Nineteen faculty members from various disciplines of KCG College of Technology, Karapakkam, Chennai visited Nokia Solutions & Network Systems, Oragadam,  on 18^th September 2017.

All left the institution by 9.15 am and reached the factory by 10.30 a.m. All were welcomed by Mr. G Agni, Team Leader, Filter Production, and he gave a brief idea on what is happening at the factory. He also explained the activities that are carried out for the students, through university/institute collaboration, internships, summer camp, hackethon, etc., Then Mr. Ramachandra Rao, Faculty Trainer, discussed the safety and precautions to be taken inside the factory, while visiting the shop floor. All the participants were given a static voltage protection garment to wear, to safe guard the components/devices that are manufactured. Then Mr. P Karthikeyan, Manager – Industrial Engineering and Automation, discussed the business/products that is happening/developed in the factory, through a video  presentation. To clarify everyone’s doubts Nokia is still developing cell phones which are marketed through HMD Global. The other products developed and manufactured by Nokia are Base station controllers, Base station transceivers, etc. Globally Nokia without mobile manufacturing has nearly 1 lakh employees. Most of the design and developments were carried out at Nokia Bell Labs at Shanghai, which is China’s biggest city and the global financial hub. Nokia is currently doing its research on 5G technology in mobile communication. Its quality for customers is based on I Own Quality. He explained about the various processes going on in the Oragadam factory, which is 8 years old now.

The participants were then taken to visit the shop floor where the production and warehouse is made. The stock are been carried through Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). The staff at Nokia should be SMT certified only then they’ll be allowed to entry into the shop floor for working. They are also given Kaizen awards for their performance. They also have 5 S team awards for housekeeping. KPI charts are displayed for indicating the performance indications.

Different sections such as assembling, moulding, packaging, picking & placing, etc. were shown. Initially the designed PCB weighing nearly 250 grams were inserted into a stencil printing machine to scoop the solder over the PCB uniformly. In this machine the solder will be in the semi-liquid stage. Then the PCB is given to a solder thickness measuring machine, which measures the thickness over the PCB, which is also manually checked for any empty pads. Now the components are inserted using the SMT Component Populating machine, which can populate 75,000 components per hour. The SMT components are placed in feeders which are automatically fed into the populating machine for component insertion. The population is automatically made by the programs that are fed based on the PCB. Next the populated PCB are inserted into a PCB counting machine to count the populated PCB, where the components are semi-soldered. Now pre-soldering inspection is made manually to verify all the components are inserted or not. Then the PCB is inserted into a Reflow Oven, which is approximately 10 meters long, where the temperature is raised to nearly 250 degree for doing the soldering. Then the PCB is send to a blower for cooling. After the PCB comes to the normal room temperature, the PCB is arranged in the PCB stack. Then the PCB is given for testing one by one to check the soldering manually, and then by inserting into to Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) machine. Then the tested PCBs are given to a PCB depaneling machine, to remove the unwanted PCB. Then by using in-circuit tester the unwanted solders are removed. Then the unit is tested for modular function test, where each and every modules in the PCB is tested separately. The failure rate at this stage is less than 0.6 %. Next is the unit level assembling for filters and RF sections. Most of the filters and resonators are fixed manually. Then tuning is made for the required frequency. Agilent test machines are used for this purpose. Again fine tuning is made at the second stage of tuning. Finally RF assembling and heat sinks are fixed. Screws are fixed both manually and using robots. The completed device is given for Ingress Protection testing. The final device weights about 50 Kg. The tested unit is send for packing, where the required accessories and manuals are kept along with the device. The packed unit is placed in the warehouse for delivery based on client’s requirement.

Then we visited the warehouse section we were able to witness both manual working and automated working in this section. Automatic Guided Vehicle with object detector is used to carry the components and materials from the warehouse to the manufacturing unit. The stack section was huge. Based on the material, they classify the bay into three. Bay A has materials with very expensive, bay B with medium expensive and bay C with less expensive such as screws, washer, etc.,

Then visited the training section, where AKS (awareness, knowledge, skill) model is adopted to train the new joining staffs. They also demonstrated the signal transmission in GSM architecture with a model. The Oragadam factory manufactures the BTS part in the GSM architecture.

The factory visit comes to an end by 1.30 p.m.

After the lunch Mr. Ramkrishna Patra, Head – Manufacturing Solutions & IoT Cluster joined with us along with Mr. G Agni and Mr. P Karthikeyan for a detailed discussion. Faculty members interacted with the officials of Nokia about establishing relationship between KCG College of Technology and Nokia in view of R&D, student projects, internships and product developments. They have happily agreed to extend their hands to associate with us for the benefit of the student community. Finally, we left the factory by 4:30 pm after the fruitful discussion.

We extend our sincere thanks to the Management and Principal for providing us the opportunity to get an industry exposure by arranging this factory visit. Also we extend our heartfelt thanks to the officials of Nokia for permitting us to visit their factory operations and for their acceptance for further collaborations.

Following are the faculty members participated in the visit.

1. R Dhanalakshmi, Professor, CSE
2. Poonkavithai, Professor, CSE
3. R Anandh, Associate Professor, IT
4. Jose Anand, Associate Professor, ECE
5. S Cloudin, Associate Professor, CSE
6. Sreekantha Kumar V P, Associate Professor, IT
7. N Sivakama Sundari, Associate Professor, EIE
8. V Hema, Assistant Professor, CSE
9. S Soumya, Assistant Professor, CSE
10. Minu Thomas, Assistant Professor, CSE
11. A Anju, Assistant Professor, IT
12. Krithikaa Venkat, Assistant Professor, IT
13. Presanna Prabhu, Assistant Professor, Mechanical
14. A Arvin Tony, Assistant Professor, EEE
15. N Loganathan, Assistant Professor, EEE
16. Aida Jones, Assistant Professor, ECE
17. Feba Sosa Abraham, Assistant Professor, ECE
18. M. Lavanya, Assistant Professor, EIE
19. M Ramya, Teaching Assistant, EEE

             Cloud10, E-cell of KCG college of technology conducted the E-cell orientation for the first year students on 26/09/2017 starting from 10.30am.

Dr Sumathi Poobal, Vice Principal, IEDC Coordinator and Dr.Ramanathan, HoD of S&H department addressed the students.  They gave the insight of Cloud10,  and its various activities at campus.   They also shared the success stories of alumni entrepreneurs.

All the freshers attended the orientation programme from 10.30am.  After the address , the E-Leaders of Cloud-10, E-Cell  KCG college of technology , explained  the students about the Learnwise app, National Entrepreneurship Network(NEN) Foundation and the activity “Idea Box”. Idea Box is an ideation competition for students. Following which the E-leaders and the Vice principal of KCG College of Technology conducted the event Idea Box.

The students were divided into small groups and were asked to elect a leader to communicate with. This gave them team spirit, to work as a team. The students were asked to come up with an idea that will have a positive impact on environment. The students showed active participation with enthusiasm. Students came up with product ideas and all teams explained about their product and the impact on the environment. The ideas were evaluated and best ideas won prizes. The orientation programme came to a close at 4.00 pm.

“The purpose of education is to instil confidence in students and enable them to think innovatively and motivate them to become innovators and job creators rather than job seekers,” said Dr Elizabeth Verghese, Chairperson, Hindustan Group of Institutions, while delivering the presidential address at the inauguration of the KCG Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (IIEC) and the Office of Student Affairs and International Student Services (OASIS) at KCG College of Technology.

Stressing the need to collaborate with leading universities across the globe in the area of research and highlighting the importance of staff and student exchange programmes, Dr Anand Jacob Verghese, CEO, Hindustan Group of Institutions, listed the various initiatives taken by the institution to sign MOUs with globally well-known universities and bring visiting professors to interact with faculty and students.

Speaking on the activities of the Office of the International Student Services, Dr Subbaroyan, Head, International Affairs, highlighted the visits of academics and representatives from various universities to the institute and the signing of MOUs with the universities.  He also added that eight students had been selected to attend the World Festival of Youth organized by the Moscow Aviation Institute at Sochi, Russia and they would participate in “Aviation of the Future – Perspective Directions for the Development of the Aircraft Building Industry” programme from 15th to 21st October.

Dr Anita Manuel, Dean, Student Affairs, said that the Office of Student Affairs had been set up with manifold objectives with the primary focus on the welfare of students on campus. Stating that inculcating in students the habit of lifelong learning is the need of the hour and stressing the need to facilitate learning beyond curriculum, she listed the various flagship events, co-curricular activities and contests organized by her office.   She added that the annual Hindustan Young Leaders Conference attracted delegates from different parts of India and offered a platform for delegates to discuss global challenges, in the process developing a high degree of communication skills as well as leadership abilities. She also mentioned how the twenty different clubs offered a vibrant space for students to have constructive fun as well as hone their talents.

Presenting the activities of the Higher Education Cell (HEC), Dr Albert P’Rayan, said that the Cell organized a number of events to create awareness among students about the importance of pursuing higher studies, scholarship opportunities to study abroad, education system in different countries, and preparing for Civil Services.  He stressed the need for giving career counselling to the students and conducting regular training sessions and workshops on preparing students for examinations such as TOEFL, IELTS, CAT, GMAT and GATE.

Vice-Principal Dr Sumathi Poobal who also heads the KCG Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (KCGIIEC) said that the Centre would support students and alumni of KCG and other colleges in Tamilnadu, local community entrepreneurs and startups from idea stage to market ready business. She added that KCGIIEC would strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region by providing shared resources within local ecosystems and identifying and addressing unexpected market inefficiencies faced by the SMEs. The KCGIIEC would focus on thrust areas such as manufacturing, renewable energy and sensor technology.

Director Dr Annie Jacob and Principal Dr G Prabhakaran were among other dignitaries who were present on the occasion.

The Department of Electrical and Electronics, KCG College of Technology organized   TWO DAY TRAINING PROGRAMME ON “POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION using MiCOM Relays” on 10-11, October, 2017. The Session was handled by Mr. Vijay Karthick and Mr.Saravanan, General Electric (GE), T&D, Pallavaram. Around 15 faculty members attended the programme.

The initial session of the training programme commenced with introductory concepts on power system protection. It focused on various operating states of the power system, degree of protection, Protective relaying and various factors to be considered in relaying. A detailed session was taken on Current Transformer and Potential Transformer, its types and use. The session also highlighted about the cost associated with relaying .

The second session started with fundamentals of transformer protection. A discussion was conducted on Merz Price differential protection scheme in transformers, Buchholz relay and various aspects of numerical relays focusing differential, biased differential and distance protection was discussed. Zero sequence filtering techniques and Amplitude Matching Factor determination was explained in detail stating practical examples.

The second day session commenced with the concepts of distance protection in the present scenario. The characteristics of impedance, reactance, mho and quadrilateral protection were introduced. The session also highlighted on various protection aspects like Auto reclosure, SOTF and VT fuse failure.

The training programme also incorporated Hands-on Training sessions on MiCOM P44x and P64x relay used for Transformer Differential and Distance Protection. The training session gave an opportunity for the faculty to explore the practical aspects of protective relaying.

The department of ECE organized “Department Award Function” programme on 11^th October 2017 for the welfare of ECE students at KMC auditorium by 11.00 a.m. under the following.

1. Class Toppers (first, second & third in the April/May 2017 University Examinations)
2. 100 % Attendance
3. EFY Workshop Participation Certificate
4. IETE Events Certificate

The award function started at 11.00 a.m. with the welcome address by Dr. V. Subbaroyan, Prof. & Head/ECE. Then special address was given by Dr. G. Prabhakaran, Principal, followed by the distribution of various awards and certificates. The felicitation address was given by Dr. Sumathi Poobal, Vice Principal & Prof./ECE. Finally Vote of Thanks was given by Ms. Kavitha Balamurugan, Associate Prof./ECE. The programme was co-ordinated by Dr. Jose Anand, Associate Professor/ECE.

MAKERDEMY has conducted Internship Campus Drive for final year EEE students on 12^th October 2017 at KCG College of Technology, Chennai.

MAKERDEMY is a senior IIM alumni venture started with a vision of bringing world class MAKER EDUCATION to India. The tag lines LEARN, EXPLORE and MAKE reflect their approach to learning and creating. The dream of the company is to mentor a generation of makers who will go on to build world class products for the world, right out of India.

The programme was coordinated by Dr. R. Murugan Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering with valuable support and guidance of Dr. P Deiva Sundari, Professor & Head, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

The drive started with welcome address by Dr.P Deiva Sundari,. This was followed by small presentation by Mr. Venkatesh Varadachari, Founder, Makerdemy, which gave detailed knowledge of the company. The importance of internship and its key aspects in the industry was discussed in detail. He insisted that internships are a proven way to gain relevant knowledge, skills and experience while establishing important connections in the field. He further emphasized on the fact that electrical and electronics engineers should pursue their career in their core field and to develop products for India and grow in India. Their ongoing projects such as Voice Controlled Light System and Voice Controlled Car using Raspberry Pi were demonstrated by the alumnus of EEE Department, Mr. Vigneshwar which gave the students a wide insight of wireless and remote monitoring systems in the industry.

After that, aptitude test was conducted on technical and logical questions background. The shortlisted students have been informed to appear for a personal interview on a later date. The company assured a stipend of Rs.5500/- to the selected students during the period of internship.

Makerdemy has conducted Internship Campus drive for final students on 12th October 2017 in K.C.G College of Technology, Chennai.

MAKERDEMY is a senior IIM alumni venture started with a vision of bringing world class MAKER EDUCATION to India. The tag lines LEARN, EXPLORE, and MAKE reflect their approach to learning and creating. The dream of the company is to mentor a generation of makers who will go on to build world class products for the world, right out of India.

The programme was coordinated by Dr.R.Murugan Associate professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering with valuable support and guidance of Dr.P Deivasundari, Professor & Head of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

The drive started with warm welcome by Dr.P Deivasundari, Professor & Head. This was followed by small presentation by Mr.Venkatesh Varadachari, Founder Makerdemy, which gave detailed knowledge of the company. The importance of internship and its key aspects in the industry was discussed in detail. Take away from MrVenkatesh address was that Internships are a proven way to gain relevant knowledge, skills, and experience while establishing important connections in the field.He further emphasized on the fact that electrical and electronics engineers should pursue their career in their Core field and to develop products for India and grow in India. Their ongoing projects such as Voice controlled Light System and Voice controlled Car using Raspberry Pi  were demonstrated by our alumni Mr.Vigneshware  which gave us a wide insight of wireless and remote monitoring systems in the Industry.

After that, aptitude test was conducted which included technical questions as well as logical questions in them.Students qualifying the aptitude test were informed that they would be interviewed personally later. The company assured a stipend of 5.5k to the students, who get selected, during the period of internship.

We are very happy to be a part of the drive, to make use of the wonderful opportunity and be a part of Makerdemy.

Resource Persons

Ms.Senthamarai Selvam

  Senior Principal Scientist, CLRI – CSIO

  Dr.P.Yogesh

Associate Professor, Anna University

Dr.Krishnamurthy

  Professor, KCG College of Technology

• A.Athif Shah

Chairman & Managing Director, ABE

• Senthil Kumar M,

 Chief Information Security Officer& DGM-IT, RANE Holdings

• B Muthukumaran,

Scientist, HTC Global Solutions, Chennai

• Muthu Singaram,

CEO,IITM HTIC Incubator, Chennai

• S Chithrakala,

Associate Professor,Anna University

• Uma Maheswari,

Professor,Anna University

• A. Vallikkannu,

Associate Professor,Hindustan University.

• Ganesan,

Chairman and CEO, Guires Healthcare

• Swarna Ravindra Babu,

Founder & CEO of Coovam smart systems and Services private limited

• Sriram

CEO,AlliedElectronics,Chennai

• Uppu Ramachandraiah,

Professor and Head,EIE Department,Hindustan University

• Sasikala M

Associate Professor,Anna University

• K.M.Balaji

Subdivisional Engineer,RGMC,Chennai

• Bhagyaraj,

Associate Professor,SSN College of Engineering, Chennai

• Deepa Jose,

Associate Professor,KCG College of Technology,Chennai

• Radhika Ganesan,

CEO,Pepgra Healthcare Pvt Ltd

• Padmanabhan Ramaswamy,

Director,Eishaa Infotech,Chennai

• R. Panchanth,

 MD, CPC Pharmaceuticals, Chennai

• Bhagyaraj,

     Associate Professor, SSN College of Engineering, Chennai

• M M Ramya,

Professor, Hindustan University, Chennai

• Dhanalakshmi,

Professor, KCG College of Technology

• Emylin Shiny

Professor, KCG College of Technology

• Balasubramaniyam Krishnan,

IOT Consultant, TCS, Chennai

• Ramakrishna Patra,

Head – Manufacturing Solutions & IoT Cluster, Nokia, Chennai

• P Karthikeyan,

Manager, Industrial Engineering and Automation, Nokia Chennai

• Venkatesh Varadachari,

 CEO, Makerdemy, Chennai

• Hari Krishnan Ramchandran,

Research Services-Medical Devices, HCL Technologies, Chennai

• V. Subbaroyan,

Professor,KCG College of Technology, Chennai

• S. Elanthamizhan

Project Associate, KCG College of Technology, Chennai

• Hands-on Sessions –

Respro Labs(Chennai)- Mr. Sabarinath and Team

Enthu Technologies(Coimbatore) – Mr. Moorthy and Team

 Participants from the following institutions attended:

v MIT Campus, Anna University, Chennai

v  Sathyabama University

v  Jappiar College of Engineering

v  S S N College of Engineering

v SCSVMV University

v  Kammavar Sangam College of Technology

v  SaintGits College of Engineering

v  Vardhaman college of Engineering,Hyderabad

v New Prince Shri Bhavani College Of Technology

v Karpagam College Of Engineering

v University  College Of Engineering, Villupuram

v Rajalakshmi Engineering College

v Christ College of Engineering,Pondicherry

v KCG College Of Technology

The Faculty Development Programme was attended by  50 participants from various technical institutes. Dr. Senthamarai Selvam, Senior Principal Scientist-CLRI-CSIO, Chennai  was the Chief Guest for the inaugural function. The proceedings of the event were distributed to the participants. Resource persons from industry and academia were invited to deliver sessions for the FDP. Three day hands on sessions were also conducted for the participants. She emphasized ibn the latest trends in this field and the importance of IOT. IoT and AAL already share basic pillars in the development of related technology: demand for reliable energy-efficient designs and energy harvesting, including low-power circuits and communication protocols; layers of intelligence, to transform the massive amount of data generated by pervasive systems into wisdom; essential privacy and security requirements. 

One day workshop on Raspberry PI was conducted by the core team of EFY KCG Tech center exclusively for the faculties of ECE department on Thursday 2 Nov 2017.The program commenced at 9.00 am at the CADENCE Lab. The Chief Resource Person was Dr.V.Subbaroyan, Professor, ECE Department and he was well supported by the core team members of EFY KCG Tech Center, Ms.B.Thyla, Mr.T.Thomas Leonid, Ms.Jaraline Kirubavathy and Ms.Majel Monisha.10 faculties of the ECE Department attended the Program.
First session was introduction to the Raspberry PI and how to start up with the tools. Raspberry PI is and inexpensive, cross platform, simple and clear programming environment. After the Tea break at 10.40 am the next sessions on few sketches like LED blink and sequence of LED blink was outlined. Participants found few programs like LCD display, RTC module and E-speak module very interesting and got involved in doing further programs. Many other fun filled projects were done by the participants in the afternoon session.
This workshop was organized to facilitate the faculties to effectively use Raspberry PI software to guide student projects and carry out research work. The sessions were completely hands on, increasing the confidence of the participants in using the tools and the trainers were adept at clarifying the questions that arose during the session relating theory concepts studied to practical issues.
For EFY KCG Tech center
Dr.V.Subbaroyan
Head

Envisioned as a forum for youngsters to express their talent and knowledge,

KCG Engenius ’17 kicked off splendidly on October 25^th, drawing nearly a thousand enthusiastic youngsters from 22 schools. It was exhilarating to see young scholars come in droves, transforming the campus of KCG College of Technology with their vibrant enthusiasm. Competitions like Programming Contest, Best Sustainable Solution, Science Fair, Instrument solo, Battle of the bands, Group Dance, Debate, Adzap, Street Theatre, Quiz, Spell Bee, and Treasure Hunt saw students exhibiting a wide range of talent, vying with each other in a positive spirit and wowing the audience. The various venues resounded with cheers as the young contenders gave their best. Indeed, the judges, most of whom were well known alumni of the institution, had a tough time selecting the winners.

It was not just fun and games. Workshops on Robotics, App Development, 3D printing and Internet of Things provided a great opportunity for students to learn about emerging technologies. Pointing out that many of the events and workshops were conducted by various clubs active on the campus, Principal Dr G Prabhakaran said “The fine balance of competitions, workshops, display of working models and award winning innovations, gave the school children tremendous inspiration.”

One of the highlights was a spectacular air show, where KCG students flew drones and aero models they had built. One of the drones had scored the highest points among Indian institutions at an international competition held during the Aerial Robotic Conference in China. A special aerospace exhibition, as well as the display of more than 50 innovative models, kindled in the students the spark of creativity and innovation. Students also got a chance to go around the aero hangar; both faculty and students were seen climbing into the planes and experiencing a ground run. A special session on Beating Exam Stress also drew interested participants.  ‘An exciting and great learning experience’, said one student; ‘Funtastic and very, very, memorable’ said another. “Impressed by the meticulous organization and massive turn out. A good initiative”, said alumnus Ramkumar Kanakrajan, celebrated drummer and music producer, who adjudged the music events.

Prof S Ramachandran, Vice Chancellor of Hindustan University, presided over the Valedictory. He advised the students to think carefully what they wanted to do with their lives. “Focus and determination will ensure success,” he said.  The Prize distribution drew heavy applause as each individual or team walked on to the stage to receive their trophies, and certificates. They were also awarded cash prizes worth one lakh. Holy Family Matric Hr.Sec, St.John’s Public School, Chettinad Vidyashram, Dominic Savio Matric Hr.Sec School, Zion Matriculation Hr.Sec. Sembakkam, Alwin International Public School, Sri Sankara Vidyashram, SBIOA Model Matric Hr.Sec. Manuel Mony Hr. Sec. School, GRTMV Hr.Sec., and BVM Global, were some of the winning schools. Special kudos to Alpha Matriculation School which won the overall winner’s trophy at KCG Engenius ’17.