Greetings

  I wish to convey my cordial greetings to you and express my grateful thanks for your co-operation, support and participation, in the Section events, for making it a vibrant one. Thanks also for your compliments and appreciation for the Editorial Team of our Newsletter(which is also available on theWebsite), for their laudable work. Our Section is driven by volunteer members, to promote good governance, recognise good exemplars and encourage pro-active dissemination of entity events.

Student Membership:

  Our section has the fastest growing student membership. Student Branches need the moral and tangible support from the IEEE Section volunteers, particularly from the Branch Counsellors. We should ensure that the SBs remain active and that as older students graduate, the younger ones are able to take over and guide the Branch. Six new Branches were started in 2003 and eight in 2004, besides a large no. of spade work done by visiting various Colleges, for awareness and membership-motivational programs. But, the SBs having less than 10members, which are subject to probation, is a matter of concern, to us.

  This is due to sprouting and sudden drop in the membership in SBs, every year. The Branch Counsellor and the College Management, have to ensure consistent endeavours, to always grow from strength to strength and not to allow decline in student membership.

Student Branches winning Awards and Recognitions:

  Our Hearty Congratulations to Mr. K. V. Srinivas, SB Counsellor, Mr. C. Vivek, Branch Chair and his team (Dept. of Comp. Science & Engg.), at Crescent Engineering College, who were recognized by the IEEE Regional Activities Board(RAB), as the recipient of 2004 Student Membership Growth Award, for their success, for outstanding leadership and results in IEEE Membership Development Activities for the IEEE Madras Section.


  Our Hearty Congratulations also to M/s (1) Mayur. M. (2) Arjun V. S. & (3) Karthick. S. and also M/s (1) Ashwin Kumar. K. & (2) Arvind. G. , who brought name and fame to Sri Subramania Nadar College of Engineering and Panimalar College of engineering respectively and who were short listed to be among the 10 teams from 200 contenders for Computer Society International Design Contest 2005 (CSIDC2005), for their “Vision:Engineering Solutions for the Visually Challenged” project. The results were announced on 28th June’05, at the Awards ceremony at Lathem Hotel, in Washington D. C. Then won Honourable Mention Awards along with the Award money of U. S. $2500(each team).

Internet Presentation:

  Our Section has registered for participation in Dr. Raj Jain’s Voice over InternetPresentation (VoiP), on Sept. 6th’05, to be conducted at St. Jose, California (Pacific Daylight Saving time) at 22. 00hours. This will be a recorded presentation titled “Welcome to Microsoft Office –Live Meeting 2005”. Interested IEEE Members, including the Student-members, may arrange a group of audience in the background to attend this internet presentation.

  Rebate and Grant to Student Branches:

  I am happy to inform you that our Section has received the Region10 MDC Grant for Student Branches as follows:

  (1) $1.00 per Student Member as of 31Dec. 2004.

  (2) $50. 00 per new Student Branch formed in 2004

  (3) $50. 00 for new Student Branch formed in 2003 and continuing to be active in 2004.

   This Grant is in addition to the Grant of $2. 00USD per Student Member, as of 31Dec. ’04, given by the IEEE Regional Activities Dept. , Our Section will disburse the Grant, to the listed Student Branches, who furnish their addresses, along with the Bank details(name of Bank, Savings Bank Account Number, Bank address etc. , ), to the Treasurer, IEEE Madras Section(e-mail id:ieeemas@vsnl. net and ieeemas@eth. net).

  The total number of Student Members in 93 SBs, in our Section, as of 31Dec. 2004, was 2344. I am sure that this Grant will help to foster the Student Branch activities in our Section.

  Your Suggestions & contributions:There is a greater appreciation of our capabilities, convictions and commitment, from all over our State and outside. Our younger generation of Engineering Students, look to us with respect and high expectations and the intelligentsia with appreciation and approbation. . I invite your suggestions and contributions, as we march forward to conquer challenges and to excel with passion.

  We are pleased to see the increased response to our request for the articles. We are happy to present three interesting articles in this issue – one on “microbial nano wires” which has an exciting and promising use in biological investigations, one on “Knowledge Management” in which Indians are considered to be way ahead . The third article focuses on “Non-Conventional Energy Sources” a vital one for our increasing energy needs. In this article, the authour presents the information on renewable energy in a non conventional way – instead of SWOT analysis, TOWS analysis is presented giving importance to the threat first.

  Our Prime Minister has been re-iterating the fact the Power and Water are the two resources that are very vital for any economy to become a super power. In the near future, if war breaks down, it could be either for Power or Water. We are witnessing this. USA is threatening both India and Pakistan for proceeding with the LNG pipeline project from Iran which will empower these countries in power. In this context, the monthly technical talk on “Green Power from Interlinking of Rivers” was timely. The speaker, Mr. K.V. Rupchand, former Chief Engineer of TNEB has highlighted on the viable alternative “Indian River Grid” which will provide water and also 65,000 MW of electricity. IRG, an exciting project and can become an engineering marvel if the Govt. initiates positive steps soon.

  Our Chairman is fond of writing long messages touching on various points. This time the focus has been on Student Branches. The strength and future is in the hands of students. Let us strive hard to serve the student community by interacting with them regularly.

  For those missed the 15th July deadline to submit the papers for the forthcoming INDICON 2005, we are pleased to inform the submission date has been extended till 15th Aug. Pl. hurry up and submit your papers. I log off with my usual request for informative and interesting contributions to LINK.

  Researchers at the University of Massachusetts have discovered a tiny biological structure that is highly electrically conductive. These findings known as “microbial nanowires,” are produced by a novel microorganism known as Geobacter . These nanowires are incredibly fine, only 3-5 nanometers in width (20,000 times finer than a human hair), but quite durable and can extend more than 20 micrometers in length (more than 10 times the length of the cell).

  This breakthrough helps describe how microorganisms can cl and produce electricity from renewable resources. It may also have applicatioean up groundwater ns in the emerging field of nanotechnology, which develops advanced materials and devices in extremely small dimensions.The remarkable discovery may enable a microbial community in a contaminated waste site to form mini-power grids and to support the operation of mini-environmental sensors. Geobacter species are also of interest because of their role in environmental restoration. For example, Geobacter species can destroy petroleum contaminants in polluted groundwater by oxidizing these compounds to harmless carbon dioxide. Geobacter species are also useful for removing radioactive metal contaminants from groundwater.

Discovery Of Geobacter

  The first Geobacter species was isolated from the Potomac River, just down stream from Washington D.C. in 1987. This organism, known as Geobacter metallireducens, was the first organism found to oxidize organic compounds to carbon dioxide with iron oxides as the electron acceptor. In other words, Geobacter metallireducens gains its energy by using iron oxides (a rust-like mineral) in the same way that humans use oxygen. Geobacter metallireducens and other microbes that can transfer electrons to extracellular electron acceptors such as Fe (III) oxides are important in organic matter degradation and nutrient cycling in solids and sediments.Geobaster species,which are the predominant Fe (III) reducers in many environments,must directly contact Fe (III) oxides to reduce them and produce monolateral pili.Pili which are highly conductive serve as biological nanowires transferring electrons from the cell surface to the surface of Fe(III) oxides. The potential to biologically mass-produce fine, long conductive filaments may have applications in the development of nanoelectronic devices, sensors, and microbial based fuel cells (MFC).

  Microbial Fuel Cells can efficiently convert waste organic matter to electricity. Researchers have reported that they’ve managed to boost the electricity output by nearly six times while cutting the cost by two-thirds. They demonstrated MFC’s in action by connecting a unit to a three milliwatt fan. In principle, the MFC could power the fan using less than a teacup of wastewater. In a microbial fuel cell, bacteria metabolize their food, organic matter in wastewater-to release electrons that yield a steady electrical current. This makes advanced wastewater treatment more affordable for both developing and industrialized nations.

  Ultrafine wires, often referred to as nanowires, are required for further miniaturization of electronic devices. Manufacturing nanowires from more traditional materials such as metals, silica, or carbon is difficult and expensive. However, it is easy to grow billions of Geobacter cells in the laboratory and harvest the microbial nanowires that they produce. Furthermore, by altering the DNA sequence of the genes that encode for microbial nanowires, it may be possible to produce nanowires with different properties and functions. This completely changes our concept of how microorganisms can handle electrons, and it also seems likely that microbial nanowires could be useful materials for the development of extremely small electronic devices.

  The tiny organisms, widely found in soils and aquatic sediments, have demonstrated promise as cleaners of toxic spills and generators of energy. They are anaerobic bacteria (living without oxygen) that use metals to gain energy the way humans and other organisms use oxygen. They are distributed throughout the world in a wide variety of soils and sediments.

  This latest advancement of microbial nanowires is another major milestone because it may usher in a new era of exploration of both microbial respiration and bioelectronics. The findings are promising and exciting. This discovery also illustrates the continuing relevance of the physical sciences to today’s biological investigations.