Tuesday, June 7, 2016

World of Concrete- India 2016

The 3rd Edition of World of Concrete, India was organized by Informa Exhibitions U.S. and Inter Ads Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. from 18-20 May 2016 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The participation were from 100 leading industry suppliers from the commercial concrete and construction industries and more than 3,500 professionals from India and overseas. Mr Lokesh Choudhary and Mr Dhruv Sood, Asst Professors from Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering attended the event which included showcase of various innovative technologies and sustainable construction materials. Some of the new technologies that they came across were pertaining to non-destructive testing of concrete. Rebar detectors and microcover meters which could be used for real time acquisition of Rebar position and spacing was with a unique 4 wheel design probe with built in encoder. It had multi-gear stirrup spacing correction function and multi coil technology which enables real time accurate measurement of cover thickness and location of rebars. Some of the other products offered by the company STANLAYTM were Concrete scanning GPR, Corrosion detection device, Utrasonic Pulse velocity Tester, Digital Concrete test hammers and Pile Integrity tester which were all unique and with added features in themselves.


There were companies like Reliance Technology Center-RECRON 3S, BRUGG CONTEC AG and JBA Concrete Solutions diplaying their upgraded, bundled, fibrillated high performance fibres, which could be used as secondary reinforcement for engineered concrete and cementitious composites. The Unique features observed were triangular cross-section and dimensional stability of recron3S* polyester fibre, a heavy duty net-shaped (fibrillated) polypropylene fibres with non-fuzzy surface finish named FORTA-FERRO of JBA Concrete solutions. Some samples have been collected of the fibres for our concrete lab.


There were other companies offering software like RebarCAD which could provide us with fast professional Solutions to engineering construction problems, accurate bar bending schedule and optimization in reinforcement detailing according to global codes. On the other hand there were manufacturers offering their state of the art equipment named Vibro Forming Machine for Precast elements according to customer specificationswhich could just be transformed for various shapes in 10-20 minutes. Few of the companies even showed interest in being invited to the university campus to deliver seminars/ guest lectures on innovative technologies used in the construction field. We also came across a company ARCUS-Absolute Concrete which has worked for various novel concrete design mixes like porous concrete, lightweight concrete, stamped concrete and coloured concrete. On being asked about any live project, it was told that there are sites in Faridabad where projects have been completed with usage of these unique concrete mixes which gives us an opportunity to help our students visit the sites.


All in all it was a wonderful learning experience throughout.


An upswing in placements for ECE due to resurgent Telecom Sector

Anita Sharma
Asst. Prof. (Sr. Scale)
Dept. of EECE,
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon

The Telecom Sector appears to be moving towards a revival in the coming times as is evident from the surveys conducted by India Brand Equity Foundation (www.ibef.org/industry/telecommunications.aspx),  the CCI (www.cci.in/pdfs/surveys-reports/telecom-sector-in-india.pdf ) and the Hindu (www.thehindu.com › Business › Budget). A revived telecom sectormeans a surge in the demand for telecom engineers, both fresh and experienced, and hence a boost in the placements for the ECE students in the near future. The EECE students of The NorthCap University (NCU), Gurgaon, one of the best engineering colleges in Delhi/NCR,with a higher knowledge base do remarkably well  in telecom, VLSI and IT industry as they are well-versed in skills demanded by these companies, particularly in new technology areas.  Keeping that in mind, choosing ECE from the NCU for graduation will be the first step towards a bright future for engineers in the making.

The EECE Department of the University has the same story of excellence as the University itself. It has a highly qualified and a motivated faculty to guide their students through their engineering programs at both graduate and post graduate levels. Most of the faculty members in the department are either PhD are pursuing PhD, remarkably headed by the HoD, an eminent scholar with a vast experience from the industry as well. There are well equipped labs in the department where the students perform their experiments, prepare for different competitions or work on their projects with the help of highly trained and skilled lab technicians. Workshops, seminars, industrial visits and competitions etc. are conducted regularly in the department to add to the knowledge base of the students in addition to what they are taught in the class rooms. This way they get to keep abreast of the latest technologies and developments in the industry and research fields to help them choose their career options.

In addition to the regular curriculum, there are a large number of value added courses being run in the department to further enhance the students’ skill set, be it soft skills, languages or competitive skills. Also classes like PDP, GK and recently introduced technical bridge courses give them an edge over others in their placement prospects. There are a number of hobby clubs the students can join to indulge their creative side. These clubs give them a platform to showcase their talents. There is a high frequency of alumni interaction where valuable tips for jobs and higher studies are imparted to the students by the alumni.

All these steps help the students in their overall development and make it possible for them to make it big in the world after they leave university.