Foreword 1 VJTI Social Group 2 VJTI Gymkhana 3 VJTI Cultural Group 5 DLA 6 Entrepreneurship Cell, VJTI 7 Alumni Association, VJTI 8 Rangawardhan 9 Swachh VJTI 10 Technovanza 11 AeroVJTI 13 Community of Coders 14 IEEE, VJTI 15 SRA, VJTI 17 VJTI Racing 19 Avitra 21 Ongoing Projects 23 Recent Updates 26

EDITORS’ NOTE

Nidhee Kamble, SY CE Shivam Patil, SY Production

Co-editors, VJNEWS

We are grateful to have assumed editorship of this edition of VJNEWS. We are thankful to our professors — Dean Student Activities and Alumni Dr. R. D. Daruwala for this initiative, faculty advisor Mrs. Usha Nair for her guidance, and all Heads of Department for their contributions. We take this opportunity to briefly state the goals and purposes of the newsletter as we see them:

First, it is an effort to give a lucid but comprehensive overview of all the different committees as they work to further explore their respective domains.

Second, with numerous events taking place concurrently, the newsletter aims at presenting an insight into the activities that have happened in the college in the previous semester.

We welcome Letters to the Editors (which we shall try to publish in future issues of our newsletter), suggestions, updates, and reports of your research efforts and findings. If you have ideas for reports on other activities to be included in the next edition of VJNEWS, kindly let us know at dla@vjti.info.

1 

 

Foreword Professor Usha Nair HoD, Humanities & Management Department, VJTI News has always been in news. In ancient times, town squares and village crossroads have been the places where news got disseminated by word of mouth. The invention of printing press in 1439 changed the history of communication: newspapers were born as a means to spread information to the masses. From small fly-by-night yellow papers to gigantic media houses, news spread. The birth of the internet and the World Wide Web was the next Big Bang for communication. Internet has changed the way news is published and read. The pace at which news is spread and consumed these days is astounding and alarming. Then comes the important question - what is the responsibility of anyone in the news business, whether it be an individual or a media house? It’s three simple words - authentic, ethical, and responsible journalism, as against biased and untruthful sensationalism. I am glad that VJNews has a students’ body which epitomizes responsible reporting. I wish them a very successful journey.

 

2 

VJTI Social Group

Shivangi Tripathi, General Secretary, VJTI Social Group Mukul Sakhalkar, Internal Auditor, VJTI Social Group

Amidst all the committees, differences, divisions and barriers, we have an umbrella known as

VJTI Social Group that unites all of us. Aiming to be the common roof for all the social activities in college, the concept of a social group might be new, but is strong enough to keep us all together

through everything. Anyone who is a part of VJTI is a part of the Social Group in one way or another, and that's what makes it special – that’s what makes it one big family. The Alumni Association, VJTI Cultural Group,

DLA, E-Cell, VJTI Gymkhana, Rangawardhan, Swachh VJTI, and Technovanza are all a part of Social Group. Swachh VJTI is a new committee added to the Social Group in this academic year itself,

aiming to make VJTI a neater, cleaner, and a better place to be in. As the Social Group, we have conducted a lot of events together in this semester:

Orientation Program for the First Years

It was a two-day event organised by the Social Group at the beginning of the semester for the newcomers in the college. The aim was to get them acquainted with the college before they get

started with their academic schedules. The program had a lot of activities, like a cultural program, college tour, introduction to various

student committees, and seminars organised in its course. The dignitaries Hon'ble Director, Dr. Dhiren Patel; Dean-Academics, Dr. K.K. Sangle; Dean-Student Activities, Dr. R.D. Daruwala; Deputy

Director, Dr. Bhirud, graced the event with their presence and shared their thoughts with the students.

Independence Day, 15th August

The event started with Flag Hoisting by Director Sir, followed by a short cultural program. This event gave many students a chance to showcase their talents on stage in front of the Director and other

esteemed personalities. 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

In the program organised in the honour of Gandhiji, students paid their homage through various skills, such as oratory and music. We were honoured to have our Director Dr. Dhiren Patel and

Sandra Shroff ma’am grace the occasion with their presence.

Together as a team, we look forward to organising more and more events in the future. We believe that we might not have it all together; but together, we have it all.

3 

VJTI GYMKHANA Enthusia has been continuing the legacy of promoting sports and fitness among students. Getting ready for the Enthusiastic 12-day experience in December, it has organized several activities since the beginning of this semester. VJTI Yoga Day Following the initiative by Shri Narendra Modi, VJTI Gymkhana celebrated the International Yoga Day on 21st June, 2018 at the Textile Hall. The session commenced at 09:00 AM with a warm welcome speech for the instructors Ms. Anvita Dixit and her colleagues. The Institute Kaivalyadham graced the occasion. Ms. Dixit introduced the students to Yoga Day and its significance, along with a presentation. She stated that yoga is not only a form of exercise, but also about the discovery of oneness within ourselves, nature and the world. While teaching the different aasans – vajrasan, tadasan to name a few, she explained how yoga embodies the unity of body and mind, thought and action, and restraint and fulfillment. The two-hour session was attended by around 50 students. The instructors were gifted potted tulsi plants as a token of their long and healthy relationship with VJTI. Kaivalyadham was presented with a memento on behalf of VJTI Gymkhana. For the freshmen To welcome the first year students and give them a glimpse of the enthralling upcoming 12-day experience of Enthusia, a sports weekend was organised in August 2018. For those two days, they participated in competitions of five different sports, namely: badminton, basketball, carrom, chess and football. Great enthusiasm was shown by everyone in the FYs vs SYs tug-of-war. EnBA (Enthusia Basketball Association) For the very first time, this year Enthusia came up with the EnBA - Enthusia Basketball Association. A grand opening ceremony was held on October 1st, 2018 in the VJTI auditorium. The official dates for Enthusia 2018 were unveiled along with the theme, promising to make it grander than its preceding years. Ms. Shiba Maggon, a national level basketball player and Ms. Chitrashi Rawat, who played the character of Komal Chautala in Chak De! India, graced the occasion as the Chief Guests. Shibba Maggon is the coach of Indian Senior Basketball Team and the first woman to qualify as an international referee. Chitrashi Rawat is a national level hockey player. Emphasizing on the role of sports in instilling a sense of confidence and discipline, they both shared their inspirational life stories. An enthralling exhibition match followed the opening ceremony, where the aspiring basketball players

4 

from the college got an opportunity to play with Shiba ma’am. It was an event not only for those who play sports but also for those who don’t. The program ended leaving an air of anticipation about the commencement of the Enthusia Basketball Association.

STFU 2.0 — Seek The Fitter You

A zesty Zumba Workshop was organized on October 25th. A certified global zumba trainer, Ms. Arunima Dey made us grove along her moves with her energetic personality. The entire quadrangle was bouncing with enthusiasm, with everyone was smiling even through the sweat. The experience was a first for many; those who were shy in the beginning, left with the widest grin. The excitement was at its zenith when, as a surprise, the song Sanedo was played. Everyone took away with them an unparalleled experienced.

VJTI Yoga Day

FY vs SY Tug of War Shiba ma’am and the VJTI Basketball Team

5 

VJTI CULTURAL GROUP

Pratibimb — More of a vehemence, less of a fest Atharv Shinde Literally, ‘Pratibimb’ means ‘reflection’ – a reflection of pulsating energy, infectious enthusiasm, heart-warming fellowship and vivid memories. Pratibimb, over the past 31 years, has crystallized as an extravaganza, emerging as an annual ‘National Level Socio-Cultural Festival’ in a technically oriented institute. Encompassing a wide range of events spread over a span of four days, it attracts students from diverse streams of numerous colleges from all over the country to participate in the inter-collegiate events organised by the Performing Arts sector. Engaging all the 11 departments in VJTI, Team Impact maintains the flow of this festival throughout the semester by organising intra-college events and tasks. Every year, a particular theme for all involved activities is decided upon by the committee members. Powering the extravaganza, the theme for 2018 is Desi Reloaded, which aims at reviving the lost culture of our country. The major events like the EDM concert, Mumbai’s Got Talent, and Bollywood Dance Music night that take place every year are major crowd pullers. The festival has also had the presence of singing sensations from different genres, like Amaal Malik and Neha Kakkar. Juhi Chawla, Zayed Khan, Bombay Rockers are other well-known personalities who have performed in VJTI. So far, this year has been a roller-coaster ride for Pratibimb. From kick-starting the semester with a mesmerizing trek to Lonavala, to roping in some of the major storytellers and poets of this generation like Yahya Bootwala, there has been a spectrum of applause and appreciation. Aarambh 2K18 was managed exclusively for the freshmen. Supporting social causes besides managing cultural events, Pratibimb takes up social activities like Wall Painting at Wadala Road station and Beach Clean-up. Interacting with the masses in these drives and reflecting the zest of the festival, Pratibimb contributes to the society, its people and their culture, and the environment as a whole.

Beach Clean-Up Drive Pratibimb 2017

6 

Debates and Literary Activities, VJTI Siddhant Kirad

Debate and Literary Activities, VJTI, initially a part of Pratibimb, was started by a small group of

people with a view of inculcating good reading and communication habits in their peers, which grew to the standalone club it is today, seeing active participation across all batches of all programs.

The activities for this academic year started with a rather interactive introduction on the orientation day for the First Year students which included a short writing workshop arranged on the same day. This was received very positively by the freshmen and set the pace for further endeavours. The FY Quiz was conducted on the evening of August 14th, which was a two-hour flurry of questions and answers, generating piqued levels of interest among the participants. The winners of the competition were awarded inspiring books which were handpicked by the DLA committee. The next event held by DLA was the annual Model UN workshop on September 1st, as an introduction to the MUN culture for beginners. It served as a bridge for newcomers to foray into the world of formal debates. With guidance from the experienced alumni of VJTI, as we further proceeded after the basic introduction, the day saw speeches and fiery debates which were countered by fierce arguments. By the end of the day, each participant returned home with significant additions to their overall diplomacy, lobbying and public speaking skills. The Book Club, which is a new initiative taken by the DLA committee aims to bring all the bookworms out of their figurative ‘nests’ to discuss, debate, and deliberate about their favourite books, continued its run into the second year with the first book discussed being the melancholic A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. The session was attended by book lovers all around VJTI, from Diploma to Masters. In addition to all the aforementioned activities, DLA has a wide range of activities planned along the way including but not limited to MUNs, writing workshops, and debates.

6 

The DLA Team

Entrepreneurship Cell, VJTI Making ideas happen Lalit Jadhav, Vidula Pagar

E-Cell embarked on its voyage in the refreshing monsoons of 2018. With a visit to the Bombay Stock Exchange, students enhanced their knowledge of the stock market. The journey continued with the interaction of VJTI freshmen with entrepreneurs Smeet Gala and Tanmei Kamath. We organized E-Symposium, an interactive session between the committee and the FYs. They got to know about E-Cell and entrepreneurship, enjoyed playing logo housie and creatively pitched things out of the box. On the Independence Day, we launched the theme of Startup Netcon 2019 as 'A Nation of Entrepreneurs'. E-Cell VJTI had organised Entrepreneurship Week from 6th to 12th October. The E-Week was inaugurated by Prayas, a social drive which aims at teaching secondary school kids about entrepreneurs through stories and games. Entrepreneurship Week aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for its growth in VJTI: 1. Startup Unscripted: A podcast with Things2doinMumbai to know their inspiring journey from their inception to the present; 2. Campuspreneur: The event intends to address the problems existing on the campus and seek innovative solutions to solve it; 3. Insane Pitchers: A pitching competition of crazy business plans; 4. Guest Lecture by Mr. Sudin Baraokar: A global IT innovation advisor and industry expert in emerging tech, AI, Blockchain, Fintech, etc; 5. Stock Market Workshop: Organized by Bombay Stock Exchange. E-Cell will continue on the extraordinary path of encouraging ideas and building a nation of entrepreneurs through our vision as E-Cell VJTI strongly believes in Making ideas happen!

The E-Cell team

7 

8 

Alumni Association, VJTI Manpreet Kaur

Founded in 1944, VJTI Alumni Association - formerly known as Old Boys’ Association - is a

group of dynamic members striving to take VJTI to greater heights. VJTI Alumni Association connects the students and the alumni, thus creating a cohesive environment enriched with experience, skill and talent. The alumni share specialized knowledge and experience gained in the profession; finance studies of the needy and deserving; assist placement activities, and also provide infrastructural help. EVENTS Following the initiative Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the students of VJTI took the initiative to clean the Dadar Chowpatty by hosting a cleanliness drive ‘Get Set Clean’ at the beach on October 2nd, 2018. Alumni Association also took the opportunity to felicitate the volunteers as a token of appreciation for their commendable contribution towards the cause. It also collaborated with VJTI Cultural Group, to beautify Wadala road station by painting one of its walls. Technical Tacklers This event kick-started the year for the students. Industrial problem statements specific to their branch were given, for which they had to come up with solutions that were feasible and sustainable. The event helped the students to connect better with our alumni and learn about the actual problems that the industry encounters. Guest Lecture The student committee of Alumni Association also organized a guest lecture by Mr. Raj Devdhar, ouralumnus, who scored 99.94 percentile in CAT and was amongst the city toppers for 2017. Alumni Reunion Carrying forward the tradition of meeting old friends and batchmates, the Alumni Reunion Meet is scheduled on January 6th, 2019. The student committee of Alumni Association looks forward to organising more engaging events. It will continue to strive to accomplish its mission of bridging the gap between the students and the alumni.

Wadala station painting Dadar chowpatty cleaning 

Rangawardhan Marathi, Rang Jagacha Padmashree Samant

Rangwardhan has successfully completed its 17 years and will bring in the glorious 18th year with the theme “Marathi Rang Jagacha” which was announced on September 6th. With the stupendous start by a group trek followed by a treasure hunt for the first year students, Rangawardhan began its activities for this year with the grand orientation and a social drive. Following are the major activities covered by Rangawardhan in 2018. Ranga Trek With the aim of having a good bonding amongst the team members, Rangawardhan had organized a trek to the Mahuli Fort on July 21st, 2018. All the committee members thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to another one. Treasure Hunt As a relief from all the academics stresses, Rangawardhan had organized a treasure hunt for all the FYs, which received an overwhelming response. More than 150 FYs had a thrilling experience in this treasure hunt. Theme launch “Marathi, Rang Jagacha” was announced as the official theme of Rangawardhan for the year 2018. It highlights the tremendous growth and outreach of Marathi culture beyond the boundaries of the motherland to a global level. The official and unofficial videos were also released on that day. The occasion was graced by one of the well-known actors of the Marathi cinema, Mr. Shreerang Deshmukh. He also addressed the crowd with his wise words on the day on which the theme was announced. Social Drive In order to bring a smile on the faces of the needy children, Rangawardhan had organized a visit to Desire Society Orphanage, Vashi. Team Rangawardhan distributed gifts and chocolates to the children and played various games with them, realizing that “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile”.

Treasure Hunt 2018

9 

SWACHH VJTI Aditya Navale, Dhananjay Kadam

Realizing the role and importance of cleanliness in the day-to-day life of a student and its

collective effect on our nation, Hon'ble Director Dr. Dhiren Patel has taken the initiative to form Swachh VJTI from this academic year. Swachhta (cleanliness) is not just about physical attributes but is a much broader term which defines our character, our resolve, and our commitment towards our nation. This year, our mission is to imbibe in ourselves, a set of practices which will help to keep our college clean, and carry out various social and environmental awareness drives in the college and nearby areas. As a helping hand from our college to Kerala for the mass destruction that occurred this year, Swachh VJTI organised a helpdesk and the response from VJTIans was overwhelming. A total of 148 kgs of food grains was sent from our college. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister launched Swachhta Pakhwada, a significant initiative under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan with the objective of bringing into focus the issues and practices of Swachhata. The fortnight engaged GOI Ministries/Departments in their respective jurisdictions. Pertaining to it, from September 1st to 15th, various activities were carried out in our college, like the cleanliness drives in college surroundings, campus, and hostel. To celebrate this special occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Swachh VJTI carried out a beach cleaning drive in association with VJTI Cultural Group and Alumni Association. After this, a cleanliness rally was carried out in the college campus in which all the college faculty including the Director participated. Having covered all the social aspects, Swachh now wants to work on technical ones. We are collaborating with Vastra and CESA. Our main aim in this is to develop sustainable and green solutions to the technical problems that we face. To ensure that the college is clean throughout the day and for the whole academic year, a new system called ‘VJTI Cleaning and Monitoring System’ will soon be introduced by Team Swachh.

Beach cleaning drive Cleanliness drive in the college campus

10 

Technovanza Beginning of Beyond Samta Salve

Technovanza 2018 announced its theme, 'Beginning of Beyond' on 10th August, 2018 while

welcoming all the excited First Years to the VJTI family. A treasure hunt based around the MarvelUniverse for all the SYs was also hosted by the committee. It received a heartening participation from all departments. Kicking off its Techno week, here's a quick summary of all the events that took VJTI by storm and raised Technovanza to a higher pedestal. Techno Quiz - Keeping up with the spirit of learning new things every day a GK was held on 4th September for the first year students. Registering in teams of two, it turned out to be a huge success. Asish Nayak and Jagannath Lohia were declared winners. Lecture by Dr. Rajesh Parekh - Collaborating with the Electrical Engineering Department, Technovanza invited the Engineering Director of Google, San Francisco for a seminar and an interactive session with the students about the understanding of Google Street View Imagery. Dr. Parekh, being an expert in machine learning and computer vision used in modeling Google's geo products, gave an insightful talk about providing solutions to problems and the challenges that lie ahead. Guest Lecture Series - Beginning with its series of guest lectures while culminating the Techno week, Technovanza had the 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award Winner, Dr. Bharat Vatwani address students from all over Mumbai. Dr. Vatwani, one of the leading names for carrying out impactful social work through his NGO Shraddha, talked about the need for every person to give back to the society as much as they had taken from it. Dr. Vatwani's simplicity and dedication towards his work amazed the audience, while his words motivated the students to actively participate in the social service. Hourglass Conclave, the one-of-a-kind attempt by Technovanza to connect the youth to the already established pioneers from various fields was organized in the last weekend of October. This year saw the second edition of this glorious event with a lineup featuring stalwarts from various walks of life: Ms. Leena Bokil A NASA Honeywell educator, she enraptured the audience with a never-seen-before video of the lunar landing. Describing space as the big unreachable barrier, she spoke about how it has always been a great fascination for man, making aerospace engineering a sought-after field. Mr. Armstrong Pame On October 27th, we had a refreshing talk by the esteemed IAS officer, who addressed a packed auditorium on how ‘Normal is not enough’. The Miracle Man of Manipur talked about how his life in a village shaped his ambition of becoming an IAS officer. His desire of doing more than what is ordinary and walking the extra mile made him one of the 100 people listed by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader. Between these two intellectually enriching lectures, The Clue Hunt was organized for the FYs. Going by the theme , it had all the participants scrambling across the length and breadth of the

11 

campus as well as nearby areas to find clues (“Horcruxes”). At the end of the event, all three houses had to make cube-arts of the three people whose presence was imperative in stopping He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In addition to the events mentioned above, Technovanza is constantly organizing various workshops and events for spreading knowledge, the recent robotics workshop being proof of the same. Technovanza has time and again proved itself worthy of the motto conferred by Late. Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, “Taking Technology to the Society”.

Techno Quiz Dr. Bharat Vatwani

Hourglass Conclave

12 

AEROVJTI Big dreams take flight on small set of wings Shruti Gandhi

Started by aviation enthusiasts in 2008, AeroVJTI, the aeromodelling club of VJTI is involved in the design and development of radio-controlled aircraft by using aerodynamic analysis and advanced manufacturing techniques. We believe in constantly exploring new avenues of aero model development. The club participates in various national and international competitions, such as AIAA D/B/F (USA), FFD (Turkey), and SAE Aero Design (USA), which has added to our experience and exposure. With the sole purpose of spreading knowledge while popularizing aero-modeling amongst young and receptive minds, AeroVJTI conducts workshops on design and construction of RC aircraft and gliders, namely Aquila, Jetstrike, and Aircraft Design Workshop for students at school and college level. PAST EVENTS Aquila was held for VJTI freshmen on 7th and 8th of September, where the students learned how to build an RC plane. The workshop had lectures on the basics of aerodynamics, stability and structures, and was followed by construction of the plane. It had 175 participants. UPCOMING EVENTS Aircraft design workshop - The basic process of designing an RC plane, with basic theory and required concepts being taught. The complete design is developed by students. The software like XFLR5 and SOLIDWORKS are used. AIAA D/B/F 2019 (American Institute of Aeronautics Astronautics D/B/F 2019) - The team Vayuputras will be participating in this flagship competition. The competition’s objective is to design a multi-purpose aircraft to support carrier operations which can roll completely through the given box in the stowed configuration, and it must transition from the stowed to the flight configuration remotely, along with flight missions. The team stood 1st in the design report and 7th overall in the same competition in 2017. SAE ISS 2019 – Team Abhyuday and Team Cazadora comprising of seven members each will be representing AeroVJTI at the national levels.

Team AeroVJTI

13 

14 

COMMUNITY OF CODERS

Imagine. Believe. Achieve. Sanidhya Sharma Founded with the aim of kindling interest in coding amongst freshmen, the Community of Coders works to cultivate and hone that interest in the years ahead. Continuing the tradition of learning from seniors and passing it on to juniors, active members of the community achieve all-round development. One’s first acquaintance with COC is the C workshop. It introduces the basic nuances of coding to the beginners and is conducted by the sophomore members of the community. The next event, the Code Hunt, is a coding-based treasure hunt where participants compete in teams of two. The winners are presented with prizes and certificates. Inheritance, a mentorship programme initiative by COC, spans the summer vacation. Participants work in teams of four to build a development project under the guidance of seniors. Successful projects are presented at the end of the programme, and in some cases, may qualify as semester projects. Inheritance is a wonderful opportunity for empirical learning. The experience is fulfilling and ecstatic. As you advance to further semesters, you will be able to participate in various competitions and hackathons. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the senior members of COC, you can make use of AL004 after college hours for the preparation. Many of these seniors have gained a lot of experience in advanced level coding competitions, such as the ACM-ICPC, qualifying for further rounds. On that note, may we also proudly announce that recently, VJTI secured the 1st, 3rd, and 5th positions in the hackathon conducted at K. J. Somaiya’s Abhiyantriki 2018. Program through experience. Experience programming. At COC, seniors will always be there to assist you.

KJSCE Hackathon C Workshop 2018

15 

IEEE, VJTI CHAPTER Shambhavi Roy Chairperson, IEEE, VJTI Chapter IEEE stands for ‘Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’. Formed in the year 1963 in the USA, it is a professional technical organisation aimed at the advancement of technology for humanity. It provides the latest technical developments to its members in the form of publications, technical societies, technological standards; educational activities and materials. From the time of its inception to the present day, the social responsibilities and duties of IEEE have touched people worldwide. Currently, there are around 4,23,000 IEEE members in over 160 countries. The student branch of IEEE in our college, IEEE VJTI, was reinstated in the year 2017. Our aim is to create a holistic learning environment that promotes research and development activities, along with paper publishing. We also aim to foster relationships among students, alumni, industry, and society for mutual benefits. Our main focus is on research and development activities. Even this year, we have various teams doing projects on topics, encompassing domains like IoT, Embedded Systems, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. Students are also encouraged to publish papers on their research work. This semester has been eventful as we have had many successful events: Orientation Seminar This seminar, organized for all VJTI students, was intended to acquaint them with IEEE, the opportunities it provides them with, and the numerous benefits it has to offer. The event was successful as it saw active participation from students of various disciplines. IoT 101 Seminar Hosted by Mr. Noorain Panjwani, co-founder and CEO of Space Up Technologies, this seminar introduced IoT to the students and explored its various possibilities. It received a raft participation. Seminar by Mr. Saurabh Mehta On October 25th, 2018, IEEE VJTI hosted Mr. Saurabh Mehta, for a guest lecture on the topic Sensor Networks and Security. He used to be the Head of Department of Electronics and Telecommunication in Vidyalankar Institute of Technology and currently runs a consultancy company, called Sun Wireless Technologies. He talked about the affordable applications of sensor networks and introduced students to his firm. The session proved to be useful. UPCOMING EVENTS Two national-level events in association with Technovanza: Makers Square, a project exhibition; Technical Paper Presentation Competition, a paper presentation competition.

16 

We hope that IEEE succeeds in bringing everyone together to work towards learning and having enriching experiences.

IoT 101 Seminar, hosted by Mr. Noorain Panjwani

Orientation Seminar

Society of Robotics and Automation, VJTI Ideate. Innovate. Inspire. Harshvardhan Kanthode

Established over 10 years ago, the Society of Robotics and Automation is a students’ society

which deals with robotics, machine vision, automation, and related fields. It has one mission: to learn how to learn. Primarily, the members of SRA learn to throw around fancy words, and on the side they make robots hoping they do something that makes them look smart. But what all of them do know is how to get an answer when presented with a problem. The journey through SRA in one’s budding years as an engineer is not straightforward. To mitigate the aura of confusion that plagues almost every fresher, SRA follows a timeline of activities to ensure a smooth transition into the vast field of robotics: Workshops The workshops are an effort to strike a note in the minds of the First Years while maintaining a fervent approach towards technology. It is multifold in that it not only imparts technical knowledge but also teaches the intricacies that go into keeping a crowd engrossed for a long duration. The 2018 Wall-E 2.1 is an extension of last year’s Wall-E 2.0 “Self-balancing and line following robot” workshop. It entails complex concepts such as PID (Proportional Integral Derivative) Control and Serial Communication among others, many of which are involved in final year projects or even in industry-inspired robots. This year, we shifted to a completely new microcontroller, the ESP32, its best feature being inbuilt WiFi support. This allows support for IoT (Internet of Things) development, a feature which its predecessor, Atmega did not possess. Eklavya Eklavya is a mentorship program that is based on the word itself: self-learning. Courtesy of a stupendous VJTI summer vacation, the students yearning to build a creation of their own based on the knowledge imparted to them over the course of two workshops get the opportunity to use all of SRA’s resources - 3D printers, 3-axis CNC, etc. and implement their ideas in teams of four. Each team is assigned mentors according to their experience on topics, who guide the juniors without handing out solutions to them. 3D mapping an environment using a light sensor, a robotic cat mimicking the movement of its live counterpart, and a machine which balances a ball on a flat surface, are a few of the ideas that saw the light of day through Eklavya. Competitions The SYs of SRA compete and excel in various national level technical competitions like ROBOCON held all over India. Why participate? Competitions are the easiest pathway towards honing your ability to work in a team, in a pressurized environment, with stringent deadlines and occasionally getting scolded by disgruntled seniors - all part of an experience that lasts with you for a lifetime. In 2018, SRA for the first time participated in the World Robotics Olympiad under the Advanced Robotics Challenge (ARC) section. The problem statement involved the physical embodiment of the popular game, Tetris where the robot had to stack pieces onto an upright rectangular wooden stack and achieve the maximum points in the given time-frame. Unlike most other colleges, at any competition, SRA is represented by just SYs at a the stage where you learn to solve problem statements, possibly achieving laurels while at it.

17 

SRA is not limited to the activities mentioned above. Robotics is a field with a colossal scope in the future, and as a result, it has a steep learning curve. However, technology is improving every day and the possibilities of what one can do with it are endless.

Wall E 2.0 Workshop Self balancing line follower bot

18 

19 

Society of Automotive Engineers, VJTI Saaransh Jain VJTI Racing is the official SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) collegiate club of VJTI. It is a platform for young engineers to transform their ideas into actions that would make innovative contributions to a better future. We host year-round projects through which we aspire to scale the differences between the college classrooms and the industry, and excel in fields of which we later wish to be a part. We seek to be at par with the leading technologies in the industry and implement those in the most efficient and cost-effective ways in our projects. We participate in several competitions that challenge us to build a working vehicle from scratch, and have won various accolades for our innovative ideas and design. Intercollegiate Competitions This season, Team Motorbreath, VJTI Racing will be representing VJTI at BAJA SAEINDIA 2019 and ESI 2019. These are undergraduate level competitions, in which students have to design and fabricate an “All-Terrain Vehicle”. We started working on the project since March 2018. Our timeline has 3 main phases – design, manufacturing, and testing. We have successfully cleared the elimination rounds for both of the aforementioned competitions and moved on to the manufacturing phase. In VJTI Apart from the preparation for the competition, a lot of club activities go on simultaneously. This semester started with an amazing orientation for the first-year students, all credits for which go to the SY members of the club. Under the Skillnext program, we acquired a BMW engine for educational purposes. It is placed in the Automotives Lab, and is open for students who wish to see it. Recruitment procedures for the SYs are ongoing. We have also had two industrial visits: BHIRA Power Plant under Mechanical Department; Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) organised by VJTI Racing. Both the visits were great experiences and gave us practical insights to our theoretical knowledge. This is just a small preview of our club and its activities from July to October 2018. If you wish to come visit us to know and learn more, you are welcome to; and what you learn from here will exceed your expectations.

20 

The team picture submitted for Autocar magazine

Manufacturing chassis on a newly fabricated welding table.

 AVITRA

Surveillance, disaster mitigation and mobile rescue robot with human-in-loop feedback Team AVITRA , SRA; part of Centre of Excellence (CoE), VJTI

Beyond the conventional line-following bots and other similar prototypes, Team AVITRA sees the field of robotics as a help to people. Motivated to do something new and challenging, guided by Dr. Faruk Kazi, they materialized this belief in the form of AVITRA.

Focusing on the domains of disaster mitigation and rescue operations, the team's aim was to build a general purpose system capable of navigation, surveillance, and disaster mitigation operations in human-optimised critical areas under remotely operated or supervised conditions.

The name 'Avitra' means protector in Sanskrit. It is intended as an economical and efficient robotic solution implemented using Robot Operating System (ROS), that combines the robustness of robots and intelligent sensing systems, with a human in the loop feedback system to perform exploration and surveillance.

Technical Details

Based on: NVDIA Jetson TX2 GPU; Operating System: Robot Operating System; Camera: Microsoft Kinect; Sensors: 2D LiDAR.

It was the team's aspiration to include ROS, an industry-standard framework, which presently forms an integral part of the working of the robot.

21 

The project was started in October 2017, with the construction of the humanoid crystallizing in April this year. The present form of AVITRA is a scaled-up prototype of a Robotis bioloid humanoid, which originally was 1-2 feet in height. Parts of AVITRA's body are 3D-Printed using the 3D printer in SRA. It possesses the dexterity to perform critical tasks, such as toggling switches, turning hoses, grabbing and placing things, etc. by imitating actions of the remote operator.

The 2DLiDAR sensors, like ROS, are widely used professionally. CoE CNDS, VJTI and Society of Robotics and Automation, VJTI provided the resources required for AVITRA's inception and completion.

22 

23 

ONGOING PROJECTS AT VJTI SMART IOT LAB Vikas Yadav, Project Fellow A project on Smart IoT Lab is currently being developed under CSRIOT Lab, Electrical Engineering Department. If students wish to get involved with the project, they may write to project.fellow@el.vjti.ac.in. The details of the project are as follows: Objectives

Automatic monitoring of appliances and their control based on human presence in the lab Designing power efficient sensor nodes for monitoring different parameters Modelling and simulation of fog computing framework for Smart Lab automation system Monitoring energy consumption and designing strategies for its reduction Developing Smart Dustbin and Smart Meeting Room systems Employing machine learning and data mining techniques Exploring security paradigms for Smart Home

Architecture

The design for the project is as illustrated in the next image:

24 

Design

CONTENT MINING AND IMAGE ANALYSIS Abnormality detection from Ophthalmology database Dhanshree Thulkar Aim

To reuse the ophthalmology record for research To extract relevant medical keywords indicating the possibility of blindness and vision impairment from the complex terms recorded by clinicians as text.

To visualize foreign bodies’ like bright and dark lesions (like exudates and haemorrhages) imaging science is applied to examine and diagnose various severities of Diabetes-related diseases that (could) affect human eyes. For the recognition, systemic flow is proposed in the study which uses text mining for studying text medical reports. Corresponding abnormal image reports are further analysed. Technical Details To reduce the dimensionality of the database, various natural language processing and regular expression techniques are used. Sentiment analysis is done on the reports to detect negative sentiment reports in the text corpus. Text mining is done for detection and identification of relevant medical terms. The existence of complex eye diseases like macular edema, exudates related to non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or hemorrhage related to proliferative diabetic retinopathy are identified. The

25 

methodology consists of using contrast-enhanced adaptive histogram equalization and alternate sequential filtering technique. The study is used for detection of Diabetic Macular Edema, which results in damaging the macular region by affecting the central and peripheral vision. An algorithm of accuracy 89.89 percent is proposed for grading its severity. Diabetic retinopathy is detected by detecting the presence of exudates and haemorrhages. Ophthalmology corpus shall be used to study:

Presence of a rare complication like retinoblastoma cancer in children; Other eye defects like retinal detachment, hyphema, myopia, colobomas, synechia, and scar tissue.

Using content mining, this study will draw powerful insights to enhance decision-making process to treat the patient. It shall hence enable medical practitioners to access medical records. Image processing can be used to identify the presence of lesions for detecting the earliest signs of diseases, reducing unnecessary visits to medical specialists, minimizing overall cost of treatment, and optimizing the number of patients seen by doctor by developing an end-to-end solution.

26 

RECENT UPDATES

Department of Structural Engineering Mr. Abhay Bambhole has been conferred the prestigious ‘Professor Chandrakant & Patricia Desai Fellow’ fellowship in a function organised on October 25th, 2018 by VJTI Alumni Association in the VJTI auditorium. Mr. Bambhole has done his Ph. D. from Indian Institute of Technology, Powai. Some his specialisations include Finite Element Analysis, Structural Analysis, and Bridge Engineering. To promote research in the field of Structural Engineering, professor Chandrakant Desai and Mrs. Patricia Desai constituted the fellowship titled for VJTI faculty. Professor Chandrakant is an eminent alumnus and Regent's Professor at the University of Arizona, USA.

Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology Dr. S. G. Bhirud has been appointed as the registrar of Mumbai University. Dr. Bhirud joined as an assistant professor in the department in April 2000 and has published several papers since, some of which are:

Long range Forecasting of Hourly Power System Load by Time Series Analysis using Ordered Walsh Transform, Bhirud S. G. and Basu T. K., International Conference on Energy, Automation and Information Technology, December 10th, 2001, IIT Kharagpur;

Medium Range Load Forecasting Using Digital Image Processing Techniques, Bhirud S. G. and Basu T. K., International Conference on PSC-2001, Tehran, Iran;

Knowledge Based Expert System for Online Oral Examination, International Conference on Engineering Education 2002, Partnership, Policy, Practice UMIST, Manchester, UK, 18th to 22nd August, 2002.

27 

Department of Civil Engineering

1. Felicitation of Dr. Vishal Thombare

On 10th October, 2018 the Civil Engineering Students Association (CESA), in association with Marathi Vidnyan Parishad organized Bharatratna Mokshagundum Vishveshwarya Engineering Award Function in the Civil Seminar Hall. The attendees of the session were around 100 people, including members of CESA, TY B. Tech. and final year students (VJTI), M. Tech. (VJTI), Final Year Students of Matoshri Engineering College, Nashik and members of Marathi Vidnyan Parishad.

Marathi Vidnyan Parishad has decided to give Bharatratna Mokshagundum Vishveshwarya Engineering Award to engineers whose research and innovation has helped mankind and the firs awardee was Dr. Vishal Ramesh Thombare for his innovation of Ultra-Thin White Topping. Presently, he is working with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). This topping is laid over the Asphalt road and cured for 24 to 72 hours and then the road is opened for traffic. It also enhances the wearing course with improved durability.

Dr Vishal Rajesh Thombare (3rd from left) being presented the award by Dr. Dhiren Patel, Director of VJTI (1st from left), Padma Bhushan Prof. J. B. Joshi, President of

Marathi Vidnyan Parishad (2nd from left), Dr. Sumedh Y. Maske, HOD, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, VJTI (4th from left) and Shri. A. P.

Deshpande, Marathi Vidnyan Parishad (5th from left)

28 

2. Motivational talk on ‘Awareness of Road Safety’

On October 25th, Civil Engineering Students Association (CESA) organized Motivational Talk on

‘Awareness of Road Safety’ by Col. Gopikrishnan in the Civil Seminar Hall, 1st floor, Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, VJTI. The members on the dais were - Col. Gopikrishnan FIE, PMP, M.ASCE, GMICE, MIET(UK), Additional Chief Engineer, Headquarters Chief Engineer Jodhpur Zone, Military Engineer Services; Dr. R. D. Daruwala, Dean Student Activities,VJTI; Dr. S. Y. Mhaske, Head of Department, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Dr. P. P. Bhave; Dr. A. S. Wayal; Mrs. V. S. Bhangale, Chairperson of Civil Engineering Students Association (CESA); and Mr. P. S. Chaudhari. The session was attedend by students of M. Tech. and TY B. Tech, and members of CESA. Col. Gopikrishnan has decided to travel around eight states on his bicycle for campaigning about ‘Awareness of Road Safety’. He raised awareness among the students about the Road Safety and explained three slogans: 1. Laparwahi durghatana ki jad hai, sachet rahein, surakshit rahein. 2. Aapki suraksha ke liye sirf aap hain jimmedar, dusra koi kyun rahe paharedar. 3. Chalo safe, jiyo safe. He also instructed the attendees to keep ‘HOME’ in mind while driving on the road: H - Helmet O - Over speeding M - Mobile E - Entry from wrong side

Col. Gopikrishnan A token of appreciation presented to Col. Gopikrishnan

by CESA

DLA ACTIVITIES

The Book Club The Book Club is a one of a kind initiative by DLA VJTI which emphasizes the importance of the habit of reading in students. Every fortnight, a book is selected and discussed upon. Since the last year, we have discussed many amazing books and the discussions have branched out to various topics. It has been enriching to hear and understand everyone's thoughts as they pitched in, allowing the club to be a success. Nirmaan

Nirmaan is the official annual magazine of VJTI. With Nirmaan, a platform is provided for all the writers, poets, artists, photographers and travel enthusiasts to showcase their works as this magazine is circulated among the highly distinguished VJTI faculty, administration as well as alumni.

VJTI Internship Blog

The VJTI Internship Blog is back this year as a platform for VJTIans to write about their internship experiences at various corporations and institutes, for everyone else to read, prepare and crack. This serves the dual purpose of making students aware of the current industrial trends as well letting them know what to expect and what to prepare for their desired internship.

VJTI Open Mic The month of March brought a glorious end to the activities of DLA for this academic year with the organization of the first ever Open Mic in VJTI. The students of VJTI presented their talents in various arts including music, poetry and also performed stand-up comedy, with some participants had the audience laughing with their jokes while some participants made the audience emotional with their heart tugging poetry and music.

Wordly Wednesday The initiative, which makes sure that a new word—with its meaning and usage—reaches all the groups every Wednesday, has been a great success, inciting various responses from students who say that it improved their vocabulary. It makes everyone inquisitive of the words we showcase, for which they eagerly wait for every Wednesday. Humans of VJTI We restarted this initiative and gained an insight into the background of one of the hidden personalities of VJTI canteen, our very own Sandesh Choudhary, whom you may know as the cook who cooks you the lip-smacking Chinese cuisine! Stay tuned for more such articles from DLA!

MUN Workshop

This initiative, open only to VJTIans, is an event which takes place every year for the FYs where experienced individuals, college seniors and alumni alike teach the name of the game to

 stand out in one of the most competitive MUNing circles in the country.

Freshmen Introduction Every year at the beginning of the academic year for the first year students, members of the DLA Committee set out to greet the First Years and get an idea of how aware they are of the college they got in, its surroundings, and the campus jargons. All the responses are recorded and made into a hilarious video as a welcome treat to the FYs. You can find the video on the DLA YouTube channel!

THE VJNEWS TEAM

Adithya Arya., Aditya Navale, Atharv Shinde, Dhananjay Kadam, Dhanshree Thulkar, Harshvardhan Kanthode, Kunjal Avasare, Lalit Jadhav, Manpreet Kaur, Mukul Sakhalkar, Nidhee Kamble, Padmashree Samant, Riddhi Nisar, Saaransh Jain, Saish Kamble, Samta Salve, Sanidhya Sharma, Sanjeet Saluja, Shambhavi Roy, Shivam Patil, Shivangi Tripathi, Shruti Gandhi, Siddhant

Kirad, Vidula Pagar, Vikas Yadav.

VJNEWS is the official newsletter of VEERMATA JIJABAI TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (VJTI), Mumbai. However, the views and opinions expresses herein do not necessarily reflect those of the institute or of the Debate & Literary Activities, VJTI. In case of any query or complaint, send an email to dla@vjti.info!