From HOD's Desk
It is heartening to see the revival of “Airspace”, the annual magazine published by the students of Aerospace Engineering Department, after a long silence for 4 years. Much water has flown under the bridge since the last edition of Airspace in the year 2010. Therefore, the expectations out of the current issue are naturally high.
In the recent past, three new faculty members have joined the department – Prof. P.J. Guruprasad (Aircraft Structures Group), Prof. Kowsik Bodi (Aircraft Propulsion Group) and Prof. Aniruddha Sinha (Aerodynamics Group). Dr. Eberhardt Scott, who worked in high-lift aerodynamics with Product Development at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, was with us from Seattle as Visiting Professor for a semester during July-November, 2012. Dr. Scott owns an airplane and flies it as well. It was a rare opportunity for the students to learn a course on aircraft design from Dr. Scott who has practical experience of working for one of the largest global aircraft manufacturers.
There has been a steady increase in the students’ number and also in their active participation in various extracurricular activities in the department. But the most popular and significant one is the annual aviation festival, Zephyr, which has snowballed into a truly national event. The main highlight of the program is the technical lecture series consisting of spellbinding talks by eminent scientists/technologists inspiring the students to dream big. Dr. Vijay Saraswat, who formerly served as Director General of the DRDO and the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Minister of Defense, enthralled the audience in Zephyr 2013 by his talk “Future Challenges of Aerospace Research in India: a Perspective”. This year, there were three talks - “Flight Test Data of Tejas” by Shri Shyam Chetty, Director, NAL, Bangalore; “GSLV-D5 Project” by Dr K. Sivan, GSLV-D5 Project Manager; and "Inertial Sensors - Today and Tomorrow Performance in Mangalyaan Mission" by Mr. D. Sam Dayala Dev, Deputy Director, IISU ISRO.
The department is buzzing with innumerable project related activities – the most eye-catching being the mid-night visits by the students, including those from other departments, to laboratories for technology demonstrator projects such as Matsya (autonomous underwater vehicle), Shwas (underwater glider), Chaturpaksh (quadrotor MAV), Contra-Rotating Axial Flow Compressor, Autonomous Mars Rover, etc. to name a few. Most of these projects are gaining international attention. I admire the way our students are shaping themselves into fine all-rounders, taking lead roles in team work, participating in mentorship programs and representing the institute in sports and cultural activities. It is a matter of pride for the whole department that of the last five Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medals, instituted for graduating students for all-round performance during their stay at IIT Bombay, three have been awarded to our students – Mandar Kulkarni (2009), Manas Rachh (2010) and Yashovardhan Chati (2012).
It may surprise many that two very important bio-medical research activities have been initiated in the Aerospace Engineering Department- shock assisted drug delivery and cardio-vascular flow dynamics.
During the last two years, several of our UG students have attended international conferences abroad with support provided through Boeing funds. Currently, the department is placed 58 in QS World University Department-wise rankings (Aeronautical, Mechanical and Manufacturing) and at the top in the country. I am sure, students and faculty of the department will work together more cohesively to take this ranking further upward every year.