IIT Madras IITM – ANNUAL REPORT 2012–13 Annual Report 2012–13 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS | 1 | Annual Report 2012–2013 INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS CHENNAI – 600 036 THE VISITOR Shri Pranab Mukherjee President of India THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS Chairman Director of the Institute Prof. M.M. Sharma Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi 3, Jaswant Baug (Runwal Park) Indian Institute of Technology Madras Behind Akbarallys Chennai 60036 Chembur Naka Chembur 40071 Members Nominees of the IIT Council Prof. Dipankar Banerjee Dr. P Anandan Department of Materials Engineering Managing Director Indian Institute of Science Microsoft Research Lab India Private Limited Bangalore 560012 1026, 1st Floor, “Vigyan”, 9, Lavelle Road Bangalore 560025 Prof. Sibaji Raha Dr. B.N. Suresh Director Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor Bose Institute Indian Space Research Organisation Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road Department of Space, GoI Kolkata 70009 Anteriksh Bhavan, New BEL Road Bangalore 580231 Nominees of the Senate Prof. M.S. Shunmugam Prof. G. Muthuveerappan Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai 60036 Chennai 60036 Nominees of State Governments Dr. J. Letha Prof. P.M. Kavimani Director Commissioner i/c Directorate of Technical Education Directorate of Technical Education Government of Kerala, Padmavilasom, Fort Government of Tamil Nadu Thiruvananthapuram 695023 Chennai 60025 Dr. N. Vasanthakumar, IAS Mr. Ragesh Chandra, IAS Collector & Development Commissioner Secretary to Government (Education) Administration of the UT of Lakshadweep Chief Secretariat (Education) Kavaratti 682555 Government of Puducherry Puducherry 605001 Mr. Mohamed Hashim Jadwet Jadwet Trading Company Tower House, Aberdeen Bazar Port Blair 744101 Secretary Invitee Ms. V.G. Bhooma, IRPS Prof. P. Sriram Registrar Dean (Administration) Indian Institute of Technology Madras Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai 60036 Chennai 60036 CONTENTS 1. Director’s Report 1 2. Administration 22 3. Academic Programmes and Award of Degrees 33 4. Departments 46 4.1. Department of Aerospace Engineering 47 4.2. Department of Applied Mechanics 56 4.3. Department of Biotechnology 66 4.4. Department of Chemical Engineering 90 4.5. Department of Chemistry 110 4.6. Department of Civil Engineering 136 4.7. Department of Computer Science and Engineering 169 4.8. Department of Electrical Engineering 183 4.9. Department of Engineering Design 212 4.10. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 226 4.11. Department of Management Studies 236 4.12. Department of Mathematics 247 4.13. Department of Mechanical Engineering 266 4.14. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering 289 4.15. Department of Ocean Engineering 310 4.16. Department of Physics 328 5. Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility 344 6. Centres of Special Facilities 346 6.1. Centre for Continuing Education 347 6.2. Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research 360 6.3. Central Electronics Centre 387 7. Central Facilities 390 8. Central Library 392 9. Students Amenities and Activities 397 10. Students Placement 409 11. Financial Assistance to Students 410 12. Weaker Section & Foreign National Students 414 13. Campus Amenities 416 14. Finance and Accounts 421 15. Appendices 423 1. The Senate 424 2. Board of Academic Courses 426 3. Board of Academic Research 427 4. Board of Students 428 5. Board of Industrial Consultancy & Sponsored Research 429 6. Library Advisory Committee 430 7. The Finance Committee 431 8. Building & Works Committee 432 1. DIRECTOR’S REPORT The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 and declared an institute of national impor- tance by an Act of Parliament in 1961. In the forty-ninth convocation, there were a total of 1464 graduands—141 Ph.D., 127 M.S., 468 M.Tech., 69 M.B.A., 29 M.A., 123 M.Sc., 225 Dual Degree (B.Tech. and M.Tech.) and 273 B.Tech., and the fi rst batch of 9 of the PG Diploma in Metro Rail Technology and Management.These degrees cover a wide range of disciplines and specializations offered by the eleven engineering departments, three science departments, the Department of Management Studies and the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. The faculty and students undertake basic and applied research across a wide swathe of areas. The institute attracts research funding from science ministries as well as a wide spectrum of industries and collaborates extensively with the space, nuclear and defence research organizations. The IIT Madras Research Park is a fi rst-of-its-kind university-based research park in the country and is growing from strength to strength. IIT Madras has active linkages with more than 150 leading universities world-wide, resulting in a substantial two-way fl ow of students and faculty. IIT Madras has been recruiting world-class faculty members in emerging areas for several years now. In 2012-2013, the institute added 37 new faculty members (of whom 3 are women), taking the total number to 526. We bade farewell to 11 faculty members and 29 staff members who retired after a lifetime of dedicated service to the institute. This report provides a summary of our activities, achievements and accomplishments during the year 2012-2013. 1.1. Course-Based Programmes In addition to the slew of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees offered by the sixteen departments, the institute offers several specialized degrees as well. These include a unique Clinical Engineering Programme, offered jointly with the Christian Medical College, Vellore and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology, Tiruvananthapuram; a Visionary Leaders in Manufacturing PG diploma programme offered jointly with IIT Kanpur and IIM Kolkata; a PG diploma programme in metro rail technology and management; and interdisciplinary PG programmes in catalysis technology, petroleum engineering and nuclear engineering. The institute also offers special- ized PG programmes for specifi c industries in civil, mechanical and ocean engineering. In an effort to broaden the palette for UG students, two minor streams have been introduced: Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment Management, and Structural Mechanics. More such minor streams are on the anvil as the curriculum moves decisively towards increasing inter-disciplinarity. IIT Madras has a Joint Doctoral Degree Programme with the National University of Singapore, and more such programmes are expected in the coming years as our trans-national research collaborations intensify and fructify. 1.2. Academic Research Research at IIT Madras continued to fl ourish during the year under review. Around 360 new Ph.D. students enrolled in 2012-2013, in keeping with the national goal of increasing the availability of the highest-quality researchers and teachers to industry and academia. In 2012-2013, our faculty and research scholars published 1014 papers in refereed international journals and 54 in refereed national journals. They also presented 371 research papers in international conferences and 80 in national conferences. IIT Madras is thus a signifi cant contributor to the national research output. 1.2.1. Snapshots of Research in 2012–2013 Around 250 research scholars, assisted by their faculty supervisors, submitted theses and papers that have been published this year. I shall now give you a glimpse of the research work carried out in various departments by describing one interesting piece of work from each department. I do this to expose the breadth and scope of research at IIT Madras and thereby hope to attract more of our bright young minds to the fascinating world of research. Mr. Sumit Verma, from Aerospace Engineering, suggested new techniques to enhance the burn rate of an aluminized composite solid propellant. Mr. B.S. Suresh Anand, of Applied Mechanics, investigated factors affecting quantifi cation of biomarkers using optical spectroscopy of turbid media. Ms. P. Vidya, Department of Biotechnology, studied biotransformation with ionic liquids as reaction media. Ms. R. Anandalakshmi, of Chemical Engineering, investigated natural convection in rhombic enclosures using heat- line and entropy generation. Mr. K. Kumar, from the Department of Chemistry, synthesized various metal—boron cluster compounds and studied their properties that are specifi cally relevant to electronics, ceramic materials and boron—neutron-capture therapy. | 1 | Mr. P. Balasubramanian, of Civil Engineering, has proposed the treatment of volatile organic compounds using biotrickling fi lters. Mr. R. Padmanabhan, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, carried out investigations on voice activity detection and feature diversity for speaker recognition. Mr. Sivakumar Ganjikunta, from Electrical Engineering, has shown a strategy to mitigate voltage sags with phase jumps using custom power devices. Mr. S. Saravana Kumar, Department of Engineering Design, investigated obstacle avoidance and dynamic path plan- ning of an autonomous underwater vehicle in 3D space. Ms. Shweta Kushal, from the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, studied women’s narratives of the Punjabi diaspora and concluded that female protagonists construct their selves irrespective of the social construction of womanhood and that in doing so they debunk the meta-narratives of femininity, ethnicity, sexuality, race and gender by means of which they may be controlled. Mr. P.A. Job, of Management Studies, studied organizational design for