ICEM Student’s Initiative for Development in Engineering
INSIDER VOLUME I
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About IEEE & it’s benefits Pg 2-3
Wow!!! gadgetzz.. The electronics megastore Pg 10
EDITORIALS AISHWARYA VOHRA, Editorial head Being a part of the first IEEE news letter was a enthralling experience .Working for INSIDER not only increased my technical knowledge but also enabled me to pour out my thoughts and interests in words.
UJJWAL SIDDHARTH, Student branch chairman “INSIDER” was a innovation which was conceptualized in the mind of E&TC students and put to words by us. Just being a part of this translation makes me feel proud.
PRACHI JHA, STUDENT MEMBER It is a pleasure to work for INSIDER. It is a platform in which we as contributors or editors brush up our writing skills and introduce the latest in technology to fellow students, faculty and colleagues.
AVINASH ANAND, WEB TEAM Working for INSIDER has given me immense expertise in a wide array of softwares.Being a part of this translation makes me feel proud.
GUIDED BYProf. HARJIT KAUR, STAFF INCHARGE Prof. RAJU KAMBLE, STAFF INCHARGE
INDIRA IEEE STUDENT CHAPTER: www.indiraicem.ac.in
INSPIRING US THROUGHOUT...
Dr. Tarita Shankar Chairperson, Indira Group of Institutes
Chetan S. Wakalkar Group Director, Indira Groups of Institutes
Dr. R.V. Kulkarni Director, ICEM
Dr. S.S. Deo Vice Principal, ICEM
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, read I-Triple-E) is a nonprofit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence. It has more than 400,000 members in more than 160 countries.
industry technical standards) in a broad range of disciplines, including electric power and energy, biomedical technology and healthcare, information technology, information assurance, telecommunications, consumer electronics, transportation, aerospace, and nanotechnology. IEEE develops and participates in educational activities such as accreditation of electrical engineering programs in institutes of higher learning. The IEEE includes 38 technical Societies, organized around specialized technical fields, with more than 300 local organizations that hold regular meetings.
The IEEE is incorporated under the Not-forProfit Corporation Law of the state of New York in the United States. It was formed in 1963 by the merger of the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE, founded 1912) and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE, founded 1884). IEEE's Constitution defines the purposes of the organization as "scientific and educational, directed toward the advancement of the theory and practice of Electrical, Electronics, Communications and Computer Engineering, as well as Computer Science, the allied branches of engineering and the related arts and sciences." In pursuing these goals, the IEEE serves as a major publisher of scientific journals and organizer of conferences, workshops, and symposia (many of which have associated published proceedings). It is also a leading standards development organization for the development of industrial standards (having developed over 900 active
The IEEE provides learning opportunities within the engineering sciences, research, and technology. The goal of the IEEE education programs is to ensure the growth of skill and knowledge in the electricity-related technical professions and to foster individual commitment to continuing education among IEEE members, the engineering and scientific communities, and the general public. IEEE offers educational opportunities such as IEEE eLearning Library, the Education Partners Program, Standards in Education and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) IEEE also sponsors a website designed to help young people understand better what engineering means, and how an engineering career can be made part of their future. Students of age 8–18, parents, and teachers can explore the site to prepare for an engineering career, ask experts engineeringrelated questions, play interactive games, explore curriculum links, and review lesson plans.
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BENEFITS OF IEEE MEMBERSHIP I would start by saying IEEE membership is no way affordable for a student. I mean 27$ is roughly Rs.1300, that’s like a month’s expense and there is no way after paying regular fees and fines that a student is reluctant to join IEEE. SO WHY SHOULD YOU JOIN IEEE?
value of project. IEEE gives 25 papers free download monthly. 7. A chance to go abroad in case your paper gets selected for an international conference. You can get funded by the Pune section.
Well at first glance Rs.1300 is a mammoth amount but there are ways not only to recover the 1300 but also get your projects funded by IEEE. This is how:
All in all it is said that IEEE spends 71$ per student member that’s more than what you invest. So I hope you take an initiative towards upgrading yourself from the crowd. For further details you can visit this link: http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/me mbership/benefits/benefits.html.
1. One can get an e-mail id which says xyz@ieee.org, which will make your CV outshine amongst the crowd because you will show your association with a professional organization. 2. You can join the student branch of your college and be part of the corecommittee. You will not only be part of organizing events but also will get a chance to meet the top dignitaries of Industry. 3. Most of the top colleges in Pune have their IEEE student branch and hence, if you participate in their events you are entitled a discount of about 50%. 4. Mini-projects and final projects if innovative or humanitarian in nature can be funded by IEEE. IEEE funds more than 1000 student projects worldwide so there is always a golden opportunity to get your project associated by an International organization. Funds allocation as given below: • Up to Rs.10,000 for model based project • Rs.50000-Rs.75000 for final project 5. WIE (Women in Engineering) group can be formed by a minimum of six women IEEE members. Just for the inaugural activity IEEE provide 200 $ = Rs.9000, so this is a good way to recover money. 6. Also, for the final BE project one can attach an IEEE paper which adds to the
Ujjwal Siddharth (T.E. E&TC)
How to Write Technical IEEE Paper? This article gives formatting instructions to authors for preparing papers to publish in an IEEE conference. The authors must follow these instructions given for the papers to be published. Very first tip is that you divide the page into two columns and then you write all data except Title and Authors detail. You should divide the paper in (at least) five parts or sections. * Section 1: Abstract Here you should try to formulate 4 to 6 sentences which give: (a) An overview of the reason, response & background (b) Mention the main results of your investigations/analyses. This section shall give an idea to the reader if he feels concerned or not.
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Keywords: include at least 5 keywords or phrases * Section 2: Introduction This part must explain and describe in detail: (a) Again the background for your work (state of the art and why you think that your work makes sense) (b) Give an overview of the most important publications that deal with the same subject (with references). It is a very important one because it must show that you are informed about the present state - as far as the subject of your work is concerned. (c) Give an overview of the next section (just mention some sub-sections like "linear analysis", “mathematical representation�, "main results", "summary") * Section 3: (Title similar to the main title of the paper) Must include the sub-sections as mentioned in section 2. It should include applications and future scope of your ideas. * Section 4: Conclusions Similar to section 1 (may include some repetitions), but a bit more detailed. It is important to stress again the advantages and new results of your work. This section should not contain more than 10 to 20 sentences. * Section 5: References A listing of all used referenced papers according to the order they are mentioned in your text. Page numbers, headers and footers must not be used. For formatting of page like font type, font size, tables, figures, spacing refer IEEE format papers.
Atul Mhaske (T.E. E&TC)
STEVEN PAUL JOBS:-AN UNSUNG HERO "Many aim for moon, and few reach among the stars" Steven Paul Jobs was one of the fewest people who shone and will always keep shining in this horizon of modern era of computing and brilliance. Born to an unfortunate unmarried couple on 24th February 1955 and adopted by Paul Reinhold jobs and Clara jobs at birth in Californian one thought that this unfortunate will create history. But you know greatness never lies in birth, it always lies in deeds. Steven jobs proved it by his hard work and stubborn nature. He never got worried by his failures, and difficulties. Steven Jobs completed his preliminary education from California. He was not a very brightest head among academics. He frequented after-school lectures at the HewlettPackard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee. Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester, he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends' rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple. In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc. in Los Gatos, California. He travelled to India in mid-1974 to visit Neem Karoli Baba at his Kainchi Ashram with a Reed College friend (and, later, an early Apple employee), Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. He stayed in India for 4
around 7 months. He became fan Zen Buddhism religion and adopted it for his whole life. His real journey started in 1976 with the invention of apple 1 computer. In 1976, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Jobs, Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne ne founded Apple computer in the garage of Jobs’ parents in order to sell it. And after that he never looked back. Later Ronald Wayne left the apple computers.
balanced on a fingertip, has been produced by engineers at the University of Birmingham. Dr Kyle Jiang, lead investigator from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said: “We are looking at an industrial revolution happening in peoples’ pockets. “The breakthrough is an enormous step forward. “Devices which need rere charging or new batteries are a problem but in six years will be a thing of the past.” Other applications for the engine could include medical and military
And rest of the journey is in front of whole world in the form of iPads, iPods, and mcbooks. Whole ole world is found of the excellent masterpieces of this master architect. He suffered from many health problems during his long reign. He retired as apple CEO in august 2011 but remained with company as chairperson. Finally on October 5, 2011 world lost Steven teven Paul jobs. Jobs died at his California home due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell islet neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, resulting in respiratory arrest. The world lost a star. Stars fall to create a never ending black hole. ole. Death of Steve jobs has created the same black hole but we hope that the light he gave will continue lighting this world.
Ujjawal Kumar (SE IT) Girindra Mohan (SE IT)
SMALLEST ENGINE SCIENTISTS have built the smallest petrol engine, tiny enough to power a WATCH. The mini-motor, motor, which runs for two years on a single squirt of lighter fuel, is set to revolutionize world technology. It produces 700 times more energy than a conventional battery despite being less than a centimetre long not even half an inch. It could be used to operate laptops and mobile phones for months doing away with the need for recharging. The engine, minute enough to be
uses, such as running heart pacemakers or mini reconnaissance robots. At present, charging an ordinary battery to deliver one unit of energy involves volves putting 2,000 units into it. The little engine, because energy is produced locally, is far more effective. One of the main problems faced by engineers who have tried to produce micro motors in the past has been the levels of heat produced. The engines engin got so hot they burned themselves out and could not be rere used. The Birmingham team overcame this by using heat-resistant resistant materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide. Professor Graham Davies, head of the university’s engineering school, said: “We’ve brought rought together all the engineering disciplines, materials, chemical engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering. “What better place to have the second industrial revolution in nanonano technology than where the first took place, in the heart of the West Midlands.”
Akash Agarwal (SE E&TC)
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15 Things You Didn’t Know about Nanotechnology
and get past the blood-brain barrier. Research has linked such particles to lung damage; the brain may be affected too.
How it might kill us, how it might save us, and how it was used in the smallest ever marketing stunt!! 15 Surprising but true facts one ought to know:
8. But if those particles don’t kill us, they just might save us. Scientists at U.C. San Diego have designed a fluorescent nanoparticle that glows inside the body, making it easier to image tumours and organ damage.
1. Get small. A nanometre is about the width of a strand of DNA; if you design, build, or use functional systems smaller than 100 of these, you’re a nanotechnologist. 2. By that definition, we have been doing nanotech for centuries. For instance, the colours in medieval stained glass windows result from nanocrystals created in the heating and cooling of the glass.
9. Yale researchers have created plastic nanospheres that encapsulate proteins called cytokines, which stimulate the immune system’s killer T-cells. An injection of those spheres could help fight disease and infection. And in a University of Southern California lab, nanotubes have been used to create synthetic neurons. The USC team is trying to assemble these neurons into functional networks, which would bring us closer to assistive brain implants.
3. Size matters. At the nano scale, materials take on unusual properties. Their colour, transparency, and melting point often differ significantly from those of larger clumps of the same stuff.
10. In 1989, using an atomic force microscope, IBM engineer Don Eigler became the first person to move and control a single atom. Eigler and his team later used 35 xenon atoms to spell out “IBM,” thus performing the world’s smallest PR stunt.
4. Nanoscale bits of metal oxide, carbon fibre, or metal blends can detoxify hazardous waste. Their extreme solubility and chemical reactivity help them zero in on the nasty stuff. This approach is already being used at sites in a dozen states, mostly to clean groundwater fouled by solvents, metals, and petroleum.
11. Atoms? Big whoop. Researchers at Princeton and U.C. Santa Barbara can control the spin of a single electron, trapping it in a “corral” created by applying voltage to minuscule electrodes. The breakthrough could lead to powerful quantum computers that store and manipulate data in the spin of individual electrons.
5. Brighter colours! Richer flavours! Less spoilage! Those are some of the reasons why companies are dumping nanoparticles into hundreds of products, including cosmetics, sunscreens, and food. 6. Analysts say the global market for manufactured goods using nanomaterials could hit $1.6 trillion by 2013. 7. Studies show that nanoparticles can work their way into the bloodstream, penetrate cells,
12. Not to be outdone, Stanford scientists used scanning tunnelling microscopy and holograms to write information within the interference patterns formed by electron waves on a copper sheet. The letters are less than a third the size of Eigler’s “IBM.” 13. Government researchers have created arrays of chromium nanodots that can store magnetic data with unprecedented uniformity. One goal: drawing more complex integrated circuits on silicon chips. 6
14. Georgia Tech scientists made piezoelectric generators out of nanowires and attached them to tiny hamster jackets.. When the critters ran, the generators created electricity.
devices with it and controlling the flow of electricity within hin them are easier than with three-dimensional dimensional alternatives like silicon transistors.
15. Zhong Lin Wang, co-inventor inventor of the jacket, envisions a shirt that charges your cell phone as you stroll, or an implanted device for measuring blood pressure that’s powered by your own heartbeat.
The first commercial use for graphene may be as an electrical coating for LCD screens, solar cells, and touch screens. Thin, transparent, extremely conductive, and strong, it seems ideal for the job.
Harsh Gupta & Pratyush Singh (TE E&TC)
Life after Silicon—How How Graphene Could Revolutionize Electronics Will the next generation of computers, phones, and even energy storage be built on a form of carbon? Graphene,, the hottest new material in electronics, is remarkably simple: a flat sheet of pure carbon rings—just just one atom thick— thick that resembles chicken wire. Consisting of a single layer of graphite, graphene is an allotrope of carbon that has been studied for decades. It did not seem technologically important, however, until scientists began looking at potential replacements for silicon in electronics. In 2004 physicists at a the University of Manchester in England demonstrated a simple way to produce graphene—peeling peeling off layers of graphite, a method known as mechanical exfoliation—spurring spurring an explosion of research. Graphene has several very appealing traits. Electrons meet much less resistance from graphene than they do from silicon, travelling through it more than 100 times as easily. And because graphene is essentially a two-dimensional dimensional material, building smaller
Physicist Kostya Novoselov from the University of Manchester agrees that graphene’s properties give it enormous potential. “The carbon bonds are so stable that small transistors of even only a few atoms can sustain high currents,” Novoselov says. “It’s an amazing material. The biggest challenge in exploiting graphene’s jack-of-all-trades trades flexibility in computing applications is getting it to perform as a true semiconductor. While it can be considered a semiconductor like silicon, graphene lacks one crucial property—the the ability to act as a switch. Without this, a chip will draw electricity continuously, unable to turn off. If production can be improved, graphene may even revolutionize the energy industry. Solar and wind energy rgy currently suffer from inadequate storage methods. Some researchers think that graphene ultracapacitors could be the answer.
Harsh Gupta (TE E&TC)
Flexible, Foldable NFC Keyboard for Smartphones The one TOUCH foldable keyboard is able to communicate with tablets and smartphones simply by placing the device on top of it. Developed by the Norway based company on the same name, the "Touch & Type" keyboard includes a charging pad for the mobile device, is made of waterproof silicone, and folds to fit in a pocket. It is compatible with most smartphones, and requires a driver to be downloaded and installed on the device.
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MULTIFUNCTIONAL SHADES Sunglasses that can power your gadgets Don’t you hate when your iPod’s battery runs out and you’re nowhere near a computer or outlet? Well thanks to two clever designers, you may never have to worry about that problem again. Hyun-Joong Kim and KwangSeok Jeong have created the world’s first solar powered sunglasses that convert the sun's energy to power your devices. The Self-Energy Converting Sunglasses or SIG lenses are equipped with dye solar cells that collect energy from the sun. Just plug in your iPod or any small appliance to the power jack located on the back of the glasses' frames and voila, freshly charged gadget. The SIG or ‘Self-Energy Converting Sunglasses’ is the latest innovative device for powering your gadgets. The multifunctional sun glasses come with dye solar cells, used with nanotechnology, lenses that turn sun rays into electrical energy, which is good enough to power all sort of small gadgets. While a power jack at the rear of the frame connects to juice up your gadgets. This pair of glasses feature lenses made of dye solar cells that are able to collect energy throughout the day, turning them into electricity to power your myriad of portable devices including cell phones, portable media players and the ilk. According to designers Hyun-Joong Kim & Kwang-Seok Jeong, the dye solar cell used will be “cheap organic dye [used with] nanotechnology [providing] cheap but high energy efficiency.”
Tarun Parmar SE (E&TC)
OLED- Technology goes Green An OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compounds which emit light in response to an electric current. This layer of organic semiconductor material is situated between two electrodes. Generally, at least one of these electrodes is transparent. There are two main families of OLEDs: those based on small molecules and those employing polymers. Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a Light-emitting Electrochemical Cell or LEC, which has a slightly different mode of operation. OLED displays can use either passive-matrix (PMOLED) or active-matrix addressing schemes. Active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLED) require a thin-film transistor backplane to switch each individual pixel on or off, but allow for higher resolution and larger display sizes. An OLED display works without a backlight. Thus, it can display deep black levels and can be thinner and lighter than a liquid crystal display (LCD). In low ambient light conditions such as a dark room an OLED screen can achieve a higher contrast ratio than an LCD, whether the LCD uses cold cathode fluorescent lamps or LED backlight. Due to its low thermal conductivity, an OLED typically emits less light per area than an inorganic LED. OLEDs are used in television screens, computer monitors, small, portable system screens such as mobile phones and PDAs, watches, advertising, information, and indication. OLEDs are also used in large-area light-emitting elements for general illumination.
Aishwarya Vohra (SE E&TC) 8
Seagate breaks 1 terabit barrier, 60TB hard drives possible!!!! Seagate has become the first hard drive maker to achieve the milestone storage density of 1 terabit (1 trillion bits) per square inch, producing a demonstration of the technology that promises to double the storage capacity of today’s hard drives upon its introduction later this decade and give rise to 3.5-inch hard drives with an extraordinary capacity of up to 60 terabytes over the 10 years that follow. The bits within a square inch of disk space, at the new milestone, far outnumber stars in the Milky Way, which astronomers put between 200 billion and 400 billion. Seagate reached the landmark data density with heatassisted magnetic recording (HAMR), the nextgeneration recording technology. The current hard drive technology, Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR), is used to record the spectrum of digitized data – from music, photos, and video stored on home desktop and laptop PCs to business information housed in sprawling data centres – on the spinning platters inside every hard drive. “The growth of social media, search engines, cloud computing, rich media and other datahungry applications continues to stoke demand for ever greater storage capacity,” said Mark Re, senior vice president of Heads and Media Research and Development at Seagate. “Hard disk drive innovations like HAMR will be a key enabler of the development of even more data-intense applications in the future, extending the ways businesses and consumers worldwide use, manage and store digital content.” Hard drive manufacturers increase areal density and capacity by shrinking a platter’s data bits to pack more within each square inch of disk space. They also tighten the data tracks, the concentric circles on the disk’s surface that anchor the bits. The key to areal density gains is to do both without disruptions to the bits’ magnetization, a phenomenon that
can garble data. Using HAMR technology, Seagate has achieved a linear bit density of about 2 million bits per inch, once thought impossible, resulting in a data density of just over 1 trillion bits, or 1 terabit, per square inch – 55 percent higher than today’s areal density ceiling of 620 gigabits per square inch. The maximum capacity of today’s 3.5-inch hard drives is 3 terabytes (TB), at about 620 gigabits per square inch, while 2.5-inch drives top out at 750 gigabytes (GB), or roughly 500 gigabits per square inch. The first generation of HAMR drives, at just over 1 terabit per square inch, will likely more than double these capacities – to 6TB for 3.5-inch drives and 2TB for 2.5-inch models. The technology offers a scale of capacity growth never before possible, with a theoretical areal density limit ranging from 5 to 10 terabits per square inch – 30TB to 60TB for 3.5-inch drives and 10TB to 20TB for 2.5-inch drives.
Prachi Jha (SE E&TC)
Amphibious House Floats Above Floods The amphibious home from Baca Architects is able to survive flooding by becoming a free-floating platform, riding on top of the water. The home is the first of its kind to be granted building permission in the UK. It will be built upon fixed foundations on the ground, with a wet dock built to set under the home. When the dock fills with water, the house will float upon the surface, rising above the the flood. The house will also be attached to vertical posts to keep it from floating away. The house is also designed as a warning system, with decks at varying levels that would allow residents to track the rising water.
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Wow!!! Gadgetz... Violet 3D: World’s First Space Sensing Home Theatre System
To start off, the design of the Violet 3D makes it special. The nine pin design to the Violet 3D was given by Michael Folay who is a renowned industrial designer in the Indian space. The fact that it is so easy to install, one just has to screw it into a bulb socket to get started and to add to it the speakers are wireless and not connected to each other. This essentially frees you of the wire clutter that is usually associated with all the home theatre systems. Or in the words of Mr. Aggarwal who says that, “The design is so simple that even your grandma can put it into place, set it up and start playing the system”. Violet 3D eliminates the same with the help of their specially designed ‘omnidirectional’ speakers. The speakers actually are not omnidirectional but they are able to change the direction of sound based on the location of the listener. This is done with the help of their magic box, which Ashish simply calls the ‘transmitter’. The transmitter coupled with the Space Sensing Microphones, calculates the size of the room and the location of the listener thus helping to automatically adjust the settings on all the individual speakers and the direction in which the speakers should throw the sound for an optimum 3D surround sound effect for the speaker even when he is moving about in the room.
GAIA, A One Billion Pixel Camera By European Space Agency
Construction of the largest ever digital camera at one billion pixels for a space mission by the European Space Agency is now complete and it’s called the GAIA. GAIA has been created for a monstrous ambition of mapping one billion stars in our very own galaxy the Milky
Way, that too in 3D (Looks like 3D is in demand out of space as well). Now coming back to the camera; it has been created by e2v Technologies in collaboration with the ESA. Just in case you are wondering about the largest camera built on planet earth. It’s of 1.4 billion pixels and currently lies in a space observator y installed on the PS1 telescope in Maui, Hawaii, US to detect any asteroids coming our way from a fair distance. We hope you can imagine the distance by now.
Turn Sand Into Glass With 3D Printer, Solar Sinter We have seen how solar energy helps generate electricity to power houses or corporations or even charge your cell phone batteries on the street. But this one is surely more creative than the other ones mentioned above. Aptly named Solar Sinter, this solar powered 3D printer converts desert sand into glass and that too in some style. Markus Kayser, is a student who has created the Solar Sinter as a project work for his Masters Degree in Arts. Well this thing is certainly more than a piece of art and helps remind us how solar energy can be tapped for realizing multiple benefits. With this device Markus is able to melt the sand and convert it into glass of various designs and styles. Well the only problem I can see here is that you may get yourself tanned in the process or maybe even some sunburns in a worst case scenario, results worth the effort? You decide!
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Can you bend your phone? World’s first paper computer set to revolutionize smartphones!!
How cool would it be if your Smartphone was paper thin? And if you could fold it and keep it in your pocket? Well, researchers from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada have just done that. The Smartphone prototype, called PaperPhone does everything a Smartphone does. But unlike a Smartphone, it uses a thin film E-Ink display that literally bends like a plastic sheet. You can even flip the corners to turn pages and write on it with a pen. One of the best things that I like of this phone is that it fits into your pocket by taking the shape of one. (A very handy and useful feature considering the bulkiness that usual smart phones have) The researchers claim that this is the future of Smartphone industry and everything will look and feel like their PaperPhone in five years. We are not sure if that will happen, but this is definitely an interesting concept.
strings and tendons with elastic rubber bands. The action of flexing the muscle is mimics using motors to pull the strings through spindles and pulleysgiving an appearance that Leonardo himself would be quite impressed with, as against more complicated mechanisms out there that use hydraulics or pneumatic air muscles. The ECCErobot project aims at understanding human and artificial intelligence and applying it to innovations in robotics.
iPod Touch Used For Joint Replacement Surgery We have been hearing about iOS handhelds being used in education / healthcare for some time now and here is a pro usage of the same. The last time I looked up a professional app on the App Store, it was a DICOM viewer to simply show some MRI scans. But how about using the iPod touch to perform a super complex surgery? Apparently doctors at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai have implemented a new system that uses an iPod touch with a software called DASH to perform knee replacement surgeries.
ECCERobot – The Humanoid One of the striking observations about most “humanoid” robots today is how inhuman they actually are- particularly on the inside. They are filled with motors, gears and a rigid joint that leads to a unnatural, non-compliant manner of movement where the principles of motion differ greatly from the way the human body works. The ECCERobot project aims to change all that. Built with bones, joints, muscles, and tendons, the ECCErobot shows a startling similarity with the internals of human body. It mimics anthropomorphic features with rather simple mechanisms- muscles are built using
According to Dr Arun Mullaji all who demoed the technology to us, the intuitive iPod touch operation saves the need for heavy computers and more importantly the learning curve / certification required by doctors. And ask him why not the iPad, he shoots back with ‘it’s like taking a picture from the iPad camera’. Breach Candy has performed 3 successful surgeries using this technology.
Abhishek Rathi SE (E&TC)
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The Paradox of Time: Why It Can't Stop, but Must In our experience, nothing ever really ends. When we die, our bodies decay and the material in them returns to the earth and the air, allowing for the creation of new life. We live on in what comes after. But will that always be the case? Might there come a point sometime in the future when there is no “after”? Depressingly, modern physics suggests the answer is yes. Time itself could end. All activity would cease, and there would be no renewal or recovery. The end of time would be the end of endings. This grisly prospect was an unanticipated prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which provides our modern understanding of gravity. Before that theory, most physicists and philosophers thought time was a universal drumbeat, a steady rhythm that the cosmos marches to, never varying, wavering or stopping. Einstein showed that the universe is more like a big polyrhythmic jam session. Time can slow down, or stretch out, or let it rip. When we feel the force of gravity, we are feeling time’s rhythmic improvisation; falling objects are drawn to places where time passes more slowly. Time not only affects what matter does but also responds to what matter is doing, like drummers and dancers firing one another up into a rhythmic frenzy. When things get out of hand, though, time can go up in smoke like an overexcited drummer who spontaneously combusts.
How Solar Power Could Become Cheaper Than Coal Engineers are using leading-edge physics to try to make photovoltaic cells a mainstream power source. Arrays of nanowires, seen here in an electron micrograph, can be added to the surface of solar cells so they absorb more light. Everybody loves the idea of photovoltaic solar cells: endless clean electricity generated directly from sunlight. The problem lies in the messy reality of making the technology work well. For instance, says Boston College
physicist Michael J. Naughton, the cells’ two functions—capturing light and making energy—pull the optimum design for a solar panel in opposite directions. “‘Photo’ wants it thick,” Naughton says, “but ‘voltaic’ wants it thin.” So Naughton and other like-minded scientists are rethinking the fundamental elements of solar cells. They aim to rewrite the rule book and finally make solar energy cost-
competitive with coal and natural gas. The limitations of current-generation solar cells are painfully clear. Although experimental cells have reached efficiencies greater than 40 percent, most silicon-based commercial designs struggle to get past about 20 percent. The lower the efficiency, the more cells it takes to generate a given amount of electricity. That in turn makes photovoltaics bulky and expensive. As a result, the United States had just 800 megawatts of gridconnected solar photovoltaic power in 2008, and solar accounted for less than a tenth of one percent of all energy consumed in the country. Naughton is trying to boost efficiency by tackling the thick-thin dilemma. The thicker a solar cell, he explains, the more light it can capture. But when it comes to generating electricity, thin is best: Electrons must travel farther in a thick cell, so fewer reach the photovoltaic layer where they create usable electricity. Naughton’s approach is to add an array of extremely fine wires that stand up vertically on the flat plane of a solar cell, like a miniature bed of nails, to catch additional rays. Although they are just a few microns tall, the wires—made of a metal, often silver, and coated in a thin layer of photovoltaic amorphous silicon—can substantially boost efficiency. Solar cells with this construction could soak up about 10 percent more light without requiring a thicker panel. Groups at Caltech and at the University of California at Berkeley are working on similar kinds of wireenhanced cells.
Harsh Gupta & Ankit Bhisikar (TE E&TC) 12
Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN)
transmission of very high quality video images through it. Following services are provided by ISDN.
The long form of ISDN is Integrated Services Digital Networks. It is wide area network becoming widely available. Due to rapid advances in computer and communication technologies this two fields have virtually merged into each other. ISDN is the product of such a merger of these technologies. The first generation of ISDN is called narrow band ISDN and it is based on the user of 64Kbps channel as the basic unit of switching and has circuit switching orientation. The second generation of ISDN is referred to as broadband ISDN (B ISDN). It supports very high data rates typically 100Mbps. It has packet switching. Orientation. The ISDN work is based on standards defined by ITU (International telecommunication union). The ISDN is supported by wide range of voiced and non-voiced applications. It provides the range of services using a limited set of connections, and multipurpose usernetworks interface. ISDN supports a variety of applications that includes both switched and non-switched connections. As far as possible, new services are introduced into an ISDN should be arranged to be compatible with 64Kbps switched digital connections. An ISDN will contain the intelligence for providing service features, maintenance and network management functions. A layered protocol structure should be used for the specification of access to an ISDN. ISDN may be implemented in a variety of configurations. There are two types of ISDN N-ISDN, BISDN. N-ISDN has smaller bandwidth and it can support data rates up to 64 Kbps. Due to low bit rate the quality of service provided by N-ISDN is poor. That means the quality of video signals in the N-ISDN is very poor. The quality of service is improved by B-ISDN. The broad band ISDN can support higher data rates due to use of optical fibre cables. The bandwidth of optical fibre cable is very high, so the broad band ISDN can allow
1. 2. 3. 4.
Existing voice application. Data application. Facsimile (FAX). Teletext services.
Ketan Anil Arlulkar (SE E&TC)
Transparent Electronics Inventors, Jung Won Seo, Jae-Woo Park, Keong Su Lim, Ji-Hwan Yang and Sang Jung Kang, who are scientists at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, have created the world's first transparent computer chip.The chip, known as (TRRAM) or transparent resistive random access memory, is similar to existing chips known as (CMOS) or metal-oxide semiconductor memory, which we use in new electronic inventions. The difference is that TRRAM is completely clear and transparent. What is the benefit of having transparency? "It is a new milestone of transparent electronic systems," says Jung Won Seo. "By integrating TRRAM with other transparent electronic components, we can create a total see-through embedded electronic system."
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ELECTRONIC COTTON Circuits woven from conductive and semiconducting natural fibbers FEATURED FROM IEEE SPECTRUM A group of researchers in the United States, Italy and France have invented transistors made of cotton fibres. They envision such devices being woven into clothing capable of measuring pollutants, T-shirts that display information, and carpets that sense how many people are crossing them. “We want to create a seamless interface between electronics and textiles”, says Juan Hinestroza, director of the textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell university, in Ithaca, N.Y. The cellulose that makes up cotton is naturally insulating, so to make a fibre conductive, the team coated each strand with gold nanoparticles, they then added a thin layer of a conductive polymer known as PEDOT. The fibres proved to be about a thousand times as conductive as plain cotton, while their mechanical properties remained almost unchanged. They were slightly stiffer but more elastic than untreated fibres, Bongfiglio says. The team demonstrated the treated cotton’s conductivity by making a simple circuit, knotting one end to a battery and the other to an LED. To show the versatility of the process, the researchers created two types of devices: An organic electrochemical transistor and an organic field effect transistor. For the electrochemical version, conductive cotton fibres were used as source, drain and gate electrodes. To complete the transistor, the team needed to create a semiconductor. They achieved this by doping the conductive polymer with poly(styrenesulfonate), a polymer commonly used to make proton exchanges membranes in fuel cells. After a soak in the second polymer, the cotton fibre was coated with ethylene glycol to make it waterproof.
acts as the gate electrode. But the fibre is then given a thin coat of polymer film that acts as dielectric, followed by a coat of pentacene, another semiconductor polymer film. “For the moment, I think the most realistic application is in the sensor areas,” she says. For instance, firefigthers’uniforms might be able to detect dangerous chemicals, while security personnel could be alerted to airborne signatures of explosives or drugs. Garments might also monitor heart rate or perspiration. Inside homes and business, fabrics-in the form of carpeting, wall coverings and upholsterycould keep track of humidity levels and allergens.
Treating the cotton with these various substances is not as complicated as it sounds, Bongfiglio says it’s comparable to dyeing the material. The speed of electrons in these transistors is relatively low compared to that of silicon circuits, says Bongfiglio. “If you think about in how many fibres you have in your T-shirt, and how many interconnections you have between the weft and the wrap of the fabric, you could get pretty decent computing power”, says Hinestroza.
Pranav Bhadke (SE E&TC)
The field effect transistor also begins with a conductive cotton strand dipped in the semiconducting polymer, which in this case 14
WINDOWS8 to the Rescue FEATURED FROM IEEE SPECTRUM The first time Microsoft was caught off guard, Bill Gates managed to turn things around by sending the entire company his famous email,” The Internet Tidal Wave”. The current challenge-the drift away from PCs in favour of mobile devices-may well be greater. The move began in 2007, with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone, and it was kicked into high gear with the advent of the iPad in 2010 and an Android equivalent in 2011. Suddenly, Microsoft’s business was based on yesterday’s platforms. “Their products are fine on notebooks. But on phones and tablets, they are in bad shape,” says Michael Silver, an analyst at Gartner, a technology research firm. “Windows 8 has to be really good,” says Michael Cherry, lead analyst for operating systems at directions on Microsoft, in Kirkland, Wash.”They can’t have another Vista, “the ill regarded system that proceeded windows7.”Especially when you’re late to market, you have to leapfrog,” he says.” It’s going to have to do what no operating has yet done: seamlessly bridge the divide between smartphones and PCs”. Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky gave an early look at Windows 8 at a September conference at Build. Their Microsoft showed a tablet in the docking station that also had an external desktop monitor. The user can touch the tablet’s screen or use a keyboard and mouse to
work the external screen. A lot of people want to use a tablet in the office now. What Microsoft has done is push
the story a little bit further-we can use a tablet with a docking station and a big screen, so we can have a traditional desktop experience, but at the same time we can just pull the tab let out and take it to a meeting or home.
Aishwarya Vohra & Prachi Jha (SE E&TC)
Robotics-An introduction to robotics technology A robot is a programmable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools or specialized devices through various programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. ROBOTICS PARTS-WHAT MAKES A ROBOT SENSOR- It measures attributes and interacts with external events. Using a transducer, the sensor transforms the energy associated with what is being measured into another form of energy. In robotics, some of the items sensors measure includes speed, orientation, and proximity of other objects. CONTROLLER- This regulating device initiates one or more functions of operation in the robot arm, such as starting, stopping, reversing and changing speeds by issuing a preset list of commands. ACTUATOR- The actuators are the motors and drives inside the robot body that are used to create and control motion. There are many type of actuators. Mechanics & Kinematics- The mechanism is the arrangement of the connected parts. The kinematic structure of a robot refers to the identification of the joint connection between its links. It can be usefully represented by abstract diagrams. INDUSTRIAL ROBOTS IN TODAY’S GENERATION: As the technology in consumer and industrial products advances, so does the technology in the processes that manufacture these products. 15
Industrial robots play a large role in the production and quality of many of the products, large and small that we see today.
Changes in focus of industrial robot designs: Industrial robots have advanced to the point that the basic concepts and designs have been mastered by many of the leading robot manufacturers, including FANUC and Motoman. The six-axis industrial robot arm has become the standard for many industrial applications. For examples, many industries performing heavy palletizing applications employ four-axis robots that sacrifice repeatability but handle heavier payloads, such as the FANUC M-410. Other industries that require extreme flexibility and precision employ robot arm with more axes, such as the Motoman VA1400 robot arm that uses seven axes. Much of the focus of today’s designs is placed on greater accuracy, faster axis speeds, easier programming and smaller footprints. Advances in technology: Examples of what drives today’s industrial robots’ designs include computer clip and microprocessors, manufacturing and welding. An increasing number of consumer and industrial products utilize computer chips and other microprocessors. From children’s toy and video games to automobiles and industrial CNC machinery, computer chips are being developed to be smaller and hold more information. Industrial robots possess the precision to accurately move, handle and assemble these devices. Many industrial robots arms have been sealed and designed to work in “cleanroom” environments, in which microprocessors are often handled.
Dyandeo S. Sonje SE (E&TC)
Will Li-Fi be the new Wi-Fi? Li-Fi is the term some have used to label the fast and cheap wireless-communication system, which is the optical version of Wi-Fi. The term was first used in this context by Harald Haas in his TED Global talk on Visible Light Communication.
FLICKERING lights are annoying but they may have an upside. Visible light communication (VLC) uses rapid pulses of light to transmit information wirelessly. Now it may be ready to compete with conventional Wi-Fi. The heart of this technology is a new generation of high-brightness light-emitting diodes, if the LED is on, you transmit a digital 1, if it's off you transmit a 0. It is possible to encode data in the light by varying the rate at which the LEDs flicker on and off to give different strings of 1s and 0s. The LED intensity is modulated so rapidly that human eyes cannot notice, so the output appears constant. More sophisticated techniques could dramatically increase VLC data rates. Teams at the University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh are focusing on parallel data transmission using arrays of LEDs, where each LED transmits a different data stream. Other groups are using mixtures of red, green and blue LEDs to alter the light's frequency, with each frequency encoding a different data channel. The technology was demonstrated at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas using a pair of Casio smartphones to exchange data using light of varying intensity given off from their screens, detectable at a distance of 16
up to ten meters. In October 2011 a number of companies and industry groups formed the LiFi Consortium, to promote high-speed optical wireless systems and to overcome the limited amount of radio-based wireless spectrum available by exploiting a completely different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The consortium believes it is possible to achieve more than 10 Gbps, theoretically allowing a high-definition film to be downloaded in 30 seconds. Li-Fi has the advantage of being able to be used in sensitive areas such as in aircraft without causing interference. However, the light waves used cannot penetrate walls. Later in 2012, VLC, a firm set up to commercialize Li-Fi, will bring out Li-Fi products for firms installing LED-lighting systems.
Atul Mhaske (TE E&TC)
Review on Latest Touch Screen Phones iPhone 4S The iPhone 4S hardly needs an introduction: it's Apple's latest and greatest (yes greatest) iPhone yet, and it's available on three of the big four carriers. Each carrier uses the same hardware, with only software and firmware differences setting them apart. The iPhone 4S has a dual core Apple A5 CPU that's twice as fast as the iPhone 4, and it's available in three storage capacities. It uses the same 3.5" Retina Display as the iPhone 4, and it has an improved 8 megapixel camera that can shoot 1080p video. It runs the new iOS 5 operating system and it has the remarkable Siri voice-activated personal assistant.
Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T) One of the hottest high end phones of 2011 has made it to AT&T, and it's virtually unchanged from the overseas version. That's not a bad thing since the phone keeps the manageable yet capacious 4.3" Super AMOLED Plus display and super-fast Samsung Exynos dual core 1.2GHz CPU that sets a new limit for speed. This Android superphone has an 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen, 4G HSPA+, an admirable 8 megapixel main camera plus front video chat camera. Did we mention that it's literally pencil-thin? The Samsung Galaxy S II has earned our Editor's Choice award, and should be on your short list when shopping for a smartphone on AT&T.
HTC Sensation 4G T-Mobile and HTC's new flagship Android smartphone is hard not to love. It's got a lovely and classy unibody design, the latest Android phone OS and a 4.3" qHD 960 x 540 pixel displays vs. the usual 800 x 480. The dual core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon CPU with Adreno 220 graphics keeps things like 1080p video, 3D games and Adobe Flash humming along smoothly and the main 8 megapixel camera can even shoot 1080p video. This is the first US phone to run HTC Sense 3.0, and we give it a thumbs for usefulness and good looks. The Sensation 4G it has 4G HSPA+ and a mobile hotspot feature along with the usual WFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and a GPS.
T-Mobile LG G2x Once in a while, a manufacturer really surprises us in a good way. LG, who'd been banished to entry and mid-tier phones, has come up with an Android superphone that's won our Editor's Choice award. Sure, the 17
specs look great, but more importantly everything just works well and the materials and build quality are downright elegant. The G2x is T-Mobile's latest flagship phone, and it's the cousin to the LG Optimus 2x overseas. It has a dual core 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU, a really lovely 4" IPS display running at 800 x 480 resolution, 4G HSPA+, an 8 megapixel shooter than can do 1080p video plus a front video chat camera. Combine that with pure Android 2.2 Froyo and solid battery life, and you've got the T-Mobile G2x by LG.
Samsung Infuse 4G The Infuse 4G is an easy phone to fall in love with: it has a gorgeous and huge 4.5" Super AMOLED Plus display yet it's very slim and potentially pocketable. This Android OS 2.2 Froyo smartphone runs Samsung TouchWiz on a 1.2GHz Hummingbird CPU with graphics acceleration that indeed hums along nicely. The battery capacity verges on extended with 1750 mAh of power and the phone has HSPA+ 21 Mbps 4G with HSUPA uploads (no speed cap here). Throw in 16 gigs of storage and two cameras with a very good 8 megapixel rear main camera and you've got a summer blockbuster on AT&T.
Motorola Atrix 2 The Motorola Atrix 2 has crept out from under the iPhone 4S' coattails this weekend for a mere $99 on contract. That doesn't mean the Atrix 2 isn't an excellent high end Android smartphone. What's improved from the original Atrix? The Atrix 2 has a larger 4.3" qHD display that's more colourful and brighter. Text is easier to read on the larger display, and movies are more enjoyable too. The phone has HSPA+ 21 Mbps, and we indeed got faster speeds vs. 14.4 Mbps AT&T. The Atrix 2 has Webtop and works with the optional Lapdock 100 that
turns it into an ultraportable notebook of sorts.
HTC Thunderbolt The HTC Thunderbolt is Verizon's latest flagship Android smartphone. The Thunderbolt has Verizon's wickedly fast 4G LTE for download speeds ranging from 8 to 15 megs on the phone and sometimes faster when using the WiFi hotspot sharing utility that provides a broadband connection to your notebook, iPad or other device. We love the large 4.3" display and kickstand that lets you kick back and watch streaming movies comfortably and the phone's fast second gen Snapdragon CPU. The 8 megapixel rear camera takes sharp shots and 720p video and there's a front-facing camera as well. The Thunderbolt isn't perfect, but it is one of the top smartphones on the market right now.
HTC EVO 3D The HTC EVO 4G is a hard act to follow. Sprint's former flagship phone was a real crowd pleaser thanks to its at the time fast CPU, large display and 4G. How do you top that? Double the cores while increasing CPU speed, raise display resolution and throw in a 3D display and camera. That's the EVO 3D, a 1.2 GHz dual core Android OS 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone with WiMAX 4G, a qHD4.3" display and a glassless 3D display (don't worry, it does 2D too). The phone is built like a tank, yet it’s good looking and it's slim despite the beefy battery inside. If you're looking for the new flagship phone on Sprint, this is it.
HTC Inspire 4G AT&T is getting serious with Android now that their iPhone exclusivity is over, and the Inspire 4G is one lovely high end Android phone at a reasonable price. The Inspire 4G has HSPA+ 4G, a sharp 4.3" SLCD display running at 800 x 480 resolution and a second gen 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. The unibody 18
aluminium alloy body is sumptuous and the 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash does 720p video with aplomb. The Inspire runs Android OS 2.2 Froyo with HTC Sense software. It's quickly become one of our favourite Android smartphones.
Nexus S 4G The fast, clean and attractive Nexus S has made its way to Sprint and gained 4G in the process. The Nexus S 4G, like the GSM version, remains one of our favourite smartphones, even though it's not a new kid on the block. 4G is a very welcome addition and the Nexus S 4G has a vivid 4" Super AMOLED display, 1 GHz Hummingbird CPU, NFC, both front and rear cameras and 16 gigs of storage. Android OS 2.3.4 Gingerbread steals the show here in its pure form, complete with Gtalk video chat. Since it's a Google branded phone (though made by Samsung), timely OS updates should be yours with this phone.
BlackBerry Bold 9900 It's been quite some time since RIM introduced a new BlackBerry smartphone. Now we've got three new touch screen 'Berries launching together. In this review we look at T-Mobile version of the Bold 9900. This is definitely RIM's best BlackBerry yet, with a perfect keyboard, capacitive touch screen, 1.2GHz CPU and plenty of RAM. The Bold 9900 has 4G HSPA+ and a much improved web browser with a more social BBM.
display has eye-popping colours, is sharp and is quite viewable outdoors. The Focus, like all Windows 7 phones has a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU with graphics acceleration, plenty of internal storage, a 5 megapixel camera that takes very nice shots, a GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi 802.11n. Of the first launch group of US Windows 7 phones, the Focus is our favourite.
T-Mobile myTouch 4G The myTouch 4G is T-Mobile's first high end Android smartphone in that line. It wants to compete with superphones, and that means the T-Mobile G2 andSamsung Vibrant on T-Mobile. The myTouch 4G is made by HTC and it has solid build quality, feels great in the hand and it comes in four colours. The phone has an 800 x 480 multi-touch capacitive display and a 1GHz second gen Snapdragon CPU that keeps Android OS 2.2 Froyo zipping along. Like the myTouch 3G Slide it has newbie-friendly mySense software that may not be pretty but it is indeed helpful without being intrusive. Other goodies include 4G HSPA+, WiFi including WiFi calling and Hotspot features, an FM radio, front-facing video conferencing camera, a 5 megapixel main camera and a GPS with compass.
Shubhangi Pandey (BE E&TC)
Samsung Focus The Focus is the hottest Windows 7 Phone on AT&T thanks to its stunning Super AMOLED display, slim design and user accessible microSD card slot. The
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CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1. Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code (abbr.) 4. Sets a steady-state voltage reference 5. Exactly the same in mathematics 6. Switch configuration (abbr.) 10. Million multiply accumulate operations (abbr.) 14. Set of poles 15. Structure of columns and rows 16. Islands On The Air (Ham term) 17. RF computer network 20. _____-Kutta method in differential equations 21. The "R" in DRC in substrate layout (singular form) 24. Automatic Packet Position Reporting System (abbr.) 25. Radio term for indicating the end of a transmission segment 26. International Amateur Radio Union (abbr.) 27. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (abbr.) 28. Nuclear explosion byproduct harmful to electronic (abbr., pl.) 32. European Telecommunications Standards Institute (abbr.) 35. The "T" in ATE 36. Type of antenna with four-sided loops (pl.) 37. Mr. Gauss' first name 38. An abbreviation for "receiver" 41. Reflected radar or sonar signal (pl.) 42. Current summing point 45. Adds two or more inputs 46. One who DXs 47. Monte-_____ analysis 48. High power density battery chemistry (abbr.) 49. Moved from cell to cell
DOWN 2. (fUpper + fLower) / 2 3. Electrical generator locomotion 4. Large-value resistor connected across the filter capacitor in a power supply to discharge the filter capacitors when the supply is turned off (2 wds.) 6. Elements of a scattering matrix 7. Last stage in a transmitter (abbr.) 8. Chemical symbol for silicon 9. BJTs, FETs, etc. 10. Small unit of time 11. Chemical symbol for molybdenum 12. PC follower 13. Frequency-selective with high rate of out-of-band attenuation 18. Filter type that blocks upper frequencies (abbr.) 19. Chemical symbol for argon 22. Ultraviolet (abbr.) 23. Front edge of a wing (abbr.) 29. Akin to an EE, CE, AE, etc. 30. Unit of time (abbr.) 31. Circular mounting hardware (pl.) 33. Chemical symbol for tantalum 34. Chemical symbol for strontium 39. Chemical symbol for copper 40. Abbreviation for minimum voltage 43. Shorthand for oxygen 44. Morse Code for "from"
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