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^maVr` àm¡Úmo[JH$r g§ñWmZ [^cmB© INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BHILAI Vol. 4, Issue 1, January - June, 2020 The IIT Bhilai Newsletter Editorial IIT Bhilai Fights COVID19 Colours of Holi had not even An interview with Prof. Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Bhilai faded, and festive mood of spring days were still Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai has lockdown started, and students could not come reverberating at all beats of always kept its promise to lead the nation at back to the institute. We were not ready to bow our campus life, when tides all times. During the novel Coronavirus down to this situation. We wanted to carry on of Corona pandemic hit our outbreak, IIT Bhilai once again showed its with the academic activity, because the future of country. We hardly got any time to prepare spearheading initiatives and innovative our graduating students was at stake. Some ourselves for what we were going to face in next researches to help the country in its fight would be required to join jobs; others would go few months, but we evolved, improvised and against the pandemic. Our Newsletter Team for higher education or have some other plans. fought this battle together, with three P's- interacted with Prof. Rajat Moona, Director We therefore took a very big and bold decision: precaution, perseverance and progress. IIT Bhilai to know how various developments Commencement of Online Classes. We chose Always, the first challenge was safety of our at IIT Bhilai help meet these challenges. online platforms for delivery of classes. We trained and helped teachers to conduct them. We students, more than hundred of them was in worked with students to ensure its success. campus and their safety was of utmost importance. We shifted all students of castle Tria We were not ready to bow down to this situation. which was outside main campus, to Castle Ena The future of our graduating students was at stake and Dio inside the campus. Circles with gaps of six feet are drawn on the floors of the mess-area, ... We therefore took a very big and bold decision: mealtimes were staggered, maximum number of Commencement of Online Classes. students to travel on the shuttle buses at a time were also reduced. Sanitization kiosks were Prof. Moona, Director, IIT Bhilai installed at every prime entry points and no- contact-hand washing installed at main gate. Newsletter Team: That was really a pioneering Students were asked to go outdoors only at step IIT Bhilai took becoming a harbinger of a designated times, and those outdoor times had new era in our education system. How was it all also been staggered to preventing crowd. The arranged? number of students sharing rooms was also Newsletter Team: Professor Moona, would reduced within our scope of logistics. A taskforce Prof. Moona: From March end, we started holding you please tell us how IIT Bhilai faced the of faculty members and group of student online classes for all those courses in which final challenges when Novel coronavirus outbreak volunteers was formed to monitor, make aware year students were involved. Later, on conclusion started in India. How did the administration and engage our students in constant practice of of classes, online examinations were arranged ensure the safety of students and at the same distancing, the task which could never be which ran for almost a week. A timetable was time, continue with their academic successful without the enthusiastic cooperation drawn, and the students were asked to appear in curriculum? of our students. online method of examination. Students were It is always said that new age of technology Prof. Moona: The pandemic became suddenly given open book/notes exam. Their exam blooms amidst the age of fog and fight. The same prevalent around Holi and this was the mid solutions were checked by instructors and also can be said for today's India, now on her new semester break for our students. On 13th grading was carried out. It was noticed that path of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. IIT Bhilai shall March, the institute took a decision to grading was exactly similar as in other times of always be remembered in this journey as the postpone the classes and informed all the the offline activities. It was therefore a good harbinger of new age of online classes and online students to stay put wherever they were and learning experience for everybody and was done exam. Despite the challenges of growing not return to the campus. We allowed our flawlessly. pandemic and lockdown, Prof. Rajat Moona, the students to leave the campus to go home, if Newsletter Team: It is really assuring to all of us visionary educationist and Director of IIT Bhilai, they wish to. Some students left, but many that with these initiatives, education is in full led the institute through a new format of MTech and PhD students chose to stay back in swing at IIT Bhilai. education system and today our students are in the hostel. their full course of their curriculum and the first Prof. Moona: Yes, very much. Meanwhile, our batch of BTech has graduated. Newsletter Team: It must have been a very researchers, faculty members and others were difficult situation to carry out further involved in variety of things to contribute in their This issue of Ink, brings you all these stories of academic activities. Many other institutes own ways to handle COVID 19. Few faculty IIT Bhilai for the past six months, the pre- shut down their academic program members developed the sanitisers which are in lockdown tunes of events and workshops, the temporarily. What path IIT Bhilai chose? use in the campus. Faculty members contributed lockdown days and the era of transition. to the design of face shields which can be the first Prof. Moona: Yes, it was really a tough situation. From 25th March the first phase of (continued to page 2) Avishek Adhikary, Editor IIT Bhilai Fights COVID 19: An Interview with Prof. Moona First PhD from IIT Bhilai Faculty Awards Our Thanks !!! (continued from page 1) Dr. Suyash Kandele, a PhD student in the department Dr. Asrifa Sultana, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics was selected for the "Young Woman in A note of thanks to the line of protection for those people who are in the front line of of EECS successfully defended his PhD thesis in Science" award at the 5th Venus International Women housekeeping staff who handling potential corona patients. We worked with AIIMS Computer Science and Engineering on May 9, 2020. Awards - VIWA 2020. Dr. Asrifa received this award played a vital role in Raipur as well as Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital & Research He did his research in the area of Cryptography under during the 5th Annual Women's Meet (AWM 2020) on keeping the institute Centre, Bhilai. We even supplied some of these face shields to the supervision of Dr. Souradyuti Paul with thesis title as "Cryptographic Primitives based on Reverse March 7, 2020 at Chennai for her contributions in the premises clean, sanitised them and got very encouraging results and feedback. Mr. Debi Prasad Decryption”. Dr. Kandele has become the first PhD field of Mathematics. and safe. Despite labour Newsletter Team: Our researchers also designed full face and issues during lockdown, they have done an degreeMoU recipient of the institute which is not only a upper torso protection gear with air ventilation but better matter of pride to him but also to the institute for Student Awards Dr. Asrifa Sultana receiving VIWA Award impeccable task of maintaining the hygiene at than N95 kind of protection. graduating the first PhD student within three years the institute. since start of the program. R P Singh Memorial Award Prof. Moona: One of our faculty members developed a nano Personal Protective particle-based anti-viral/anti-microbial coating on clothing. Sri Pramodh Rachuri received the first R P Singh Memorial award during the Republic Day Celebrations Gear developed in We also took time to design throat swabs which can be at IIT Bhilai. The awarded consists of a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 10,000. This award has been IIT Bhilai to fight manufactured using synthetic material such as silicon. We set up with generous donation by Mr. Akash Keshav, an alumnus of IIT Gandhinagar in the memory of COVID-19 worked with AIIMS Raipur to find out if these will be useful and his grandfather Late. Sh. Ram Parash Singh. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage students still are continuously working with them. We also worked on PAN IIT alumni network on to demonstrate leadership skills and engage themselves actively in social welfare activities. defining COVID 19 test plans; machines for doing large scale testing and specifications GeetAmal Ghosh-Roy Award were drawn. These basically became part of grand challenges posed PAN IIT to handle COVID issues. Sri Pramodh receiving R P S Memorial Award Shashwat Jaiswal, a first-year student of Computer Science and Engineering received the Geetamal Ghosh-Roy Award for 2019 (Winter Semester). He is awarded with a certificate and Rs. 26,000 cash. Newsletter Team: Professor, we have seen some foot operated hand washing system in The award is sponsored by Dr. R Ghosh Roy in memory of his parents. our entrance. COVID-19 Visualiser by IIT Students Teaching in the Time of Corona Prof. Moona: You are right. We created that non-contact-based water and soap audience. Students with poor internet connection followed the later while by Dr. Dhiman Saha dispenser which mandated to be used for every visitor or person entering the campus. Saksham Bhushan and Debajyoti Halder, BTech the former was popular with students with access to a high-speed And this was completely done and designed by IIT Bhilai staff in the central workshop. students of second year have created a website “When the going gets tough the tough get network. http://covidvsindia.in.net going.” I used the reMarkable Paper tablet to give a classroom board-work Newsletter Team: Sir, any message for our readers? for disseminating COVID- experience to engage the students better. The secondary camera helped 19 statistics. As the As a teacher that is what I am keeping in mind Prof. Moona: COVID-19 is likely to be with us for some time. It is not possible to close while explaining complex concepts using hand gestures which added to Nation was closed to keep as we witness one of the toughest battles everything. Therefore, it is important for one to take steps for protection while at the the overall flow of communication. Obs-studio, being a broadcasting the COVID 19 pandemic humanity is fighting with an invisible enemy: same time not to be unduly alarmed or scared with it. At the institute our faculty platform helped in easily switching between various resources like book at bay, the efforts of these The Novel Corona Virus. With the world members, staff members and students shall contribute in their own ways to handle the chapter, class notes, slides, and secondary camera making the interaction students are praise moving towards a contact-less regime, online situation. closer to a physical classroom. Finally, classroom management worthy to provide an teaching is undoubtedly going to become the new norm. While there applications like piazza/techtud which we already have been using in i n f o r m a t i v e t o o l t o is still a lot of ground to cover in bridging the gap between online and offline mode helped to organizing the content in a succinct manner. visualize the current physical classroom experiences, nevertheless innovations happening status of coronavirus currently are increasingly making way for closing the gap. As we all face unprecedented challenges in almost all walks of life, I think affected states. In my effort at IIT Bhilai to bridge the gap and adapt to the new technological solutions lie in the heart of the next-generation online classroom. As teachers we should embrace this new norm and prepare and MoU paradigm of teaching, I have used a combination of technical tools: (i) Obs-Studio (For managing/recording video lecture), (ii) upgrade ourselves to seamlessly integrate technical innovations in our An MoU was signed between the Department of eMarkable Paper Tablet (For board-work), (iii) DroidCamX Wireless teaching framework and methodology. Mechanical, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Webcam Pro (For secondary camera), (iv) Adobe Spark (Interface At the end - “The show must go on.” Wonkwang University, Korea and Dept. of Physics, design), (v) Cisco Webex (Live classroom), and (vi) IIT Bhilai on April 28, 2020. This collaboration will Piazza.com/Techtud.com (For class management) enhance relations between the two institutes to Our Unsung Heros !!! As students come from diverse backgrounds and geographic develop academic interchange in the areas of locations, it is imperative that we augment the live online classroom As the coronavirus pandemic imparted a new routine to our day-to-day education, research and other activities. with a pre or live recorded video lecture. The philosophy I followed campus life, security guards at IIT Bhilai came forward to help us at each was either a live class with real-time resolution of students’ queries or step to implement several safety measures. Apart from the routine practice D r. P ra s h a n t A g n i h o t r i , pre-recorded lecture followed later by a live discussion. Both to keep the institute premises and fraternity safe, during the lockdown they A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r a t Acknowledgement strategies were somewhat similar in impact with different groups of ensured to let in employees only after handwashing, thermal screening, Department of EECS IIT Bhilai and wearing masks. As per instructions, guards only allowed employees was invited by National Chin-Yi We thank the student volunteers who were there to manage the affairs of who were marked safe as per the Arogya Setu App University of Technology hostels and related action for the safety and precautions to be taken inside the academic block after sanitization. They (NCUT) Taiwan. During his during the lockdown. As per the guidelines faculty and staff members diligently kept a tab on the number of students visit, he taught a course on from outside were not permitted inside the institute premises during venturing out of the hostels based on a token system. Renewable Energy covering lockdown. The students volunteer group had greater responsibility to play At a time only 30 students were allowed for a span of topics of Solar, Wind, Hydro & as they had to implement the guidelines laid by the institute. Apart from 1 hour. It is due to their efforts we were able to keep Biomass energy, and their integration into the microgrids. He also inspecting the hygiene and cleanliness in the hostel, these volunteers the campus safe in these challenging times. were the linking pin as they ensured that the students received essential interacted with the faculty and research scholars at NCUT on the items, as well as adhered to the social distancing norms. state of the art methods of cyber-physical security of smart grid. Mr. Srimanta Digal IIT Bhilai Fights COVID 19: An Interview with Prof. Moona First PhD from IIT Bhilai Faculty Awards Our Thanks !!! (continued from page 1) Dr. Suyash Kandele, a PhD student in the department Dr. Asrifa Sultana, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics was selected for the "Young Woman in A note of thanks to the line of protection for those people who are in the front line of of EECS successfully defended his PhD thesis in Science" award at the 5th Venus International Women housekeeping staff who handling potential corona patients. We worked with AIIMS Computer Science and Engineering on May 9, 2020. Awards - VIWA 2020. Dr. Asrifa received this award played a vital role in Raipur as well as Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital & Research He did his research in the area of Cryptography under during the 5th Annual Women's Meet (AWM 2020) on keeping the institute Centre, Bhilai. We even supplied some of these face shields to the supervision of Dr. Souradyuti Paul with thesis title as "Cryptographic Primitives based on Reverse March 7, 2020 at Chennai for her contributions in the premises clean, sanitised them and got very encouraging results and feedback. Mr. Debi Prasad Decryption”. Dr. Kandele has become the first PhD field of Mathematics. and safe. Despite labour Newsletter Team: Our researchers also designed full face and issues during lockdown, they have done an degreeMoU recipient of the institute which is not only a upper torso protection gear with air ventilation but better matter of pride to him but also to the institute for Student Awards Dr. Asrifa Sultana receiving VIWA Award impeccable task of maintaining the hygiene at than N95 kind of protection. graduating the first PhD student within three years the institute. since start of the program. R P Singh Memorial Award Prof. Moona: One of our faculty members developed a nano Personal Protective particle-based anti-viral/anti-microbial coating on clothing. Sri Pramodh Rachuri received the first R P Singh Memorial award during the Republic Day Celebrations Gear developed in We also took time to design throat swabs which can be at IIT Bhilai. The awarded consists of a certificate and cash prize of Rs. 10,000. This award has been IIT Bhilai to fight manufactured using synthetic material such as silicon. We set up with generous donation by Mr. Akash Keshav, an alumnus of IIT Gandhinagar in the memory of COVID-19 worked with AIIMS Raipur to find out if these will be useful and his grandfather Late. Sh. Ram Parash Singh. The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage students still are continuously working with them. We also worked on PAN IIT alumni network on to demonstrate leadership skills and engage themselves actively in social welfare activities. defining COVID 19 test plans; machines for doing large scale testing and specifications GeetAmal Ghosh-Roy Award were drawn. These basically became part of grand challenges posed PAN IIT to handle COVID issues. Sri Pramodh receiving R P S Memorial Award Shashwat Jaiswal, a first-year student of Computer Science and Engineering received the Geetamal Ghosh-Roy Award for 2019 (Winter Semester). He is awarded with a certificate and Rs. 26,000 cash. Newsletter Team: Professor, we have seen some foot operated hand washing system in The award is sponsored by Dr. R Ghosh Roy in memory of his parents. our entrance. COVID-19 Visualiser by IIT Students Teaching in the Time of Corona Prof. Moona: You are right. We created that non-contact-based water and soap audience. Students with poor internet connection followed the later while by Dr. Dhiman Saha dispenser which mandated to be used for every visitor or person entering the campus. Saksham Bhushan and Debajyoti Halder, BTech the former was popular with students with access to a high-speed And this was completely done and designed by IIT Bhilai staff in the central workshop. students of second year have created a website “When the going gets tough the tough get network. http://covidvsindia.in.net going.” I used the reMarkable Paper tablet to give a classroom board-work Newsletter Team: Sir, any message for our readers? for disseminating COVID- experience to engage the students better. The secondary camera helped 19 statistics. As the As a teacher that is what I am keeping in mind Prof. Moona: COVID-19 is likely to be with us for some time. It is not possible to close while explaining complex concepts using hand gestures which added to Nation was closed to keep as we witness one of the toughest battles everything. Therefore, it is important for one to take steps for protection while at the the overall flow of communication. Obs-studio, being a broadcasting the COVID 19 pandemic humanity is fighting with an invisible enemy: same time not to be unduly alarmed or scared with it. At the institute our faculty platform helped in easily switching between various resources like book at bay, the efforts of these The Novel Corona Virus. With the world members, staff members and students shall contribute in their own ways to handle the chapter, class notes, slides, and secondary camera making the interaction students are praise moving towards a contact-less regime, online situation. closer to a physical classroom. Finally, classroom management worthy to provide an teaching is undoubtedly going to become the new norm. While there applications like piazza/techtud which we already have been using in i n f o r m a t i v e t o o l t o is still a lot of ground to cover in bridging the gap between online and offline mode helped to organizing the content in a succinct manner. visualize the current physical classroom experiences, nevertheless innovations happening status of coronavirus currently are increasingly making way for closing the gap. As we all face unprecedented challenges in almost all walks of life, I think affected states. In my effort at IIT Bhilai to bridge the gap and adapt to the new technological solutions lie in the heart of the next-generation online classroom. As teachers we should embrace this new norm and prepare and MoU paradigm of teaching, I have used a combination of technical tools: (i) Obs-Studio (For managing/recording video lecture), (ii) upgrade ourselves to seamlessly integrate technical innovations in our An MoU was signed between the Department of eMarkable Paper Tablet (For board-work), (iii) DroidCamX Wireless teaching framework and methodology. Mechanical, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Webcam Pro (For secondary camera), (iv) Adobe Spark (Interface At the end - “The show must go on.” Wonkwang University, Korea and Dept. of Physics, design), (v) Cisco Webex (Live classroom), and (vi) IIT Bhilai on April 28, 2020. This collaboration will Piazza.com/Techtud.com (For class management) enhance relations between the two institutes to Our Unsung Heros !!! As students come from diverse backgrounds and geographic develop academic interchange in the areas of locations, it is imperative that we augment the live online classroom As the coronavirus pandemic imparted a new routine to our day-to-day education, research and other activities. with a pre or live recorded video lecture. The philosophy I followed campus life, security guards at IIT Bhilai came forward to help us at each was either a live class with real-time resolution of students’ queries or step to implement several safety measures. Apart from the routine practice D r. P ra s h a n t A g n i h o t r i , pre-recorded lecture followed later by a live discussion. Both to keep the institute premises and fraternity safe, during the lockdown they A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r a t Acknowledgement strategies were somewhat similar in impact with different groups of ensured to let in employees only after handwashing, thermal screening, Department of EECS IIT Bhilai and wearing masks. As per instructions, guards only allowed employees was invited by National Chin-Yi We thank the student volunteers who were there to manage the affairs of who were marked safe as per the Arogya Setu App University of Technology hostels and related action for the safety and precautions to be taken inside the academic block after sanitization. They (NCUT) Taiwan. During his during the lockdown. As per the guidelines faculty and staff members diligently kept a tab on the number of students visit, he taught a course on from outside were not permitted inside the institute premises during venturing out of the hostels based on a token system. Renewable Energy covering lockdown. The students volunteer group had greater responsibility to play At a time only 30 students were allowed for a span of topics of Solar, Wind, Hydro & as they had to implement the guidelines laid by the institute. Apart from 1 hour. It is due to their efforts we were able to keep Biomass energy, and their integration into the microgrids. He also inspecting the hygiene and cleanliness in the hostel, these volunteers the campus safe in these challenging times. were the linking pin as they ensured that the students received essential interacted with the faculty and research scholars at NCUT on the items, as well as adhered to the social distancing norms. state of the art methods of cyber-physical security of smart grid. Mr. Srimanta Digal Events PRAYATNA 3.0: INTRA-INSTITUTE SPORTS MEET VILLAGE ADOPTION UNDER UNNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN January 16, 2020 January 8, 2020 The third edition of Prayatna organized by the Sports Council of IIT Bhilai, was inaugurated The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme by the Ministry of HRD, aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least five villages. By in the venerating presence of Prof. Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Bhilai among other esteemed this the institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base. In view of this, guests. The 3-month long event will have eight sports competitions, viz. table tennis, IIT Bhilai has adopted villages Gadaghat, Kherdhi from Dhamdha block; Birejhar, Dandesara from Durg block and Sejbahar from Raipur block in chess, volleyball, badminton, football, cricket, athletics and basketball. More than 300 consultation with district administration. students of the institute under eight different teams participated for the coveted title. TEACHING CELL SPIC MACAY INAUGURAL January 11, 2020 January 13, 2020 A team of 60+ dedicated As an endeavor to bring people from all walks, interests, TINKERING LAB WORKSHOP students of the NSS team of the and ethnicity and to stimulate lifelong learning, and January 25-26, 2020 institute have formed the community interaction, IIT Bhilai has inaugurated the As a part of NSS activities, a team of student volunteers from IIT Bhilai Teaching Cell. The mission of SPIC MACAY’s IIT Bhilai chapter. In the orientation organized a Tinkering Lab workshop to nurture talented and curious the teaching cell is to impart session Mr. Ajay Srivastava, the SPIC MACAY young minds at Sr. Secondary School, Sector X, Bhilai. Sessions were education to the children of the Chhattisgarh coordinator briefed students and faculty conducted for building a gesture-controlled car, digital clock, Bluetooth- nearby villages in Sejbahar. members about the structure and functioning of the robot, and smart doorbell. Also, a tutorial was conducted for using the Almost 170+ students from SPIC MACAY. On this occasion, the Sufi maestro, Padma CAD Software. Special-purpose embedded boards and microcontrollers nearby villages participated in Shri Bharti Bandhu Ji visited IIT Bhilai and gifted us an like Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno were used to make these projects. t these activities. awesome melodious night with his famous Kabir Bhajan. The sessions were conducted by students of Epsilon and Electromos His mellifluous renditions captivated the audience who club of the institute. The initiative for the workshop was taken by Ms. MAKARA SANKRANTI CELEBRATIONS were in a state of trance. The rendition was made more Rajni Moona, an alumnus January 14, 2020 charming by a couple of anecdotes he narrated which of Sr. Sec School Sec X The institute marked the beginning of the heightened the effect of the soothing musical night. SWACHHATA PAKHWADA and Shri. Arvind Kumar auspicious period of Uttarayan by celebrating January 16 to 31, 2020 Verma (Principal SSS Sec Makara Sankranti with fanfare at the premises. On Swachhta Pakhwada, an event to encourage a fortnight of environmental X) and his team. Jan 14th, the students participated in Rangoli cleanliness, was organized by the NSS of IIT Bhilai. During the 15 days, Making competition. The entire institute came alive NSS students conducted a series of activities, like tree plantation, on- with the colourful and vibrant rangolis, which campus plogging, awareness-campaigns and paper-bag making. The displayed the unity of colours in diversity. Next day event saw voluntary and wide participation amongst students, whose waves of flying kites overwhelmed an otherwise enthusiasm in the activity reflected the youths’ dedication towards the deep blue sky in the afternoon. Beautiful kites Clean India Movement. adorned the skies of the southern ground of the A Tree Plantation event was organised on January 18 where several campus. saplings were planted in the Institute’s premises. The students also REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS pledged to nurture them over the coming months. A Cycling Awareness January 26, 2020 HEALTH AND SAFETY WEEKEND Campaign around was held on the campus on January 28 with a slogan IIT Bhilai laced up to celebrate the 71st Republic Day on January 26, January 18-19, 2020 to ban single-use plastic to preserve our planet. The campaign began 2020 in all its solemnity and grandeur at the institute. The patriotic NSS-IIT Bhilai in collaboration with the health centre of IIT Bhilai organized a “Health from the Academic Block of the Institute and moved through some of the fervour warmed up the cold winter morning as the faculty, staff and and Safety Weekend” in the institute. Safety weekend started with the CPR workshop nearby villages. students of the institute enthusiastically gathered to hoist the National that was organized by Dr. Ajay Mishra (Dept. of Emergency Medicine) from MMI Flag, which was followed Narayana hospital, Raipur. Many useful life-saving techniques were discussed, with IIT BHILAI MOTORSPORTS TEAM in ‘SAE INDIA BAJA’ by the National Anthem demonstration. Mr. D. Shravan, SP Raipur addressed the students at the campus and January 20, 2020 and parade. The IIT informed the students regarding the various perils in the society. He discussed about The adamantine motorsports team of IIT Bhilai participated in the India's largest off-road vehicle competition 'SAE India BAJA'. The Bhilai fraternity rejoiced women's safety, crime prevention and the impact of corruption on citizens. Mr. M.N. team passed the Technical Inspection for ATV and also participated in various soft events like Sales Presentation, Cost Presentation and resplendent cultural Khan, Superintendent of Police, Fire Dept., gave a presentation about various Design Evaluation held in BAJA. p r o g r a m s o n t h i s firefighting techniques, followed by a hands on training in our ground for students, beautiful occasion by guards and housekeeping staff. showing gratitude to the martyrs that have given Our Thanks!! us this freedom. IIT Bhilai fraternity expresses its special thanks to Mr. S. Satish Kumar, manager of Sakthi Mess and his 24-member BASELINE VILLAGE AND HOUSEHOLD SURVEY March 1, 2020 team. In this challenging time of COVID 19, the Sakthi mess at IIT Bhilai remained opened 24/7, fighting with all lockdown Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) scheme, the NSS body of IIT mayhem and challenges of labour shortage. He managed the Bhilai conducted a baseline village and household survey in the village of hostel mess in a seamless manner by impeccably maintaining Dandesara, Bhilai. The team conducted a survey of 30 households and the hygiene of the mess and its workers. He also informed made assessments regarding the availability of safe drinking water, that the biggest challenge was to manage the supplies and sanitation facility, electrification levels, proper construction and Mr. S. Satish Kumar thanked Mr. K. Aditya, the hostel-in-charge, who helped him maintenance of roads and usage of biogas. Apart from this, an to maintain a continuous supply of groceries, fruits, and assessment was made on the educational level of the villagers and the vegetables to keep the mess operational various amenities available in the school. Events PRAYATNA 3.0: INTRA-INSTITUTE SPORTS MEET VILLAGE ADOPTION UNDER UNNAT BHARAT ABHIYAN January 16, 2020 January 8, 2020 The third edition of Prayatna organized by the Sports Council of IIT Bhilai, was inaugurated The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan programme by the Ministry of HRD, aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least five villages. By in the venerating presence of Prof. Rajat Moona, Director, IIT Bhilai among other esteemed this the institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base. In view of this, guests. The 3-month long event will have eight sports competitions, viz. table tennis, IIT Bhilai has adopted villages Gadaghat, Kherdhi from Dhamdha block; Birejhar, Dandesara from Durg block and Sejbahar from Raipur block in chess, volleyball, badminton, football, cricket, athletics and basketball. More than 300 consultation with district administration. students of the institute under eight different teams participated for the coveted title. TEACHING CELL SPIC MACAY INAUGURAL January 11, 2020 January 13, 2020 A team of 60+ dedicated As an endeavor to bring people from all walks, interests, TINKERING LAB WORKSHOP students of the NSS team of the and ethnicity and to stimulate lifelong learning, and January 25-26, 2020 institute have formed the community interaction, IIT Bhilai has inaugurated the As a part of NSS activities, a team of student volunteers from IIT Bhilai Teaching Cell. The mission of SPIC MACAY’s IIT Bhilai chapter. In the orientation organized a Tinkering Lab workshop to nurture talented and curious the teaching cell is to impart session Mr. Ajay Srivastava, the SPIC MACAY young minds at Sr. Secondary School, Sector X, Bhilai. Sessions were education to the children of the Chhattisgarh coordinator briefed students and faculty conducted for building a gesture-controlled car, digital clock, Bluetooth- nearby villages in Sejbahar. members about the structure and functioning of the robot, and smart doorbell. Also, a tutorial was conducted for using the Almost 170+ students from SPIC MACAY. On this occasion, the Sufi maestro, Padma CAD Software. Special-purpose embedded boards and microcontrollers nearby villages participated in Shri Bharti Bandhu Ji visited IIT Bhilai and gifted us an like Raspberry Pi and Arduino Uno were used to make these projects. t these activities. awesome melodious night with his famous Kabir Bhajan. The sessions were conducted by students of Epsilon and Electromos His mellifluous renditions captivated the audience who club of the institute. The initiative for the workshop was taken by Ms. MAKARA SANKRANTI CELEBRATIONS were in a state of trance. The rendition was made more Rajni Moona, an alumnus January 14, 2020 charming by a couple of anecdotes he narrated which of Sr. Sec School Sec X The institute marked the beginning of the heightened the effect of the soothing musical night. SWACHHATA PAKHWADA and Shri. Arvind Kumar auspicious period of Uttarayan by celebrating January 16 to 31, 2020 Verma (Principal SSS Sec Makara Sankranti with fanfare at the premises. On Swachhta Pakhwada, an event to encourage a fortnight of environmental X) and his team. Jan 14th, the students participated in Rangoli cleanliness, was organized by the NSS of IIT Bhilai. During the 15 days, Making competition. The entire institute came alive NSS students conducted a series of activities, like tree plantation, on- with the colourful and vibrant rangolis, which campus plogging, awareness-campaigns and paper-bag making. The displayed the unity of colours in diversity. Next day event saw voluntary and wide participation amongst students, whose waves of flying kites overwhelmed an otherwise enthusiasm in the activity reflected the youths’ dedication towards the deep blue sky in the afternoon. Beautiful kites Clean India Movement. adorned the skies of the southern ground of the A Tree Plantation event was organised on January 18 where several campus. saplings were planted in the Institute’s premises. The students also REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS pledged to nurture them over the coming months. A Cycling Awareness January 26, 2020 HEALTH AND SAFETY WEEKEND Campaign around was held on the campus on January 28 with a slogan IIT Bhilai laced up to celebrate the 71st Republic Day on January 26, January 18-19, 2020 to ban single-use plastic to preserve our planet. The campaign began 2020 in all its solemnity and grandeur at the institute. The patriotic NSS-IIT Bhilai in collaboration with the health centre of IIT Bhilai organized a “Health from the Academic Block of the Institute and moved through some of the fervour warmed up the cold winter morning as the faculty, staff and and Safety Weekend” in the institute. Safety weekend started with the CPR workshop nearby villages. students of the institute enthusiastically gathered to hoist the National that was organized by Dr. Ajay Mishra (Dept. of Emergency Medicine) from MMI Flag, which was followed Narayana hospital, Raipur. Many useful life-saving techniques were discussed, with IIT BHILAI MOTORSPORTS TEAM in ‘SAE INDIA BAJA’ by the National Anthem demonstration. Mr. D. Shravan, SP Raipur addressed the students at the campus and January 20, 2020 and parade. The IIT informed the students regarding the various perils in the society. He discussed about The adamantine motorsports team of IIT Bhilai participated in the India's largest off-road vehicle competition 'SAE India BAJA'. The Bhilai fraternity rejoiced women's safety, crime prevention and the impact of corruption on citizens. Mr. M.N. team passed the Technical Inspection for ATV and also participated in various soft events like Sales Presentation, Cost Presentation and resplendent cultural Khan, Superintendent of Police, Fire Dept., gave a presentation about various Design Evaluation held in BAJA. p r o g r a m s o n t h i s firefighting techniques, followed by a hands on training in our ground for students, beautiful occasion by guards and housekeeping staff. showing gratitude to the martyrs that have given Our Thanks!! us this freedom. IIT Bhilai fraternity expresses its special thanks to Mr. S. Satish Kumar, manager of Sakthi Mess and his 24-member BASELINE VILLAGE AND HOUSEHOLD SURVEY March 1, 2020 team. In this challenging time of COVID 19, the Sakthi mess at IIT Bhilai remained opened 24/7, fighting with all lockdown Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) scheme, the NSS body of IIT mayhem and challenges of labour shortage. He managed the Bhilai conducted a baseline village and household survey in the village of hostel mess in a seamless manner by impeccably maintaining Dandesara, Bhilai. The team conducted a survey of 30 households and the hygiene of the mess and its workers. He also informed made assessments regarding the availability of safe drinking water, that the biggest challenge was to manage the supplies and sanitation facility, electrification levels, proper construction and Mr. S. Satish Kumar thanked Mr. K. Aditya, the hostel-in-charge, who helped him maintenance of roads and usage of biogas. Apart from this, an to maintain a continuous supply of groceries, fruits, and assessment was made on the educational level of the villagers and the vegetables to keep the mess operational various amenities available in the school. IIT Bhilai becomes HI/BI for MSME

IIT Bhilai is now an official Host Institute/Business Incubator Placement News Workshops (HI/BI) for providing support for entrepreneurial and managerial Series of mini-workshops on FDP-STP in ME development through Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium The pioneer batch marked a milestone in the 1st placement Department, sponsored by TEQIP III, CSVTU Enterprises (MSMEs) to foster innovation, research and season of IIT Bhilai by bagging 75+ job offers. The highest entrepreneurial activities in technology related areas. In the package secured was Rs. 31.3 LPA and the average CTC of the Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT Bhilai organized a series of three Faculty inaugural function Shri Rajeev S., Director In-charge, MSME-DI, batch was Rs. 11.22 LPA. Students were placed in coveted Development Programs (FDP) and three student training programs (STP) for the Raipur emphasized the usefulness of establishing an incubation companies like Commvault, Air Asia, UIDAI, GSTN, ITI Ltd., faculty members and students of various institutes under CSVTU. The programs centre in IIT Bhilai, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. VMware, Google, Samsung R&D, Reliance Jio, Goldman Sachs, are an attempt to promote continuing learning and state-of-arts research as The centre will offer a whole gamut of incubation facilities and etc. This year 64 companies participated in the placement sponsored by TEQIP III Cell, CSVTU. services to prospective entrepreneurs to convert their innovative drives. To get a feedback, IIT Bhilai Newsletter team interacted On January 16-18, 2020 an FDP on research methodology was organized to ideas into commercially viable products with one of the final year student, Mr. Arjun Singh Kushawaha inculcate and enhance the abilities of the faculty members to carry out who was one of the lucky few to bag a job as well as dream independent research, write successful research projects, and finally to enable offer. Let us read what he had to share with us: them for the technical communication considering national/international journal/confer-ences. From January 30, three-days FDP started on the ‘Selected Newsletter Team: What was your feeling before the placement Topics on Solid Mechanics’. Another FDP was organized during February 27-29, session started? 2020 on Computational Fluid Dynamics. The expert speakers for the last event Arjun: To be really honest about it, in spite of assurances by the were Prof. Atul Sharma, IIT Bombay, Prof. Tushar Gohil, VNIT Nagpur, and Mr. Vidit institute and the placement cell, I was really unsure about how Sharma, Virtual Simutech Pvt. Ltd. the placement season is going to be. But I must say the Dr Soumya Gangopadhyay was the Chief coordinator of these programs. STPs placement cell did an excellent job of bringing several were carried out on CNC programming during January 10-11 and on Numerical companies and lucrative job offers. I would like to personally Tools and Techniques in Research from January 17-18 and Internal Combustion thank entire placement team on behalf of the students for all Engines from February 28-29, 2020. Dr. Dhananjay Kumar Srivastava from IIT their efforts and endeavours. WOMEN's DAY CELEBRATION Kharagpur, Dr. Atul Dhar from IIT Mandi were the guest lecturers. Also, a staff development program was held on manufacturing processes during January 24- March 8, 2020 Newsletter Team: That is nice to hear Arjun. Tell us how did 25, 2020. you prepare for interviews and how IIT Bhilai had helped you? “The empowered woman is powerful beyond measure and beautiful Arjun: I was really lucky to get support from various levels. beyond description.” With this thought along with millions of people Firstly, I always had support of my parents in my life. Second, around the globe, IIT Bhilai also celebrated International Women’s Day the Placement Mentorship Program at the institute, which I on March 8, a day that honors the achievements and calls attention to the feel was a much-needed step as we didn’t have seniors to rights of women. The event began with lamp lighting by Ms. Rajni Moona, SHOOT for the MOON guide us. A faculty member was assigned to two-three the Outreach Coordinator, IIT Bhilai, Harsha Sahu, International Karate astrophotography by students who helped the students to prepare for the Player, Dr. Anshu Gupta and faculty members of the institute. Ms Harsha Space Exploration Society, IIT Bhilai placements. My mentor Dr. Dhiman Saha thoroughly guided Sahu spoke with great enthusiasm about women’s rights and me, more like my senior rather than as a faculty. Third, my empowerment. Ms. Rajni Moona gave an enlightening speech on the INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY thesis advisor Dr. Souradyuti Paul helped me learn the importance of women being self-reliant. June 21, 2020 technologies very well which really gave me an edge. He was 6th International Yoga Day was celebrated at the institute on June with me at every step of the process. SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING 21, 2020. Adhering to this year's theme -Yoga from home – minimal Newsletter Team: Finally, any advice for February 22, 2020 participation was requested at the institute. Active online your juniors? participation mirroring the live session by the all made the Yoga A self-defense training workshop has been initiated by NSS IIT Bhilai at Arjun: I can say that consistency is what Day a success. The program included an address by Prof Rajat the campus. Self-defence, especially for women, is of utmost importance matters the most. Be consistent, believe Moona, Director of IIT Bhilai, and was followed by Yoga sessions. in the kind of world we live in today. The classes are being organized in yourself, talk to your loved ones when under the guidance of Mrs. Harsha Sahu who is an international karate you get self-doubts, and just keep on player. She along with her teammate taught the students how to practice working. self-defense in critical situations during the session. This 15-session long Permanent CPWD has course kick-started with the introduction to some varieties of punches appointed the Campus Update construction agency for and elbow techniques. More than 60 students have enrolled and Wall of Happiness Series of mini-workshops in on FDP-STP in EECS participated in these exciting sessions. the construction of the Department, sponsored by TEQIP III, CSVTU new campus. The This academic year students who took the Positive Psychology construction work is class with Dr. Anindita Ghosh, completed their projects by The EECS department also organized a series of two Faculty Development scheduled to start taking a page out of the Happiness Wall concept. Students Programs (FDP) and six Student Training Programs (STP), sponsored by TEQIP III soon. created different versions of the concept by making interactive Cell, CSVTU, for the faculty members and students of various engineering institutes displays to engage others with what they had learnt in class. of Chhattisgarh under CSVTU. FDP on Controls System Engineering was held on While the members of one group came up with questions that January 24-26, 2020 where Dr Arnab Dey, IIT Roorkee and Dr Munmun Khanra, would make any reader brain storm about their character NIT Silchar were the key resource person. The second FDP took place on February strengths another group created a dumping-pouch for 7-9, 2020 on Power Electronics. Dr Subhojit Ghosh and Dr Sachin Jain, NIT Raipur negative thoughts and a vending-pouch for positive were the guest lecturers for this event. STPs were carried out on Power System encouraging thoughts. Many students visited these exhibits during January 24-25, Digital Electronics and FPGA from January 30-31, Analog and displays and gave their responses in the dialogue Electronics during February 6-7, Power Electronics from February 12-13, Signal and generating sheets. Through the responses received from the Communication, and Sensor and Measurement from February 30-March 1,2020 at exhibits it was found that many students are thankful for good the institute. More than 50 faculty members and 400 students participated in the food, friends, music and travel among others. program. IIT Bhilai becomes HI/BI for MSME

Dr. Thirthankar Dr. Mahavir Sharma Dr. Gagan Raj Dr. Anand Madhavrao Dr. Purnendu Das Chakraborty Gupta Baswade Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor, Visiting Associate Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor, Liberal Arts Physics Professor, EECS EECS ME PhD: University of Kent PhD: Raman Research PhD: Purdue University PhD: IIT Hyderabad PhD: IIT Kharagpur Institute, Bangalore Area of Research: Area of Research: Area of Research: Area of Research: Area of Research: Comparative and World Astrophysics, Cosmology, Big Data Architecture, Next Generation Thermal Spraying of Literature, Literary Galaxy Formation, Fluid Algorithms, Wireless Networks (5G Composite Coatings Theory, Modernism, Dynamics, Reionization Performance Analysis, & Beyond) Mobile Indian Literature Wireless Networks Networks, Computer Networks

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Photo Courtesy: OUR FRIENDLY NEIGBHOURHOOD Prof. R Moona, Dr. S Gangopadhyay, The transit campus of IIT Bhilai is blessed Dr. P C Shukla, with placid surroundings and is inhabited Dr. K Bandyopadhyay, by a variety of colourful birds. The nature Dr. A Adhikary club members often tread the pleasant setting for long walks while birdwatching. During one such walk, the team enjoyed the twittering of the bulbuls and examined the distant flutter of Plain Prinia and the Interestingly the team also spotted the Wren Warbler, through their binocular and mystic bird of the night called Nightjar. camera lenses. While the iridescent Indian These enigmatic birds build their nest and Roller, also known as Neelkanth flew close lay eggs on the ground. Due to their and made its presence felt while foraging nocturnal lifestyle and dwindling numbers, for food. they are rare to spot these days. As summer days brightened, flocks of Baya We a v e r s w e r e s e e n i n g e n i o u s l y constructing pendulous nests in campus trees. The team shares its resplendent escapade with nature captured in their camera lenses with the newsletter team.

Contact: [email protected] Editor: Dr. Avishek Adhikary || Associate Editor: Ms. Lijy Susan || Compositor: Mr. Harish Kumar Sahu