HYSYS Demonstration & Workshop

One of the major centers of decision-making in a project, be it Oil & Gas or any other Chemical/Biochemical domain of engineering is the Process Design department. A major part of working in this department is frequent use of softwares that ease the work of professionals. One such is Process Simulation. A workshop for developing skills of the Master's progam students was held on October 23, 2010.

Process Simulation is used for the design, development, analysis and optimization, of technical processes. In the context of courses in UPES, these softwares are applied to chemical plants and processes. In coordinating with faculty from the College of Engineering Studies, the section had organized a workshop on one such software "HYSYS", published by AspenTech. UPES has a student license of HYSYS and the software was provided for use to students on-campus, through WLAN.

The workshop was conducted by Prof. Sanjay Dalvi, a faculty member of the College of Engineering Studies at UPES. It was a three hour session that covered all the basics of process simulation and tips to optimize the design process. Students from M. Tech Pipeline and Process Design were the main participants in this workshop.



ASME student members were asked to bring their laptops/netbooks in order to access the university's copy of HYSYS via the local network. A Q&A session was held at the end of the workshop, after which a small presentation was done to the faculty for sparing time for the ASME Student Section.

MATLAB Workshop for M. Tech Students

As an key part of technical education, UPES includes programming as a subject in each of the Bachelor's and Master's programs in the College of Engineering Studies. But with the rise in need for a more sophisticated programming interface for scientists and technically qualified engineers, the languages C and C++ turn out to be inadequate in freedom of usage. For this reason, MATLAB and SciLab (an open-source software) have been developed; in order to cater to technical calculations involving numerous floating points, irrational expressions and in the end allowing for for graphic representations (pie charts, graphs, and tables).

Dr. Parag Mantri, a faculty member from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, UPES agreed to familiarize the students with MATLAB (for matrix laboratory) in a set of two workshops held on September 21 and November 26, 2010 for M. Tech students of COES.

Student were allowed to access the software through wireless network and get to know the interface. After a brief class on matrices (which forms a basis for numerical methods), their representation, manipulation and solution, problems on various practical applications were solved. Further workshop are in the pipeline for course-specific applications and will be held in the coming semester.

Glider Fabrication Challenge [GLADIOSCOPE]

Problem statement: To fabricate a chuck glider using a single balsa sheet

Team composition: A team must consist of 2 members

Material: Will be provided at the time of the competition

Time limit: 3 hours (for fabrication)

Venue: R&D Block

Date: Friday, November 12, 2010 from 4 PM onwards

Cash prizes for:       a. Flight test (maximum horizontal distance traveled)
                               b. Innovative design and wing configuration (that works!)

For registration, please contact Deepankar (9458122082); 

Harshit (9557630079); Gayatri (7500672136)

ROBO Warriors [Battle for Glory]

Here is the result of a fruitful co-op with sophomore ASME student members: ROBO Warriors. Now for the uninitiated, this event involves a series of fight-to-death matches among participant robots (remote-controlled). There are two types of Robowars. One consists of a huge arena with all the robots thrown in and the battle doesn't end till a last standing robot is recognized. The other is a series of knockout matches between robots (one-on-one). This leads up to a final match in which the victor is determined. ROBO Warriors will consist of a battle more like the former.

Problem statement:

"Engineer a remote-controlled robot, armed with at least one weapon and 

capable of fighting in a multi-opponent arena"

Event Details:

• To be held on Friday, November 19, 2010

• Each team may consist of a maximum of 8 members

• Layout of the arena will be revealed just 24 hours before the actual battle. But the arena will be within the university campus itself

• Kits for assembly of a basic robot will be provided on request. Students are advised to improvise

• Top teams (finalists/best designs) will be sponsored by the ASME Student Section to represent the university in ROBOWARS held in ISM Dhanbad (Dec, 2010) and IIT Bombay (Jan, 2011)

Promotional downloadable poster for ROBO Warriors

For registration and kits, contact the following ASME officials:-

Manish Sharma: 9557560406; Niraj Kumar: 9557629466; 

Siddhant: 9557630314; Vibha: 9217880469

Seminar on Non-Destructive Testing

Non-Destructive testing (NDT) is a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. This time round, Dr. Ugur Guven, a specialist in various cutting edge industrial practices, will be sharing his knowledge on NDT methods and how best to improve productivity and reliability in Aerospace and Automotive industries.

Though NDT methods have a high sophistication in data gathering and interpretation, standards are imposed to allow professionals to compare notes with others in the industry. These standards, codes and practices were the main highlights of the workshop by Dr. Guven, held on 23rd November, 2010.


Techniques that were discussed in detail:

1. Magnetic Particle Testing
2. Dye Penetration Test
3. Ultrasonic Tests
4. Radiography
5. Nuclear Methods
6. Advances in Pipeline Technology (pigs)

This workshop had been arranged due to requests by many student members of the ASME Student Section in UPES. Further workshops are in the pipeline for Aerospace and Automotive students.

*

Lecture Series on Oil & Gas Laws, Economics

In a first for engineers preparing to take their first steps into the petroleum and allied industries, here is a lecture series on the laws and economics governing petroleum trade and ventures. Prof. Raj Kumar of the College of Legal Studies, UPES has agreed to give his time for the month long program. He will focus on"Legal & Contractual Framework for Upstream & Downstream Segments" during the lectures, starting on October 29, 2010.

Key Information

• Lectures to be held on October 29, November 12, 19 and 26 (last lecture) at the university auditorium
• FOUR sessions of TWO hours each, on Upstream and Downstream Case Studies
• A guest lecture, Prof. A V Rao from IOCL
• Certificates of attendance for participants
• Certificates of merit for winners of paper presentation, to be held on November 26, 2010
• Free entry for ASME student members
• Entry Fee of Rs. 100/- for non members

Promotional (downloadable) Poster

For more information, contact Ramanathan V.S., M. Tech PLE - II Yr (details available on the Contacts page). Students interested should register by October 16, 2010; this is to get a clear number of participants to arrange for certificates and dates given to guest lecturers.

The Story of Teknobotts

A few Engineering freshmen. 3 Techfests. A 5-month wait. 
A certain Spark & 1 terrific event.

After a series of interviews with the group called Spark, here is the story as we heard it:

We stumbled first:

August 2009, we decided to take part in IIT Roorkee's technical festival, COGNIZANCE’09.  After going through details of the competition,we listed out requirements for the working model. Due to unavailability of resources and incomplete information we were unable to construct the model within the given time.

February 2010, we decided to take part in IIT Bombay Techfest, ‘CROSS OVER’ and faced the same problems.  

Spark, with ASME Section officers

Later, we visited IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee for the resources and got some help from both. The students were provided with all requirements on-campus itself. Students of IIT Delhi helped us out by recommending related dealers in Delhi.

Regathering resources:


We visited Delhi thrice in the month of December 2009, investing all our time and money but returned empty handed each time. Strangely, this motivated us to work harder the next time. We bought motors once but got cheated, unaware of the types of equipment.


After a month of researching on the internet, we came to know about the proper equipments and shops. We visited Delhi again and encountered more variation in the equipments.

Our First Bot:


We started with by constructing the base of our bot with plywood. It took about one and half weeks to fix motors and tires onto the base. We then moved on to our next goal i.e. controlling. After a short R&D of two more days, we were able to move the bot to and fro, but not follow a straight line. Many improvisations later, we succeeded in moving it linearly. Working daily for a week, we purchased and connected DPDT switches to ease the controls. Finally after a seven late night efforts our bot was able to move linearly and perform a 360 degree turn.

Meanwhile, we missed out the dates of 'CROSS OVER'.

Idea for Spark:

We decided to form a community which could help spread our knowledge among other students and provide them with all technical and moral support. Planning to provide all equipment needed to the students at a reduced cost, we gradually shared our ideas with batch-mates. They replied with great enthusiasm, forcing us to catch the attention of our course coordinator, Dr. Rajeev Gupta.

Spark: Challenges and Disappointment


We tried to link our community to those in other institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, VIT, Oxford University, MIT and the alumni of our university.


To promote this community, we decided to organize an event centered on manual robots. After forwarding the proposal to the Dean of Engineering, and after three days of campaigning, got the go-ahead. We planned out the details for the event, and then approached the student chair of ASME-UPES Student Section. He provided us with all assistance like banners, posters and methods to publicize the event.

Sadly, the event had to be shelved due to circumstances beyond our control (read: exams rescheduled).

Teknobotts Return:

The Poster for Teknobotts

In the words of Niraj Kumar (B. Tech Aerospace, 2nd yr), "The community was giving way, the long break was sure to help people forget their promises.. Prateek (Kataria, B. Tech ISM) was inspirational in reigniting the spark in me, I chose to fight to succeed." TEKNOBOTTS, the Robotics Challenge was thus scheduled to take place (finally) on September 17, 2010.

The new academic year brought a problem: "whether or not to involve the freshmen as we had less time in our hand (10 days)". When we introduced TEKNOBOTTS to them, we sensed eagerness.We changed our mind to register 2-3 teams, but unexpectedly 26 teams registered within a week. We went to each and every class to deliver presentations and did our best in helping them for the next 24 hrs (D-Day). We came across some stupid questions and ideas, but there were many interesting and superb ideas too.

The last night before the event, SPARK consisting of Niraj Kumar, Anup Tripathi and Abhishek Pokharia made the track amidst heavy rain. The next day was as some say, history..

FULCRUM [The Rocket Car Challenge]

Now, a competition dedicated to the large Automotive membership of UPES, Dehradun. FULCRUM is a 'Water-Rocket' car design and racing competition. The basic problem statement is:

"Design & build a water-rocket car from a plastic bottle, whose capacity

doesn't exceed 0.75 liters. The car must travel the maximum distance

forward with wheels always in contact with the ground with some

allowance (specified in the rules)"

-Poster for the event-

The participating team may consist of 2-3 students. Entry fees for the event per team are as follows:

ASME Members (2nd yr): Rs. 30/-

ASME Members (3rd yr & abv): Free

Others: Rs. 40/-

Download the Rules & Details of FULCRUM here

Due to requests by the students for more time, the event is scheduled to be held after the mid-semester exams. We would like to know when you are sufficiently ready with your rocket cars, please let us know.

TEKNOBOTTS [The Robotics Challenge]

After the summer break, the first event in the calendar unfolds. Teknobotts, a robotics obstacle race-against-time competition at the University campus is to be held on 17th September, 2010. It is a joint effort of the Robotics Club 'SPARK' and the ASME Student Section.

-Promotional Poster for the Event-

DATE: 17th September, 2010

TIME: 4 PM

VENUE: Takshila, Nalanda.

For more details, download the poster

and visit the club's website: http://spark-teknobotts.blogspot.com

ASME India Online Campus

ASME India Online Campus was launched in 2009 for the prime purpose of bridging the gap between engineering education and the industry. ASME India has now opened this vista for education through the well known software 'Blackboard', which has facilitated many other online campus throughout the world.

As of yet, the online campus provides ASME paid members (both students and corporates) with the courses in (i) Design and (ii) Management.

For more details on these courses, the prerequisites and when you can start on them, click [here].

Student members of the ASME-UPES Student Section who had enrolled for some of these courses, completed the same in the months of June - July, 2010. The following are the names of the student who completed the courses, with full CEUs (Continuing Education Units):

• Udit Shah, Adithya Pani, Sagar Shah, Prateek Gupta - GD&T, using ASME Y14.5 (2.3 CEUs).
• V Vinayak - Introduction to Finite Element Analysis using ANSYS (2.3 CEUs)

Feel free to contact the ASME-UPES Student Section Office members for further information or reviews on the conduction of the courses, and how you can enroll for it.

TECH COMPT Week #1 : A Report

The ASME Student Section at UPES did it, and did it with panache. Week #1 of the Technical Competition, consisting of two events (that nobody took lightly, ) viz. Lakshya: Water Rocket and Paper Airplane Making, was a resounding success.

[The field, demarcated for the event]

The event, started off on the 11th of February, 2010 at 3 PM (earlier than decided), and cut short some of the participants' field tests. The first round of Lakshya, the water rocket competition, had 17 teams of which 6 qualified for the second and final round.

The problem statement for the first round was to clear a 35m mark from the launchpad and accumulate the maximum distance (cumulatively) with a bottle propelled by pressurized water and air. The first round was hard-fought and teams shunted up and down the leader-board with amazing distances. The teams were given a bonus option in the form of a target located 70m from the launchpad - any team that gets their rocket to touchdown within a radius of 3m from the target gets a direct entry into the next round. This criterion was cleared by only one team.

The six teams that qualified for the final round turned up on the 12th with certain modifications (which were allowed). This final round was held parallel to the other event, Paper airplane. While the paper airplane enthusiasts had a go with their designs ranging from conventional to outright weird, the audience cheered the presence of the Pro-Vice Chancellor, the Dean of Engineering and other faculty with a guest from the Aerospace Industry. The Paper airplane competition tested the contestants' design for the ability to stay aloft for the maximum period of time. And the record set at the event was of 9.33 seconds.

[The winners of Lakshya: Razzmatazz, revving up]

[The winner of the Paper Airplane

Competition, Sagar Ahuja, doing a celebratory jig]

The teams that bagged honours at Lakshya: Water Rocket Competition were:

Winners (I): Razzmatazz

Team members: Rahul Rathore, Dinesh Rawat, Hemant Sharma & Alok Nautiyal

First Runners Up (II): Fighters

Team members: Arka, Abhijeet, Monica, Kumar Ashish

Second Runners Up (III): Team Vinayak

Team members: Vinayak, Vakul, Prateek C, Siddharth

The 3 for the Paper Airplane Competition were:

Winner (I): Sagar Ahuja

Best time: 9.33 sec

First Runner Up (II): Tarun Gupta

Best time: 7.83 sec

Second Runner Up (III): Srikant

Best time: 6.86 sec

Intra University Technical Competition

Kicking off the New Year, the ASME Student Section of UPES is organizing it's first technical competition.

The Technical Competition includes Aerospace-related events, namely: "Lakshya" Water Rocket and Paper Airplane.

Details for LAKSHYA are available at: [WATER ROCKET.doc]

A tutorial on the technical aspects is provided [here]

The arena for Water Rocket will be as given below, in the University Football field. All zones will be marked out and participants will be briefed again about the rules and regulations before the start of the competition.

You will get a number of resources on the internet regarding how to make a water rocket, so go out into the World Wide Web and get cyber help if needed.

Details for PAPER AIRPLANE are available at: [PAPER AIRPLANE.doc]

The ASME Student Section requests all participants to give in their entries and fees amount (mentioned in the Word Document) to the concerned event organizers by 9th February, 2010.

Registration is free of charge for

all ASME members, take this opportunity

to use your privileges.

For registration, please contact:

• Udit, ASE 2nd yr - 9997029038
• Adithya, ASE 2nd yr - 9997029038
• Gagandeep, ADE 2nd yr - 9760088193

DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT IS NOT RELATED TO THE AEROSPACE DAY THAT IS BEING HELD FROM 19 to 20 FEBRUARY, THOUGH IT CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A PRACTICE SESSION FOR THOSE INTERESTED.

ASME Welcomes UPES into its Fold

"Opportunities are always difficult to recognize -

And you realize that only when you've missed one."

On 16 November 2009, a seemingly unassuming opportunity materialized out of nowhere. The student members of ASME in UPES (University of Petroleum & Energy Studies) learned that the Country Manager for ASME-India would be visiting Dehradun on a short visit. Coincidentally, the annual university fest was being held from 20 to 22 November, 2009. The student body decided to seize this opportunity and organize the formal inauguration of the university's ASME Student Section.

-The ASME Country Manager, Mr. Madhukar Sharma Addressing the gathering-

-The dignitaries and students assembled in the lecture hall-

On 22nd November 2009, along with Uurja, the annual youth festival of UPES, the Country Manager of ASME-India, Mr. Madhukar Sharma arrived at the campus along with few dignitaries from fields ranging from Petroleum to Transportation, from Gas Extraction to Pipelines.

The guests invited on 22^nd were:

Mr. Madhukar Sharma (Country Manager – ASME for India)

Mr. S Ganguly (Chief Manager – IOCL)

Mr. Ayush Gupta (Senior Manager for Training, GAIL Training Institute)

Mr. V Sankaran (Assistant Director iCAT)

Ms. Vijayanta Ahuja (Senior Project Engineer, iCAT)

-The Pro Vice Chancellor, Mr. G C Tiwari encouraging the students-

-The Proctor. Mr. Arun Dhand with the ASME Country Manager-

After the formal opening of the ASME Student Section by Mr. Madhukar Sharma, the invited guest speakers presented their topics before the student members. The topics covered were:

“Liquid Pipelines as a Mode of Transportation” by Mr. S Ganguly

“The Natural Gas Scenario in India” by Mr. Ayush Gupta

“Opportunities in Automotive Testing Sector - iCAT” by Mr. V Sankaran

An interactive Q&A session followed the lectures during which the students asked cleared their doubt in their area of interest, ranging from Petroleum to Pipelines, Automotive to Testing and Standardization.

-Mr. V Sankaran giving his lecture on Automotive Testing-

-The student ASME members posing with the dignitaries-

Thus, the inaugural AME-UPES Technical Convention concluded at 3 pm on 22^nd November with resounding success. It served as the first major event organized by the Student Section in the University. Special mention goes to the Student Section Committee who worked hard and made this event possible in the space of just 4 days.