Student Branch Chapter Updates: Activities in 2020: College of Engineering Karunagappally
IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter (SBC) College of Engineering Karunagappally is one of the most dynamic Student Branches in IEEE Power and Renewable Energy Society (PES). Formed in 2016, the SBC won the PES High Performance Student Branch Chapter Program (HPSBCP) in 2018 (ranked 14th globally & 8th in Region 10), 2019 (ranked 2nd globally & 1st in Region 10), and 2020 (ranked 1st in region 10). With a mission to be a leading provider of scientific and engineering information on electric power and energy for the betterment of society, the SBC continues to offer programs, activities, and professional networking opportunities that build critical skills outside of the classroom. In 2020, the SBC is lead by Mrs. Haseena PY (Advisor), Mr. Hari Prasad (Mentor), Ms. Riya Elizabeth (Chair), Mr. M K Varun (Vice-Chair), and Ms. Rafiya Al Ebrahim (Secretary). In what follows, some major activities of this SBC are presented.
Three design workshops were organized by IEEE SB in association with the PES SBC. The workshops were handled by Mr. Hari Prasad (PES SBC Chair). The basics in designing were taught using Canva (24th January), Adobe Photoshop (28th January) and Adobe Illustrator (31st January). In each workshop around 25 students participated. The workshop covered poster designing, photoshop and UX/UI designing.
IEEE SB takes sheer pride in conducting mini talks and workshop sessions for the blooming youngsters to involve them into the embedded system of society’s needs and how technology emerges to renovate it. Tech Eve was earlier known as the PES (CRP). After the commencement of Covid-19, some of the sessions were also hosted online. The first talk topic was Robotic Process Automation and the lecture was delivered by Mr. Akshay Krishnan, Chair, IEEE SBC CEK on 17th January, 2020. Around 46 students participated the event. Next a hands-on workshop Fusion 360 was conducted by Mr. Cliffin Cletus, Vice Chair, IEEE NPSS/PELS Jt. Chapter on February 7th, 2020. Jayaraj N R, Chair, IEEE IAS SBC CEK handled a talk session on Artificial Intelligence on 13th February 2020.
An illuminating session on Electric Vehicles was taken up by IEEE SB CEK PES Chair, Mr. Hari Prasad on 19th February 2020 where he communicated on the universal demand for electric vehicles. A brief overview of Blockchain was portrayed out to the students through an online platform by Mr. Arun Sreenivas, Chair, IEEE CS SBC CEK, on 16th of March 2020. Akhil Ahmed, Chair, IEEE NPSS/PELS Jt. Chapter volunteered himself to interact with the students in a webinar on Grid-Scale battery storage system, hosted on 21st March 2020. Mr. Akash R, Vice Chair, IEEE IAS SBC CEK instructed the attendees about the numerous applications of drones on 26th March 2020.
Workshops on Machine Learning and Deep Learning were organized on 25th and 28th February 2020, respectively. Later again on 6th March 2020.
Similar to Luxathon 1.0 held in 2019, the second version of India’s first 24-hours national level electrical illumination hackathon, Luxathon 2.0, was organized during 6-8 March 2020. A total of 12 teams from different parts of the country including Hyderabad Section, Bombay Section, Madras Section, UP Section, and Gujarat Section participated in the hackathon. The entire hackathon was divided into 7 stages. Each stage demonstrated individual electrical, electronic, and computing challenges. All internet connections and other resources were withdrawn and the teams had to depend solely on their knowledge and other technical skills to complete each stage. In the judge panel, there were Prof. Deepa A K, Prof. Haseena P Y, Prof. Sabeena K, and Prof. Radhika, Mr. Anandhu S Kumar (Sr. Light Design Engineer at Wipro Lighting, IEEE YP), Ms. Staji Wilson (Assoc. Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, YP), Mr. Anish M S (IEEE YP) and Mr. Saran K S (IEEE YP). The title winner of Luxathon 2.0 was team Govt. Model Engineering College, Thrikakkara (IEEE Kerala Section). The team members were Tharik Anwar, M Hridya, Maria Teres Victor, Sahla V H, and M R Lakshmi Priya. The second and third prize winner teams were from Amal Jyothi College of Engineering, Kottayam (IEEE, Kerala Secton) and Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering, Trivandrum (IEEE Kerala Section). Mr. Anandhu S Kumar (Sr. Light Design Engineer at Wipro Lighting, IEEE YP) and Ms. Staji Wilson (Assoc. Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, IEEE YP) delivered speeches. A workshop on Microcontrollers was organized on 6th March, handled by Er. Anish M S (YP, IEEE PES Kerala Chapter).
As part of the global IEEE PES volunteers, IEEE SB CEK and IEEE PES SBC CEK organized the 2020 PES DAY virtual events and activities in the months of April and May, with the theme “more power to the future”. Four of the Student Branch volunteers, Mr. Hari Prasad (IEEE PES DAY Kerala Section Ambassador), Mr. Akshay Krishnan (IEEE PES DAY Student Branch Ambassador), Mr. Akhil Ahammed (IEEE PES DAY PES Chapter Ambassador) and Ms. Riya Elizabeth (IEEE PES DAY Women in Power Ambassador) were selected as the global 2020 PES Day ambassadors. A total of 9 events were organized under the initiative including:
- Webinar on FACTS
- Webinar on Industrial Lighting Design using DIALux
- EdiZone 20 (Virtual PES DAY fest)
- Eithon: The Hackathon
- Energia: Idea Pitching Competition
- PES Panel Discussion
- Poster Designing Contest
- Ex-Quiz me! – Power and Energy Quiz
- Webinar on telecom for Freshers
A webinar on Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS) was held on 19th April 2020. The speaker was Er. Saran K S (Young Professional, IEEE PES Kerala Section). With over 92 participants, the webinar had attendees from different sections including students and professors as well.
A webinar on Industrial Lighting design using DIALux was organized on 9th May 2020. The resource person was Er. Anandhu S Kumar (Sr. Executive at Wipro Lighting, IEEE PES Kerala Section Young Professional). There were 77 participants from different departments.
A 3-day long IEEE PES Day Virtual Fest, EdiZone 20, was held on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of May 2020. Named in memory of Thomas Alva Edison and his contributions to the field of electrical engineering, EdiZone was an online platform for students to develop and showcase their technical prowess. There were a set of friendly competitions like hackathon, idea pitching, poster designing contest, article writing contest, power and energy quiz and smart talks.
Another online hackathon, Eithon was organized among participants during 22nd May to 24th May 2020. This hackathon was intended to brainstorm resilient measures for an environment during an inevitable crisis.
Energia: Idea Pitching Competition
During this period, an online idea pitching competition, Energia was also held.
PES Panel Discussion
A panel discussion session on “Building a better PES Community” was held on 22nd May 2020. EdiZone enclosed multiple slots of fragments that blended technology, art and creativity. Panel speakers were Er. Anandhu S Kumar (Senior Executive, Wipro Lighting), Er. Aneesh M S (YP PES Kerala Section), Er. Saran K S (YP PES Kerala Section) and Staji Wilson (PES WIP Sub Regional representative, Assistant Engineer trainee at TCS and IEEE Richard E Marwin Scholar).
A poster designing contest on the topic “Edison and his invention” was held on 22nd, 23rd and 24th of May. Students from various student branches across the state submitted their entries on all three days. We received about 25+ online entries for the topic.
A quiz competition, namely “Ex-Quiz Me”, was held on 24th May 2020. The quiz consisted of 10 questions based on Power and Energy. 96 students from different colleges attended the quiz.
A webinar on “Telecom for Freshers” by Er.Staji Wilson was held on 23rd of May 2020. The event commenced with the felicitation by Mr. Cliffin Cletus. Around 62 students attended the webinar.
A PES Distinguished Lecture Program titled “Keeping the lights on Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow” was conducted by Mr. Jay Giri, former director of Power Systems technology and Initiatives at GE Grid Software Solutions, on the 7th September 2020. Around 42 attendees were present. The positive feedback given by attendees was very precious for us to conduct more distinguished lectures in future.
Webinar on Enhancing Women Engagement in Power & Energy Industry through PES & HAC Projects & Events – by Celia Shahnaz
A webinar titled “Enhancing Women Engagement in Power & Energy Industry through PES & HAC Projects & Events” was held on 15th September 2020. The speaker was Prof. Celia Shahnaz, Ph.D., Region 10, Women in Power Representative and Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section. The overall session was successful with around 51 attendees. The session made students acquire in-depth knowledge about Women’s enhancement.