From the Principal’s Desk
From the Counsellor’s Desk
It is very happy to know that the IEEE Student
Dear IEEE student members,
Chapter of SCTCE is publishing its
The gap between Industry , Research and academia is
NEWS LETTER this year, without any break in its
an ever hot discussion topic. Technical societies like
traditional series. The mission of IEEE, the world’s
IEEE play a very important role in bridging this gap and
largest and oldest professional association, is to
became a highly efficient means for technology transfer
foster technological innovation and excellence for
in a world of rapidly changing technology. It also helps
the benefit of humanity. We have a very vibrant
to meet the continuing educational needs of engineers.
and active student chapter which organizes various
Being a member of IEEE, the world’s largest
technical activities and community services not
technical society helps you to be informed about
only for the benefit of academic fraternity but for
the latest happenings in the world of technology and
the society as a whole, also keeping up its mission.
simultaneously provides you enough space to utilize
In this age of globalization, no part of the world
your knowledge for the betterment of human society.
is monopoly to technological innovation and
Starting with 30 members in 2009,now in the
technology is changing at an amazingly faster rate.
fourth year, IEEE SB of SCTCE is one of the most
Here, competition has come to stay and survival
active student branches in Kerala section, regularly
of the fittest is becoming the natural rule. Hence,
organizing workshops, talks, meets , community
the technical updating is essential for students
development programs,hub and link activities etc.
to emerge as successful engineers in today’s
Support from affinity groups such as WIE,PES deserves
competitive world. IEEE students’ chapter provides
special mention in this occasion in organizing various
a perfect platform for such aspiring students. I
activities. The efforts put by our former counselor Prof.
hope, more and more students would associate
Dr K.J.Shanthi which is the driving force behind our
with this chapter and wish you all a fruitful year
success story ,should never be forgotten. I conclude by
ahead.
promising my full hearted support as a counselor for the success of IEEE SB of SCTCE .
Dr. Shaji Senadhipan PRINCIPAL
FOR THE GREATER GOOD Aashiq Salim, T3A
O
the baton to make life ahead better has always been passed over through the generations, and the quest ahead will always be more difficult than what our forefathers had to face. The basic prototype of an idea,no matter how trivial it might be,is what blooms to fruition into a revolutionary invention. Venture capital has become somewhat of a catnip for entrepreneurs when it is ought to be the other way around. It seems the human Innovation Incarnate, Steve Jobs,was just the frontrunner of an army of budding inventors, some of the notable ones, sure to completely transform the future. The solution to one of the most daunting tasks of all time:- ‘developing a faster means of transport’ that would single-handedly conflate solutions for both time consumption as well as containing our dependence on natural resources. The Hyperloop, a conceptual model for ultra-fast transportation at speeds exceeding 962kmph, is the most innovative and path-breaking model that has enormous potential to transform the world ahead. Based on the principle of magnetic levitation, (maglev) this model definitely has flaws to be dealt with it, the foremost being how our body can be protected from internal damage at such high speeds. No matter how surreal this seems to sound, once this magic yarn is spun into reality, it is sure to completely change the world how we perceived it to be. The subtle yet deep imprint that was left on the shores of human development is such that no tides of economic depression or political paranoia can wash VER THE COURSE OF TIME,
them off. The roots of such role model start-ups like Next, Pixar, PayPal, SpaceX, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are so deeply entrenched in a firm foundation. For instance, SpaceX, which was co-founded by Elon Musk started out with the design of rocket engine parts and has grown to become a billion-dollar company that send the first reusable spaceship for moving payloads to the International Space Station, all done with private funding. Eventually, Elon Musk’s inventions have become as brilliant and sophisticated as to being compared to the Iron Man movie franchise for his gesture controlled parts- design manoeuvres. Elon Musk even developed the most comprehensive solution for facilitating worldwide fund transfers effortlessly with PayPal. The health industry is also set to benefit immensely from DNA sequencing of which scientists have so far knocked-off a 92-93% decryption. Halcyon Molecular, while working towards a cent percentage of decryption is bound to unlock ways of predicting a treatment’s altercations on a patient or even cause breakthrough cures for the incurable, that are devouring more and more lives every year. The greatest technical problem that mankind has ever faced and the solution of which shall solve virtually every problem related to energy crises is a nuclear fusion reactor able to be contained within the earth’s limits. Now, that’s an all-together different ball park. It’s fascinating how that simple science solution has the potential to bring possible peace to the current tensions that had sprouted, in the first place, from the sole issue of oil and energy. Let us work through the dusk and hope for a better dawn, the rays of change gracing the facade of mankind.
GARBAGE TO GOLD
Dharani Suresh, B12
I
MAGINE A DAY,
when we step out of our homes, we walk through decaying piles of garbage, a day when there is no electricity and our nights darker than ever. This is the locale that we will undeniably face in future if we don’t get going on alternatives now. Being a resident of the capital city of Kerala, I have been a witness to the abysmally growing heaps of garbage and the intolerable stench surrounding us and my summer was spent in hours of load shedding. Why? “ENERGY CRISIS’!!! When I pondered over a potential solution out of all the present technologies, I stumbled upon PLASMA GASIFICATION. Though incineration has become the popular quick fix for garbage crisis in India, it poses a serious hazard to human health. Most fatal of all is the dioxin threat. These dioxins enter the human food chain and impair functioning of lungs, immune and reproductive system and causes cancer. In short, it reduces our life span. Plasma gasification is a revolutionary new technology which serves to be the panacea to the world’s garbage crisis and power shortage. Here, a machine called the gasifier is employed for the process. The garbage is first shredded and then high voltage is passed through it such that the toxic garbage breaks into its simpler components. The by-products include syngas and a glass like liquid that may contain melted metals. Later, these by-products undergo further processing to give different commercially valuable products. This technology has a host of amazing gains. For instance, it is highly self-sustaining, eco-friendly and aids in recycling of valuable metals. It is ideal for driving gas turbines to generate power. Especially for high calorific value of wastes, the power produced can
be 4 times that consumed by the gasifier. It can even reduce energy costs by up to 30% and harmful emissions by almost 80%!!! But their best feature is the ease with which they can be synthesized into any transport fuel one desires and into di methyl ether, a condensate gas which is a superior diesel substitute and a complete substitute for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). It also eliminates the threat from dioxins when compared to the emissions from incinerators and deals effectively in disposing off hazardous medical waste. One theory that I would like to experiment with is the conversion of used paper to fuel, since paper is rich in carbon. Hence plasma gasification is a breakthrough technology that should be introduced & explored to its full potential worldwide. As in the future, the population is only going to grow and the main problems we will have to face then is ‘waste disposal’ and ‘shortage of power and fuels’. This technology is extremely beneficial for India as from her viewpoint, 10 years from now, 600 million Indians will be living in cities with more than a million inhabitants who will generate at least 600,000 tonnes of garbage a day. This will suffice to produce more than 35 million tonnes of transport fuel a year and meet half of India’s current consumption of the same. The saving in foreign exchange will lift the threat of the fiscal deficit forever. It will also free domestic prices from the yoke of international oil prices too. After all we have not inherited this earth from our ancestors but borrowed it from our children. The onus of finding & implementing a feasible solution is the need of the hour and plasma gasification is the way forward for generations to come....
SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY Aiswarya K Prasad ,T8A
W
E HAVE EVOLVED OVER MILLIONS of years to sense the world around us. When we confront something, someone or some place, we avail our five natural senses which includes eye, ear, nose, tongue and body, to perceive information about it; that helps us make decisions and choose the right actions to take. But arguably the most adopted information that helps us make the right decision is not naturally perceivable with our five senses, instead it is the data, information and knowledge that mankind has accumulated about nearabout everything. Although the miniaturization of computing devices allows us to carry computers in our pockets, there is no link between our digital devices and our interactions with the physical world. Information is confined traditionally on paper or digitally on a screen. “Sixth Sense Technology”, the newest jargon that has proclaimed its presence in the technical arena bridges this gap, bringing intangible, digital information out into the tangible world and allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures. ‘SixthSense’ frees information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality and thus making the entire world your computer. This technology has emerged expertly. Our ordinary computers will soon be able to sense the different feelings accumulated in the surroundings and it is all an offertory of the ”Sixth Sense Technology”. SixthSense is a wearable “gesture based” device that augments the physical world with digital information and lets people use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. It was developed by Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab. He says that the movies “Robocop” and “Minority Report” gave
him the brainstorm to create his view of a world not dominated by computers, digital information and human robots, but one where computers and other digital devices elevate people’s enjoyment of the physical world. With SixthSense, we will use a device not bigger than current cell phones and probably as small as a button on our shirts to bring the internet to us in order to mesh with our world! The entire hardware apparatus is encompassed in a pendant-shaped mobile wearable device. Basically the camera recognises individuals, images, pictures, gestures one makes with their hands and the projector assists in projecting any information on whatever type of surface is present in front of the person. The usage of the mirror is significant as the projector dangles pointing downwards from the neck to bring out variations on a much higher plane. The software program analyses the video data caught by the camera and also tracks down the locations of the coloured markers by utilising single computer vision techniques. One can have any number of hand gestures and movements as long as they are all reasonably identified and differentiated for the system to interpret it, preferably through unique and varied fiducials. This is possible only because the ‘Sixth Sense’ device supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction. The software searches the internet for information that is potentially relevant to that situation, and then the projector takes over. The Sixth Sense prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system. The map application lets the user navigate a map displayed on a nearby surface using hand
gestures, similar to gestures supported by multi-touch based systems, letting the user zoom in, zoom out or pan using intuitive hand movement. The drawing application lets the user draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the user’s index finger. It also recognizes user’s freehand gestures. It lets the user draw icons or symbols in the air using the movement of the index finger and recognizes those symbols as interaction instructions. The Sixth Sense system also augments physical objects the user is interacting with by projecting more information about these objects projected on them. For example, a newspaper can show live video news or dynamic information can be provided on a regular piece of paper. The gesture of drawing a circle on the user’s wrist projects an analog watch. The true power of Sixth Sense lies on its potential to couple the real world with the Internet, and overlaying the information on the world itself. Imagine you are at the supermarket, thinking about what brand of soap is better. Or maybe what food you should get for tonight’s dinner. Just look at objects, hold them on your hands, and Sixth Sense will show you if it’s good or bad, or if it fits your preferences or not.
Technology has metamorphosed the world in which we live, revamping how we spend our time, how we fathom ourselves, and how we network with others. Technological innovation results in social and economic shift. Thus, Sixth Sense Technology will lead to the advancement of present world. And it is the present world that promises to restructure human life and activity.
INNOVATION FOR PERFECTION Shwetha S, T8B
T
ECHNOLOGY IS A GIFT of God. After the gift of
contact-less (useful in places like hospitals where hygiene is
life, it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It’s the
of high importance). The system has a very low false rejection
mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.”
rate of 0.01% and an even lower false acceptance rate of 0.0001%. Since it is present inside the human body, there is
Future technology is beyond the bounds of the reality
no wear and tear of the vein pattern which was originally a
of present age science and technology. It is essentially and
typical problem when other biometrics were used in the case
in entirety different with the high-tech, the latest cutting-
of people who worked under extreme conditions. Dryness,
edge technology. Future technology emphasizes on human
wetness etc. of the palm does not affect authentication. The
expectations and unforeseen things, things which have not yet
need for a low resolution infrared image makes the image
been invented or used.
processing simpler.
Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now
The principle behind this technology is that deoxygenated
it’s a necessity all the time. With the expansion of technology,
haemoglobin is capable of absorbing near infrared rays and
threat to personal data and national security had been
hence casts a shadow when seen using an infrared camera.
increased tremendously. The methods that were developed
This image is then cropped to get the desired area of interest,
to secure important information from outside intervention
converted to bitmap format (having a size of 8 bits per pixel)
were susceptible to forgery. There was a need to introduce
so that manipulation is easier, filtered to remove the noise,
a technology that secures our data more efficiently from
contrast is improved and finally the skeletal form of the
unlawful intervention.
vein is extracted. From that the features or critical points are
Recently, vein recognition appears to be making real headway in the market. It is considered as one of the most
extracted. The data is compared with the data of database and if the images match, authentication is done.
’novel’ biometric, called ‘the Fourth Biometric’. This was
Currently, vein based biometric authentication is used in
developed by the Japanese companies, Hitachi and Fujitsu.
a large scale in Japan. If this technology can be brought to
Vein recognition is a type of biometrics that can be used to
India, it can overcome the loopholes in our security systems
identify individuals based on the vein patterns in the human
and make the citizens and institutions feel safeguarded.
palm/finger. It is a particularly impressive and promising technology as it is highly secure since the vein is present inside the human body and hence, cannot be tampered with or forged. Vein pattern of a person is unique, even in the case of identical twins. The method requires only a single-chip design, meaning that the units are relatively small and cheap. The ID verification process is very fast (takes about 2 seconds) and