Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Sports Research: Popular players of IITK in lab

Popular players of IITK performing their best for Sport Research Summer Vacation 2008. It is only side view of the video. There are two more views: front and top. If you want any of these videos, please mail to power@iitk.ac.in.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Brain Storming Sessions

1. From where to get idea?
Ans: You can get an idea from:
1. Your daily life
2. Your dreams/imaginations
3. The problems you face while doing any work
4. There is a link in the former site of PoWER from where you can find the scope of product identification in following areas:

Chemistry and Metallurgy

Syllabus

INTRODUCTION AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY>

TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE OR SLUDGE

GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL

CEMENTS; CONCRETE; ARTIFICIAL STONE; CERAMICS; REFRACTORIES

FERTILISERS; MANUFACTURE THEREOF

EXPLOSIVES; MATCHES

ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON

DYES; PAINTS; POLISHES; NATURAL RESINS; ADHESIVES; COMPOSITIONS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; APPLICATIONS OF MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; PEAT

ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES

BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING

SUGAR INDUSTRY

SKINS; HIDES; PELTS; LEATHER

METALLURGY OF IRON

METALLURGY ; FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS ALLOYS; TREATMENT OF ALLOYS OR NON-FERROUS METALS

COATING METALLIC MATERIAL

ELECTROLYTIC OR ELECTROPHORETIC PROCESSES; APPARATUS THEREFOR

CRYSTAL GROWTH

COMBINATORIAL TECHNOLOGY



Constructions

Syllabus

CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES

HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL-SHIFTING

WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE

BUILDING

LOCKS; KEYS; WINDOW OR DOOR FITTINGS; SAFES

DOORS, WINDOWS, SHUTTERS, OR ROLLER BLINDS, IN GENERAL; LADDERS

EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING



Electricity and Related

Syllabus

BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS

GENERATION, CONVERSION, OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER

BASIC ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY

ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE

ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR



Human Necessities

Syllabus

AGRICULTURE

FOODSTUFFS; TOBACCO

BUTCHERING; MEAT TREATMENT; PROCESSING POULTRY OR FISH

FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; THEIR TREATMENT, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES

TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SMOKERS’ REQUISITES

WEARING APPAREL

HEADWEAR

FOOTWEAR

HABERDASHERY; JEWELLERY

HAND OR TRAVELLING ARTICLES

BRUSHWARE

FURNITURE

MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE XXXX

LIFE-SAVING; FIRE-FIGHTING

SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS



Mechanical

Syllabus

MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES

COMBUSTION ENGINES; HOT-GAS OR COMBUSTION-PRODUCT ENGINE PLANTS

MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS

POSITIVE-DISPLACEMENT MACHINES FOR LIQUIDS

FLUID-PRESSURE ACTUATORS; HYDRAULICS OR PNEUMATICS IN GENERAL

ENGINEERING ELEMENTS OR UNITS

STORING OR DISTRIBUTING GASES OR LIQUIDS

LIGHTING

STEAM GENERATION

COMBUSTION APPARATUS; COMBUSTION PROCESSES

HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING

REFRIGERATION OR COOLING;

DRYING

FURNACES; KILNS; OVENS; RETORTS

HEAT EXCHANGE IN GENERAL

WEAPONS

AMMUNITION; BLASTING



Physics


MEASURING; TESTING

OPTICS

PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY

HOROLOGY

CONTROLLING; REGULATING

COMPUTING; CALCULATING; COUNTING

CHECKING-DEVICES

SIGNALLING

EDUCATING; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS

INFORMATION STORAGE

INSTRUMENT DETAILS

NUCLEAR PHYSICS; NUCLEAR ENGINEERING



Performing Operations

Syllabus

PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL

CRUSHING, PULVERISING, OR DISINTEGRATING

SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS

CENTRIFUGAL APPARATUS

SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL

GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS IN GENERAL

SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING

CLEANING

DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE; RECLAMATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL

MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL

CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY

MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FO

GRINDING; POLISHING

HAND TOOLS; PORTABLE POWERDRIVEN TOOLS

HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING

WORKING OR PRESERVING WOOD OR SIMILAR MATERIAL

WORKING CEMENT, CLAY, OR STONE

WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL

PRESSES

MAKING PAPER ARTICLES; WORKING PAPER

LAYERED PRODUCTS

PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS

BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER

WRITING OR DRAWING IMPLEMENTS; BUREAU ACCESSORIES

DECORATIVE ARTS

VEHICLES IN GENERAL

RAILWAYS

LAND VEHICLES FOR TRAVELLING OTHERWISE THAN ON RAILS

SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT

AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; COSMONAUTICS

CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL

HOISTING; LIFTING; HAULING

OPENING OR CLOSING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING

SADDLERY; UPHOLSTERY

MICRO-STRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY

NANO-TECHNOLOGY


Textiles

Syllabus

NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING

YARNS; MECHANICAL FINISHING OF YARNS OR ROPES; WARPING OR BEAMING

WEAVING

BRAIDING; LACE-MAKING; KNITTING; TRIMMINGS; NON-WOVEN FABRICS

SEWING; EMBROIDERING; TUFTING

TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

ROPES; CABLES OTHER THAN ELECTRIC

PAPER-MAKING; PRODUCTION OF CELLULOSE
...............
...............
Please download the field you wanna work in the respective rar file. Unrar it, and go through it. It will definitely give you some kind of help to identify problems/products.

You can also take the help of Mr Amit Shukla our legal consultant in this context. His id is: amitshk.in@gmail.com, 92360013700. He will be available from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. You can freely talk to him anytime.

But frankly speaking, these pages have not been referred for any of the ideas brought by students.


2. What could be an idea?
Ans: An idea could be a:
1. Process
2. Product
3. Design
4. Case study/srvey
5. A system or a part of it
6. Algorithm/approach/methodology
7. Application of an existing technology or modifying an existing application

Novelty is not a constraint. If anything is done in India or even IITK for the first time or even the hundredth time with a slight improvement is an idea. Even Edison failed thousands of times in his life.


3. How to present it?
Ans: When you come to any brain storming session, please do following things:
1. Identify any problem/product/process/application/utility/algorithm/methodology
2. Write the specifics of the problem you are facing
3. How do you think it can be cracked/solved?
5. Find out the positive and negative aspects of your analysis.

It is to remind that you are not the only person who is gonna solve the problem. Even if you are able to identify a problem, you have done with 30% of an idea. Rest of the 70% can be done by others. Even you can take help of others in understanding the problem better.

4. The homework needed before and after presenting the idea?
Ans: The homework before the session has been mentioned above.

After the session, make a report (as a team-effort, by 28th of Oct) as per this format:
Title
Key Words(max 15 words)
Abstract (max 100 words)
Problem Definition(200 words max)
Why this problem is valuable to solve: Economic Perspective (market, social impact, others), Technological perspective (the betterment in technology)
Current status
Prior solution attempts(max 200 words)
Your suggestions(max 200 words)
Solution
Potential applications of the solution
How will you achieve that solution: different work-modules/work-packages possible, roadmap of the work (including duration of each work-modules/work-packages), no of people required, applied skills, resources required
Potential associates: people and organizations with their addres
References
Your contact details


5. Am I going to take up a new idea and give up the others which I have been working so far? Or is it going to add a new burden to me?
Ans: You are identifying and developing an idea. In a very generic term, an idea can be divided in 4 stakes:
1. Problem identification- 30%
2. Solution- 30%
3. Sponsorship-30%
4. Organization which integrates all three- 10%

So, even if you have identified the problem, you can leave it at that stage. Our IPR policies have such positions to safeguard your idea. The idea can be carried forward by other people.

So, it is not going to add a new burden to you. Basically, you can identify at least one dozen problems every year but you can work on only 2 or 3. It doesn't mean that you should give up identifying problems. Anyhow, you are going to get incentives of you effort. So, why to give up making efforts.


6. Is my idea good enough to be presented? or Am I capable of presenting/developing a good idea?
Ans: There is nothing called a good idea or a bad idea. Firms like Microsoft has refused google, now google is a giant in itself. Similarly Xerox Corp. thought that software is not a big deal, but we know that what is the value of a software.

Similarly never feel demotivated or disgraced. You have the will power to withstand your idea and show the world that you are right. There comes your identity as a Human.

Best wishes
Team PoWER

Thursday, September 3, 2009

CRUX-1: Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is CRUX?
A. CRUX is the part of the problem which is the most important part of the idea/process/ algorithm/ device or any endeavor. Solving CRUX solves the problem or makes the difference you wanted to bring. It can be anything; it can be easy or the most difficult part of the whole idea.

Example:

IDEA: ABC is designing a fake-note detecting device. This device detects the genuinity of a note through scanning (and image-processing after it). It requires a good quality image of note being scanned. Scanned image is processed by a computer and if it detects the note be fake, it rejects it.

CRUX of this IDEA: Automatic scanning of each single note from a bundle of notes with appropriate speed and accuracy.

Q. How can I come up with ideas?
A. Every day we came across many things, many unnoticed problems like finding our cycle parked in academic area during 1st session. Can you devise an intelligent parking system?

There are many problems you came across daily while moving, sitting, playing, reading newspapers, magazines & also while discussing with your friends.

Dream! Imagine! Think! Explore! Network! Develop and Innovate!! You are a visionary now!!

Q. What kind of ideas I can give?

A. You can work on anything from as obvious as devising a switching off system for gas turner when there is a leakage to work on the depths of string theory, unfolding the mysteries of parallel universes.

Q. What is the competition CRUX-1?
A. The competition (CRUX-1) is a unique type of competition involving following steps:

Stage-1: Submission of an idea/process/algorithm/device or any endeavor and its CRUX in this format:

Title:

Idea: Maximum word limit: 150 words
CRUX: Maximum word limit 100 words
Keywords (major skills and techniques applied in defending and solving this CRUX, keywords not more than 6):
Name and contact details of the group members

Stage-2: Defense of the CRUX and propose a possible solution. One can be given at max two opportunities to defend the CRUX and propose its solution. The solution also needs to be defended.
If the group is successful, the group will be awarded

Results will be announced in Takneek.


Stage-3
: groups qualifying Stage-2 need to submit a simple proposal summarizing their approach, timeline and resources required. Then the group will be provided basic resources to solve the crux. The buffer time for submitting solution to the crux may not exceed 20% of the total time needed to solve it.

Stage-4: Defense of the solutions.

If the group succeeds, it will be awarded

Eventually the group will have will have a patent and possibly publication also.

Results will be announced in Techkriti.

Q. Who can participate?
A. Any student of IIT Kanpur can participate in this competition. Faculty, Alumni and outside agencies may participate in CRUX by sharing their expertise, but it is the student group, which need to solve the CRUX on its own.

Q. How can one participate?
A. Explore things around you; find a CRUX and mail it in the above format with subject CRUX-1 to power@iitk.ac.in.

Q. What will be the size of the group?
A. The size of a group is flexible. It can be anything, from one person to any large number (no upper bound).

Q. Why should one solve only CRUX?
A. It is the CRUX of an idea/process/ algorithm/device or any endeavor which brings the difference. It is the most interesting, challenging and probably important part which attracts one to crack it. Solving the CRUX saves you from engaging your time and resources in a lot of redundant things which may be time and resource taking. Also, only focus on solving CRUX will not require much time, so it is compatible with the academic system where there are a lot of engagements and it is difficult to maintain dedication in a problem for a long time. The best feature of solving only CRUX is that has a high probability of yielding a tangible outcome in form of patent or a research publication.

Q. What is the schedule?

Launching Announcement: Sep 3, 2009
Last date of submission of crux: Sep 15, 2009
Primary short listing of cruxes to be defended: Sep 11, 2009
Defense of CRUX and solution: Sep 7-19, 2009. Entries after Sep 15 will not be entertained for Takneek.
Result declaration of successfully defended cruxes in Takneek: Sep 20, 2009
Submission of project proposals to solve the selected cruxes along with agreement: Sep 25, 2009
Commencement of projects to solve the CRUX: Oct 15 2009
The duration for each crux depends upon the crux and is negotiable. Major work of solution is expected to take place from Oct 15 to Jan 30.
Submission of solutions: Jan 30, 2010.
Defense of solutions to crux: till Feb 12, 2010
Final announcements of successful solutions and awards in Techkriti Feb, 2010

Q. What are the prizes?
A. INR 5,000 for qualifying Stage-2.
INR 10,000-20,000 for qualifying Stage-4.


Q. What will be policy for Intellectual Property Rights?
A. The intellectual Property generated in this process will be jointly owned by the group and IITK. If any alumni or an outside agency or individual is involved in this process, then there will be separate agreements after the problem is solved, depending upon the contribution of participating agencies.

The guidelines for participation of outside agencies will be released soon. But any group can approach Alumni or Outside Agency only after Takneek and it needs to inform PoWER regarding it. PoWER will not be responsible for any uninformed outside or alumni interactions.

Q. What will be the maximum number of cruxes to be selected?
A. A total of 5 entries will be selected at Stage-2.
For more queries, please contact power@iitk.ac.in.

Also visit: http://www.iitk.ac.in/dord/power/news.php for some more details.

Best Wishes
Team PoWER

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Intensive Contact Program

Dear all,

Institute is creating a database of all students, faculty, alumni, labs, and researchers of IIT Kanpur. It will be used for:

1. Alumni Mentorship Program (will be announced soon :)
2. Profile of every individual analogous to his/her CV
3. Networking within and outside institute for projects, Council of Mentors
4. Designing policies, thrust area and research investment planning
5. Finding students for different industrial projects based on their interest

A total of 25 student volunteers will be selected for this program. All of them will be assigned a group of students, labs and faculty. They will be properly trained and informed. They have to get the people create their profiles on the website. Challenging :)

Mahatma Gandhi collected signatures of more than 3.5 lakh people in South Africa to protest British. All alone !!

Incentives:

1. Participation in Industry-Academia Meet in IIT Delhi. The travel charges will be paid by PoWER.

2. Accredition: They will be accredited for creation of this database. They will be also accredited as the founders of Alumni Mentorship Program, Innovation Database. Later this database will be created in all IITs and other universities. Some of the students may visit other universities or IITs as representatives of PoWER to help others to create this database. :)

3. Special incentives by rewarding them important responsibilities in Alumni Mentorship Program (unique of its kind to started at IITK), management team of PoWER and outreach team.

4. Information and Network within and outside institute.

5. The expertise of this program may be used for creation of a national level National Innovation Database and may be in UID Unique Identity (Team PoWER is in communication with National Team working on UID).

Last date of submission of request: September 5 (Saturday), 2009
Interviews and selection: September 6 (Sunday), 2009
Commencement of Work: September 7 (Monday), 2009


Interested students need to respond to power@iitk.ac.in latest by Saturday night.

For any query, drop a mail to power@iitk.ac.in.

Don't lose this historic opportunity.

Best wishes
Team PoWER

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Innovation Acceleration Lab

Dear All,

The name of Tinkering Lab has been changed to Innovation Acceleration Lab.

regards
Veerender

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Add wannachange.iit@gmail.com to your g-talk

Dear Friends,

Please add wannachange.iit@gmail.com to your IM account like g-talk for instant messaging. Also rename it PoWER for convenience.

best wishes
Team PoWER

Tinkering Lab

Dear Friends,

Do you ever think to play with technology? Just make some mechanical model or make some bot or make a circuit or design an algorithm, make some mathematical models? Definitely yes!

So, how can you do that?

Clubs under Science and Technology Council are meant for that.

But many-a-times, you will find these clubs confined to only few domains. Also, clubs have valuable resources that are meant for dedicated club projects. And, you also feel it to be dominated by generally 1st and 2nd year UG students. So, how can you play with technology once you are in 3rd year or a PG?

Very soon, institute is going to establish a tinkering lab. This lab will have all basic resources related to common technical hobbies, all departments and interdisciplinary like design, energy, finance, high speed computers, media technologies etc.

This lab is also expected to support different types of student competitions like Robocon, Vehicle design, Energy etc.

Please express your expectations with this laboratory.

regards
Team PoWER