HatchLab Research Centre, SRM University-AP aims at facilitating a conducive atmosphere where all types of businesses can grow and prosper especially in a socially backward place. Hatchlab has helped in developing multiple projects, but here’s a unique venture by fourth year
Electrical and Electronics Engineering students, Gopichand and Avinash.

Whilst the rest of their batch mates are awaiting lucrative offers from top-tech companies, this duo has decided to venture into Entrepreneurship. Gopichand and Avinash, despite societal pressure, have decided to live their dreams and co-founded Virxon Private Limited. These final year engineering students have developed an AI-based digital platform that would enable schools to post job openings for teachers, along with fully automated ERP and learning solutions for students. After surveying around 400+ schools. Virxon found that, there is a huge gap in the demand and supply which can be automated through AI tools and provide a complete solution which is missing in the market right now.

Thrilled about their decision of swimming against the tide to choose a rather difficult path, these entrepreneur duo said -“It may appear that we might be slogging for 18 hours, and stay awake till 2 am in the morning, balancing our studies and our aspirations, but that is not the case. Our dreams keep us awake and our goals keep us going. We are definitely going to make a difference in society.”

Currently, the students are being mentored on the business model and the marketing strategies by Mr. Jayaprakash Narayan, from HatchLab Research Centre, SRM University- AP.

Conventional agricultural utility vehicles used for crop cultivation involve complex operations such as ploughing and seeding, require trained personnel, and are expensive and not affordable to many farmers, especially in developing countries. Thus, there is a need for an agricultural utility vehicle for carrying out crop cultivation activities that alleviate the drawbacks of conventional practices.

Researchers at the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering have been granted a patent for an invention entitled An Agricultural Utility Vehicle for Crop Cultivation Activities (Application number 202241051059). Assistant Professor Dr Somesh Vinayak Tewari and his students Gundrevula Sisir Srivastav, Kolisetty Jayanth, Tempalli Pallavi Sri, and Jayana Keerthi Tanvita have accomplished this milestone through their dedicated research.

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses an agricultural utility vehicle (1000) for carrying out crop cultivation activities comprising a framed structure (200) having wheels configured to be driven in an open plot of land. An agricultural implement (400) is configured to be attached to the vehicle. An electric drive system (100) is configured to drive the framed structure, and a battery (300) is coupled to the electric drive system to provide power.

Electrical and Electronic Engineering is a core engineering course in the market with an aspiring number of students securing admissions to reputed universities. Yet with the advent of the modern software era, the dilemma of future job opportunities for Electrical Engineers has been buzzing around the students of the field. The Power & Control Society, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering organised an invited talk on February 02, 2023, on “Career Opportunities for Electrical Engineers” to empower and enlighten young graduates on potential career prospects in the field. Prof. Praveen Kumar of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati was the distinguished speaker of the session.

Some of the frequently asked questions among Electrical Engineers are whether selecting Electrical Engineering as a core course instead of other engineering streams for their BTech degree was the right choice and whether it would hinder their career opportunities in this ever- transitioning job market. Nowadays, the engineering field is dominated by software and its application. It is quite evident that most jobs lie in the software or IT sectors, focusing more on coding and programming instead of our core streams.

Prof. Praveen Kumar addressed this pressing situation and reassured students that selecting the EEE stream was the right choice with it being an important core stream in the field of Engineering and giving flavour to understanding the physics behind the engineering model. He has addressed with examples of how such knowledge plays a major role when relating to other fields in any sector of the industry whether in assembling, production, AI, innovation etc. Prof. Kumar talked about coding and programming, reading syntax, and explained the importance of AI today, and how it plays an important role in engineering analysis such as Control theory, Electrical machines, Power electronics, Power systems etc. Prof. Kumar also highlighted different aspects of the transformation of the Nationwide EV ecosystem in India and encouraged students to learn various aspects of EV and solutions – To think and analyse the problem to create, innovate and present solutions per the market trend.

About the Speaker

A distinguished academician from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Professor Praveen Kumar had completed his MTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. He was conferred with PhD from the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands and is an expert in the fields of Electric Vehicles, Wireless Power Transmission and Electrical Machines.

Dr Tousif Khan, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering has been awarded the “Young Researcher Award 2022” by the STEM Society at the International Conference organised at Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla on December 17, 2022. The basic purpose of the STEM-RS is to bring together Researchers, Academicians, Industrialists and Experts from different parts of the country and the world, to exchange knowledge and breakthrough ideas at a common platform by organising national and international events such as Conferences, Seminars and Workshops that unite the Science, Technology, Engineering and Management for the empowerment of research and development.

Industrial visit is an efficient learning strategy that nullifies the distance between academia and industry. Students and faculty of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering visited Dr Narla Thatharao Thermal Power Station (NTTPS) on November 21, 2022. The objective of the visit was to give an overview of the Thermal Power plant, which is a coal-based power plant where coal is transported from coal mines to the power plant by railway in wagons or a merry-go-round system.

The state-of-the-art construction and technologies amazed the students as they experienced an insightful industrial visit that exposed them to the actual working of a thermal power plant while enforcing their theoretical knowledge of Power Systems, Control Systems and Electrical Machines. Students from semesters one to four participated in the industry visit. Dr Somesh Vinayak Tewari, Dr Shubh Lakshmi, Dr Bhamidi Lokeshgupta, Dr Ramanjaneya Reddy U, and Dr Venkata Ramireddy Y were the faculty who accompanied the students.

A Detailed Account of the Industry Visit

Coal is unloaded from the wagons using wagon tippler units to a moving underground conveyor belt. This coal from the mines is of no uniform size. So, it is taken to the Crusher house and crushed to a size of 20 mm. From the crusher house, the coal is either stored in dead storage, which serves as coal supply in case of coal supply bottleneck or to live storage in the raw coal bunker in the boiler house. Raw coal from the raw coal bunker is supplied to the Coal Mills by a Raw Coal Feeder. The Coal Mills or pulverizer pulverizes the coal. The powdered coal from the coal mills is carried to the boiler in coal pipes by high-pressure hot air. The pulverized coal air mixture is burnt in the boiler in the combustion zone.

Generally, in modern boilers, a tangential firing system is used where the coal nozzles/guns form a tangent to a circle. The temperature in the fireball is of the order of 1300˚C. The boiler is a water tube boiler hanging from the top. Water is converted to steam in the boiler, and steam is separated from water in the boiler Drum. The saturated steam from the boiler drum is taken to the Low-Temperature Superheater, Platen Superheater and Final Superheater, respectively, for superheating. The superheated steam from the final superheater is taken to the High-Pressure Steam Turbine (HPT). In the HPT, the steam pressure is utilised to rotate the turbine, and the resultant is rotational energy. From the HPT, the outcoming steam is taken to the Reheater in the boiler to increase its temperature as the steam becomes wet at the HPT outlet. After reheating, this steam is taken to the Intermediate Pressure Turbine (IPT) and then to the Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT). The outlet of the LPT is sent to the condenser for condensing back to water by a cooling water system. This condensed water is collected in the Hot well and sent to the boiler in a closed cycle. The rotational energy imparted to the turbine by high-pressure steam is converted to electrical energy in the Generator.