AZeotropy 2014:The-annual fest of IIT Mumbai

Manish Ratna for Aapka Times:

The journey of AZeotropy, India’s largest Chemical Engineering-oriented festival organized by Chemical Engineering Association (ChEA) of IIT Bombay, started in 2007. What began as an idea with just three to four events in 2007 and now when we look at it with a plethora of not only intriguing competitions and events, but also a wide variety of lectures by eminent personalities, panel discussions on critical issues and exciting on-the-spot quizzes, informal events etc. Time passed by and we sailed smooth through “Opt for Optimization”, “We mean Green”, “Safer practices for Safer Returns”, “R3- Reuse Recycle Refine” , “Inspire Innovate Evolve” and now “ ChemPowering Rural Development” which aimed at development and implementation of ideas based on knowledge of Chemical Engineering in rural scenario.

Being a common platform for industry and academia, this year AZeotropy saw lectures from eminent personalities including Prof MM Sharma (Received Padma Bhushan in 1987 and Padma Vibhushan in 2001) and Dr. BC Jain (4 Graduate Degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Prof Sharma spoke on gradual development in field of Chemical Engineering and Process Technologies over past 100 years. Emergence of polymer technology, membrane separation, efficient rubber extraction and manufacturing were topics of major discussion. On the other hand Dr. BC Jain focused need of hour to develop biogas as major source of energy. Being the CEO of Ankur Scientific, he discussed the control process involved in his organization and how biofuels can be used in different daily life applications.

Delegates such as Ms. Shalaka Kamat (GM, Consumer Marketing, Tata Chemicals Ltd.), Mr. Pradeep Lokhande (Initiated “Rural Relations”, a rural consumer relations Organization), and Dr. Anand Karandikar (CEO Metric Consultancy) were the panelists with Prof Moharir, IIT Bombay as moderator at the Panel Discussion which focused on “Rural Marketing”.Other events included workshops of various simulation softwares such as ASPEN, FLUENT, ASCEND, LATEX and COMSOL which saw participation of over 1000 students.

This year Competitions at AZeotropy saw a large increase in participation. With about 10 competitions held including Quizzes, Model making, Case study, Industrial Design problems, the overall participation was about 2000. The Chemical Engineering National Quiz, Chem-O-Philia Eliminations were held at 12 centers including Surat, Pune, Chennai, Ranchi, Bhopal and Mumbai. The finals were held at AZeotropy. Rusraille, a case study competition aimed at solutions for the rural India, saw a participation of about 100 teams out of which 15 were shortlisted for the final presentation round. Chem-E-Car saw a participation of close to 300 students and was the mostpopular event during the symposium.The AZeo-Trophy was won by IIT Bombay, followed by UDCT Mumbai at the Second place.

The execution of event couldn’t have been possible without the help of sponsors including Reliance Industries Ltd and ONGC as Title and Associate Sponsors. Others include Fenix Process Technologies Private Ltd., Tata Chemicals, Monarch Catalyst, Ion Exchange Ltd., and Graphite India Ltd. as the competitions partner. The industrial visit to the winners of online quiz was organized in coordination with BASF India.

 

(Manish is UG Student in Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay)

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