.
21-08-2003	A function to Felicitate Ministhy at Hotel Horizon, Thiruvananthapuram.
23-08-2003	One day Conference on Wireless Networking (WiNGS 2003) at Hotel Residency Towers, Thiruvananthapuram.
27-08-2003	“ISO- 9001-2001 A Comparison with SCI-CMMM”, Subodh.P.S, Scientific Officer, Q & I, CDAC, Thiruvananthapuram.
01-09-2003	Evening function arranged to honour K.P.P. Nambiar on his 75th birth day.
02-09-2003	“Outsourcing – The Emerging Business Trend”, N.T Nair, CMS Computers, Thiruvananthapuram.
15-09-2003	“Improvement in Values in Engineering Profession – Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya – A Role Model”, a programme arranged by IE in connection with Engineers Day celebrations. Chief Guest: Subrata Biswas, M.D, Kerala Financial Corporation, Thiruvananthapuram.
17-09-2003	“Educational Transformation for Sustainable Development”, P.Sivasankaran, President, Energy Conservation Society.
20-09-2003	“TCS IT Quiz 2003 – IT for Schools” at AKG Centre Auditorium, Thiruvananthapuram.
23-09-2003	“Current issues to Problems in Distributed Generation”, by Joseph L. Koepfinger at Hotel Horizon, Thiruvananthapuram, organized by PES, IEEE Kerala.
24-09-2003	“Process Model for Software Engineering”, Manu Balachandran, US Software, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram.

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Forthcoming Events
02-10-2003	IEEE Awareness Programme, at IE hall, Thiruvananthapuram organized by IEEE Kerala Section and GOLD Affinity Group.
06-10-2003	“Water and Sanitation for Cities”, by Solomen Fernandez, Deputy Chief Engineer, Kerala Water Authority, arranged by IE in connection with World habitat Day.
08-10-2003	“Is Kerala destined to loose continuously its vast Water Resources”, M.K. Parameswaran Nair, Former Member, Kerala State Electricity Board.
09-10-2003	Executive Committee Meeting of IEEE Kerala at Hotel Residency Towers, Thiruvananthapuram.
15-10-2003	“Innovations in Living Space”, N. Hariharan.
22-10-2003	“State Information Infrastructure for e-Governance”, Sasi P.M, C-DAC, Thiruvananthapuram.
05-11-2003	“Software Intellectual Property Right”, InApp, Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram.
12-11-2003	“Outsourcing – The Emerging Business Trend”, N.T. Nair, CMS Computers, Thiruvananthapuram.

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Chairman’s Message

Retrospection is a practice followed by wise people. Engineers use techniques such as feedback loop for this purpose. We need to retrospect by asking the question "Why does the Section exist?". Of course we fulfill the syntax and semantics of the charter governing the Sections. We organize a grand annual seminar on themes of topical relevance. This year's seminar WINGS 2003 focused on wireless technology and covered a wide spectrum. It was gratifying that IEEE steps in with timely standards that are developed without any axe to grind and these are professionally respected. Whenever you hear the term "Wireless" the immediate mind recall words that popos up is 802.x Standards.

We organized a very useful program for the existing student branches as well as colleges that are aspiring to start student branches. This whole day program was conducted on 2 Oct - a true tribute to the karma yogi whose birthday falls on that day and normally we look forward to it because it is a national holiday. On this occasion one of our Life Senior members DS Rane donated over 100 books on Electrical, Electronics and Computer subjects to the student branch libraries - again a demonstration of Vidya Dhan on 2 Oct.

Our GOLD chapter volunteers have received accolades at the Headquarters level. Our Women in Engineering group reminded us that engineers have to indulge in celebrations once in a while. WIE had organized a celebration to felicitate a woman engineer who has been selected for the IAS with a high rank. Ministhy shared her thoughts on the concerns of women professionals (she should know because she has worked in high demanding environments with a small child to look after).

The Power Engineering Society never loses an opportunity to utilize the services of Distinguished Lecturers and conducted a useful program on “Current Issues and Problems in Distributed Generation” where more than 30 professionals participated. The speaker Joseph Koepfinger is an engineer with nearly 60 years' experience behind him and his simplicity impressed everyone who met him over dinner. PES has planned another program in Kozhikode on a topic very relevant to Kerala namely small hydel power projects.

The drive to locate and connect to members is visible - several members with "Associate" status are getting upgraded to regular members and several members are coming forward to elevate themselves as Senior members (these are people who would have qualified for a Senior membership several years ago). Thus qualitatively we experience a "feel good" factor that we are justifying our existence and work in synchronization with IEEE mission.

But in these days of quantitative appraisals and the question of aligning the objectives all the way through the ladder of members - societies - volunteers - IEEE HQ, where do we stand? While the above progress card speaks the language of "lead' measures, what about the "lag" measures? Have the programs and initiatives resulted in a more effective functioning of our members in their individual assignments? Have these resulted in creating a better sense of pride and confidence among our members? Can we benchmark ourselves with the best of professional communities worldwide? Are or we at a level that others would think of benchmarking themselves against us? I invite member professionals to give a thought and share it during the next AGM.

R. Narayanan

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Slate for 2004

The slate for 2004, prepared by the nomination committee consisting of S.Gopakumar, J. Muraleemohan Lal and K.G.Satheesh kumar is announced.

Chairman	:	Mr. EE Rajkumar SM07321631
Vice Chairman	:	Mr. Philip John M04462727
Secretary	:	Mr. Sasi PM M40293392
Treasurer	:	Ms.S. Meera M40298697

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Section Activities

RUBBER DAMS

On 1-1-2003 a talk by R. Sreekumar, was arranged on the topic “Rubber Dams”. He commenced the presentation by giving a concise picture on the topic. Rubber Dam, made of nylon reinforced rubber body is simple in construction. It is safe and efficient Rubber Dam is shaped like a tube with upstream side, parabolic, floor straight and downstream face semi-circular with a fin near the top. It could be given ceramic amour to protect against knife cuts.

The flat bottom is anchored to concrete base using clamps and plates. The tube could be filled either with compressed air or pressurized water and it can be inflated or deflated to suit site requirements. Rubber Dams have not been used in India so far. The maximum single span is about 180 metres and the maximum height is about 6 metres. It is suggested that rubber dams could be constructed as check dams.

ADVANCED IN AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS

K.N Ramachandran on 8-1-2003 gave a talk on “Advancements in Automotive Electronics”. At the beginning of last century the "Horseless carriage" of Ford was a marvel of Mechanical Engineering innovation. Today the automobile is a complex integration of mechanical, electrical and electronic systems. For meeting the demands of vehicle users as regards Safety, Economy and Comfort, the automobile industry is using extensively electronic sensing, control and display modules. These do the sensing, diagnostics and actuation.

About 50 to 100 sensors are put to use which enable functions such as pressure Control, Engine Control, Adaptive Cruise control and micro injector fuel system control. These help to reduce driver-induced accidents and result in better all-round efficiency.

FRESH WATER AND FOOD SECURITY

The topic "Fresh Water and Food Security" was presented by C.D Thatta on 11-1-2003. Just as the year 2002 was designated as the "Year of mountains", 2002 is designated as the "year of Fresh water". The crucial role of water in human life is highlighted by the fact that the theme for "World Food Day 2002"was "water, the source of food security." The talk covered a deep insight into the availability, development, transport, use, management, conservation and recycling of fresh water. The various aspects involving the usage of water by different sectors such as food, people and nature their interactions were discussed.

The talk also gave an outline of the key role of dams and the difficulties involved in their maintenance and the remedial measures. The sustainability of water usage and its impact on population growth and other factors were dealt in detail. The land mass of India, its water sources, basins, and the effect of monsoons on the availability of water were touched upon. A vision for water management for the period up to 2025 and 2050 was also described briefly. The similarities and differences between India and China in inter-basin water transfer were also highlighted in the talk.

The food needs of the growing Rajeev U.P g population of India and their impact on health of the people, the production, utilization, stocks and prices of foodstuffs were discussed in the talk. He concluded by highlighting the contribution to the GDP of the Nation from agriculture and the need to wean away some of the population from agriculture.

RE-ENTRY MISSION - CHALLENGES IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Rajeev U.P delivered a talk on “Re-entry Mission – Challenges in Technology Development” on 15-1-2003. It will be the task of future space missions to design safer and economical efforts of bringing back the modules from space to earth. Gravity is to be taken care of with appropriate design of the structure of the vehicle.

Constraints imposed by Thermal protection requirements. Flight control and vehicle structure are to be suitably overcome. The three phases during entry of the vehicle are (i) the initial entry manoeuvre (ii) trans- satellite manoeuvre and (iii) sub satellite manoeuvre. Pilot less automatic landing requires multiple sensors.

Algorithms for overcoming constraints for maintaining the optimal trajectory are possible to be developed. The challenges in Technology development include, Development of new materials for structural design, Advanced sensors for navigation. Development of control algorithms and the like.

EARTH QUAKE PREDICTION-A REALITY?

On 22-1-2003 a talk by T. Chelladurai was arranged on the topic "Earth Quake Pred8iction – A reality?” Peculiar animal behaviour, unusual weather, appearance of rainbow and mysterious light, new moon or Full moon positions, strange disturbances in ground water levels and the like have been observed before the occurrence of strong earthquakes. There are statistical predictions of earth quakes as well as some Empirical approaches in the attempt to predict impending earthquakes.

Earthquakes are the result of rupture of rock mass at weak locations along geological faults where energy accumulation exceeds the bearing capacity. Acoustic Emission (AE) testing is used in the testing of aerospace structures. The study conducted at Thiruvananthapuram and at some of the Dam sites in Kerala indicates that geological activity could be sensed by AE pickups. It was observed through a good network of highly sensitive seismic monitoring systems that shocks were preceded by alarming AE signals and hence prediction of impending strong seismic activity is now possible 3 to 12 days in advance using AE technique.

MANAGEMENT OF QUALITY THROUGH I T

N.T Nair on 29-1-2003 gave a talk on "Management of Quality in Services and Manufacturing through IT”. Quality is a long term competitive environment. Quality is to be an on-going, never-ending attribute. Quality has come to centre-stage today in all major business operations like services and manufacturing. Information Technology systems enable monitoring of various activities and different parameters in a relentless manner. I.T based Temperature Monitoring and Alerting System, made use of in traditional glass manufacturing industry is one such example. Defects in products or aberrations in operation in operation can be instantaneously sensed and corrective action called for I.T intervention systems are quite useful in Telecom Sector also for tracking problems in the service.

CHANGES IN SPECIFICATIONS FOR ROAD WORKS

The topic “Recent Changes in Specifications and Construction Techniques for Road Works” was presented by Kuncheria P. Isaac on 5-2-2003. The golden quadrilateral, East- West and North- South corridor projects of the Government of India are the major on-going schemes in the road- development process of the Nation. In the Kerala State, large scale modernisation programmes are on the anvil with respect to the Transport Sector. This demands introduction of appropriate materials and innovative techniques in highway construction. The major emphasis in the design and construction of roads is on pavement durability with environmental conservation and road safety.

There have been recent additions in the Standard Specifications in bituminous cold mixes, modified bitumen (rubberized bitumen), crack-prevention courses, use of machinery for construction and the like. Interlocking block pavements, roller compacted concrete and similar other new techniques for road construction are also now available.

WORKSHOP ON TRIVANDRUM TRAFFIC

On 19-2-2003 a workshop on "Immediate Action Plan for Trivandrum Traffic” was organized at IE hall. The workshop was inaugurated by Baby Jacob IAS, Additional Secretary, Government of Kerala. About 100 representatives of public and officers of various Departments participated. A brief presentation of the state of the art of traffic management and engineering measures which can be applied to Trivandrum for tackling effectively the present and future traffic problems was made. Detailed discussion followed. The deliberations were oriented towards identification of locations to be improved and type of improvements to be carried out including prioritisation of improvements.

CYBER SECURITY

Bhadran V.K on 19-2-2003 gave a talk on "Cyber Crimes, Cyber Terrorism and Cyber Security”. The proliferation of computers and internet has contributed positively towards the growth of our society. The release of internet to the public has revolutionized the commerce to the extent that most of the economic transactions all over the world depends on the Net.

As usual, criminals also found that computers and internet are best tools for their trade. Crimes involving computers ad crimes acted on computers have become a reality. The worst form of cyber crimes came to reality as Cyber Terrorism which threatens individuals, society and governments all over the world. Terrorism has now grown to the click of a mouse from the trigger of a gun. Cyber terrorists are capable of coercing governments, destroy infrastructure, and kill people by sitting in front of computers, without hurting themselves.

Security of the cyber world is now the biggest issue before governments, institutions and individuals. Security policies have to be reformatted based on the current realities of cyber terrorism. Infrastructure protection mechanism has to be designed.

VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL

The topic “Voice over Internet Protocol” was presented by K.N. Sabu on 26-2-2003. Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) deals with the speech transmission part of the Internet Protocol Telephony services. When A talked with B in a telephone network, there was a physical connection established between them prior to the beginning of conversation. This switched connection is established by a signaling process based on the digits dialed (the telephone number). The same switch may be used to establish a call between B and D, after this call. Once the connection is established the speech transmission between them is on a dedicated channel. This satisfied the real-time nature of the conversation, since the resources remained allotted, until the call is cleared. How ever, this has become a technology challenge in case of a packet network wherein: The packets traveled in multiple routes and reached destination in a haphazard manner and some packets get lost or delayed too much depending on the traffic conditions. Hence, technological solutions were developed to compensate for the lost and/or delayed speech packets in order t improve the Quality of Service (QoS), to a satisfactory level. However, there were other issued like logistical and regulatory challenges imposed by the well-established, lucrative telecom network across the globe, the cost- effectiveness of the technological solutions, reliability, security and availability of the VoIP services under various operating condition. The talk was on VoIP services under various operating conditions. The talk was on VoIP technology, particularly on voice terminal devices. A technological comparison with existing switched telecom network and perspective on cost- effectiveness were also included.

WATER POLICY FOR KERALA

On 5-3-2003 R. Balakrishnan Nair gave a talk on "A Water Policy for Kerala”. In 1991-92 Kerala State formulated a Water Policy following the Policy declared by the Government of India (GOI) and was on similar lines. Both the documents were very broad based and general statements of principles and ideals. No targets were set or commitments made and also there was no time frame for implementation.

GOI updated their policy in 2002. Kerala State is also to update the state Water Policy. The suggestions are put forth are:

Taking into consideration possible scarcity conditions, there must be a long term policy for the next 50 years. Water usage must be prioritised giving top priority for drinking and domestic needs and industrial use as the last. It is also suggested that for formulating a Master Plan for the State, a State Water Commission consisting of experienced experts in appropriate disciplines and with mandate to function independently must be constituted.

MICRO KERNEL OPERATING SYSTEM

The topic “Micro kernel Operating System was presented by Hemachandran S on 19-03-2003. The operating system is the hub center of all the computer systems. The main functions of the operating system are to manage the resources, viz CUP, memory peripheral etc, of a computer effectively. Commercially many operating systems like Windows, Linux are popular. However most of the operating systems are built as monolithic software. The kernel of an operating system is the core software, which generally has tight link with system hardware.

The talk highlighted the salient features of a micro-kernel operating system and its benefits. The micro kernel operating systems are built with small core (kernel) software and the rest of the services to manage the resource are built as co-operating processes. These types of operating systems have high modularity and scalability.

HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES

On 26-03-2003 a technical talk on “Hybrid Electric Vehicles” by Z.V Lakkaparambil was arranged. There are many initiatives going on for the development of electric vehicles in the different countries in the world. But owing to the frequently battery battery-recharging requirements the daily run of an electric vehicle is limited. Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV), on the other hand, can make use of other fuel sources along with the battery, so that more distance can be covered in between the successive re-charging. ER&DCI, Thiruvananthapuram has developed a hybrid electric heavy vehicle, which is being tested extensively. This vehicle has been designed for city travel. An alternate energy source of the vehicle is an IC engine. The performance of the vehicle has been found to be satisfactory with regard to maximum speed achieved, acceleration and ruggedness.

LEARNING STRUCTURAL DESIGN FROM NATURE

V. Rajendra Babu on 02-04-2003 gave a talk on “Learning Structural Design from Nature”. It is observable in Nature that all creations including plants, animals and birds are designed in an optimal manner. We can recognize the applications of Civil, Structural, Mechanical Electrical, Chemical engineering, etc in these creations. In this talk, he made a comparison of nature’s design with the structural engineering. Structural members like pillars, beams and slabs, as well as structural frames, portals and the like are all designed to withstand the maximum bending moment, shear force and torsion to which they are subjected. They are usually of uniform cross section even though section size could be reduced corresponding to the reduction of design criteria. This reduction in material usage is achieved in the use of I-sections. But in Nature, it can be observed that the stems and branches of plants and trees, bones and their joints in animals and human beings and many other similar load bearing elements are so ideally shaped so to offer uniform strength with the optimal use of material.

CISCO REMOTE ACCESS NETWORKS

This topic was presented by Anish Philipose on 09-04-2003. He gave a detailed report on different Wide Area Networks, WAN technologies used currently like ISDN, Frame Relay, etc. He also covered in detail how WAN connectivity between different offices is implemented.

PRINCIPLES OF NATURE CURE

The topic “Principles of Nature Cure” was presented by V. Rajendra Babu on 16-04-2003. Health is ‘reality’. The absence of health is called dis-ease. The cause of disease is the unnatural way of living. So the cure of disease is to lead a natural way of living. Food should b fresh and living. It is best to eat leaves, fruits and vegetables fresh from the plants. Eating fish live is recommended in order to conserve its food-value. Interval between meals should be long enough cleaning the system. A person who eats once a day only is a Yogi (an ascetic), who eats twice a day, a Bhogi (an sensualist), thrice a day, a Drohi ( a malefactor). Food should be chewed well. Water should not be drunk along with the meal. Avoid constipation. Fever is a symptom only. Fasting is a natural way to healing. As a health rejuvenating technique spinal bath is recommended.

E-COMMERCE TO E-BUSINESS

On 23-04-2003 Satish Babu gave a talk on “E-commerce to E-business – emerging contours of the new economy”. E-commerce was one of the first developments arising out of the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) by businesses. From a management perspective, E-commerce tried to ICT-enable the most visible business processes of an enterprise, viz, the sales of goods and services. However, every enterprise has a number of business processes that are less visible or invisible to customers, typically its ‘back office’ operations. While E-commerce is possible without ICT-enabling these, doing so enables the enterprises to leverage the maximum advantage from its ICT investment and also it allows it to retain its competitive edge. There is a host of technology frame-works such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Resource Management, Sales Force Automation, Enterprise Application Integration and Supply/Selling Chain Management, each of which enables organizations to transform themselves into ICT-centric, flexible E-businesses.

GRID-COMPUTING FOLLOWS GRID-ELECTRICITY

N.T. Nair gave a talk on “Grid-Computing follows Grid-Electricity” on 30-04-2003. When electricity was first introduced, generation at the user site was the practice, with its obvious implications. Over the years, centralized generation and distribution through grid became the practice, liberating the user from the hassles of power generation for own use. Why not make computing power as easily as grid electricity? Grid computing promises to do exactly that, through a network of computers, connected together via the Internet, satellite of optic fibre links which can be used by various users for sharing processing power. This is achieved by translating the thousands of computers with idle CPU power into a single virtual supercomputer, distributed over the networks that deliver computing power ‘on tap’ as if it were a utility. Also called ‘on-demand computing’, grid computing is showing signs of becoming the next big wave in computing.

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Smart-Dust Sensors: Self-organizing Wireless-Sensor Networks
Compiled by: N.T.Nair, Editor, IEEE India Bulletin

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of USA has historically funded many application areas for military purposes that have ended up having even wider civilian use, the Internet being the most famous example. Smart–dust concept is thus proposed by DARPA some four years ago, to develop wireless-sensor networks for the battlefield of the future, enabling soldiers to “see around corners” and to sense the threat of chemical and biological weapons before they get close enough to cause harm. The idea was to sprinkle thousands of tiny wireless sensors or `motes’ on a battle field to monitor enemy movements without alerting the enemy to their presence. By self-organising into a sensor network, smart-dust would filter raw data for relevance before relaying only the important findings to central command.

It contains a device that measures such things as temperature, motion and light intensity, and it sports a miniature antenna and a radio with a range of up to 50 metres. Another mote inside that range picks up the first one’s signal and grabs its data, adding readings of its own and passing the package along to a third mote. The data eventually move to a base station from where the info is sent to a PC or onto a wireless network.

To facilitate the self-organising of motes into a sensor network, the researchers led by Prof. David Culler of University of California at Berkeley and Intel who originally created the motes, have also come out with TinyOS (Operating System) and TinyDB (database) as well as a host of Tiny applications and a simulator. TinyOS is the framework for building up the operating system capabilities needed for the sensor network – the networking capabilities, localization and support for applications. TinyDB then aggregates the data at the next layer up.

A modular, component-based approach is used at all levels in this self-organising sensor network. For instance, the hardware of the motes separates the application-specific aspects from the generic aspects. In particular, the sensor, the energy source and the physical packaging can all be separated, so they can be specialized for particular applications. The common parts, the processor, radio and power distribution system – are kept on the generic board. The operating system itself is also component-based. Motes are very small, but are to be very robust to function in the harsh environments they are generally deployed, necessitating incorporation of only what are really needed. Essentially, it would be using an application-specific operating system just by picking and choosing from the various components that are available.

Since Prof. Culler’s team and Intel have offered the mote hardware and TinyOS & TinyDB software as open-source, researchers worldwide have jumped on the bandwagon to begin building civilian and military applications of smart sensor networks. And a few are attempting to downsize the boards with custom chips that approach the smart–dust vision in terms of size. Dust Inc of California formed by Kris Pister, a professor- turned-entrepreneur, is one such firm. Other companies like Crossbow Technology with funding from Intel, Millennial Net, Ember etc are also pursuing wireless sensor networks.

Honeywell is testing an early version of smart-dust in grocery stores, where dozen sensors monitor refrigeration units to anticipate breakdowns. Other possible uses include scattering motes across a forest area so firefighters can spot a fire when it has burned just a few trees. In another application, motes can be used for providing healthcare monitoring for the elderly while allowing them freedom to move about.

In a test for military, Dust.Inc dropped eight sensors (with clocks, motion detectors and electronic compasses) from an airplane. They self-organised and successfully determined the direction, speed and size of a series of armoured vehicles.

Currently, sensors from Dust. Inc cost around $50 to $100 apiece, sold in groups of up to 255. When fully commercialized, the prices will come down to $5 to $10, it is claimed.

Within a few years, motes will change everything from the cost of construction to how we fight forest fires –even the way we communicate, according to the researchers.

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PES Activities – A Report

Current Issues and Problems in Distributed Generation

The programme held at Hotel Horizon, Thiruvananthapuram on 23 Sept.2003 started at 9.30 am with an inaugural function chaired by V.K.Damodaran (SM,IEEE & Managing Director, International Network on Small Hydro Power,China). Simon P.Varghese (President ,PES,IEEE Kerala Section) welcomed the Chief Guest J.L.Kopefinger, LF,IEEE and Chairman. During the presidential address, V.K. Damodaran stressed the importance of distributed generation and the relevance of the topic particularly to India.

Kopefinger in his presentation on Distributed Resources (DR), covered mainly the types, characteristics, problems and requirements associated with operation in a micro-grid and in the integration with an existing system, operation limitations, protection, control, safety issues of distributed generation.

He has presented the development of DR in steps of various mile stones like PUHCA –and its effect on electric utility industries, commercialization of nuclear power and safety problems, environmental constraints of fossil power, necessity to overcome blackouts. Different issues pointed out by utilities on interconnection of DR with grid are discussed with possible solution steps in line with IEEE 1547 standard.

Coming to Barriers of DR, Protective Relaying, Power Quality, System Impact ,Dispatch Safety, Reliability, Metering , Operating limits, Control, Inspection & Testing are identified as Technical barriers while Contractual and Procedural Requirement, Length and Complex Contracts, Application Fees, Insurance and Indemnification, Identity of the EPS contact, Operation requirements, Lack of Timely Responses from EPS, Involvement of an attorney are identified as business barriers. Solutions to override the barriers based on US experience have been discussed in detail. Small DR like Fuel cells and corresponding IEC standards were also covered.

Kopefiger concluded his tutorial session with application examples of combined cycle and CHP like that of Kohler Company.

The overwhelming discussion and interacting session after the tutorial continued upto 2 pm. N.T.Nair and many others pointed out the talk was highly useful particularly to the participant researchers working with grid-DR interconnection. Prof. P S.C.Nair and Dr. G.Pavithran indicated that the presentation was very helpful to the utility engineers in planning and promoting DR.

Ashok S. (Secretary, PES) has given the vote of thanks. A small memento is presented to Kopefinger in memory of his visit to IEEE Kerala section and his tutorial programme.

The programme was attended by 36 participants from various institutions like ALIND Relays & Switchgear Division, CDAC, KSEB, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Hindustan Latex Limited, CMS Computers, Energy Management Centre, Kerala State Electrical Inspectorate, The Institution of Engineers (India), College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram, Suzlon Energy System, Mathrubhumi Publishers, Steel Industries Limited Kerala, etc.

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Editorial

A dilemma facing the students in the professional colleges is whether to become a member of any professional organization or not. Realizing the facts, IEEE Kerala Section recently organized an awareness programme, the first of its kind so vivid and planned to remove the feelings of the students and welcome them to the fraternity of IEEE family. It was an event for those who were eager to know about IEEE and a success for the organizers in fulfilling the intension. Apart from this, an initiation is needed to bring them under a roof is another major step.

The Program was meant for the students from all the Engineering Colleges of the State. There was an unprecedented response of participants from various colleges for this function. The sessions were interactive and common doubts such as, What are the Benefits of becoming an IEEE Member/Student Member, How to start a Student Branch? What are the activities of a Student Branch? How the existing Student Branches have benefited? and so on.

The challenge ahead is the mushrooming of technical education facilities in the State which could eventually lead to unemployment and discontent among the students especially those who are undergoing courses in the newly commenced colleges. This has to be avoided by guiding them properly to become a professional. Membership in professional bodies especially in IEEE will guide them in setting up an incubator in moulding their professionalism.

Student guidance is the need of the hour, especially when several self financing colleges are coming up in all sectors. The spontaneous growth of such institutes, would lead to discontent among youth. This discontentment should be averted by proper guidance and counseling for moulding them as professional engineers. Emphasis on balancing the wants of the industry for trained manpower with the needs of entrepreneurs is another prime factor to be taken into account. Colleges should be started looking into the needs of the industry and hence there would be little conflict and discontent among students in matters pertaining to employment. Educating them in this line, for the redressal of grievances and to eradicate their problems will encourage them to be creative and more innovative. The role of professional bodies in supplementing knowledge in this regard is extremely significant.

Besides, lack of professionalism is another obvious factor found among the students admitted through liberalization in self-financing colleges compared with those who are in the existing established colleges. To build up good professional citizen and to take up the challenges of life is a quality to be developed during their educational career. This will help them to contribute positively to the betterment of the society and the nation as a whole. For this a whole-hearted co-operation of the parent is indispensable. Trust and faith in the faculty member is another factor. A good as well as free atmosphere is required for the useful interaction between the students and the faculty members. They should feel free to approach them regarding any problem and he should be a friend, guide and mentor by removing chasm between them. Student members of professional bodies could get enough chances to build up these qualities and equip themselves to the changing trends in the society and go ahead to face the world. Self confidence in turn will bring success on them.

Similarly, the world has full of opportunities and there is something special in everyone and he shall definitely get due place in this world if he works with confidence, conviction and commitment. In reality it is found that students are not moving in pace with the challenging technologies and lack of awareness on what is happening in the field. It is here that professional bodies should rise to the occasion to build up career for student members. Never let opportunities to slip by. Let’s hope in ‘do the best and wait for the rest’.

K.Gopalan Nair

 

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Women in Engineering (WIE)
Report on the Felicitation to Ministhy, IAS

IEEE – WIE Kerala Section organized a function to felicitate Ms. Ministhy, IAS on August 21, 2003 at Hotel Horizon, Thiruvananthapuram. The WIE Affinity group of IEEE Kerala Section is still the only WIE Group of Asia Pacific Region, i.e. R10 of IEEE. The felicitation function was organized to acknowledge Ministhy’s remarkable performance in Engineering, Management and later in the Civil Services Examination. She has been a rank holder in all through her studies and career and has an aptitude for literature too. She got selected to the Indian Administrative Services with a 27th rank. What does it take to be an IAS Officer? To quote the words of an IAS Officer, “A lot of grit, obsession for learning and a bit of that sparkle in the eyes”.

Civil Services is not just another job, in fact it is a whole new approach to life. The essence of Civil Services is a deep sense of commitment to public good which requires proper understanding and appreciation of Indian reality with all its weaknesses and strengths. We need to empathise with the ethos of our society and its cravings. IAS officers essentially handle the administrative affairs; they hold the key posts in the district as well as at the central or state secretariats. At the Central level, their job involves the framing and implementation of policies. At the district level, they manage the affairs of the district, including development related activities. At the divisional level, they look after law and order, general administration and development work. Getting through the IAS examination is not just a matter of chance - success happens when preparation meets performance. Roughly 750-800 candidates make it past the final selection out of the hundreds of thousands who apply.

The function began at 6:30 p.m. with a welcome speech by Jyothi Ramaswamy, (Chairperson, IEEE WIE Kerala Section). She talked about the formation of the WIE group and the activities that are being planned by the WIE Chapter for the Engineering Community of Kerala. She also mentioned the interest the other WIE groups have in gathering information on the Women in Engineering Fields in our country.

Ministhy was felicitated by Fathima, a Senior Engineer from ER & DCI (Electronics Research & Development Centre of India) – now known as C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), Beena K T, another Senior Engineer from C-DAC and Saritha, an Engineer from C-DAC. All of them were full of praise for the whole hearted efforts Ministhy had put in to acquire such a remarkable position, despite being a wife and a mother. R.Narayananan, Chairman, IEEE, Kerala Section talked about the additional edge that Ministhy will be having due to her engineering mindset above the other IAS officers, which would in turn definitely help her in solving the administrative problems effectively.

In reply to the felicitations, Ministhy gave a wonderful speech on the leverage points that helped her come up in her career. She said that becoming an IAS has been her childhood dream, and she could not have achieved this without the support, cooperation and faith of her family members showered her with. Her speech interspersed with quotations from Byron, Wordsworth and Shakespeare testified to her avid interest in literature. In her view, beyond the glass ceiling, what women would want to have is the freedom to choose what they want in their career. She said that many a time the hindrances can be things that are generally looked at as trivial, such as, having a crèche for the children in the campus or in the organization where one works. Provision of such facilities can become a very high motivating factor for the women employees in increasing their performance and strengthening their desire to grow in career paths.

After Ministhy’s talk, Deepa, Secretary, WIE gave the vote of thanks in which she thanked all the persons from the Engineering fraternity present during the function.

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IEEE Awareness Program – A Report

On 02 October 2003, IEEE Kerala Section and GOLD (Graduates of the Last Decade) Chapter of the IEEE Kerala Section organized an IEEE Awareness Program for all Engineering Colleges of Kerala State in India. The Program was held in the Institution of Engineers (India) Hall at Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

The event was planned with the forenoon session, being earmarked for new engineering colleges and the afternoon session for colleges that had existing IEEE Student Branches.

There were a total of 92 Participants which included 33 Staff and 59 Students during the whole day. There were 22 new colleges and 5 with existing Student Branches represented.

It began with an address by the Kerala Section Chairman, Mr.R.Narayanan and it was followed by a session on “What is IEEE” and “How is IEEE organized” by Mr.S.Gopakumar. “Benefits of becoming and IEEE Member/Student Member was then taken by Dr.K.Kesavasamy. The first session was brought to an end by “How to start a Student branch?” by Mr.S.Gopakumar.

A tea break preceded the next session. After this “How to Start a Student Library?” was taken up by Mr.Rameez Meerasahib. He then followed it up by “What ar the activities of a Student Branch”. “How existing Student Branches have benefited” was taken up by the Student Branch of Chengannur College of Engineering.

An overview of “Technical Societies of IEEE” was then given by Mr.S.Gopakumar. This was followed up by Introductions of the Power Engineering Society by Mr.Simon P.Varghese, Women in Engineering by Mr.R.S.Deepa and the GOLD Affinity Group by its Chairman Mr.Aju Thomas Abraham.

A “Question and Answer” session followed this and then Lunch was served. The third session, i.e., the session for Leadership Training for IEEE Student Branches began with “Overview”, “What the Student Branches are expected to do” and “How to make Student Branches more vibrant” by Mr.S.Gopakumar. This was followed up by “What is SPAC?” and “What is SPAVE?” by Mr. Rameez Meerasahib. After this there was a Tea Break.

The fourth session started with a presentation on “Student Branch Calendar” by Mr.S.Gopakumar. Then there was a Student Branch “Report Presentation” by College of Engineering, Chengannur, NI College of Engineering, Thuckalay, SCT College, Thiruvananthapuram, National Inst. Of Technology, Kozhikode and St. Xaviers Catholic College, Nagercoil.

Then there was a talk on Group Email Ids for networking the various Student Branches across Kerala Section. A large collection of engineering books were donated by Dr.Rane, former Chairman of IEEE Kerala Section. Out of the 16 bundles of books received, 2 bundles each were presented to the 3 student branches with existing IEEE Student Branch libraries. The remaining books is being planned to be distributed during the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Section.

The participants then filled up the “Feedback Forms” before leaving for the day. The feedback given by the participants were good. They have stated that all the sessions were very informative. The concerns were, invariably, the high amount of Student Membership fees of IEEE.

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