Nanotechnology at Chemovation 2010
Jyothi Kiran, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | Category: Academic, Events
What does the retired World War II vessel INS Vikrant have to do with the National Symposium of Chemovation 2010?
INS Vikrant might be an old war ship that now sits idly in the Mumbai museum. But it had its days of glory when nearly 18-20 war crafts would alight on the deck. It earned its crew two Mahavir Chakras and 12 Vir Chakras during the wars against Pakistan and East Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.
During the 80s much effort was carried out to give India’s first aircraft carrier vessel a new life. It was during this period that S.N. Rangaprasad, now Deputy Director, MSME (Development Institute, Govt. of India, Ministry of MSME) worked a little bit of nanomagic on the now historic vessel. Apparently, the paint on the vessel made the speeding air-crafts skid into the sea during the landing. And it was Rangaprasad who pitched in the innovative idea of using nanotechnology to skid proof the vessel.
S.N. Rangaprasad, now part of the judging panel at Chemovation 2010, told the young audience how things had transformed since then. He is constantly visiting institutions creating awareness and training programs, encouraging budding entrepreneurs to develop new ideas that transform society.
And in the true spirit of innovation, a wide range of topics on nanotechnology, ranging from non-carcinogenic screen printing on Tee shirts to the use of magnetic force to fight against cancer, cropped up during the National Symposium.
The National students symposium was organized by the Department of Chemical Engineering, Dayananda Institute, Bangalore on 26 and 27 Feb 2010, The symposium consisted of students from all over Karnataka who presented their concepts, and the mood that prevailed in the enthusiastic gathering of students, professors and entrepreneurs was one where “everything is possible.”
Professor Suresh Maidargi was the inspiration behind the event, and Professor Mahadevaraju and Professor B.R. Veena coordinated the entire event with great success.
Tags: Chemical Engineering, Chemovation 2010, Dayananda Sagar Institution Bangalore, INS Vikrant, nanopaints, nanotechnology
2 Responses to “Nanotechnology at Chemovation 2010”
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suresh c maidargi Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:11 pmIt’s heartening to note that you have been keenly following the course of the event, especially on nanotechnology. The event is designed to develop the impetus among the future engineers to be inquisitive and be confident in the frontiers of technological developments.
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Prakash Subbarao Says:
July 27th, 2010 at 9:45 amYour article on INS Vikrant brought back old memories. I witnessed the naval excercises on INS Vikrant way back in 1958, when I was a kid of 6 years of age. We were taken in a Navy speedboat from the Gateway of India to the Vikrant, which was anchored several miles offshore. One couldn’t see the Bombay skyline from there, that’s how far out we were. Two other ships - INS Delhi and INS Mysore - were anchored next to the Vikrant. Soon anchor was lifted and all the three ships sailed out to sea. About an hour later, the Vikrant deck, which was completely bare, witnessed a very novel thing. A portion of the deck was actually an elevator and it descended into the depths of the ship. A minute later, a gleaming fighter aircraft with folded wings emerged. Soon, there were many aircraft on deck. The aircraft were of two types - a propeller driven type like the one shown in your blog (called Elize) and a jet variety (called Seahawks). One by one the aircraft started their engines and soon the sound was deafening. The first aircraft to take off taxied to a point about three fourths of the runway. A steam catapult was positioned behind its front tyre and soon the aircraft was literally shoved forward with great speed and it took off. Landing on the short deck was achieved by means of a hook behind the aircraft. As the planes thumped down, the hook engaged a wire strung across the deck and the aircraft was pulled to an abrupt halt. I can’t say there was any nanotechnology that I was aware of on the deck because those were pre-nanotechnology days!
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