KCT Spacefaring Engineering Aspirants of iQube build a Pico-sized satellite

5 engineering aspirants of Kumaraguru College of Technology are all set to explore the space through their innovation – i5-SAT. The team incubated together to create a pico-sized satellite at iQube, the innovation lab of Kumaraguru Institutions. The five-member team includes two final year students, Sabarish M of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering and Midhun B of Aeronautical engineering along with Vignesh R and Ashwin Balaji AR of III year Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Mugunthan of III year Mechatronics Engineering.  

The plan evolved on the New Year Eve when the 5 technocrats were engaged in deep brainstorming to build something interesting and innovative. The discussion narrowed down to monitoring the air quality to curb pollution. Then came the Eureka moment when one of the team members proposed to implement the monitoring system on a satellite which must be compact and lightweight.  

The pico-sized satellite is a relatively light-weight satellite weighing less than 180 gm and is powered by Lithium polymer battery. Built by the 5-member team after 5 hours of ideation, the satellite with a lifespan of 5 days carries 5 payloads and gauges 5 parameters namely temperature, pressure, altitude, air quality index and video capture and streaming. Hence, it is rightly named i5-SAT. Network protocol has been used to send data to the ground station which facilitates access to data via SMS or through the Customized app. Mr. Nirosh Kumar, the Project Lead of iQube mentored the student-team in domains of Mechanical Design, Embedded Hardware, and software solutions. Now these budding innovators are all set to participate in the ISRO student SAT program. 

Department Events

Awareness Session on NPTEL (IIGT & IISc) Courses 

The Department of Mechatronics Engineering, KCT, jointly with KCT-NPTEL Local Chapter organized a webinar on “Awareness session on NPTEL (IIGT & IISc) courses” on 09 Jan 2021.  Mr. R.Raffik, Assistant Professor, Mechatronics Engineering, KCT and Single Point of Contact (SPOC) of KCT-NPTEL local chapter explained the concepts of NPTEL to the participants.  The webinar gave good insights about SWAYAM platform, which provides self-learning courses for higher education in India.  Various opportunities provided by National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning platform were discussed along with the statistics on the impact and structure of NPTEL.  A clear-cut idea about the NPTEL – Domain certification process was also provided to the participants during the webinar.  There was also a debrief on the soft skill training and online interactive sessions for the toppers provided by the IITs and IISc.  NPTEL benefits for faculty members with AICTE approved FDPs, Mentor certification and the course certification process were also highlighted during the session.  On the whole, the session served to be an eye-opener to the participants and motivated them to take up NPTEL courses.  

Research Forum on EBSCO Online Training 

A Research Forum on EBSCO Online Training was conducted via MS Teams by KCT Business School on 08 Jan 2021.  Mr.Nanda Lal T.S, Senior Training Manager, EBSCO Information Services, explained the usage of EBSCO research database, services and publishing partner platforms such as IEEE Xplore Digital Library to the participants.  The session aimed to promote research activities among the participants. 

Workshop on Practical Data Science using Tableau 

A One-Week Hands-on Online Workshop on Practical Data Science using Tableau was conducted by KCT Business School from 04 to 10 Jan 2021.  Mr.Dhinesh Kumar S K, Project Lead, Lantrasoft Private Limited, Coimbatore, deliberated the online sessions with valuable information.  The workshop concentrated on various topics like Brand Building, Revenue Generation and Compliance to Regulatory Bodies.  The participants felt that the workshop provided them a real-time exposure to the topics. 

Invited Talk on Research Paper Publication 

The Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, KCT, organised an online invited talk on Research Paper Publication on 11 Jan 2021 via MS Teams.  Ms.Lokitha, Member, Electric Vehicle System, Re’, KCT, shared her thoughts and various procedures that are to be followed for a successful research publication.  The speaker started the session highlighting the history of scientific writing and gave the inputs regarding how to start the process for research paper publication.  Topics like significance of maintaining a good writing flow and plagiarism check were also covered during the session.  The speaker also explained about the various stages of publication processes involved for research paper publication.  The session was found to be very informative by the participants.  There were 30+ participants for the session. 

Placement – Mock Interview 

The Department of Information Technology, KCT, conducted Placement – Mock Interview to the final year students of the department on 06 Jan 2021 via MS Teams.  Ms. Smruthi V, KCT Alumnus and PGDM Student, PSGIM, Coimbatore and Mr. Prince Jayaseelan C, KCT Alumnus and Full Stack Developer, Valuelabs Software Solutions, Hyderabad, conducted the mock interview to the students.  The session provided a valuable experience for the participants to successfully participate in virtual interviews. 

Space Magazine

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Club Events 

Webinar on RF Talk Basics for SDR 

A webinar on RF Talk Basics for SDR was conducted by the HAM Club of KCT on 11 Jan 2021 via Google Meet.  The main objective of the webinar was to equip the participants with the knowledge about the basics of SDR and its future scope.  Mr.Sai Shiva B M, III year, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, KCT, explained the concepts of SDR to the participants.  The evolution of various types of antennas was explained during the session.  Implementation of SDR and the working mechanism of GNU Radio were detailed during the session.  The speaker also shared his views about the GNU Radio Conference and emphasized on the scope and ability of SDR during the webinar session.  The session was found to be very useful and informative by the participants. 

Connect Your Vision 

NCC Army Wing (Girls) of KCT conducted an online event titled “Connect Your Vision” in commemoration of Indian Army Day on 17 Jan 2021 via MS Teams.  The participants were asked to narrate a story virtually by observing and connecting the pictures given to them on the spot.  Dr.Sreejana S, Assistant Professor, Department of English, School of Foundational Sciences, KCT, was the Chief Guest for the event.  The event aimed to improve the thinking ability of the participants.  The registered participants were divided into small groups of four or five members and each team was given a series of pictures with a time limit of 60 seconds.  Then, each team was given 6 minutes time to frame a story related to the picture and each member of the team was asked to narrate the story without losing the continuity.  The participants found the event to be fun-filled and enjoyed the entire event.