Information Systems Association

Posted on February 18, 2012 by AEP

The C6 Assoc Coordinator Abhishek Jhanwar beamed with happiness as he spoke to us about his Assoc’s work this Apogee. Well, at least he would have beamed, had not the conversation happened over phone. AEP caught up with Abhishek right when he was hurrying to the pitching of some of his Assoc’s projects. And we got just about all the information he was at liberty to give us.

The Assoc has a cap of 30 projects this Apogee and 16 projects have already been selected for the final round. To add to the already many feathers present in the Assoc’s cap thanks to this remarkable result, 7 projects are in the pitching stage, all of which have great chances of making it.

One of the projects that caught our eye, and well, made us linger on that very topic for nearly the rest of the conversation, was “Verbalizor”. This is an application to enable people who are unable to speak to converse over the internet. The application processes a live video of the person communicating through the medium of sign language and converts these signs into words and voice. On the receivers’ end, these words in either simple text or voice are converted back into sign language if need be.  This system automatically recognises gestures of sign language from a video stream using image processing techniques.

Other projects include a weather prediction system, which intends to accurately predict all weather conditions of a place based on previous history of the place, date and time. Another project that is heavily under wraps, too heavy to even sneak a peak into, is titled “My Desktop”.

Apart from the plethora of projects, the Assoc is also conducting eight events this Apogee. The pick of the lot is definitely “3D Treasure Hunt”, an online twist to the crowd favourite game. With 3D visuals and all navigation happening online, this event is meant to cater to the sizeable and constantly growing tech savvy crowd on campus.

Considering the number of projects and events that ISA is handling, it is no doubt that the members have their hands full. As the president puts it, the core team of 25 members is busy around the clock, getting things done as per schedule. And it does seem like progress is happening at a smooth rate for four out of the sixteen selected projects have already been completed.

Abhishek is hoping that hard work of his team is rewarded this Apogee, and we sign off sharing the same sentiment as well.

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Civil Engineering Association

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

If Nishant Sangal and his team have their way, residents of our very own Jhunjhunu district are in for a radical transformation in the health-care sector.

One of the most interesting projects that the Civil Engineers’ Association has come up with this Apogee, this one focuses on using back-breaking CDC stuff to help mend other injured limbs and the like.  The project proposes to survey the existing medical centres in Jhunjhunu and their connectivity to villages, and come up with recommendations to improve its state. These will incorporate the existing shortest paths from a village to its nearest hospital, and proposals to set up more such facilities and roads so as to cover the whole district and provide 30-minute accessibility to a medical facility.

Another project that caught our eye aims to develop a congestion free transportation system based on mathematical models. Ashutosh Paraha’s team have been working on on-road test runs based on traffic data from Delhi and Jaipur. In light of the hectic 6 hour bus journeys that most BITSians experience while going home, such projects sound mighty pleasing in their scope. To quote the omnipresent sweatshirt: WA2 civilization, guys.

Many hard-core discipline specific projects have also been finalized under the CEA’s banner this time; Viraj Voditel’s effort to design intelligent constituent structures like a truss that can detect force and vary its mass accordingly being one of the stand-outs.

Pranav Srinivas, Coordinator of the CEA is mighty pleased as a result. “The quality of Apogee projects and events aren’t usually up to standards, and hence it often pales in comparison to the cultural fest,” he quotes.

CEA, as he informs us, is organizing four events this time:

  • Srishti: A designing competition on CAD platforms, like AutoCAD and Google Sketchup.
  • Krazy Bridge: A test of resourcefulness and practical knowledge. Participants have to build a bridge using the given scrap.
  • IstructE: An online quizzing event based on general knowledge as well as A2-specific stuff.
  • Grid Lock: Being introduced for the first time, a high tech mouse-to-cheese route finding competition.

The EPC wishes them good luck in their endeavours, for Apogee as well as the next recruitment season.

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Chemical Engineering Association

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

Very often, members of a discipline assoc are not seen looking forward to events after APOGEE but Apoorv Tandon, co-ordinator of the Chemical Engineering Assoc, is an exception. In his words, this APOGEE will be used as a stepping stone for the nationwide SCHEMCON to be conducted in Pilani later this year. But that has not stopped the Chemical Engineering Association from hosting a number of interesting events this APOGEE.

Previously seen events being conducted by the assoc are Resource Optimisation and ChemPro, along with the shiny new addition of Chemica. Resource Optimisation, an event having on the spot registration, requiring participants to build a chemical plant that utilizes the given resources to the maximum. In ChemPro, participants will be given a sample of sewage water and they would be required to remove the impurities from it, as efficiently as possible. Having received registrations from various IITs, Chemica is perhaps the most attractive event. Participants have to build a car in such a way that it works entirely on chemical reactions, like on exothermic reactions for an example.

The assoc has also received a number of interesting projects that caught our attention. One involved removal of heavy ions from aqueous solutions using fly ash as a low cost sorbent. Another one was about generation of X-rays without using electricity. One more project that may please a significant number of people should it be successful involved the production of Ethanol from municipal sewage (as a fuel and solvent, not what you’re thinking!)

When asked about the effect that the construction work going on in Pilani would have on the functioning on the Assoc and on APOGEE in general, Apoorv said that while the Assoc would function as effectively as it previously has, the stalls that are set up bang in the middle of C-Lawns might be affected to a certain extent, although not so much that the success of the fest might be hindered.  In conclusion, it was clear for all to see that Apoorv Tandon was planning some big things for the SCHEMCON that is soon to hit the chimerical shores of Pilani and also ensure that while doing so, APOGEE does not feel left out. We wish him and the Assoc the very best of luck for their future endeavours.

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Computer Science Association

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

Bhargav Golla Apogee Coordinator, CSA

The Computer Science Association (CSA), with around fifty members, hosts a number of guest lectures, quizzes and coding contests throughout the year, and is noted for its highly innovative projects during APOGEE. Wondering what they were panning for this APOGEE, we, at the EPC, caught up the Apogee Co-ordinator, Bhargav Golla. Here’s a bit of what transpired…

Could you give us a brief overview of the events you’re planning this APOGEE?

We have nine events this time, out of which two are pre-apogee, online events.  One is Qrious, an online riddle cum quizzing event, and the other is C.O.D.E.R.  Among the events taking place during APOGEE, there are Codestorm, Smash the Bug (A Java debugging contest), Mindsweeper- a tougher model of Minesweeper, and Cyberfiesta (a software designing competition). In addition to these, there is Hackathon, an on-campus event in which participants may code in various languages to implement an innovative idea based on a given problem statement.

How many projects do you have this time?

We had sixty abstracts, out of which one and twenty have been selected, and twenty are in the pitching process. There are a lot of eye-catching projects this year.

What about projects by first year students?

There aren’t many. A few of them proposed ideas but most of them got eliminated during the selection process. First years generally don’t do it by themselves as they lack the technical knowledge required.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

People don’t appreciate APOGEE as much as they should. I think they should participate more actively. And this year’s will probably be better than the previous ones.

Some Projects to look out for:

Of the numerous projects, two seem very promising.

One of them, Kinectik, allows the user to reconstruct indoor 3D surfaces in real-time, with real life textures. It tracks the user’s head, the direction of gaze and the skeleton and apparently, can be used to project a shirt of the proper size on the user!

Another involves genetic modeling using Markov chains and is a mathematical model of the random walk methodology adopted by Genetic Algorithms (GA). This may help generate statistically meaningful data regarding the behavior of apparently random events.

CSA sure looks like it has a lot on its plate! Let’s wish them luck because they might just need it.

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ACM

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

Apogee English press caught up with Association of Computer Machinery coordinator Shashank Jain late one evening after a hectic day of haggling with IPC officials regarding the logistics of an event.

ACM have 4 events in the pipeline this Apogee. The International Coding League is a computer programming competition among the universities of the world. It consists of three levels; with the participant choosing whichever he feels pertains to his level of coding skills. Ignite Pilani is an internationally reputed event conducted in association with Samsung in over 100 cities worldwide. During this event, presenters share their personal and professional passions, using 20 slides that auto advance every 15 seconds for a total of 5 minutes. Internet Whirlwind is a simple test of your surfing skills, without the requirement of any technical abilities. The same holds for Checkmate, a puzzle solving event. ACM also provide technical support for Stock Market Simulation, a kernel event organised by EFA.

With an upper limit of 10, 6 projects have already been finalised under the Application Development category. A project on parallel computing using PS3 aims to divide processes between two processors, thus reducing the execution time of a process, as no processor remains idle for a period of time. Another on ‘Future career planning’ is an automation based on surveys and analysis from a pre assigned database.

Being a computer based association on similar lines to CSA and ISA, one would suggest that ACM might struggle to carve out a niche for itself. However their co-ordinator points out that while the other two are more focussed on the coding aspect of computers, ACM through its events tries to test the mental ability and promptness of the students. We at AEP wish them luck for their future endeavours.

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Moneyball

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

Preparations for Apogee are going on at a hectic pace, and after repeated scheduling and rescheduling, Apogee English Press caught up with Economics and Finance Association Coordinator Shashank Jain to discuss EFA’s preparations for the technical fest.

EFA has lined up 5 events this Apogee, with Stock Market Simulation (SMS) as their marquee event. SMS is a kernel event organised jointly with Association of Computer Machinery. It is an online simulation trading game where you create and manage your own portfolio and compete with players in a risk free environment. Based on the Nifty Index, 50 shortlisted teams will go head to head in the quest to generate the maximum profit.

Ages of Economics is an event based on the IPL bidding platform, where participants bid for 15 hypothetical companies and make decisions as the index moves, again the motive being the generation of maximum value. Forex is an exciting Foreign Exchange event where participants have a fixed opening balance and they trade currencies for three hours on campus. Rounding up the set of events is Numero Uno, a case study analysis competition with an interactive twist. In addition, a Financial Modelling workshop is being scheduled, in association with Pristine International and Inforay Consultancy.

We asked him to talk about the various projects under EFA and learn that out of 45 projects, 16 have made the cut for the finals. Some of the most impressive projects he talked about were the ones on the India-China Economy analysis and software development for automated trading. A Bankruptcy Prediction project is also one to watch out for. Summing up, he expressed pleasure at the renewed increase in the inclination of students on campus to take up Economics related projects, with EFA more or less playing second fiddle to the bigger technical associations in the years gone by.

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All things mathematical – Mathematics Association

Posted on February 16, 2012 by AEP

Maths Assoc - All 'Suited-up" for APOGEE

The Mathematics Association has three events scheduled for Apogee this year.

The first is an old favourite, ‘Fast and the Curious’, where participants have to answer questions as quickly as possible within a stipulated time limit. While the event is typically held as an hour long test with a predefined number of questions, the organisers have decided to change the format slightly for this iteration of the event. The plan is to hold it as more of a rapid fire quiz, with shorter time limits and less complicated questions. It shall, however, still remain a solo event.

The Assoc’s other two events are premiering this Apogee and the organisers hope to get good audience participation for both.

The first of these is called ‘Relay Mathematics’. This is planned as a rather interestingly structured quiz involving teams of three. In every round, each team is to be given three questions, one for each member of the team. The answer to the first question is used in the second, and that of the second is used in the third. The event, therefore, requires each member to be infallible. A single broken link would result in the team being eliminated.

The final event the B4 Association is organising is titled ‘Problem Bazaar’. This is to be held in the IPC. Participants will start off with a certain number of points and will gain more points for every correct answer. They can then use these to buy more questions. The process continues till the contestant chooses to exit. Of course, he with the highest points at the end wins.

B4 coordinator Anupam Pandey specifically told us that all the events are based on very basic mathematical concepts, most often those learnt before one sets foot in college. He urges every student to take part, stressing that everyone starts all events on an equal footing.

The other major activity of the Math Assoc over the course of the technical festival involves the various projects the association is associated with. These deal with a diverse set of topics from game theory and graph theory to interactive sets, classes and set theory.

Of the ten projects submitted by the Assoc, seven are in the category of Mathematical Modelling and Simulation, whose results have not been announced thus far. We spoke with the project leads of a couple of those awaiting approval.

Sartaj Singh Manhas tells us about his ambitious bid to apply search theory to real life situations by applying it to situations where a person or group goes missing. In the event of such an occurrence, say a natural disaster like an avalanche, multiple variables such as the time of last known contact and the speed of the snow are computed. This information is then used to evaluate the probability of finding the group in various regions. Based on this information, search parties can conduct their searches in a more organised manner. Sartaj describes how this idea was first developed during World War II, but has since been neglected. He hopes to develop it further via this project.

Another useful project, headed by Anupam, uses game theory to control traffic. It analyses the multiple paths between a source and a destination and computes the traffic in such a way that it takes the same amount of time to make the journey regardless of the path chosen. This is done by relegating more traffic to the shorter path, ensuring that vehicles taking a longer route have a freer flow. The calculation is done in such a way that both paths take the same time to traverse. In a place like India, an idea such as this is sure to find many takers.

We also speak to Abhinav, who proposes to use graph theory in object oriented programming for complex business models. His project seeks to identify controller classes, detect design patterns graphically and modify this information, while simplifying these processes exponentially.  It does this by modelling classes and relationships into a graph, and using this graph to help the company serve its purposes.

Finally, Sriram describes the project his team is doing on scale free networks, which have some nodes that have numerous connections and others with fewer connections. Their project proposes an algorithm to protect all such crucial networks after analysing which networks need a secondary layer of protection.

We wish the Association all the best for its various events and projects.

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Chemistry association

Posted on February 15, 2012 by AEP

At the end of our boards in the 12th grade most of us would have been glad and relieved that we have hopefully seen the end of chemistry for the rest of our lives. Though that’s the prevalent attitude on campus too, courtesy the terrible chemistry course you’re asked to undertake in your very first semester, there are still a small sect of people enthusiastic about chemistry, who year after year come up with interesting events and projects for our annual technical fest Apogee.

To get more insight into their activities for this year’s Apogee we caught up with Siddhant Jain, the co-ordinator of Chemistry Association for Apogee 2012. He described with enthusiasm about the various events and projects that are taking shape this semester.

Chemistry Association will conduct 4 events during Apogee and a few pre-apogee events as well. ‘Who Dunnit?’ being a traditional event, requires the participants to solve a murder mystery using the various clues given. These clues will mainly be related to forensics like finger-prints and DNA analysis. They also present a new event this apogee called ‘Chemitect’ which requires basic Engineering graphics skills and logic, the objective being the construction of 3D models of chemical compounds. Also the sole lab event of Apogee, the Lab quiz, is conducted by chemistry association in co-operation with the physics and biology associations. And to every one of you who always wonder how a scientist writes his research paper you can get a first-hand experience with ‘Don’t tell me why’ where you need to write a thesis which needs to be a scientific spoof.

Projects form the core of a disciplinary association’s contribution to Apogee every year. This Apogee through the chemistry association 5 projects will be presented.

Electrochemical Smell Sensors is a project which intends to produce lubricants from magnetic materials. It can be used in various real life scenarios like detection of gas leakage, bomb detection and so on.  Another project which is related to the above one is Magnetic Lubricants where lubricants are prepared from magnets. This would prove to be a great help in cold and remote areas.

An effort to produce eco-friendly cement by using slightly different raw materials is being done in a project called Green Cement. To ensure better long-term health a project’s objective will be to synthesise substitute for aluminium complexes in deodorants. They also plan to create alternative sources of energy by attempting to derive electricity from piezo-electric materials using the concept of anomalous behaviour of water.

As the co-ordinator wrapped up the chat he was proud to assert the fact that there is an increase in the number of volunteers as well as the number of projects this year. He also urged Bitsians to go out and attend as many events as possible especially the projects as they hold the future in research for India. Let’s hope the association’s hard work is fruitful and they have a successful apogee.

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Budding at Pace.. The Manufacturing Association

Posted on February 15, 2012 by AEP

Mftd. in BITS-PilaniJust been three years since its inception and Manufacturing Association is gearing up for APOGEE just like any other, with pre-fest workshops, events and many projects lined up in its stock. To get a better idea about whatever the Association has planned, here is a talk with its coordinator, Ayush Agarwal.

Reverse Engineering, an event that was conducted last year as well, would test anyone’s most basic knowledge about the components and techniques that are used in manufacturing. In this event, the participant has to dismantle the system given to him/her and then note down all the components that were used to make it, while also suggesting any improvements and innovations in its design or functioning.

The second event that would be organized by the Association is Ingenieur, to judge all the aspects of a mechanical engineer. After clearing a quiz, the team is given a problem statement and is asked to design a solution to it on some appropriate software. Around 8 hours are provided to the team to build their prototype in the workshop. Both of these events have on the spot registration. These both have been quite a success during last fest and they are confident enough to raise the bar still higher.

The Assoc has been active not only during APOGEE, but had also organized a workshop on Solids and an event called Minifest last semester.

The projects being worked on by the Association are based on diversifying topics, dealing with various fields rather than being restricted to manufacturing alone. Beginning with a meet in September last year, work began on these projects with everybody in the assoc pooling in ideas to be, if needed, collectively improved upon.

One of their projects is on Cell-phone based medical care, where an Android app would be developed, along with sensors that can be attached to the phone, which would analyze a person’s biomedical data and send a report to a doctor via sms or by uploading it. It would be targeted on the rural population, thus having a graphic oriented interphase.

Other projects include using the braking energy of trains by pneumatic hydraulics to generate electricity; charging mobile phones using physical energy while jogging, walking or other physical activities; Visual Aids that would buzz as soon as some obstacle is encountered by someone with impaired vision; creating personal luggage followers and automatic luggage carrier system which would use fuzzy logic to let luggage carriers reach their destination by artificial intelligence; building brainstory which would provide a visual environment for one’s brain and ideas.

Pedal powered bush cutters, adaptable headlights to avoid accidents in hilly areas, automatic lawn mower and plant watering system, automatic electricity meter reader to avoid electricity theft, interactive digital book, speed control system for vehicles, enhanced sticky-notes are some of the other projects being undertaken by the association.

With so many projects and events happening in the fest, the assoc is planning on making an entire team of people who are interested in taking part in other events being organized, thus giving an important message to everyone; Be prepared to give that nudge of a challenge to the technical part of your brains. Let the fest fever take over.

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ASME-BITS is going global..!!

Posted on February 15, 2012 by AEP

Riding high on the recent success of being adjudged the Best Student ASME Section at IIT -

Sukriti Sapra, Co-ordinator.

Roorkee among the six other existing in India, Sukriti Sapra, the Coordinator for this semester, spoke to us about what the ‘American Society of Mechanical Engineers’, a la ASME –BITS Pilani chapter, is undertaking.

There are numerous events lined up for Apogee, and later. The total prize money that it will now give away borders on a sizeable figure of 1.5 lakh rupees, bolstered by its integration with ASME-India. The major crowd puller is bound to be the Invention Inventor’s Program. This kernel ASME program is an endeavour to bridge the ever-increasing gap between education and engineering. Essentially, participating companies have put up certain problem statements and the participants whose entries sound innovative and applicable will be invited to participate in the event. The companies shall mentor those selected, concluding with the development of a real prototype.

Unadulterated innovation has always been the very essence of Apogee, and going by that spirit is the ASME-India sponsored event, Student Design Exposition, or SDE. Besides, the $1000 prize money cannot help but act as bait. As the name suggests, SDE is a platform for budding inventors and caters to a vast array of topics, thus encouraging inter –disciplinary projects. Hopeful teams must incorporate a basic engineering theme, with ingenuity of design and approach being prerequisites.

For us lesser mortals, ASME is organizing an ‘Old Guard Presentation’, which involves the creation of a video, poster or web page. It has to be connected to any branch of engineering or an upcoming technology. In a nutshell, the better your presentation, the better are your chances of bagging the prize.

‘Section Speak’, as the name suggests, is where all the various sections of ASME will get together and give accounts of their various activities and undertakings. Currently, there is assured participation from all the six Indian sections while confirmation is still being awaited from the other three international sections, namely Taiwan, Singapore and Pakistan.

As far as projects go, about 30 different ideas were submitted, out of which 20 got selected. Two of these deserve special mention- Robocon and Shell Eco.

Robocon, or Robotic Contest, is a very fascinating annual tournament, where the participants have to develop multiple robots in order to complete a set of pre-meditated

Robocon - Hong Kong..

tasks in a given time span. These tasks are based around a central theme each year.  Our indigenous Robocon team, having started work since October, is designing three bots adhering to this year’s theme “Peng On Dai Gat”. The eliminations are in March, while the finals are in August, at Hong Kong. The competition is bound to be tough, with almost 70 teams from across the country having registered already.

Unlike Robocon, which is about precision in a fixed time span, Shell Eco-Marathon is solely

What the marathon might have in store..

about efficiency. Started almost as a joke by some immensely bored scientists at a Shell Research Laboratory to see who could get the most miles out of a gallon, it has now blossomed into an international event that seeks to challenge students’ creativity and ingenuity to spring forth with prototypes to meet urban challenges.

ASME is in essence an innovation oriented society that aims to inculcate out of the box thinking abilities in its members and the general public alike, and is achieving this rather successfully and spectacularly.

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