January 31, 2010

College- How its been going on these days!!!



Hi Guys,
It’s been two weeks since college started. In this post I’ll be writing about how college is going on these days.
To begin we have 6 theory papers as usual. They are Manufacturing Technology II (MT), Numerical Methods and Statistics (NMS), Electron Devices and Microprocessors (EDM), Strength of Materials (SOM), Engineering Materials and Metallurgy (EMM) and Finally Heat and Mass Transfer (HMM).
Of these the last two papers have turned out to be the most troublesome subjects of this semester, thanks to the respective teachers.
We had just 2 or 3 classes in MT for the past two weeks. Since the staff has gone to evaluate I semester papers, I think we won’t have this period for the following week too. His classes are as usual. There will be a lot of information about industries, but most of the guys will be sleeping in his classes.
Statistics classes are going on well. It is a math oriented paper, but it is very much deviated from the ordinary math papers. It’s so easy doing sums. You need to substitute the formula, write down the given data and do the calculations using calculator, write down the answer. That’s it. All the problems can be solved in a single sheet.
Electron devices classes are also going well. We are studying the same old stuff. Semiconductors, Diodes, Forward bias, reverse bias and all those things. We have got a very good lecturer for this subject. He won’t take class for the last 10 or 15 minutes. Guys take advantage of this leniency. They will go out of the class before he enters the class and they will be roaming somewhere and will enter the class after 15, 20 minutes.
SOM classes are going well for me, but badly for other students. It’s a problematic paper dealing with stress, strain, elongation of materials. We have got the same staff who took, Fluid Mechanics last semester. The problem is that she is pushing the students to a great extent. She comes 2 or3 times a day (but, there will be only 1 SOM in time table). Since, SOM Lab experiments are very easy, she will be converting the remaining lab hours into classes. She will be giving problems after problems and students find it very difficult. The reason why I said I liked these classes was, I used to solve the problems very quickly. When I finish a problem, other guys would be struggling half the way, which means I can take rest for the remaining time. So actually 20 of the 50 minutes would be rest time for me.
EMM classes are turning out to be a nightmare for us. It has to do a lot with metals, their compositions, phases, etc. In the initial stages the staff would switch on the Over Head Projector and read out whatever is present there. For the past few days, he is taking problems on phase diagrams. He will read out a problem. For example the problem will be like this. Metal A has melting point at 800K. Metal B has melting point at 900K. At 600K, 12% metal A will be dissolved in metal B. There will be a few more points. Then he will call someone to draw the X-Y axis, followed by another guy to mark the points. 30 minutes will be passed before all these happen. I think even a 6th or 7th grade student would finish it within 10 minutes. Following this, he will call someone to draw some lines. The period will be over by then. He has given an assignment for this weekend that consists of 4 theory questions. I don’t know what is the use of writing these questions.
Finally let me move to HMT. It is one hell of a subject for students. No one is able to understand what the respective staff is trying to say. Most of the classes would deal with problems. But the problem is that she herself won’t know how to solve those problems. But in my point of view, the subject is very interesting. It deals with convection, conduction and radiation. I read some of the concepts from a book and also from net, they were mesmerizing. Also, another interesting thing guys discussed at the starting of the semester is that in the movie Vaaranam Aayiram, Surya will fail in HMT.
Generally, college is going on well these days. Since this semester turned to be a short semester things are racing. There are also interdepartmental activities in this semester like Sports and cultural events. Most of the sports events are over. Cultural events will be starting in a fortnight and the mood has been high among the students. Practice sessions are going on every evening and guys are very passionate.
Also, it’s been 18 months since we met each other and we have got into some sort of a group. Initially everyone had the feeling that our college was a stricter one and there was no room to enjoy. Now also the rules are the same, but we have created rooms to enjoy. Despite the troubles, we have great fun.
Even though some of the subjects are taking a heavy toll from us, we need to adapt with it. We can’t expect life to be smooth always, for there won’t be anything then. As people say ‘Life is not a bed of Roses’
Happy Reading!!!

January 21, 2010

Interesting Automobile Videos from YouTube

Hi Guys,

In this post, I'll be attaching some interesting videos related with automobile.
I came across these videos in YouTube last week.

Henry Ford's Assembly Line concept

How an Engine Works- A video from How Stuff Works

Ford Engine's Animation

How clutches work- A video from Howstuff works

Manufacturing of a Marine Engine at Caterpillar

Happy Viewing!!!

January 17, 2010

Holiday Activities V

Hi Guys,



I’ll continue my holiday activities in this post.

Pongal
14-1-10 (Thursday) was Pongal. It was festive time here. I accompanied mom to the market to buy vegetables the previous day. It was very busy and the mood was great there. Pongal is the festival celebrated to mark the harvest season. People thank the Sun God for the good harvest. Mom kept Pongal in the morning. There was a good lunch in the afternoon.

Green Get Together

In the afternoon, I went to my old school. A Get Together was organized by the alumni association. It was very nice to see my old friends. The main theme of the get-together was ‘Go Green’. There was a short football match (a 20 minute match), mobile photography contest and a 10 minute drawing contest. The prizes were plant saplings in accordance with the theme. We won the football match and hence each one of us got a sapling (It was very difficult carrying it to home. The pot was very heavy). Some old staff members came for the function. A volunteer from each of the batches told about their sweet memories in the school. The function ended well y 5.30 pm. We had some refreshments after the function. Then I was chatting with my friends for a long time. I came back home by 7 pm.

Mattu Pongal
15-1-10 (Friday) was Mattu Pongal. It is celebrated to thank the cattle for their help in the farm. The day went without much of activity. The day also marked the longest solar eclipse in the recent times. It nearly existed for 4 hours. I watched the movie ‘Santosh Subramaniyam” in television that evening. I think it is the 4th time I watched this film.

Naanayam- A movie with big twists
On 16-1-10 (Saturday) I went to the movie ‘Naanayam’ in a nearby theatre. The theater consists of 2 screens and Avatar was running in the other screen. A large crowd was there for Avatar, particularly there were lots of children. There was some good crowd for Naanayam too.

The movie was nice. It was a Tamil movie with a bit of Hollywood flavor at many places. The hero Prasanna designs a fool proof locker for Trust Bank, Chennai. Due to that it is advertised as the world’s safest bank. Sibiraj blackmails Prasanna and forces him to help rob the bank. Having no other go, Prasanna takes the blueprint of the design and engages himself in danger. The movie is full of twists and turns. Background score and Cinematography are its biggest plus while songs are its minus.

With this I finish off my Holiday activities post. Tomorrow, my classes begin. I’ll soon come up with other interesting posts.

Happy Reading!