IIT, IISc engineers develop silencer for jet planes

IIT, IISc engineers develop silencer for jet planes:



You may soon be able to sleep soundly at night if you live close to an airport.

Engineers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore have come up with a new technology that decreases the noise of jets taking off and landing.

The two institutes worked with Imperial College in London.

The technology will be used on aircraft including Boeing 747s and other long haul flights.

The research began in 2006 with Rolls Royce. U Ramamurthy from IISc’s department of materials engineering led the 11-member team. Vyasa Shastry, who is studying  towards a PhD at IISc, also worked on the project.

How does the technology work?

The technology uses shape memory alloys that can work in temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius. This will bring down the noise from the engine during take-off and landing.

Source:Indian Colleges

IITs lose 274 students to competition

IITs lose 274 students to competition:



KOLKATA: Here's a reality check on brand IIT. At least 274 students who had enrolled for undergraduate tech courses in IITs have pulled out to study elsewhere in spite of paying the fees in full.

This is about 3% of the 9,885 IIT seats on offer but eight to 10 years ago, no one would think of quitting IIT, no matter what the stream. Withdrawals have been a rising trend for the past five years or so and this year has been the worst, say IIT sources.

The admission process got over on Friday, but on Thursday night, a stock-taking by the IITs revealed that a good many of them had decided to withdraw, mostly because they did not get a stream of their choice. Those who sacrificed the IIT brand chose IISc Bangalore, IIIT-Hyderabad, the NITs and even renowned private institutions like Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani and Ranchi.

Thursday was the last date for candidates to withdraw from IITs. The pullouts started after the JEE-main (what was earlier called AIEEE) results were announced in mid-June and admission to the NITs started. IIT-Madras zone has taken the biggest hit - at least 76 candidates have left in favour of the two NITs in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, IISc-Bangalore and IIIT-Hyderabad.

"We've had the maximum withdrawals because there are more options for tech studies in the southern states. Many students who had taken admission in streams like mining, metallurgy, architecture and biotechnology have opted for computer science, electronics or electrical engineering in the other institutes," said IIT-JEE chairperson from IIT-Madras, R Sarathy.

Informal discussions between the candidates and faculty members revealed that they do not mind giving up the IIT brand if they get a stream that will fetch them a prized job. Placement results for streams like mining and metallurgy have been poor in recent times, the students said.

IIT-Delhi zone lost 63 students, Mumbai 44 and Roorkee 35. "The trend is that everyone wants computer science, electronics and communication and electrical engineering, keeping placements and a corporate career in mind. In some IITs, even core departments like civil and chemical engineering have suffered," said IIT-JEE chairperson from IIT-Mumbai, Tom Mathews.

IIT-Kharagpur zone fared comparatively better, with 19 withdrawals, followed by Kanpur with 16. "Most students want to get into engineering streams that are in demand and they don't mind sacrificing the IIT brand for this. Hence, this spate of withdrawals. Even the Indian School of Mining, Dhanbad, has become a preferred destination for many from the Kharagpur zone because it has started offering mechanical, computer science and civil engineering courses," said N K Panigrahi, IIT-JEE vice-chairman at IIT-Kharagpur.

Guwahati had the least number of pullouts - 6, said IIT-JEE chairperson Senthil Velan.

IIT faculty members say that so many withdrawals were unthinkable a decade ago, perhaps because the options were limited. However, the times have changed and many new institutions have attained excellence. "The tech education scene, even in 2005, was very different from what it is now. New IITs have come up. From 4,000-plus seats, there are now nearly 10,000 seats on offer. Naturally the withdrawal rate will be proportionately higher," explained P K Das, IIT-JEE chairman at IIT-Kharagpur.

Source: TIMES OF INDIA.

High court summons CBSE official over IIT mess

High court summons CBSE official over IIT mess:

HYDERABAD: Justice RameshRanganathan of the high court on Thursday directed a senior officer of the Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE) to appear before the court on July 17 along with records to explain how normalisation has been worked out and applied for IIT (Advanced) examination. The judge was dealing with a batch of writ petitions filed by one L Sharat and others. They complained that while making admissions to the National Institute of Technologies (NIT), formerly Regional Engineering Colleges (REC), students who scored high marks in JEE (Advanced), were put to disadvantage in the name of normalisation. Gandra Mohan Rao, counsel for the petitioners, produced a bunch of mark sheets and comparative tables to demonstrate how, in the name of normalization, students of the state were being deprived of seats in premier institutions like NITs. The judge sought to know how the normalisation process was being arrived at. Justice Ranganathan warned that the court will not tolerate any delay in filing counter affidavit. He said prima facie there seems to be something amiss. Source:TIMES OF INDIA

Entering IIT-Bombay gets tougher this year

Entering IIT-Bombay gets tougher this year:




MUMBAI: With more toppers choosing computer science and engineering (CSE) at IIT-Bombay, getting a seat at the premier institute has got tougher this year. Admissions to CSE there closed at the 57th rank in the first round of allotments. Last year, it closed at 75{+t}{+h} rank in the final round. Though three more rounds are yet to go, it is unlikely the closing rank will drop much in subsequent rounds.

This year, students with higher ranks have chosen computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, in that order, across IITs. Post-round one, the courses have seen higher closing ranks among sought-after IITs, with IIT-Bombay registering the highest for all courses. A higher closing rank means more top rankers opted for the stream. At IIT-Delhi, the closing rank was 107 and at IIT-Madras it was 212.

 The secret behind students' preferences lies in placements and research opportunities. After completing undergraduate courses in CSE or electrical engineering, students usually get best placement offers compared to other courses. In the 2012-13 placement season, the two students who bagged the highest offers were from CSE. Chandra Ashok Maloo, with an all-India rank (AIR) of 43, opted for CSE at IIT-B.

Candidates are allotted seats based on preferences and AIRs. With three more rounds, closing ranks are unlikely to change for CSE at premier institutes, said Hemchandra Gupta, chairman of JEE (Advanced) 2013. Gupta said the confirmation process will go on till Monday midnight and the second list will be out on Tuesday.

Electrical engineering closed at 126 in the first round at IIT-B. The rank may or may not dip further in the subsequent list, while mechanical engineering, the third best choice among students closed at 477. Courses such as metallurgical engineering and material science, civil and aerospace engineering have not managed to attract high scorers as closing ranks of these courses at IIT-B were 2619, 1639 and 1610, respectively.

Source:TIMES OF INDIA.

Denied IIT admission, Andhra students fight it out in High Court

Denied IIT admission, Andhra students fight it out in High Court:




HYDERABAD: Justice Ramesh Ranganathan of the AP High Court on Monday directed the authorities of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) not to fill four seats which were offered to four AP students who were later denied on the ground of poor percentile upon. The judge termed the actions of the authorities as violation of article 14 of constitution. The judge was dealing with the writ petition filed by Anudeep Pendyala and three others. They contended that they appeared in the JEE (Advanced) -2013 after qualifying in JEE Mains. They told the court that they got good ranks in the JEE (Advance) and that they were issued call letters and asked to go to Chennai for completing the admission formalities.

 Gandra Mohan Rao, counsel for the petitioners, lamented that now the students were told that they would not get admissions. He said the authorities were playing havoc with the future of bright students in the name of percentile. He said that the petitioners were called for counseling and offered seats on the basis that the cut-off mark was 89.1 percent in intermediate. Now at the time of counseling, this benchmark was suddenly raised to 91.8 percent. Terming it as arbitrary, the petitioners said, students with 60 percent were offered seats last year. Saying that the students were left in lurch due to sudden change in cut-off marks, the petition sought a direction from the court in this regard.

Justice Ramesh Ranganathan also heard the arguments of counsel appearing for the CBSE in this case which was urgently moved a lunch motion. The judge said that the sudden change of cut-off mark after call letters were dispatched was in violation of article 14 of constitution of India'. The judge directed the authorities to keep aside the seats offered to the petitioners without filling them till finalisation of case and ordered notices to the IIT authorities.

Source: TIMES OF INDIA.

IITs get maximum students from CBSE board

IITs get maximum students from CBSE board:




This year the maximum students selected for the IITs are from the CBSE board. 5,500 students are from the CBSE board.

1,800 students are from Andhra Pradesh, 750 students from Punjab. The students from other boards did not fare as well.

Those students who passed their Board exam for the first time in 2012, the eligibility criteria for joining any of the IITs or ISM Dhanbad will be 60% marks in their 12th Board or equivalent (55% for SC/ST/PD candidates). For those candidates who appear in their Board exams for the first time in 2013, the eligibility criteria will remain top 20 percentile of the successful candidates in their Boards, category-wise. This will be a one-time exception for JEE (Advanced) 2013 only.

For those students who passed their 12th Board exams in 2012 but are re-appearing in the 2013 Board exams with a view to improve their performance, 60% rule will apply if they use their 2012 Board exam results and top 20 percentile rule will apply if they use their 2013 Board exam results. This too will be a one-time exception for JEE (Advanced) 2013 only.

Source:Indian Colleges.

GATE 2014: Exam to be conducted online only

GATE 2014: Exam to be conducted online only:



GATE 2014 will be conducted online only for 21 papers. The exam will be conducted in 12 sessions.

The online exam will be conducted from February 1 to March 2, 2014.

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all India examination administered and conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and seven Indian Institutes of Technology ((IITs at Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) on behalf of the National Coordination Board - GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India.

 GATE 2013 admit cards can only be downloaded from the zonal GATE websites.

Candidates are required to bring the admit card to the test centre along with at least one original (not photocopied / scanned copy) and valid (not expired) photo identification.

The question paper for GATE 2014 will consist of questions of multiple-choice type and questions of numerical answer type.

Important dates

GATE Online Application Processing System (website) opens: September 2, 2013

Last date for Submission of Online Application (website closure): October 3, 2013

Last date for the receipt of printed version of online Application at the respective zonal GATE Office: October 10, 2013

Source:Indian Colleges