Page 3 - MECHNOVIT-XVII

EDITORIAL

Welcome to this edition of MechnoVIT this season. This is truly a season of ‘mellow
fruitfulness’, especially for the Institute as a whole, and the School of Mechanical Engineering in
particular. The ‘fruitfulness’ alludes to maturity – and indeed, the Times Higher Education Rankings
indicates that. VIT has moved up 200 notches, whilst SMEC is the 10 best in the entire country.
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Although a trifle disconcerting that admissions numbers have slightly dropped, the quality retained
outweighs quantity. Student Teams Albatross and Pravega have won laurels overseas during this
quarter, whilst Formula Student Germany qualified as the only team to be within 10 best teams
worldwide.
Whilst India set a record in the just concluded Asian Games in China in the medals tally as
compared to all previous years, SMEC students too have proved their mettle in sports. Amit Kumar
won a Bronze in the Powerlifting Championship.

Not just sports, SMEC is proud to record that its students received Academic recognition too
through Mehul Kumar (RWTH Aachen Germany) and Rama Aravinth again in Germany for a DAAD
Fellowship. Importantly, SMEC students authored three international Journal papers this quarter -a
most notable achievement indeed. There were 15 Doctorates this quarter-hearty congratulations to
both the Scholars as well as the respective guides. A team of International Scientists led by Prof.
Satyajit Ghosh co-authored an impressive paper published in Scientific Reports (Nature) dealing
with the impact of extreme precipitation events on the iconic Kallanai Dam.

Dr Geetha Manivasagam received two International Funded Projects including one from the
much-coveted BRICS forum. Dr Tapano Kumar and Dr Padmanathan received SERB travel grants,
and additionally SMEC Faculty also received FDP and Consultancy Grants.

Within the current political environment, ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ continues to be a buzz-word
and this is much furthered with innovations and Patents. This quarters SMEC patents tallied to four
and included Patents related to Electric Vehicles and Wind Energy Generators among other themes.

SMEC’s Fresher's induction program stood out. It had nationally and internationally renowned
speakers (Prof. Kyu-Jung Kim from California State Polytechnic University, Mr. S. Gopi from Virtusa
and Dr. Subramani Sellamani from RNTBCI) addressing the freshmen and organized several training
programs. Senior academics from the UK, Europe and East Asia presented and attended various
talks. SMEC’s publication Profile continues to improve with higher number of Q1/Q2 papers.

The School is proudly hosting an ‘’International Conference International Conference on Recent
Advances in Industrial and Systems Engineering (RAISE)’’ this December 20-22.

The Honorable Chancellor signed an MoU WITH Schwing Stetter which led to significant Press
coverage and graciously inaugurated several renovated Labs which now have a world class feel.

To conclude, we urge you read our usual features -Alumni Corner, Tech Chat with Industry Expert
and Voice of Stake Holder- they are inspiring to say the least.

Happy Reading!
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MechnoVIT XVII Issue