Category Archives: Education

The high-fliers

Education, Science & Technologies, World Opinion

This year’s edition of Fly Your Ideas contest witnessed a tough battle between five teams who came up with innovative ideas for the aerospace and aviation sector, reports Sangeetha Nambiar from Toulouse, France

Abunch of bright young people have put their own spin on innovations and technologies that can offer solutions to deal with challenges in the aerospace sector. The ideas came up as part of Fly Your Ideas, a contest floated by Airbus, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers. Fly Your Ideas is Airbus’ way of giving the younger generation a chance to come up with out-of-the-box ideas that could revolutionise the way the aviation industry works. “With the contest we look to create sustainable solutions for the future,” says Vicky Runchie, project leader for the contest. “We have multiple objectives which include focused research and development, new business models, better traffic management, meeting tough emission targets, protecting nature and nurturing future talent. The main idea being to reach out and connect with young talent,” she adds.

The third edition of the biennial contest, which was first started in 2008, witnessed a much higher participation this time with 6,000 entries which were whittled down to five by a team from Airbus. Challenges for contestants were huge as the criteria taken into account included energy, efficiency, affordable growth, traffic growth and passenger experience. UNESCO has offered its support to the contest as it is committed to the objective of reducing emission and promoting the idea of a greener planet.

The teams selected this year include: India (Team Avas from SRM University, Chennai ), Italy (Team Flybrid, Technical University of Milan), Brazil (Team Levar, University of Sao Paulo), Australia (Team CLiMA, Royal Melbourne Institute of Milan Italy) and Malaysia (Team Embarker, Universiti Putra Malaysia ), who headed to Toulouse in France for the finals where they presented their ideas before a jury of six at the Airbus  A380 final assembly line. Team Levar, which came up with an innovative design for a luggage loading and unloading system for airplane cargo compartments to reduce the workload of airport baggage handlers with an air cushion, walked away with the 30,000 euros prize money at the final award ceremony held at the Unesco building in Paris. Team CLi-MA won the runners-up spot for their proposal to develop aircraft fuelled by a blend of sustainably produced liquefied biomethane and liquefied natural gas (Bio-LNG ). Avas, the team from India, proposed the use of intelligent materials (shape memory alloys) for jet exhaust shape modification. The alloys are energised by harvested electricity generated by advanced thermoelectric materials using engine heat source which will reduce 6 to 7% of propulsion noise that an aircraft produces. “Airbus has over a period of time strengthened its relationships with universities across the world and FYI is one of its ways to engage the younger generation, assessing their ideas which are a refreshing change from those already in the industry,” says Rachel Schroeder, head of employment marketing.

The teams were a mix of technical and nontechnical. We want to encourage diversity in universities, ensure that more women  students are involved. In fact, Airbus proposes to introduce an award to increase diversity in classrooms. “Our objective is to increase a student’s knowledge base,” says Schroeder. According to Charles Champion, Airbus executive vice-president engineering, FYI patron and chair of the jury, “It was an extremely close contest. All the five teams came up with brilliant ideas. What finally swung the jury in Team Levar’s favour was their focus on the human element in the design apart from the innovativeness of the whole idea,” he says. “Airbus spends 2 billion euros annually on research and development. Any industry needs constant innovation to be sustainable. It is imperative that new and refreshing ideas are thrown up constantly. With FYI we have engaged with students in a big way,” he adds.

At a glance

The third edition of the biennial contest, which was first started in 2008, witnessed a much higher participation this time with 6,000 entries which were whittled down to five by a team from Airbus. Challenges for contestants were huge as the criteria taken into account included: energy, efficiency, affordable growth, traffic growth and passenger experience.

Courtesy: Educationtimes.com

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Education / by Sangeetha Nambiar / June 24th, 2013

Double whammy for Dindigul boy

Education, Records, All
Abhinesh
Abhinesh

Chennai:

It was a memorable day for S. Abhinesh from Dindigul who scored 200 out of 200 cut off marks in both engineering and medical counselling this year. Directorate of medical education and Anna University, which conduct counselling for medical and engineering streams, released rank list for government quota’s single window counselling on Wednesday.

A total of 11 students secured 200 out of 200 cut off marks in engineering whereas seven secured top marks in medical stream. The cut off mark has come down by 0.25 to 0.50 marks in engineering and 0.25 in medical this year. Admission to top medical and engineering colleges is expected to be stiff this year with several students securing the same cut off marks.

About 26,348 state board students and 850 candidates from the CBSE stream have applied for 2,903 seats in medical colleges in the state this year. In the engineering stream, 1.89 lakh students had applied for 1.97 lakh seats.

General counselling for medical stream will start on June 19 and engineering aspirants will sit for counselling on June 21. The state will add an additional 285 seats in medical colleges after it receives an official communication from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

As far as engineering colleges are concerned the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has approved 11 new engineering colleges in the state, which will add over 3,000 seats to the seat matrix.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / June 13th, 2013

Grandson of acting legends to play genius

About Chennai(Madras) / TamilNadu, Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technologies
Ramanujan
Ramanujan

Chennai : 

The grandson of southern acting legends Gemini Ganesan and Savitri will play math genius Srinivasa Ramanujan in a film being shot in Tamil and English.

Abhinay Vaddi, whose mother Vijaya is the daughter of Gemini Ganesan and Savitri, will star as the young mathematician in the film that traces his life from his native Kumbakonam, 400km from here, to Chennai and then to Cambridge before his premature death from pneumonia.

“It is an honour to portray an icon like Ramanujan. At the same time, there is considerable pressure that I must do it right. Then there is the added expectation because of my lineage,” said Abhinay, 29, a former international table tennis player.

The film is being directed by retired IAS officer Gnana Rajasekaran, who has two biopics — Bharati and Periyar — to his credit.

Abhinay said he had little to fall back on when it came to Ramanujan’s physical appearance as only three good photographs were available. “None of us knew how he walked or spoke, so I was coached by the director on how Iyengar Tamil was spoken in those times. Being a Telugu, mastering the dialect was difficult,” recalled Abhinay, who has one Telugu and one Tamil film to his credit.

The first schedule of the film at Kumbakonam is complete, and the story now shifts to Chennai. London-based theatre actor Kevin McGowan plays Professor Hardy, the man who discovered Ramanujan’s genius and relayed it to the world.

Sindhu Rajasekaran, one of the co-producers and Rajasekaran’s daughter, said the director believed in showcasing the lives of real-life heroes.

Abhinay Vaddi
Abhinay Vaddi

 “When Camphor Productions, promoted by my husband Sushant Desai, Srivatsan Nandathur and Sharanyan Nadathur, wanted to produce a good film, my father showed us the script of Ramanujan and we fell for it,” she disclosed.

Rajasekaran had assimilated information on Ramanujan’s life before finalising the script.

Abhinay familiarised himself with Ramanujan by reading The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel.

Asked why the director picked him, Abhinay said Rajasekaran felt his piercing eyes resembled those of Ramanujan. “I learnt later that he had considered Madhavan and Prashanth before choosing me,” said Abhinay, who had to wear a special wig to portray Ramanujan the boy with a half-tonsured head and a tuft of hair — the traditional Iyengar look.In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film Bharati.In the past, Rajasekaran had ignored the claims of many Tamil actors and picked Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde to play Tamil poet Bharatiyar in his film Bharati. Shinde captured the restless rebel in Bharati very evocatively in spite of his language handicap.

Rajasekaran has chosen to shoot the film on celluloid rather than on digital medium. Scheduled for a December release, the film also has acclaimed technicians on board — national award-winning editor B. Lenin, cinematographer Sunny Joseph and music composer Ramesh Vinayagam.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Nation> Story / by G. C. Shekhar / Chennai – June 11th, 2013

Tamil Nadu SSLC results: Pass percentage up by 4.5% in Chennai Corporation schools

Education, Records, All

Chennai :

Chennai Corporation run schools recorded a pass percentage of 91.47% in the SSLC examinations, 4.5% higher than last year. Out of the 8,788 students, 8036 passed in the 72 schools.

The results were declared today.

Salma Haseena, a student of the Chennai Higher Secondary School (CHSS) at Market Street in Perambur, became topper among corporation schools scoring 491 out of 500. She was closely followed by K Yuvarani of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Nungambakkam and Nissi Mariam of Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School in Saidapet. They scored 490 out of 500. Four students tied for third position with a score of 488 out 500. The students are D Mercy Jebarani and Jebaselvi from the school in Market Street, B Bhoopalan from the CHSS, Seven Wells and M Vijay from CHSS, Maduvankarai.

Corporation schools’ performance in the class 10 examinations seemed to have improved to a large extent compared to last year.

Twelve schools managed to achieve 100% pass compared to only two schools that managed the feat last year.

This year 258 students scored centum in various subjects compared to only 18 students last year. Around 1,558 students scored above 400 out of 500 this year when compared to only 400 students who achieved this last year.

Sticking to the annual trend, girls outshone boys with a pass percentage of 93.77%. The boys achieved a success rate of 88.9%.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Education> Schools / by V. Aiyappan, TNN / May 31st, 2013

Districts outshine Chennai in SSLC exam

Education, Records, All
School teachers and students look at the SSLC examination results eagerly at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kancheepuram /. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu
School teachers and students look at the SSLC examination results eagerly at the Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Kancheepuram /. Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam / The Hindu

The highest score in the State has been secured by two students from Puducherry and Ponneri

Girls outshined boys and districts beat Chennai hands down in the SSLC class X examination results, which were announced on Friday.

It was a complete washout for Chennai district with Erode, Melur, Tiruchi, Tiruppathur, Tirunelveli, Cuddalore, Puducherry and Ponneri educational districts cornering the 11 first ranks.

As many as nine official first rankers and two students who have scored 499/500, one mark more than the official toppers who are all girls, are some of the highlights.

B. Sonia, State first rank holder in the SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District being greeted by her friends at her school / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu
B. Sonia, State first rank holder in the SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District being greeted by her friends at her school / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu

The list of ‘official toppers’ only gets longer, with 52 students, and 137 students with Tamil as first language sharing the second and third ranks, according to the Directorate of Government Examinations which released the results on Friday. The State’s pass percentage, including only those who appeared through schools, has also increased significantly from 86.2 in 2012 to 89 per cent this year. Only two students from government schools feature in the list.

S. Sruthi, State third rank holder in SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District. / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu
S. Sruthi, State third rank holder in SSLC examination from Tirunelveli District. / Photo: A. Shaik Mohideen / The Hindu

Kanyakumari, which stood fifth in terms of pass percentage in 2012, has leapt to the top of the list with a pass percentage of 97.29. Though fewer girls wrote the examination this year, they raced past the boys with a pass percentage of 92 per cent, as compared to 86 per cent secured by the boys.

There has also been a quantum leap in the number of centums this year, spurring debate about the standard of the syllabus and nature of evaluation. As compared to 1,141 in 2012, 29,905 students scored a centum in Mathematics this year. Similarly, as many as 38,154 students have scored a centum in Science, and 19,680 in Social Science as compared to 9,237 and 5,305 in 2012.

This is the second batch to write the examination after Samacheer Kalvi, a uniform syllabus for State Board, Matriculation, Anglo-Indian and OSLC schools was introduced.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Education Plus> Schools / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – May 31st, 2013

VOC scion awaiting help to pursue higher studies

Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders
V.Muthu Bramma Nayagi / The Hindu
V.Muthu Bramma Nayagi / The Hindu

When freedom fighter Valliappan Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai, popularly known as Kappalottia Tamizhan VOC, was yoked to an oil press like a bullock during the freedom struggle, he would not have imagined that a brilliant but poor scion of his family would be knocking on every possible door in Independent India seeking help to continue her higher studies after scoring good marks in Plus Two examinations.

The face of the frail-looking V.Muthu Bramma Nayagi, which should glow in pride in view of her performance in the Plus Two examinations — she scored 1,130 out of 1,200 and stood first in Ottapidaram taluk — has lost all the natural happiness as poverty had cast a shadow on her ambition to continue her studies. Ms.Nayagi is the granddaughter of VOC’s niece, her family members say.

“My father E.Venkatachalam is a labourer, who gets some money only when he is engaged for work by someone and my mother Arumugavalli is a housewife. So I cannot think of continuing my studies beyond Plus Two,” Ms.Nayagi says.

Since Ms.Nayagi, a student of TMB Mcavoy Rural Higher Secondary School at Ottapidaram, has scored 197 in mathematics, 193 in physics, 199 in chemistry and 173 in biology, she has an aggregate of 196.50 for engineering. Her teachers helped her get application for engineering and medicine courses. However, the girl does not know whether she can participate in engineering counselling and get admission to a college.

Whenever functions are organised at VOC Memorial at Ottapidaram to commemorate the birth or death anniversaries of the martyr, Ms.Arumugavalli is asked to clean the entire premises, sprinkle water and draw a ‘kolam’ in front of the monument. “Though the government officials offer some money for this work, I never accepted it as I am doing this with pride,” Ms.Arumugavalli says.

Though the family is reluctant to seek help from others, Ms.Nayagi’s desire to continue her studies has forced her to approach some philanthropists in this regard. The girl can be contacted through Ms. Arumugavalli at 96005 67640.

source: http://www.thehindu.com  / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by P. Sudhakar / Tirunelveli – May 30th, 2013

Amma Unavagam workers get hospitality tips

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Leaders

 

Mayor P Karthiyayini interacting with workers at the during her visit to the Amma Unavagam canteen in Kasba on Thursday | Express Photo
Mayor P Karthiyayini interacting with workers at the during her visit to the Amma Unavagam canteen in Kasba on Thursday | Express Photo

Women attached to a Self-Help Group cooked food on a trial basis at two centres identified for ‘Amma Unavagam’, on Thursday.

As many as 120 women belonging to 10 self-help groups would be involved at the 10 low budget canteens across the city. Mayor P Karthiyayini said the women had prior experience in running canteens and hotels on a small scale. They were taken to ‘Amma Unavagam’ canteens in Chennai and given training on how to behave with customers and serve the public.

The women were also trained in cooking in large quantities in Vellore last week, she said and added that the government had already specified the quantity of ingredients that needed to be used for preparing food for 300 to 500 persons.

On Thursday, officials attached to the Corporation visited the two canteens at Neduntheru in Kasba and Gandhi Nagar in Katpadi, where sambar and curd rice were cooked. The cost estimation for preparing food by 10 canteens for a year was arrived at Rs 2.70 crore and the revenue was estimated at  Rs 1.31 crore. The deficit amount of Rs 1.39 crore would be met from the General Fund of the Vellore Corporation. A resolution in this connection was passed at the Corporation council meeting held on Thursday. Vessels for the canteens were also purchased at a cost of Rs 14.40 lakh. Karthiyayini said the dates for the inauguration of the canteens would be announced soon.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service – Vellore / May 31st, 2013

Salma Haseena tops Chennai schools in SSLC

Education, Records, All
Chennai :

SalmaCF02jun2013S.A. Salma Haseena has topped the Chennai schools in the SSLC exams held in March/April 2013. She secured 491 marks out of the total 500.

Salma is the daughter of a junior engineer with Southern Railway. The results of Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams were released yesterday.

Continuing the trend the girls outperformed boys with 93.7 pass percentage.

 

www.siasat.com / The Daily Siasat News / Home> Mulaqat / Sunday – June 02nd, 2013

 

Propelled by passion

Education

At a time when aerospace science is struggling to find  a solution to reduce aircraft propulsion noise, a group of students from Chennai-based SRM University have come up with an innovative answer to the problem. The students – Michael Thomas, Anita Mohil, and their team leader Balakrishnan Solaraju Murali – all studying for their bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering at the university, have spent months studying the jet exhaust shape modification that would pave the way for noise reduction in aircrafts.

Even at a proposal stage their innovation has earned them an international recognition. They have been shortlisted for Airbus’ Fly Your Ideas Challenge final to be held at Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France on June 12, 2013. The three students along with their academic mentor Sakthivel Kasinathan, known as Team Avas (Sanskrit for protection), will now travel to France to present their ideas in front of a jury from Airbus and industry experts.

The winners will be announced at an exclusive ceremony at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris on June 14, 2013. The winning team will receive a prize of €30,000 and the runners-up €15,000. UNESCO has given its patronage to the global competition which challenges students worldwide to develop innovative ideas for a more sustainable aviation industry in the future.

“We are the only team from India whose concept has impressed the panelists from Airbus. The other four teams that have been shortlisted are from Australia, Brazil, Italy and Malaysia. It was not an easy competition as 618 teams totaling over 6,000 students from 82 countries had submitted their proposals,” says Anita Mohil, one of the team members.

The proposals had to cover one of the six themes – energy, efficiency, affordable growth, traffic growth, passenger experience and community friendliness, identified by Airbus as the key 21st century challenges for a greener aviation industry. “We chose energy as our theme to innovate because energy conservation is very important today. In our concept we have proposed use of intelligent materials (shape memory alloys) for jet exhaust shape modification. These alloys are energised by harvested electricity generated by advanced thermoelectric materials using engine heat source. This will reduce 6 to 7% of propulsion noise that today’s aircrafts produce. It’s quite a feasible model and there is  scope for further improvisation,” says Balakrishnan Solaraju Murali, who led the team of students.

Team Avas say that the initial few months were quite challenging as their concept involved expert inputs from other disciplines of science such as electronics, electrical, mechanical sciences etc. “We held several sittings with our professors from other science disciplines before we arrived at a final conclusion. To have an idea is not tough but to translate it into reality is where one’s skills are put to a real test. We are confident that we will win the final,” says Michael Thomas, another team member.

The other teams that are in the competition include team CLiMA from Australia which is developing an aircraft fuelled by a blend of sustainably-produced liquefied biomethane and liquefied natural gas (Bio-LNG); team Levar from Brazil that is working on a luggage loading and unloading system; team Flybrid from Italy that is working on an electric/turboprop combination for hybrid propulsion in regional aircraft and team Embarker from Malaysia that is developing a self-sustaining aircraft cabin concept.

“The entries were assessed by experienced Airbus engineers who were extremely impressed by the quality of work. These talented students from around the world represent the future of our industry,” says Charles Champion, Airbus’ executive vice president, Engineering and Fly Your Ideas Patron.

Team:  3 members

Background:  Aerospace Engineering

Focus Area:  To find a solution to reduce aircraft propulsion noise

Outcome/impact: Shortlisted for Airbus’ Fly Your Ideas Challenge final

What next:  More projects in aerospace engineering for energy conservation

‘I made them focus on relevant issues’

Sakthivel Kasinathan, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at SRM University, has played the role of an academic mentor for the team Avas. He has helped the students understand what might be expected of them in a competition like Airbus FYI. He’s conveyed to the students that they should focus on both the present scenario of the aerospace industry, while being able to present it coherently simple. “As far as my suggestions to them are concerned, I insist that they continue to find origins of issues faced by current aviation industry like energy and environment, while at the same time using what they learnt in their curriculum to offer solutions to such problems,” says he.

According to Kasinathan, evens like FYI contest provides an opportunity to the students to think out of the box and learn what makes the difference between winning and losing.“We should have more and more such event which would benefit both the students as well as the industry,” he says

Five facts at your fingertips

1. Anout SRM University: Sri Ramaswamy Memorial University in Chennai is one of the top ranking universities in India with 33,044 students and 2358 faculty across all campuses, offering a wide range of undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes in engineering, management, medicine and health sciences, and science and humanities

2. Flagship programmes: SRM University offers undergraduate programmes in engineering and technology, medicine and health sciences, science and humanities; postgraduates programmes in engineering and technology, management, medicine and health sciences, science and humanities and PhD

3. Placements: It has nearly 100% placement of registered students in all the top companies such as TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, Infosys, Siemens and others. Over 60 top executives from leading corporates constantly interact with faculty and students to give a boost to the industry-academia link. SRM was accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ Grade this year

4. Chennai:  It is the capital of Tamil Nadu
It’s a major educational centre in South India
It is also known as the cultural capital of South India
It’s famous for Marina Beach, Kapaleeswarar temple
It’s also referred to as the gateway to South India

5. Admissions: There are different admission criteria for different courses. As far as engineering is concerned, the admission is purely on the basis of performance in the entrance examination conducted by SRM University. Candidates short-listed in the entrance examination are called for counselling.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> ht education / by Jeevan Prakash Sharma, Hindustan Times / New Delhi – May 21st, 2013

TN State Board Results 2013 : Of top marks and soaring dreams at welfare homes

Amazing Feats, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
G. Muriel, who scored 1,047, wants to do a B.Tech course./ Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu
G. Muriel, who scored 1,047, wants to do a B.Tech course./ Photo: Special Arrangement / The Hindu

Nearly four years ago, G. Muriel was rescued along with four other girls from an unrecognised home in Tiruvallur district, by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Today, she and her friends have passed the State board class XII examinations with flying colours.

Another young student, Padmavathi, a resident of Pallipattu in Villupuram, who was rescued from a forced child marriage last year, also passed, scoring 795 out of 1,200.

The six girls are inmates of a home run by Madras Christian Council of Social Service in Perambur.

Muriel scored 1,047, and is over the moon. She, along with Mary Ann (972), Sheeba (961), Rejolia Mary (982) and Esther (680), studied at Everwin Matriculation School, Kolathur. Padmavathi studied at Government Higher Secondary School, Villivakkam.

“Muriel and her friends were rescued by CWC after a complaint about the unrecognised home. The home was subsequently closed down. The six students were referred to us by CWC. Since it is vacation time now, they are about to begin part-time jobs,” said R. Isabel, director of Madras Christian Council of Social Service.

Muriel wants to pursue B.Tech in information technology. “I want to study well and earn a good salary. I am very happy that all my friends have passed. We have been together since childhood,” she said.

Padmavathi wants to do a degree in mathematics and work in a bank.

Ms. Isabel said the students were in need of sponsorships to be able to go to college.

The Government Children’s Home for Girls, Kellys also had reason to cheer, as nine of the 10 girls who had appeared for the exam, passed. “Some of them are orphans, while others have single parents. They are studying at the Government HSS, Purasawalkam,” said an officer at the home.

Of the nine, V. Shanthi scored 760, followed by M. Gokila (727) and B. Pradeepa (711). Gokila, a native of Dharmapuri, wants to become a nurse to take care of the health of her villagers.

Nine of the 12 inmates of Puzhal Central Prison who appeared for the board exams have passed. Notable among them is suspected Maoist leader Sundaramoorthy, who scored 835. Thirty-nine convicts lodged in different central prisons across the State had attempted the exams.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / May 11th, 2013