http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight August 31, 2007*

*Volume X Issue I Students’ Gymkhana IIT Bombay

Internship - Research and Industrial Construction Blues IIT Bombay’s 50th year - A lookback Tale of two internships and a look at the Institute PT The story behind the innumerable and Little known facts about our institute and its 50 Policy which is yet to be finalized. never-ending constructions on campus. years of heritage. Page 2 Page 4 Page 5 oday IIT Bombay is confronting a As a first year M.Tech. Student succinctly Tserious problem in the form of space puts, “We don’t want any luxuries from allocation in its hostels. In the following The Big Crunch this premier institute but we want the most article, we have tried to canvass student InsIghT explores the problem of space shortage in hostels and basic needs of ours to be met: opinion on the same, hoping that the the associated effects on the fresh batch of PG students. 1. A room with a proper bed to sleep. authorities take corrective measures soon. 2. A table to place our computer or to than that of sharing among the UGs. Here rising in the hostels, some students in H1 study. The Case of Hostel 11: is a list of the important ones among them: have even been tripled in the box rooms. 3. A cupboard to keep our belongings They think that it’s not fair on the institute’s safely. The hostel has 186 single rooms, 66 a) Academic Problems - Due to different part to ask them to live this way considering 4. A little bit of space to walk in.” double rooms and 12 triple sharing rooms. curricula for PGs from department to their seniority. On top of that, nobody knows Nonetheless accommodating around 86 department, the room-mates have a when they are going to get single rooms. We hope that the authorities will take new entrants was far from comfortable. completely different time schedule. This is note of this problem, which, given the The options suggested by the authorities primarily due to different lab timings, classes Hope or wishful thinking? possibility of increased intake is only then, were tripling the double rooms or etc. Most are finding the first semester going to exacerbate in the coming years. 0 doubling the single rooms. This ‘solution’ really ‘tough’, taking into consideration With work experience and age, personal Expediting the construction of the new 1 which was implemented in the previous the problems of adjusting to the living spaces expand. Are our hostels sensitive hostels is necessary if at all there is a hope year for a month “not only put pressure on conditions, mess food, academic load etc to these needs? It is predicted that by 2009 of panacea in the coming years for these sharing of common resources like drying (and all this having attended college once this space crunch issue would be resolved. students. rooms, washing machines, mess, toilets, before this). The common refrain is “Can The institute has promised the erection of but also heavily encroached upon the we pursue academic excellence in such an new hostels by 2009. We tried to approach (Ramya and Mallika are second year PG personal space of every individual” say ambience? With personal spaces so much the HCU for the current allocation data and students in the EE Department. Abhinav the students. Post a lot of complaints and encroached upon, are academic pursuits some leads on the future plans. There is is a third year student of the MEMS coercion, the authorities have provided a possible?” so much red-tapism that all our requests Department. Ashwath is a second year relatively spacious accommodation of 18 for information end up being thwarted by student of the Aerospace Department.) faculty quarters, each capable of housing b) LAN – The LAN BAN effectively permits circumlocutions. six inmates. the usage of internet for only 5 hours (considering they spend the mornings in But associated with this facility are classes and labs). In addition, a single LAN problems: sense of belonging to the hostel port per room restricts the access even diminishes over a prolonged period. As further. Most PG students say that they use seen over the last year, participation in the internet for primarily academic purposes hostel and institute level activities declined. and the LAN ban is an unwarranted Also inmates in the faculty quarters face a restriction. . commuting problem to H11 or H10 mess. In here, they also face difficulties getting c) Maintenance – In many hostels, room their immediate issues like fixing of electric painting and maintenance work is in problems etc addressed. Vigilant security progress. Students are forced to stay out is lacking: these areas are not perceived of their rooms for a stretch of 4-5 days, and as ladies hostel accommodations. that too after the semester has started. “Shouldn’t the maintenance work be done What the other PGs feel: during the holidays and not during the semester?”, they ask. We spoke to a lot of PG students across different hostels with an attempt to d) Mental Stress – Just 30 days into the understand the nature of the problems institute and the freshers say that they associated with sharing, which are markedly are already suffering from severe mental different and of a more immediate nature stress. With the problem of space crunch

n May this year, the Supreme Court of In- seniors are taking an ‘intro’ in his wing. The Idia took a strong stand against ragging, only witnesses in the case are the other based on the recommendations of the Dr. Ragging and Remedy sophomores involved and the seniors who R.K. Raghavan Committee. The Order are under the scanner. The sophomores passed has made it obligatory for academ- Given the new law against ragging, can the student community strike are adamant that nothing untoward has ic institutions to file official FIRs with the lo- a healthy balance across batches? Krishna Ramkumar speaks... happened in the ‘intro’ session. The se- cal police reporting any instance of ragging niors too plead innocent. The sophie under fear or apprehension thereof…. and which long overdue, given the fact that ragging where the victim or his parent/guardian or duress however sticks by his story. Talk has the effect of causing or generating a has exceeded acceptable limits in several the Head of the institution is not satisfied like this seems like it belongs more in a sense of shame or embarrassment so as cases in the past. An equal number though with the institutional arrangement for ac- courtroom than in an academic institute. to adversely affect the psyche of a fresher believe that the Supreme Court has taken tion. And this is what might very well transpire in or junior student.” too extreme a stand on the issue. However, the future, in the case of a ragging incident. there is really no (practical) point in debat- The law states very clearly that if the institu- The Law as it is: The law in its present state unequivocally ing whether it is right or wrong. The law is tion believes that something untoward has condemns ragging of any form. However, at it stands. So where does that leave us? happened, an FIR must be lodged in the Under this law, ‘ragging’ has been defined where it doesn’t do too well is in the very local police station. The authorities hence as “any disorderly conduct, whether by definition of the word ‘ragging’. Terms like Introspection: have no choice but to let such a case un- words spoken or written, or by an act which “annoyance” and “embarrassment” have has the effect of teasing, treating or han- dergo its normal course of investigation un- been tossed around rather loosely, and Picture this. You are the Dean, Student dling with rudeness any student…which der the criminal justice system. this has left the law open to interpreta- Affairs. You receive a call at 2 AM from a cause or are likely to cause annoyance, tion. Many people believe that the law was sophomore who is sobbing because wing hardship or psychological harm or to raise (continued on page 2...)

> InsIghT is the students’ newsletter of IIT Bombay. The views expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Students’ Gymkhana, IIT Bombay. Any reproduction of these contents must include proper attribu- tion and a link back to the InsIghT website. 2 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight Research Internship reading was left to me, though it was made A Tale of Two Interns abundantly clear that the more I knew, the had done my summer internship at Stan- easier I’d be able to handle successive Iford University, USA. Working in univer- Sudeep Kamath (4th year EE) and Rylan Henriques (4th year EP) describe stages of the project. Once I actually start- sities provides research experience, which their experiences in a research and industrial internship respectively. ed getting my feet wet, there was no more is different from experience obtained by room for just ‘getting by’. Deadlines kept the sheer joy of it. I believe this experience working in the industry. Industrial Internship hitting you everywhere you looked, and the has strongly boosted my confidence and pressure was on! I loved it. The more you motivation to pursue further studies. Applying: I did my practical training with Crompton try to do, the more you seem to be able Greaves (CG), Mumbai- a really huge to do. I was really stimulated by the break- I had gone about applying to professors in company that provides electrical solutions. neck pace of things. different universities, working in areas that Student culture – IITB vs Stan- By the time I decided to take on this intern- I found fascinating. It is important that one ford ship, I was pretty sure that research wasn’t Throughout my internship I was required apply to those research groups whose work It would have been next to impossible to really meant for me. My main motivation in to give status reports to my guide, and the is to one’s liking. However, if there are miss the difference between Stanford and doing an industrial internship was to famil- end of phase one required me to make a several such areas, doing a research in- IITB with regards to the student culture. iarize myself with a work environment, and presentation about my findings thus far. ternship in one does not mean that your For one, the undergraduates get to choose see how suited I was to it. Guides are fun people. They can make future prospects would be confined to their field of major as late as one year be- your internship an amazing experience. that area in future. It is therefore, a won- fore their graduation. All that is required for Conversely, if you don’t get along with your derful opportunity to explore the area, the same is completion of a fixed number Applying: guide, bad things can happen. and also talk to different people, work- of credits and a few compulsory courses in There are a number of ways one can go ing in other areas. It will also help you the field that one wishes to major in. The about applying for an industrial PT. There amount of flexibility in courses is astound- are a number of companies which come

Institute decide between the choice of a career in “And for those of us who are pret- industry or pursuing further studies. ing. From my observation of the average to campus itself for recruiting summer in- student motivation towards academics, it is terns. The application process mirrors the ty sure we want to enter the work force, an industrial internship can Deciding the topic: likely to be on the higher side there. The placement process, in as much as there “Honour Code” is taken very seriously by are shortlists made, group discussions be something which acclimatizes I believe my internship was a rather “non- nearly all students; indeed the punishment conducted, and personal interviews carried us to our potential lifestyle in the standard” one, judging by what I found for its violation is very harsh. The research out. Another viable alternative is to apply years to come.” many of my batch mates doing in their uni- environment is largely informal and friendly. to a company off-campus where the pros- versity internships. My supervisor at Stan- The number of student bodies on campus pects are quite good these days. ford suggested that he would like to let my is huge. From athletic bodies to student Hands on experience: choice of work be guided by my passion, Phase two involved me interacting with nationality groups to juggling clubs, almost rather than his discretion. Thus, I spent my Overview of work people on various different levels. I was every student can associate himself with first few weeks exploring different exciting The project I was tasked with was to reeval- supposed to test the waters and see what diverse interests. 0 topics and I also met different professors uate the company’s performance using a sort of variable compensation schemes 2 and talked to them about their work. One new performance metric called EVA (Eco- would be acceptable to workers of different of them even invited me to attend weekly nomic Value Added). For the first couple “From my observation of the aver- designations. As part of this phase, I went research group meetings with his stu- of weeks, my major task was reading up age student motivation towards around CG’s various plants, had one-on- dents, which I did, and found to be a lot of on existing material about my topic, getting academics, it is likely to be on the one interviews and feedback sessions with fun. I was quite amazed by the infectious to know more about the company and its higher side there (at Stanford). The the different plant heads, and interacted passion that the students and professors operations, and in many ways resembled “Honour Code” is taken very seri- with the shop-floor workers as well as se- shared alike, and in those meetings, they doing a literature survey. This was followed ously by nearly all students.” nior management. Being a people person, were open enough to hear out and discuss up by the stage where I actually did pro- I found this part of my project much more all kinds of problems - even puzzles and ductive work. The first part of this involved stimulating that than the previous part. brain-teasers. analyzing the company’s financial state- All in all: ments, making adjustments to arrive at It is undoubtedly, a great atmosphere to All in all During the latter part of my stay, I worked the EVA figures for the company over the work in, when you have the kind of people An internship which lets you delve deeper on “Randomized Load Balancing”, choos- last few years, and noting down trends etc. around you, who, on one hand, would love into an industry, to look into the practical ing it over a few other problems that my This was essentially desk work and really to discuss problems and on the other hand, side of things, will definitely extend your professor offered me. We worked out did not require much input from external would delightfully join you in activities like horizons, and give you a much broader some theoretical aspects of the problem, sources. The conclusion of this marked the fountain hopping (jumping around into the perspective on things. And for those of us and ran a few simulations to validate the end of phase one of my project. numerous fountains on the campus, on a who are pretty sure we want to enter the results. I am now, strongly of the opinion hot afternoon with no particular aim in mind work force, an industrial internship can be that you do your best work when you have Work Culture: - a tradition, perhaps peculiar to Stanford). something which acclimatizes us to our po- no compulsion to do it, when you do it for Work went on at an easy pace at first. The tential lifestyle in the years to come.

Ragging and Remedy (continued from page 1) Institute PT Policy IITB continues to lack a definite PT Policy and the stand over the same The authorities cannot be blamed for tak- yourself from a senior at any point in time. is different across departments. Rajlakshmi Purkayastha speaks... ing a no-nonsense stand against ragging; Serious complaints regarding ragging are they are simply following the law. However, always welcome at the Dean’s office; just he PT policy for the new year, which one has taken this step. The reasoning the endless hype around the issue has re- don’t be speculative in your complaint. You Theld a lot of hopes for change in lieu of behind it is twofold. Firstly professors want sulted in paranoia among students, both can be assured that confidentiality will be last years radical unified PT policy (http:// to stop the spamming process which sees junior and senior. Sophies shudder at the maintained and strict action taken. gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~academics/pt_policy. the mailboxes of professors being flooded very mention of the term ‘intro’. Some even html) , has thus far turned out to be a damp with long resumes and tall tales sometimes welcome it with open arms, almost consid- So what is the way forward? squib. Although there are a lot of hopes for leading to the extreme step of banning all ering it a challenge. Seniors are imagined a new PT policy on the cards, there’s noth- mails from IITB mail ids. It was to avoid this to be sadistic people who have nothing Firstly, the issue of random allotment of ing confirmed thus far. that the PT policy was decided last year better to do than parade juniors around rooms to sophies needs to be reconsid- which allowed for the institute to contact in the buff. For their part, seniors them- ered. After the first year, it is only fair that As a result of no policy at the institute level, professors rather than students. However, selves have sadly become sceptical about a student be allowed to choose his own it is mostly being dictated by the Depart- most believe that this would only encour- interacting with juniors in their hostels and roommate, like it was in the past. Sec- ment PT nominees/co-ordinators. Some age students to try and contact professors wings. Interaction is at a bare minimum, ondly, seniors need to shelve their fear of departments such as electrical and civil outside the ambit of the system. Secondly and a complete breakdown of relations is juniors. The onus is on them to bring back have more or less defined the PT process professors not only feel that most of these imminent. normalcy to inter-batch relations. Juniors whereas it is still evolving for other depart- trips are nothing but paid vacations but must also realise that helping a senior put- ments. against the very philosophy of a practical Seniors and Juniors: ting up posters in a hostel is something all training, which is to get acquainted with the of us have done. Sure, no one can force Some departments such as CSE and EP engineering processes related to a depart- As in most issues of this nature, the prob- you to do anything, but a little help never allow students to take up almost all PTs, ment rather than simply laboratory appren- lem is that there are a few bad apples on does any harm. technical or non-technical, whereas most ticeship. either side - seniors and juniors. Agreed such as chemical, electrical, civil and me- there is a need to break the ice when a The “now or never” attitude might be a chanical are allowing both research and So what does this hold in store for current newbie enters a group. But there is abso- touch too dramatic for the issue at pres- core company PTs (but not non-core com- third year students? Nothing extraordinari- lutely no reason why this must involve dis- ent, but at the current rate, we will soon get panies) either in or abroad. An excep- ly different from the process of the years robing a junior. At the same time, juniors there. tion is MEMS which has placed a restric- gone by, other than certain routes being must understand that there are various tion on Research PTs be they in India or banned. So while it’s back to the shop floor levels of initiation. Singing and dancing (Krishna Ramkumar is a fifth year student abroad, with non-core company PTs being or the email editor for most, the small per- in front of a crowd might be embarrass- of the Integrated M.Sc. Chemistry Pro- a strict no-no. centage of people who get fake certificates ing, but most certainly do not warrant a gramme and is also the Coordinator of In- is likely to continue existing. complaint. If you feel any discomfort, you stitute Student Mentor Programme.) Many departments were being expected have a right to walk away and disassociate to carry out this step of banning foreign (Rajlakshmi Purkayastha is a fourth year university PTs but other than MEMS no student of the MEMS Department.) 3 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight The Big Bang The Re-Freshed Curriculum the course work. As a solution to the declining educational Words of Caution: standards of the institute, the Biswas Com- Aaditya and Miheer dissect the Biswas report and summarize the main mittee was set up a couple of years ago clauses under the curriculum reforms. The new system is very tough on students to analyze and suggest some pragmatic with backlogs and has eliminated all soft reforms in the undergraduate curriculum. the present work load have the opportunity options. Firstly, there is no longer an ‘FF’ The committee submitted its report in the Majors, Minors and Honours of completing B.Tech along with an Hon- grade (re-exam). After ‘DD’, it’s directly spring semester 2006-2007. We present ours as well as two Minors in their areas an ‘FR’ (repeat the course) grade that will here, an exposition of the major recom- Following the standard convention in many of interest (though this will result in an ex- be awarded. Also, there will no longer be mendations that have been approved by western universities, the interested under- cessively heavy schedule!). A D.D. student summer courses or self-study courses the Senate, thus bringing into effect major graduate will have the option of pursuing will have the option of passing out with a running. They must repeat the course in curriculum changes for the undergraduate a ‘Minor degree’ in another department of B.Tech + M.Tech along with a single Minor

another semester. Institute program starting with the entrant batch of her/his choice over and above the ‘Major (subject to policy). Also, students who are 2007. degree’. As an alternative, one can also not so academically motivated can pursue Also, the core courses that need to be gain extra credits in one’s own department other activities without compromising on completed for a Minor may have to be by taking up the ‘Honours’ option. Each of the new light minimum academic require- offered in both semesters, once for the “The most significant recommenda- these will require the student to work to- ments. Prof. Biswas, however, warns that department students, and once for the tion implemented has been reduc- wards an extra 30 credits over and above clearing a backlog will be much tougher backloggers and the Minor-pursuing stu- tion in the number of compulsory the compulsory 250-264 credits through under the new system. Also, he feels that dents. This adds up to 5-6 extra courses credits.” her/his stay here. The exact policy for eli- the usefulness of the system will be brought in each department and raises a big ques- gibility and the curriculum for the ‘Minors’/ out only if 70-80 percent of the students opt tion mark on the availability of facilities ’Honours’ additions are yet to be elucidat- for at least one of the several available op- Minimum Credits (classrooms, labs, teachers, T.A.s, etc). ed by the individual departments. In short, tions, i.e., a Minor from such a large variety If things are to work out for the new batch, these two options give the academically of departments, or a Honours in your own. plans better get moving. The most significant recommendation im- oriented student the opportunity to either plemented has been reduction in the num- expand her/his knowledge base/skills set ber of compulsory credits. Under the new either in a breadth-wise fashion (by opting “Firstly, there is no longer an ‘FF’ Great Expectations system, minimum credits requirement for a for a Minor) or to explore specialized areas grade (re-exam). After ‘DD’, it’s di- A clear shift from faculty-defined constant B.Tech degree has been reduced to 250- in her/his own department ( by opting for rectly an ‘FR’ (repeat the course) workload, to a more student-specific, inter- 264 from the previous figure of ~330. This an Honours). grade that will be awarded.” effectively means a huge decrease from the est-based, variable workload can be seen. We shall see how well the freedom of average semester load of >40 credits to just There is some bad news for D.D. students. choice will be used to develop multifarious over 30 credits (4 courses and 2 labs are Presently, the option for a Minor is not avail- recommended). This minimum course con- Etcetera competencies as required by employers or 0 able to them (though there are dangling tent deemed indispensable for a student to otherwise. As is with every single reform, 3 suggestions about creating a CPI barrier of Two new courses – a theory course on the response and the effect shall be the be called an engineer in her/his discipline, >8.5 to exercise this option). Though the would be rigorously structured and graded. Probability and Statistics and a lab on Ex- verdict of time. Honours option has gained support within perimentation and Measurement - have A D.D. student, apart from completing the the Senate, details on this front have not been introduced to meet demands of re- (Aaditya Ramdas is a third year student same compulsory minimal 250-264 credits been finalised yet. that a B.Tech does, must also complete search and industry. Some of the student of the Computer Science and Engineering 30 extra credits in the form of advanced suggestions currently under discussion are Department and also an Institute Secre- department courses in the four years and Have the cake and eat it too? the assignment of dual degree specializa- tary for Academic Affairs. Miheer Desai is finally a 96 credits D.D. project (totaling tions at the end of second/third year and a second year student of the Mechanical ~375-390 credits) in her/his 5th year. In principle, students who are capable (in also to include hands-on projects, indus- Engineering Department) the top bracket) and interested in retaining trial visits and guest lectures as a part of Alumni Events - IIT2007 Hemendra Godbole, an IIT Bombay alumnus, talks about the Event, its present and future goals. f you are at IIT-Bombay right now, you What motivates us? with us at IITB when you visit – just look at Iare singularly fortunate. You have a way what our faculty and students are achiev- Bulletin Board after your graduation to experience IIT all So, why would alumni-professionals with a ing these days!” – Prof. D.B.Phatak. over again, as active participants of the IIT hectic job and personal life work for over Zephyr Bombay Alumni Association and IITBHF six months to drive this event? Two com- “Don’t lose all the momentum and energy This october, fasten your seatbelts. (http://www.iit.org/iit2007/). pelling drivers as we do our best to give you bring with you as you graduate! Join Providing a flying start to the Golden back: the IITBAA and IITBHF and I need help Jubilee celebrations, Department IIT2007 –The event: (1) Build the IIT brand externally and inter- with our website!” – Ram Kelkar, Webmas- of Aerospace Engineering presents nally within the IIT eco-system [email protected], 80/EE/H8. “ZEPHYR”. Your alumni were the largest set of volun- (2) Help our younger alumni reach goals in teers within the IIT2007 team, and head- half the time taken by our older achievers “IIT2007 will go down in history as an in- Celebrate the spirit of aviation with com- ed the content, sponsorship and finance spirational event for years to come“ – Sub- petitions, workshops, guest lectures, teams. Pooled from all seven IIT campus- hash Tantry, BOD IITBHF, CFO iit2007, panel discussions, panel debates and es, the organizing team delivered a spec- “A key goal for this event was to get CEO Fox technologies, 75/EE/H6. much more. tacular event to over 4,000 exhuberant on-campus students weaved in as Visit http://www.aero.iitb.ac.in/zephyr participants. This was the “big one” with a core-element of these events, as “Leverage your alumni-network to translate for more details. the epicenter in Santa Clara, that well as provide a continuity to tap your ideas into reality – the opportunities sent joyous shock-waves across the globe. into on-campus research interests, are bounded only by your imagination” Typographical error in Vol- aspirations and how we could help – Hemendra Godbole, Co-chair Content, This article is a small ripple touching you ume IX Issue VI: right now. as alumni going forward.” IIT2007, Advisor http://www.numbr.com, 85/EE/H4. In the article titled ‘Organised Chaos’ in Page 3 mentioned ‘Student Mentors’ The content for this event spanned a broad under the category of unofficial posts. spectrum, ranging from the expected focus The latter is a key element that touches you The road ahead: The InsIght team would like to clarify on technology, to the eclectic “Life beyond on-campus. Sai and Rohit did an awesome that all the posts under the Student technology” tracks. With two full days of job bringing us closer to research projects The IIT2007 was just a starting glimpse! Mentor Program (SMP) are recognised highly insightful, provocative and valuable and student-life at IIT-Bombay. Your senior With the IITB Golden Jubilee celebrations, by the Institute and that the error is re- parallel sessions, the event was anchored alumni are optimistic that with your active we in the Bay Area wish you the very best gretted. by scintillating keynotes by Jeffrey Immelt participation, we will get a step closer in on-campus, and look forward to spending (GE), Senator Clinton, Arun Sarin (Voda- achieving our goal at IITB. For one exam- time with you when we get to visit the best phone), Bob Dynes (UCal), and Rajat Gup- ple of an alumni perspective, listen to an IIT and leading-institution from India – IIT- Apology with regards to Car- ta (McKinsey). One of the new and excit- audio interview at: http://www.podtech.net/ Bombay. toon in Volume IX Issue VI: ing elements was a track wherein current home/3781/hemendra-godbole-on-pan-iit- It was conveyed to us that two cartoons students from IITB, IITD, IITKGP and IITG conference If you have ideas on how you can help with on Page 7 had hurt the sentiments of presented research projects on-campus. the IITBAA and IITBHF efforts and want to some of the students in campus. The Voices from above and below: get involved with our projects, drop us a InsIght team would like to apologise to A key goal for this event was to get on- line at: [email protected] . the IITB community, especially those campus students weaved in as a core-ele- “I wish I knew about the IITB alums as a who felt the cartoons were offensive. ment of these events, as well as provide a freshie! I will do everything to get more stu- We shall endeavour to exercise more continuity to tap into on-campus research dents actively involved now into the alumni (Hemendra Godbole is an IIT Bombay caution on the content of our articles in interests, aspirations and how we could system” – Sai Krishna, 4th year, H4. alumnus of the 1985 batch of Electrical En- future. help as alumni going forward. gineering Department. He is a co-chair of “I strongly encourage each of you to stay the Contents team of IIT2007) 4 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

The fabled forests, the lakeside breeze, the angry young monkey, the sycophantic “If you thought the new SAC dog, the hum of the cement mixer, the Construing the was being worked upon for this clangs of the workman’s hammer and December’s Inter IIT, think again. the crumbling of a bulldozed wall - We Constructions It seems like the goal is to finish are going to take you on an abridged demolition work by then.” trip of the less fairytale-ish half of our Archana and Arunabh share their views about the ever-burgeoning campus. construction sites in the institute and the perpetual delay that plagues all. the construction of a new swimming pool was got quite sometime back. But when it The case of the three CCs: of the expected increase in the student will also be complete in another couple of will swim out of the bureaucratic pool, we intake. It seems the seminars will also be years. If you are wondering why the new cannot say. Three years from now, we are going to conducted in the convention centre. So, hostels will be taking more time to come have a Convention Centre, Classroom consider yourself lucky if you have seen up as compared to the two years it took 12 Golden Jubilee: Complex and Computer centre. those ancient structures. The Computer and 13 to come up, we guess the buzzword The Convention Centre, a Godrej Centre, demolished last semester, is finally is caution. What you have read about is a part of the being revived from the ruins. It is being civil engineer’s and architect’s paradise IIT “The Convention Centre, a Godrej brought up by the construction wing of the Another major renovation was at Hostel Bombay is going to become. With Golden undertaking, is going to consist of Department of Atomic Energy. 3, its balconies were deconstructed and Jubilee just round the bend, be prepared for four to five different sized rooms. reconstructed. On a rather tasty tangent: structures as varied a Golden Jubilee Gate The quizzes and exams for the Hostels: More room and a mess-y you would no longer need to step out to a Shopping and Amenities complex. incoming batch of undergraduates affair: of campus to visit the elite cousin of our will be conducted here.” Shack. All the paperwork is in place for a Institute We hope you had an interesting trip! Every hostel seems to be participating Café Coffee Day outlet to start operations undertaking, is going to consist of four to in the construction gala in little ways and opposite H8. It is most likely to be selling But if details here seem insufficient or five different sized rooms. The quizzes big. Hostel 7 has been going hungry for items at subsidized rates. lacking, we regret to inform you that these and exams for the incoming batch almost a year now, and it seems unlikely days it is hard to catch the Estate Office of undergraduates will be conducted that the mess will be fixed and functional SAC, Save Active Constructions! officials and the Dean and Associate Dean here. Once this project is complete, the before December this year. Hostels 12 and of Planning for comment. renovation of our Convocation Hall will 13 will be given appendages in the form If you thought the new SAC was being 0 begin. The freshly flattened Seminar of 14 and 15 over the next three years to worked upon for this December’s Inter (Arunabh Sinha is a fifth year student of 4 Halls of the Physics and Chemistry accommodate the students, whose intake IIT, think again. It seems like the goal is the MEMS Department and Archana Raja departments will be replaced by the is expected to rise by 10% every year for to finish demolition work by then. Towing is a second year student of the Chemistry Classroom Complex. This is in view that period. The extension to hostel 10 the sports line, we hear the clean chit for Department.)

Academic Reforms - The long way ahead Placement Survey The new curriculum in place, are we exercising proper checks on InsIghT presents a first look at the placement survey side-effects and other lacunae? Sushant Sachdeva speaks... results as the job season gains momentum.

Having been personally involved with some under the increased intake was not one of The placement season is slowly heating up of the discussions that led to the formulation the core issues under Biswas committee, with two major names in consulting having Future Plans of Freshmen '07 of the long questionnaire employed for the the recommendations are nonetheless already conducted their workshops and student survey by the Biswas Committee, being designed to address the issues to PPTs being scheduled by the dozen. The

I must accept that the vision behind the some extent. The resource crunch, only placement team is conducting a survey 19% whole proposal was nothing short of visible in the hostels until now, is obvious (hosted on http://10.129.39.10/survey/) 29% Further Studies 10% Job revolutionary and profound. in the academic area, with the MA 103 asking people to rank sectors and compa- MBA lectures being shifted to the LT. This has nies according to their preference. The re- Entrepreneurship Clueless The recommendations of the Biswas inevitably led to a significantly reduced sult will be used in inviting companies and 21% 21% committee were passed in the senate enthusiasm, attendance and almost nil scheduling their order of arrival. without much friction or significant participation. I personally detest the idea changes to the proposals. I personally of learning mathematics through slides in Here are the compiled results so far in think that an important stage of designing a lecture theatre. Moreover, the freshmen terms of preference for sectors. to figure out their inclinations towards the and implementation strategy and critically have been asked not to take notes, as they multifarious opportunities available after reviewing it has not been given due time are available in print. No wonder they find (Please note that only 383 out of over a graduation. The options provided were and importance. The haste of improving it extremely hard to keep their eyes open. 1000 students registered for placements the system, as part of the Golden Jubilee I fear this is only a sampler for the things have filled the survey till date. Hence, the • Further studies year of the institute, is clear when one to come. conclusions are by no means exhaustive. • Job realizes that none of the departments have Moreover, each student could select more • MBA yet formalized the changes in the basic Possibilities: than one option.) • Entrepreneurship curriculum, leave aside the question of • Clueless minors and honors. I seriously hope the Biswas committee Preferred Sectors for Placement '07 really brings out all the changes that it was It is heartening to see the maximum num- The Dual Degree Deal: initially set to bring about. The committee ber of people inclined towards academ- has not had any student representatives ics and higher studies(29%). This was 9% Things become murkier when one except GSAA since the survey was 22% Engineering followed by an equal percent (21%) split 14% questions changes in the DD curriculum. In conducted. Hence I suggest a committee, Consultant between job and the management route. its last meeting, the senate chose to make with a number of professors that were not Finance A significant fifth are waiting for further ex- a quick decision making it mandatory for involved with the committee until this stage Software posure before they make up their minds. 15% Others It will be interesting to note the way these the DD students to study extra courses with a number of student representatives, 22% Telecom recommended by the department worth so that the issues can looked at with 18% inclinations evolve over the period of stay 30 credits, over and above the B. Tech whole new perspectives. This committee in IIT Bombay. curriculum, in order to make them eligible should push for the restructuring by the for the Master’s degree. What’s more, departments and critically review them. As the placement season progresses with students were told in a meeting with Prof. Hopefully, this would help to realize all the unknown twists and turns, InsIghT will fol- Biswas that DD students will not be allowed promises and that our freshmen don’t end An interesting observation that comes low the details and keep its readers’ up- to do minors. Though some professors up as guinea pigs in a not-so-well-thought- across is that, contrary to popular belief, dated. Till then, good luck with those re- believe that exceptional students should of experiment. consulting is not an outright winner and sumes. definitely be permitted to pursue minors, it core technical jobs are equally sought after is yet to be passed by the senate. (Sushant Sachdeva is a fourth year student (22%). And jobs in financial firms come a We thank the institute placement team for of the Computer Science and Engineering close second. Surprisingly, Telecom jobs providing us with the necessary data. Resource crunch and waning Department. He also contributed to the rank last with only 9% votes. (Freshie survey conducted by Asgerali Ma- salawala and Rajat Chakravarty, second enthusiasm: initial groundwork and survey conducted by the Biswas committee and is currently a As an academic exercise, InsIghT con- year students of the Aerospace Engineer- Though the resource crunch in institute student mentor for first year students.) ducted a survey of the current freshie batch ing Department.) 5 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

“An institute is the embodiment of an idea.”- Eric Ashby 50 years of IIT Bombay hen the three of us were given the Nithya, Aishwarya and Tarun give you a glimpse of the memory lane Wtask of churning out 700 words on the as IIT Bombay gears itself up for its 50th anniversary. Golden Jubilee of IIT Bombay, we jumped headlong into the project with character- Symbolic of Russian collaboration, Presi- emerging Pop culture to the istic zeal. We decided to interpret it as a dent Leonid Brezhnev of the erstwhile Youth Movement, students look back over fifty years of history, of tre- USSR planted an Ashoka tree in ’61 out- kept pace by creating what mendous endeavour, of a talented but little side the newly erected Lecture Theatre. later became the most vi- exploited youth, and of the vision of a few Construction of recreational facilities in- brant cultural atmosphere great men. So a fortnight full of dead ends, cluding a Gymnasium (now the SAC) and among all the IITs. We have dusty cupboards and long conversations three clay courts, flourished over the next attempted to trace the begin- later, we came up with this- the first in a five years. During the Indo-Pak war in ‘65, nings of the diverse extra- three part series on the little known history work on a building with a revolutionary thin curricular activities the mod- of this institute we study in. concrete folded plate roof in the form of a ern day IITian indulges in. curved fan proceeded without interruption. To this day, students proudly receive their In 1966, the fourth Inter IIT Of Relationships and Edifices Sports Meet was held here. Year 1448. The earliest recorded Marathi degrees in this Convocation Hall. IIT Bombay lifted the overall trophy for the IIT Bombay in 1965

historical prose ‘Mahikavatichi Bakhar’ Culture first time. The history of debating in the In- mentioned a temple situated at a village Flower Children stitute traces back to the first All India De- called Poumwi. In 1965, a stone inscription Golden Jubilee Celebrations in In a world raging with action, from the bate held at IIT Bombay in 1967. was found in the drained bed of the Powai the coming months:- Lake, confirming the existence of a Devi Annual Productions for plays temple since 10th century A.D. • Inaugural Function of the FOLKLORE were a prominent feature on the Institute cultural calendar since Golden Jubilee Celebrations will be held on 5th September,2007. “A cultural festival named ‘Mood • A few IITians left their technical education mid- the very inception of the col- Indigo’ was organized from 3-1-73 way and joined the Indian Army during the ’71 lege. Hindustani music classes to 8-1-73. Many universities and Pakistan war. Incidentally, the same year the in Convo music room were well • Distinguished Lecture Series colleges from all over the country academic structure was reviewed and the credit attended while others thronged where Nobel laureates will be participated.” system was first introduced. rock concerts on campus. The invited to deliver technical/ ‘Inter-Hostel Entertainment Pro- popular lectures and interact grammes’ were staged in the Half a millennium later, Professor Huma- • A central messing system being in place, a union with the faculty and students Convocation Hall by five teams, 0 yun Kabir, the Indian delegate to UNESCO was inconspicuously formed, comprising the informally. 5 each comprising two hostels. unprecedentedly proposed the idea of mess workers of all hostels. Timing it perfectly, they went on strike a week before endsems. These EPs of ’74 are of course, funding a higher technical institute. Named • International conferences in There being no eating joints nearby, it was the the PAFs of today. the Institute of Higher Technology, Bom- various fields will be organised bay, this was to be in association with the perfect form of blackmail. The Institute however Quoting from the last yellowed from Dec. 2007 to March 2009. erstwhile USSR. Needless to say it was refused to buckle and a cooking unit consisting page of the ‘72-73 Annual Re- carried out and now, it has stood fifty years of students and the wives of professors was set port, “A cultural festival named beside that same Devi temple. up. After three days of the enterprising effort, the • Major cultural events where mess workers awoke to find the students packing ‘’ was organized eminent artistes will be invited from 3-1-73 to 8-1-73. Many uni- March on to March, 1959. Shortly after lay- off for their early summer break. Three months to perform throughout the year; versities and colleges from all ing the foundation stone to the Main Build- later, the striking mess workers had been sacked the local community is invited to over the country participated.” ing, Prime Minister Nehru climbed into an and new set of workers was in place. participate. open jeep. Two Soviet delegates and an We’ve chronicled the nascent interpreter were in the back and they were • In March ’75, M.S.Subbulakshmi gave a charitable years of our beloved insti here, driven by the first Director of IIT Bombay. music recital at the Convocation Hall to raise there’s a great deal more to Across barren landscape, he pointed out funds for the restoration of the Devi Temple, near (Nithya Subramanian and Tarun Mathur are come. Wait on tenterhooks for the locations of Hostel 1, three workshops which she planted the Bakul tree that stands to third year students of Engineering Physics the next instalment. and two teaching sheds. Classes mean- this day. and Mechanical Engineering Departments while were already being held at SASMIRA respectively. Aishwarya Ramakrishnan is a building in Worli. second year student of the MEMS Depart- ment.)

he new secretaries are in alright and Monday, the 15 best entries of the previ- Twe asked them what is happening this ous fortnight would be put up at the Shack. semester that is new. Here is what is in What not to miss this semester? The competition will run throughout the se- store for us: mester and hence will be the longest run- Gunjan Shah provides a synopsis of interesting professional events, work- ning G.C. event!! The photos can be either October-A Month of plays: a soft copy or a hard copy with negative; shops and competitions to look forward to in the Cultural Calendar. mobile phone camera photos are also ac- Come October and we shall see a series cepted. Tumhaari Amrita - A love story told through sional dance shows to his credit. The latter of nationally and internationally acclaimed the exchange of love letters spanning 35 are being taken by Mr. Deepak Singh, who plays happening in the institute as a part of years between two people from very differ- gained fame as the runner up choreogra- the “Theatre week”, courtesy a tie up be- “Alongside, various workshops ent backgrounds. It is a new form of theat- pher on the hit TV show Nach Baliye 2 and tween BONDA, the Dramatics Club of IIT ranging from Salsa and Dandiya to rical presentation that challenges all tradi- is now doing a film too. Bombay and Prithvi Theatre. The schedule a Flash and Video editing workshop tional norms of drama and in the process of seven plays, from Eva Ensler’s “Vagina are happening this semester.” creates a fresh, new way of looking at a Classes are being held twice a week on Monologues” and Naseeruddin Shah’s play. Original cast included Shabana Azmi the weekends with a total of 2 hours for “Katha College” to Rajat Kapoor’s “Sufi- and Farooque Sheikh. Hip-hop and 3 for Ballroom dancing - total ana”, promises to leave you spellbound by strength is 30 for the former and 15 couples Other New Additions: the end of the week. Here’s a synopsis of a for the latter. If these classes meet with couple of these plays: success in terms of participation and en- In addition to all this, a Sahitya Sabha “The photography competition, thusiasm, plans are to carry them onto the by the name of Vaani has been established. ‘Color Di Vita’ will run throughout next semester as well. Also with a newly The Institute will now have a site dedicated “...Hip-hop and and Latin the semester and hence will be the built Dance room to their disposal, it seems to literary enthusiasts with 2GB of archived American Ballroom dancing classes longest running G.C. event!” as if the institute is soon going to sink in the material and Daily quizzes. being conducted this semester in Dance mood. the institute.” Alongside, various workshops ranging Put on your Dancing shoes! The Shutterbugs are here to from Salsa and Dandiya to a Flash and Video editing workshop are happening this With the target of having more talented stay! semester. Attempts are also being made to Vagina Monologues - It gives voice to dancers to represent the institute at inter- bring the Inter IIT-IIM quizzing festival Ni- Under the banner of Pixels, the Photogra- women’s deepest fantasies and fears, collegiate festivals and also seeing their hilanth to IIT Bombay this year. guaranteeing that no one who watches it dearth at the inter-hostel level, we have phy Club, is being held a novel competition being called Color Di Vita, Latin translation will ever look at a woman’s body in quite Hip-hop and Bollywood and Latin American All these events and activities promise to of Colour of Life! This competition requires the same way, objectifying it. The produc- Ballroom dancing classes being conducted make this a helluva of a semester!!! tion has been staged internationally, and a this semester in the institute. The former submission of photos within a fortnight television version featuring Ensler was pro- are being conducted by a high profile from the day on which the theme for that fortnight was posted at the Coffee Shack. duced by HBO. dancer and choreographer from the indus- (Gunjan Shah is a third year student of the Along with a new theme on the following try, Mr. Rohan, who has over 200 profes- Mechanical Engineering Department.) 6 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

he mistake most make, is to attempt chase between HR and the Polezei. Here, Tto determine and calculate, with the CAP ka Suroor HR is helped by flying Audis, high levels finest of instruments, the measure of a of cholesterol amongst the Germans and good film. The Tarantinos and the Cop- Rahul Dash takes his cap off to the superstar the chaos- theory -confirming appearance pollas, they know squat. Film making and who refuses to return the favour. of 3 autorickshaw drivers in Germany who acting is all about keeping stuff simple. are introduced in a Tarantino-Kanti Shah Flashback: with a girl having a hole in her heart. inspired screenplay. And in the end, as in And ’s acting is a 3) 47 songs. 25 differently coloured caps. the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Chacha revelation. He never intends to put more Himesh and his David Beckham-Donald (And not one of them is an exaggeration.) Choudhary literature, HR triumphs, wins than the occasional “moaning of a sick duck combo friend arrive in Germany for back his powerpuff girl Rhea and dances goat” acoustic in his nasally enhanced a “world tour”. Here they are received by However their ill fated, carbon dated old his way to cinematic history. music. He displays a gamut of emotions the Warren Buffet wannabe manager and fashioned love story gets a horrible twist in Aap ka Suroor. Who can forget : the why-won’t-you-look-at-my-face girl with Himesh landing in jail, accused for There is something about the man that Mallika Sherawat who’s only ‘khwaish’ is murdering a journalist who happens to be stuns me. Aap Ka Suroor got one of the 1) The intense, constipated, she-reject- HR. Himesh is swept off his feet by the her father’s daughter. The sting opera- biggest openings in recent history. His ed-my-orkut-friend-request look, which Complan girl with the Gayatri Mantra as tion video, depicting HR and an assorted songs grace the saloons and salons alike. conveys anguish and internal turmoil. her ringtone : 16 year old Hansika Mot- movement of his body which would put Whether it is his cap, his nasal nirvana, 2) The non-alcoholic, juice drinking, I- wani. Slowly, like VVS Laxman between Prabhu Deva, Shreesanth and Navjot Sid- his total disinterest in the revelation of the

Leisure am-a-Complan boy expression, which the 20th and the 35th over of an one hu to shame at the same time is found and female anatomy or his fascination with his displays Indianness and cultural ethics day international, their pure, unadulter- apna Himeshbhai is put by the German own cleavage, Himesh Reshammiya brings amongst inter-galactic super stardom. ated love grows and its intense subtlety Polezei in prison, discarding his ferocious in the moolah. And how ! 3) The eyes half shut, face contorted, is depicted through some memorable denial : “ It iz a meeshtake !” answering-nature’s call look, to display scenes: romanticism and raw passion of a level Flashback ends. Present day: hitherto unseen. 1) Himesh playing the guitar and singing Aap ka Suroor is not a normal Bollywood the Gayatri Mantra with the demeanour The father, in order to avenge the death movie. It is a Panchatantra of sorts. A of a heavy metal vocalist. of his daughter, takes HR away from the (Rahul Dash is a third year student of Elec- Himesh Chalisa. 2) Himesh and Hansika (Rhea in the mov- German jail with nappy adjusting ease. trical Engineering Department) 06 ie) enjoying some hole-some moments And then starts the great Tom and Jerry wo golden words that have lead Tmankind through everything under the Maal-ahar @ Malhar: The prizes sun, are your only respite in sticky times Rage Mal-ahar and the lack of it during the monsoons and what better Tannishtha and Aakash share their love and longing place to use them than at Mal-ahar, the Eventually you do get to take part in some St. Xaviers Annual Cultural Extra-vague- for the IITians’ (second) favourite college fest. events. Sometimes you win sometimes anza! There are just two rules: phones have to be switched off (Stern you don’t. When you lose you write articles like this and say the event and everything Been there, seen it and heard it, but still Warning!). Sharp objects aren’t allowed associated with it was stupid. When you every year almost unfailingly hoards of Rule#1: Stick to the walls. but long nails are. win, you smugly gloat, but write articles like IITians flock the sprawling 400 dozen sq Rule#2: Follow rule #1. this anyway, ‘cause all you won is half a feet campus close to CST. For freshers Rage-is-station @ Mal-ahar: Aap qatar pair of yellow slippers. it’s the start of something beautiful, for the Secure-itty @ Mal-ahar: I-pods mein kyun nahin hain? sophomores a sort of hurdled marathon to and WMDs not allowed! the top and for those who believe they can At the next hurdle, you are faced with “But Love @ Mal-ahar: And finally there are five teams from your college be third time lucky, a renaissance! (For the Once, young collegian, you have mastered already, who is who? Why are you OTSE Doctor Strange Love fourth year stud-ents and those who are these rules…ah of course first you have (On the Spot Entry)?” older, it’s “enter the dragon”!) to prove that you’re a young collegian. A There’s Umang, Kaleidoscope, Chaos, valid I-card sometimes isn’t proof enough Unmaad… but Malhar is always special. By the time they eventually dig out their rule For the lack of space and the word limit especially if you’re a fourth year student It’s in a league of its own (fourth dimension book and figure out there’s nothing wrong we must stick to (not a wall, for a change), (why are you still in college?) or a fifth after all). And we wouldn’t take a shot at with even infinite number of OTSE’s from we regret the fact that we may not write of year student (impossible!). The trick then anything else with as much enthusiasm. All the same college, you can go watch street Mal-ahar (or write it off) in full. However, a is to befuddle them. Befuddling techniques said and done, we love Malhar, we’ve all dance, cheer for an arbitrary troupe that quick dossier of sorts for those of you who involve arguing in loops for more than a got different reasons for it and sometimes doesn’t know how to dance but is doing missed it for the good or bad or the greater minute so that they call up their in-charge it’s a strange love but there it is... the something (and an awesome something at evil: and then arguing with them authoritatively writings on the wall and I shall stick to it! that!). Care to guess that college’s name? for more than a minute…usually works. Rules @ Mal-ahar: Jo Bole so You can always try and win the battle with Your youthfulness having been established, (Tannishtha Sanyal is a fourth year student Nihaal, Stick to the wall! other participants, but you may never win bob-pins in your hair can stay but not loose of Aerospace Engineering Department and the war against the over privileged Mal-ahar ones. Camera with batteries in it can’t be Kumar Aakash is a third year student of the The granddaddy of all of Mumbai’s college organization. So do not start calculating allowed in, but batteries separately and MEMS Department.) festivals, for all its bindaas events and IQ’s, just dive in! jhakaas nights, is a real stickler for rules. cameras separately can go in. Camera

Insti-gator - Part 1 - by Shaunak Insti-gator - Part 2 - by Srivathsan 7 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight Energy Management System The latest research on Surface Plas- Research@IITB: Alive & Kicking mon Resonance based biosensors has Who: Led by Prof. Shashikanth Suryana- made possible the detection of micro-unit rayanan of the Mechanical Dept. Nithya S. and Rutika Muchhala present the next in the series of what’s changes in Refractive Index! Biosensors cooking in the research labs of our departments. will have some serious future implications. Technically speaking: Prof. Shashikanth They will make a doctor’s life much easier, Suryanarayanan and his team have devel- Now when the driver of a scooter or an Biosensors with the development of pill-sized comput- oped a low cost solution for petrol engine auto twists the throttle, what he’s increas- ers to monitor the patient’s health. management systems of two and three ing is the amount of air fed to the engine. Who: Led by Prof. Soumyo Mukherji of the wheelers that vastly reduces hydrocarbon So what’s left to control is the fuel injec- Smart sensors translate into consider-

School of Biosciences and Bioengineer- Miscellaneous emissions, increases fuel economy and tion, which is where Prof. Suryanarayan- ing. able improvements in the speed and at the same time is considerably cheaper an’s Engine Management System (EMS) quality control of food, beverages and than any solution available in the present comes in. Technically speaking: Biosensors have drug testing, which means no more wor- day market. at least one integral component that is ries about contaminated food. An excit- His team has simplified the EMS to the biological in nature, such as an enzyme or ing application is the ‘Electronic Nose’, While all Internal Combustion Engines maximum extent possible, limiting it to only DNA. They can measure non-biological which can sniff out poisons, industrial (ICEs) use the combustion of a fuel air three sensors. They have in fact proven quantities and convert them into electrical pollutants or even odors, which may be mixture to generate energy and drive a conclusively, that the sensing architecture signals. telltale signs of an illness. piston, the key lies in optimizing the ratio for small petrol-powered vehicles support- of fuel to air in the mix. As byproducts of ing fuel injection operation can’t be simpli- Fast-forward: The army can now cre- the combustion .Nitrogen oxides, Carbon- fied any further than this. The new system “An exciting application is the ate clothing woven from conductive monoxide and several Hydrocarbons are has been tested on a transient dynamom- ‘Electronic Nose’, which can sniff polymers that can provide data on the produced. Now these byproducts are first eter bed in a new lab constructed in the out poisons, industrial pollutants wearer’s injuries! Biosensors can rec- treated in the catalytic converter before Department of Mechanical Engineering. or even odors, which may be telltale ognize when and from where a soldier being released as exhaust. Now comes The system has also been tested on an signs of an illness.” is bleeding, depending on the oxygen con- the crux- the Nitrogen oxides have to be industry-standard chassis dynamometer in tent in the blood. reduced to Nitrogen and Oxygen, while the the TVS Motor Company. An invention like This project, headed by Prof. Soumyo Hydrocarbons and CO have to be oxidized this is a breakthrough, a totally indigenous Mukherji of the School of Biosciences and (Nithya Subramanian is a third year student to Carbon-dioxide and water. To achieve product that is far more economical and Bioengineering currently aims to observe of the Engineering Physics Department and this optimally, one needs to have just the efficient than present-day imported solu- the kinetics of reactions as well as test for Rutika Muchhala is a third year student of right amount of fuel-air ratio to start with. tions. pathogens in water and air. the Electrical Engineering Department.)

Why Tech? wave, the idea that the world has been The T in IIT - An overview waiting for, only to find next morning that 07 The world outside looks at IITians as geeky The Overall Coordinators of TechniC, Shyam and Ashish, describe the there’s no way you could complete it by and nerdy characters. While that descrip- yourself with your own money – Worry not! current tech scene in the institute with a looking glass towards the future. tion may not suit us up to the T, there is UMIC, the innovation cell of IITB, handles no denying that extra-curricular Technical Impressive as that may be, we consider various colleges in Bombay every now and such innovative projects, besides manag- activities ranging from Coding to Robotics it only as a beginning, and a lot more is then, where the resourceful Techie can not ing participation for Robocon and ASME. form an essential part of our lives. These expected from the present batch of Fresh- only sharpen his skills but also make good activities provide an excellent outlet for ers, for they form our avant-garde. The money. There are a lot of exciting new initiatives our creative skills and innovative abilities. ignition has already been done with the that are coming up this year as well. For A great deal of useful knowledge and ex- Tech Weekend on 18th and 19th August, In the following semester there will be example, work has just started on IIT Bom- perience is gained in the process, along where the participation at Formula One, more competitions related to Coding, Cir- bay’s first race car. So, if you have the pas- with lessons in managing time and money, overwhelming in terms of both quality and cuits and Electronics, Hacking, Revers- sion and the willingness to learn, all you team-work and healthy competition. Above quantity, was most promising. Seeing 300 ing, and a LogicQuiz. In January we have have to do is wonder, think and create! all, they are an amazing lot of fun, and the freshies in the OAT with working machines , the daddy of all Festivals, where thrill of achievement one gets is hard to was awesome! We strongly hope to see you can test your mettle against the best Some useful links: parallel. the same enthusiasm in all future events. robotics enthusiasts of the country, or at- tend lectures and workshops on a plethora • http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/ The previous year saw a phenomenal im- What lies ahead of topics. The year ends with the extremely ~technic (TechniC – that’s us, provement in the Tech scene at IITB. A thrilling Inter-Hostel Robowars. your friendly neighbourhood general rise in awareness and enthusiasm The Techie can choose to stay as busy as Technical Club. Do keep checking led to us winning great laurels in the country s/he likes. Soon to come are events like There are also the five clubs under Sci- our website!) and outside. We won the overall trophy at Schwarzen’egg’er, Prayog and Chems- ence Club – Aeromodelling, Astronomy • http://www.techfest.org VJTI’s Technovanza 2006 as well as Tech- plash – competitions in structures, phys- (Krittika), Electronics, HAM (Amateur Ra- (TechFest 2008) Fest 2007, of which the magnitude and ics and chemistry. In October we’ll also dio) and Papers Club - where one is sure • http://www.techfest.org/nexus level of competition can scarcely be exag- have intras for Shaastra - the IIT Madras to find something of interest. (Nexus) gerated. IITB also won the First position in festival, and Nexus, for our own TechFest. • http://umic.iitb.ac.in (UMIC. Also the Non-US category at ASME (Chicago), Besides, there are Technical festivals in And, if you wake up one night with a brain- for Robocon and ASME) and Second position at Robocon India.

from the entrepreneurial community. ifficult questions plague many budding Dentrepreneurs: How do I get started? “We are very excited about this launch, and How do I raise money? Is this really a good we look forward to feedback from students. idea? Can I risk my placement? In entre- ….The main goal of the NEN Catalyst Pro- preneurship there are no right answers. grams is to put students on the right track But it does help to have some place where The all new NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) before they make their actual transition into one can get answers and advice on some Catalyst Programs the ‘real world’,” says Laura Parkin, Execu- of the most fundamental concerns of start- For budding entrepreneurs tive Director, NEN. ing and building a venture. Ventures; Avnish Bajaj, The benefits of the NEN Catalyst Programs The National Entrepreneurship Network Some of the topics to Founding Managing Di- can be availed by any one who is an NEN (NEN) has launched a new set of pro- look forward to on the rector, Matrix Partners, Member. The programs offer a unique add- grams - the NEN Catalyst Programs to website in the coming India; Alok Mittal, Execu- on to the entrepreneurial experience on and directly support students interested in en- months include: ‘Angel tive Director, Canaan and off campus as they provide a platform for trepreneurship. NEN is not new to students Investing’; ‘Intellectual Bharati Jacob, Managing students and individual members to have – it is already working with more than 225 Property’; ‘Building a Partner, Seedfund their say, and closely engage with experts academic institutes across India helping Team’; ‘Getting Started’ and the entrepreneurial community. them build world class entrepreneurship and ‘Product Develop- The idea behind this is programs on their campuses. ment’ to name a few. to enable students who Access to a whole new range of resources want to be entrepreneurs on the different areas of company start- The Catalyst Programs are designed for NEN will be partnering to make more informed ing and building, is now available to new anyone who wants to turn dreams into real- with well known experts decisions, and most of and future entrepreneurs through the NEN ity. For budding entrepreneurs this means on a range of topics. The all, be prepared them- Catalyst Programs. on-ground and online support through NEN experts for Ven- selves for the challenges Log on to www.nenonline.org today. practical and real world information on ture Capital include five that lie ahead. In addition, www.nenonline.org; access to experts, skill of India’s top VC’s: Ba- the Catalyst programs will (This is a promotional article only. Please building activities and networking. The pro- laji Srinivas, Managing help build a network of note that InsIghT is not associated with any grams are aimed at helping new entrepre- Partner, Aureos Capital; potential entrepreneurs with venture capi- of the activities/initiatives mentioned herein neurs understand the key issues involved Kanwaljit Singh, Managing Director, Helion talists, angel investors, and other experts either directly or indirectly.) and the implications for them. 8 August 31, 2007 http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

nd tonight, on “Believe it not”, we have a special from the future, on long vacations. Didn’t you ever won- Aguest, Chronus Moment – who claims to be a... Twice upon a time der why you did not have any time tourists? Their disap- well, time traveller. pearances in puffs of smoke are excessively well docu- Vaibhav and Eeshan take you back to the future mented. Actually, I think a guy called Stephen Hawking Q. How do you do, sir? once you are done with the past. did; but he didn’t have enough prudence to link it to God. A. You mean how am I doing right now, right? Good. Q. Let’s get this straight. Are you telling me that our Q. So, do you really think that time travel is possible? Q. Wait a minute! Where does God come into this? gods, all the varied figures from our rich mythologies, A. Of course! It is the most possible thing ever! And I mean A. Good God! You don’t know about that? In the 26th are just normal people from the future? ever. The details have been with you all through – al- century, time travel was the ‘in’ thing. People went back A. Yes – Grandpa. beit, with a little intervention from the future - Kurt Gödel to unimaginable extents in time. Of course, their simplistic proved that Einstein’s theory of relativity automatically gadgets were misinterpreted as superhuman powers. (Vaibhav Devanathan is a third year student of the En- implied time travel. But you simply wouldn’t believe gineering Physics Department and the Institute Literary him. Q. Do you mean...? Secretary. Eeshan Malhotra is a second year student of A. Yes, I do. All the Gods you worship are merely people the Civil Engineering Department.) Q. Why do you not run into one of those paradoxes? Let’s say you travel back in time, and accidentally, Pop Sci or deliberately, kill your grandfather before he meets Adverse Effect of Time Travel - 23 granny. Since this would cause one of your parents (and by extension, you) to never be conceived, this would imply that you could not have travelled back in Imagine that someone invented time travel. The outlook would not be uniformly rosy for everybody, as this might time after all, which in turn implies that your grandfa- show: ther would still be alive, and that you would have been conceived, allowing you to travel back in time and kill Petition from the B-movie star guild of India, to the Time Travel Committee: your grandfather. Dear Sir, A. I have always loved my grandfather. Not to mention, We have a complaint to make regarding time travel. It is evil. It has forced our most famous stars to go back to their there’s Novikov’s Principle to take care of. bus driver roots. No one watches our movies anymore. If you want to know the reason, read through the following scene. We have used them time and again, and they have never failed - until now. Q. Hold on. Did the Russians win World War III? I mean, who’s the Novikov chap, anyway? A. Any six year old worth his kindergarten certificate will tell Scene: you what Novikov’s Principle is. Stated simply, the Novikov Villain: sitting (with switch) in a mansion. A few scantily clad females flit about. 0 self-consistency principle asserts that if an event exists 8 and that would give rise to a paradox, then the probability Hero: Tied and struggling. of that event is zero. So no matter what a time traveller might try to do he will always end up accomplishing con- Heroine: Strapped in an electric chair in a dungeon 5 km. away from the mansion. sistent non-paradoxical actions. You need to read more (Note: The wires from the villain’s switch connect to the electric chair) science-fiction, dear.

Q. It’s all very well for Novikov to talk through his The villain screams ‘Bijleee’ and presses the switch. The hero screams the heroine’s name and the ropes fall off ushanka, but has he ever tried renting a room at The his body (This is logical: Everything fears a 300-pounder). He kills the villain and rushes to a horse (You must as- Taj? Even a time traveller needs money here, mister. sume that all villains’ mansions have a saddled horse on standby in the hall). The horse is conventionally named A. Oh, that’s easily taken care of. All of us in the future Sultan. have had have an account set up at The Big Bank. We deposit an Elbonian Rupee, and set out to take some time The horse and rider then pull off the ride of their lives, racing against electricity, no less. (Aside: The electric cur- off. Despite abysmally low interest rates, the money has rent is shown as a blue dot traveling on the wire. Yes, I vaguely remember that electricity is a continuous flow of always multiplied so that we have a billion Elbonian Ru- electrons, but I am no physicist). The rider keeps talking to the horse and telling him that they have to beat the pees at our disposal, whenever we are. current and save the heroine. The horse keeps nodding intelligently and dashes into the dungeon a length ahead Q. So does your memory remain intact when you trav- of the blue dot, in time for a touching reunion. The electricity is presumably too polite to intrude on their tête-à-tête, el through time? If it does, there are a few scientists because it waits fully five minutes while the heroine is extricated from the chair before making its entry (again as a waiting outside who would like to have a word with blue dot traveling on the wire) and causing the chair to burst into flame. you about something called a Grand Unified Theory. A. Yes, my memory remains. Although everybody else’s Epilogue: Wedding, with the horse as the chief guest. memory is supposed to be modified so that they never re- Complaint: This was the scene that once took our actors to the next level which marked their transition from star alize that somebody has travelled through time, this God status to God status. Now, it is the scene at which people laugh contemptuously. The actor could just have gone fellow doesn’t live up to his name sometimes. Some peo- back half an hour; he could have freed the heroine, killed the villain and danced in a song or three. Time travel has ple’s memories are retained when they’re not supposed to. I believe you call it déjà vu. killed this thrilling chase.

InsIghT team Questech Word Games Chief Executive Editor Karthik Shekhar Hidden words Going in Cirles Chief Editor If I gave you the sentence “The Oman Government Vivek Upadhyay Given a number, a new number is obtained by moving is a good one.” and ask you to find the name of a the last digit of the given number to the start of the fruit hidden in it, you would be able to find the word THE EXECUTION PANEL number (example: 12345 becomes 51234). Find the ‘mango’ in ‘The Oman Government’. smallest positive integer such that this new number Aaditya Ramdas, Abhinav Mohan, Aishwarya formed is larger than and is an integral multiple of Find names of nine places in Mumbai hidden in the Ramakrishnan, Archana Raja, Arunabh Sinha, the original number. Both the numbers are written in two paragraphs below. One of the places occurs Asgerali Masalawala, Ashish Goel, Ashwath standard decimal notation, with no leading zeros. twice. Krithyvasan, Deepti G., Eeshan Malhotra, Gautam Salhotra, Gunjan Shah, Gurveen Bedi, Kumar “One rule that one must never forget is that one’s apparel must always be impeccable. My children of- Aakash, Krishna Ramkumar, Mallika, Miheer Desai, Unlucky 13 Nithya Subramanian, Onkar Dalal, Rahul Dash, Rajat ten correct me, shouting “Dad, a red shirt does not Chakraborty, Rajlakshmi Purkayastha, Rohit Vadera, go with those trousers” or “Pa, relatives are coming Consider a 50 digit number with all digits 1 except Ramya, Rutika Muchhala, Rylan Henriques, Sheta home today”. On the fifth, a new era started. I de- the 26th digit. The number is divisible by 13. What M., Shaunak Samvatsar, Siddhartha Das, Srivathsan cided to perform a role which was unfamiliar to me is the 26th digit? Please provide explanation along B., Sudeep Kamath, Tannishtha Sanyal, Tarun – that of a natty dresser. with the solution. Mathur, Vaibhav Devanathan, Vidushi Jain I was looking for a shop in Spain called ‘Him and Her.” I went into the building and asked the recep- (Mail the answers to [email protected] with tionist where it was. “Si, on the first floor, straight up. “Questech” as the subject. The early bird gets its O wait, it might be on the second. worms at coffee shack.) If you would like to join the InsIghT team and/or Ecstatic, I got into the lift.” give feedback, feel free to mail us at insight@ (Mail the answers to [email protected] iitb.ac.in or visit our website http://gymkhana.iitb. with “Word Games” as the subject. Likewise.) ac.in/~insight.