bits herald quark 2012 special issue

8/3/2019 BITS Herald Quark 2012 Special Issue

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OR'S WORDJudge an engineering college, they say, by its technical festival. And if the currentspecs on Quark 2012 are indeed worth their face value, all of you can give your-selves a pat on your backs for being part of one of the most promising institutes inthis country. Themost hypnotizing techno-management festival in the country is back,promising the moon to the general public with its array of competitive events, skill-enhancing workshops and a thought-provoking selection of guest lectures. And as withalmost every other festival in this campus, all the numbers associated with it are on anupward trajectory; it has one of the largest festival budgets yet, the footfalls are ex-pected to surpass all previous expectations (40,000 expected), and the prize moneyhas grown to be a staggering one million rupees.

There is an inevitable sense of hope in the air before every festival which induces inus a feeling of die-hard optimism about the days to come. Each campus fest in thepast has had the necessary initial hype; however, a few of them have been distress-ingly plain despite all the right kind of noises. Of course, the co-ordination committeecan never be the one to take the entire blame for that - the apathetic view of mostof the campus' denizens along with their chronic deficiency of taking 'lite' seems to bea factor as well. So what does a CoCo do when faced with such a problem? To itscredit, the Quark 2012 CoCo seemsto have done its homework well; there are manymore events/workshops/lectures pandering to the masses on campus than to justthose who are technically inclined. Colourful and loud posters coupled with a seriesof increasingly successful pre-quark workshops and events have evinced genuine in-terest from the campus junta. What new does Quark 2012 have to offer that wouldforce the more cynical of usto sit up and take notice?

The most obvious thing that would come to mind would be the sheer amount of incen-tives for the stay-at-room BITSian to venture out of his/her confines. Special exhibitsand informals include Mercedes automobiles, F1cars, an aircraft simulator, laser tag,miniature planetariums etc., with Sumo-wrestling also thrown in for good measure(there were even talks about parking Sukhoi jets on campus).

Further, the usual suspects in the events category have been spruced up, with many ofthe most famous ones sporting upgraded prize lists, RoboKombat and Burnout beingprime among them. Workshops appear a shade jazzier than last time's, with Androidapp development, Touch 1.0 expected to ring in hordes and BusinessLaw and StopMotion Photography seeking to give a different flavor to the usual drudgery. The topguns of their respective fields will descend on the campus as a part of the Quark2012 Guest Lectures,with speakers including names like CMohan (IBM fellow), TamerNakisci, (Designer Nokia 888), Gurindar S Sohi (Patentee, Multiple-clock domainmicro-processors), Shantanu Moitra (Music Director) amongst the brilliant others. Alsonew on the lecturing front is the one-of-its-kind Green Conference, aiming to utilizeenergy more efficiently, featuring stellar names like Mr Harit Soni, founder of Eco-librium Energy, Dr.Ritesh Arya, Member at IndNor and organizations like TERI(TheEnergy ResourcesInstitute of India). Read up more on all of these inside our issue.

Those overwhelmed by the glut of technicalities may find some solace in the night-scape brightened by Aurora. Aravind Jayashankaran, the renowned mentalist wouldbe doing a tie-up jig with Shantanu Moitra, equally renowned film musician, ably as-sisted by our very own Music Club. The next night would feature a much-awaitedperformance by the ever-dependable and campus favourite, the Mime Club.

Kudos to all those hard-working souls in the Quark Coco, departments, clubs, hostels,everywhere else who have turned their daily schedules and social lives upside downto bring this festival to it scurrent level. Tosumit all, these are the words of one par-ticularly excited first year, "the hordes of participants are the quintessence of Quark,each hoping to be the Trojan horse to the protected treasury of technical expertise,each yearning to steal the show".


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Ma tKaOne of the biggest crowd-pulling events forQuark, Matka is back this year, with not only thebig gaming punch but also with an endlessthirst to compete and glorify. For people who

have worn out their mouse and keyboard keys playing games; it's time for duerewards, as there are prizes worth more than a lakh in value to take home. Thegaming event plans to cover the ever-popular games- AOE, DOTA, NFS, FIFAand the mass favourite CS. Matka will boast of several acclaimed clans (ATS,Whoz Next, DBD, Indus, CSK) from the entire country including 7 Goan clans.Also, there would be amateur teams formed on the spot that'll play against theexperts. The event doesn't leave the non participants empty handed, for thegames played would be shown in the CC lobby live and some games like Ageof Mythology will be on display. There might also be an exclusive gaminglounge to create an ambience to suit the gamers' taste. With around 20 to 60teams (exceeding 50 for NFS and FIFA) already registered for each game, thebeloved 'headshot' and 'bounty' were probably never so exhilarating.

C 8 l e s t i c o NFabricated on the Bournvita Quiz Contestmodel, Celesticon is engineered by the mem-bers of Celestia - the Astronomy Club, BITSPilani Goa. The event is an open quiz compris-

The questions in each round aim to test the participants on their basic knowl-edge and cognizance of astronomy, astrophysics and the cosmos. With prizemoney worth Rs.10,000j- Celesticon's first edition is a must-attend for all as-tronomy aficionados with a penchant for matters of the universe. The onlyevent of its kind in Quark, it guarantees to pose a perfect test of technical skilland presence of mind, promising a challenge for every budding astronomerand enthusiast alike.

P s y f o g e N i s e sA blend of Psychology, Forensics and Evolu-tion or Psy-Fo-Genesis is the sole event inQuark that adds a dash of biological sciencesto the otherwise technology oriented fest.

Conducted by the Departmenf of Biology, the event beckons those with admi-rable analytical skills and an cllPpetite for life sciences. The first round offers aseries of multiple choice qud1stions, assessing the participant's basic knowl-edge of psychology, forensics and evolution. Next, each team will be allottedcase studies to be solved witillin a stipulated amount of time. So, if chewingover Darwin's theory sets your grey cells to work, or if watching a Dexter or aSherlock solve cases sets you~ adrenaline pumping, then Psyfogenesis is yourdestination.

EVENTS

A p p l i f i c a t i o N

Most App developers believe it istime to leverage the immensepotential of Android to achievemore constructive ends than thelaunching of belligerent birds atthieving swine. Applification isnot only a new addition to theProgrammer's Inc. Panel, but tothe Indian tech-fest circuit aswell.It challenges budding develop-ers to build an Android app thataddresses a social/economicissue, and is also backed by aprofit generating businessmodel. A four-round event in-cluding Prototype Submissionand Popularity Test, Applifica-tion culminates in an on-campusPresentation round. The winnerwill receive 18K in cash andgoodies besides a standing offerfrom Mumbai-based Bang BangFilms to provide Strategic Mar-keting solutions for one quarter.The five teams competing forthe final rounds have createdFacebook pages on their apps,links being available on theQuark website.


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EVENTS

The open showcase presents aunique opportunity to inventorsand visionaries from all fields topresent their creations on aplatform more than worthy tohouse all their visions. Theshowcase, this time around, hasa unique line-up featuringgizmos and contraptions of allorders - the humungous prizemoney of close to INR 1 lakhgiving student innovators fromall over the country give exactlythe right amount of incentive tocome present their work here,thereby resulting in a mammoth350 registrations for the event.For probably the first time in theshort history of Quark, one isguaranteed to see a host of cre-ations from the host campus,with almost all technical clubsputting forth their work over thepast couple of years. The hexa-pod, a space exploration projectthat has already received thesupport of India's DRDO, is cer-tainly one of the big attractionshere, but so is the BITS PilaniKK Birla Goa Campus' first hu-manoid, Saksham. Open Show-case will also see more than acouple of models from the Aero-dynamics Club, and include sev-eral attractions from the Elec-tronics and Robotics Club, theon-campus IEEE as well as in-dependent entries from the var-ious COPs and LOPs in thecampus. To cap it all, there isthe possibility of the showcaseof a student-created F1 car,something that is bound to cap-ture the attention of sports en-thusiasts all over the campus.

The event Paper Presentation concen-trates on research work in a wide vari-ety of fields as well as aims to bring inbrand new innovations which may evenbe a breakthrough in the present soci-etal system. The event invites researchpapers from the various engineeringbranches as well as pure science fields,along with a separate stream for man-agement and economics.

Contestants are tested over three rounds which span over a whole month. Thefirst round ran through the first part of January 2012. The contestants were tosubmit an abstract as their self-researched entry. In this round, the event mainlylooked for threads of brand new initiatives which hadn't seen the light of the daybefore, or a development on an existing idea or system. An abstract worth men-tioning, according to one of the Event Managers, Siddharth Gupta, was one whichimplemented a better system of UID using cryptography techniques. This was justone of the 290-300 entries which the event received this year, which marks a con-siderably large increase from last year (around 240 entries).Round two closely followed round one, with the entrants being required to submita full research paper which was scrutinized by a judging panel. The third and finalround, which won't have any short-listing, will comprise of all the participants ofround two, presenting their research work in front of a judging panel for a periodof not more than twelve minutes. This round will occur during Quark 2012."The presence of a specialist guide behind them is a very big advantage to theparticipants", says Siddharth Gupta. The event is rnulti-advantaqeous in that,apart from recognition, the participants can come to know of their errors from ajudging panel which would help them improve their work. While the followingpoint is not finalized, the team behind the event is planning on publishing the bestpapers which are presented, which will be a boost to the people behind them aswell as a contribution to the scientific community.With a line of innovative ideas promised by the seemingly large number of regis-trations, 'Paper Presentation' at Quark 2012 will be the platform to put forward theresults of churning your brain. So, if you have your own out-of-the-box thoughtswaiting to be expressed, 'Paper Presentation' is your personal niche.

INNOVATEY O U R

IPEA:;

Intellect, a case study competition, is organisedby the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Ithas had associations with the likes of HarvardBusiness Publishing in the past, and has baggedtwo more high-profile partnerships with for theQuark '12 edition. The Chartered Institute ofManagement Accountants (CIMA), known for itsown Case Study Competition - the CIMA GBC, provided the case for the event.An official from Silicon Valley based organization TiE (Talents, Ideas and Enter-prise) will be judging the event alongside faculty member Professor G. Gyanesh.Ten shortlisted teams (from an initial pool of 55 registered teams) will be pre-senting their solutions to a case study on a fictitious convenience store chain op-erating in Japan, for prizes worth INR 20K.


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EVENTS

The ever-so-energetic battle of the bots has been the crowd-puller inQuark throughout the years. Inspired by the international Robowars,Robokombat's popularity among the BITSian and non-BITSian crowdtakes a phenomenal rise with each year's combat better than theprevious year's in some way or the other. There have been manychanges in the rules of the event from its predecessor.

As before, the event will comprise of three rounds. Tworounds of elimination will be followed by quarter finals,semi-finals and final. The first round will be a 1 on 1 roundwhere destruction is banned. A bot wins when it pushes itsrival out of the arena. Those who survive the build-up ofthe first round will be on for the advent of real carnage inthe second round, which is again 1 on 1 but, with destruc-tion legal.The final round ignition will be with 4 bots in the arena atthe same time, with the choice of teaming up with otherbots, left to the participants.While the rules seem to promise an event which leaves theaudience in awe, a minor drawback can be pointed out tothe dip in the number of registrations for the event (a littleabove 100, as of January 24, 2012). But, Krishna Chaith-anya omits any need to worry. He attributes the dip in reg-istrations to the tighter and tougher rules of the eventwhich will increase the quality of the bots and the peoplebehind them.The event will take place throughout the three days ofQuark 2012 and the arena, bigger than the last time, willbe set up in the C-wing lawns. Also, with many other'hidden tricks' pulled up their sleeve, which hasn't been re-vealed yet, Team Robokombat is heightening the suspenseto an incredible level.

The bar for the maximum weight limit ofthe bots which was around 7-8 kg lastyear has been raised to 25 kg for wiredbots and 30 kg for wireless ones. Accord-ing to one of Robokombat's Event Manag-ers for this year, Krishna Chaithanya, "Thisis an effort to reach the standards ofRobowars which has the weight limit setas 45 kg". Also, the new additions for thisyear include the permission for the use ofpneumatic and hydraulic weapons by andon the bots, which is sure to create abrand new version of what is called 'pow-er-packed action'.

P D b o k o m b a t


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E V E N T S

B U R N O U TAdded to the list of events last year, Burnout has al-ready grown to be one of the most talked aboutevents in Quark. The display of high speed manoeu-vres near the Library lawns last year certainly helpedspawn interest. "There's a lot of fun involved inwatching these cars speed past, spin wildly and oc-casionally crash as well", notes Asif Majeed, who ishelping organise the event. The interest was givenvent at a workshop last semester and now, ourcampus boasts of fifteen odd IC engine cars as adirect offshoot. The race during Zephyr saw some feisty driving, although it did leave a few cars in a dire state.As of now, the event has garnered 80 registrations. The tracks this year are being developed in collaboration withprofessionals who conduct a similar event at lIT Bombay. Speaking of challenges, Asif says that it requires a lot ofcareful tweaking to optimise the cars. While greenhorn drivers do face trouble, lots of tweaking and a little practicecan turn a rookie driver into a formidable opponent.

E-DoradoThe story of E-Dorado probably cannot be explained in terms of itsstaggering 1050 participants. Perhaps, it can be best explained interms of its eventual winner, Popescu Mihai from Romania whostruggled his way through questions on Kamaal Khan, MithunChakravorty and of all the things in the world, Washing PowderNirma. Perhaps it can be explained in terms of those who just aboutdidn't make it, a group of 5 first-years from the host campus eventu-ally falling at the last question because of a punctuation error, alltheir missed classes and labs coming to nothing.

Perhaps it can be explained in terms of the working professional in Delhi, who sat for 17 hours in his officecabin at a stretch, both puzzled and fascinated by the concept of the event.For possibly the first time, the event saw some sort of family rivalry between the BITS campuses, and everylIT in this country competing against the other. NTUSingapore, registered the first international participationin Quark 2012, only to fall in love with 'Kolaveri' in the course. The prize money of INR 25,000 all going toparticipants from outside campus, the event marked a new beginning for Quark.

~e.:wQuark StructurThe Department of Arts and Deco has something new in store this Quark. Owing to the fact that the basic frameworkof the 'Quark bot' used over the last couple of years was sold as scrap by the administration, the department has de-cided to dot the landscape with something else - a wheel, an aircraft and a rocket.Arvind Ranganathan, the Chief Coordinator of the Department, explains that the wheel is a symbol of innovation,while the aircraft, likened to the Wright brothers' craft, represents overcoming challenges. The rocket signifies evolu-tion. Put together, they stand for the theme of the fest - "Challenge, Compete, Evolve". He credits the whole teamfor the concept and adds that around 60 dedicated members are working on the structure to finish it on time. TheDepartment is confident of delivering simple, yet elegant symbols to represent the ideas embodied in Quark 2012.


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ST LEC TURES

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Facebookand the customary campus babble have more than adequately made the presence of some emi-nent personalities for the Guest Lectures (from every field) thoroughly anticipated this Quark. Outsiders,participants, professors and of course the spirited BITSGianshall be enlightened by the likes of Tamer Na-kisci (the Nokia 888 guy), Jeff Lieberman (robotist, host of Time Warp) and Shantanu Moitra (Indian MusicDirector).Tamer Nakisci who also lectured in BITS- Pilani shall share his experiences; tell us about his latest designand about his studio in Istanbul. Gurindar Singh Sohi, patentee for a Multiple Clock Domain Microprocessorand six others, will enthrall the audience with his exquisite knowledge. Vikrant Bhargava, ex-IITian, IIM-Cian and former Group Marketing Director of online casino portal PartyGaming, acknowledged entrepreneurand voted among Forbes'Top 30 Richest Indians in 2005, will grace us with his presence. Of Parineeta and3 Idiots fame, Shantanu Moitra would also spend some time with the Music Society apart from edifying theaudience on stage. Ajit Kembhavi, affirmed by The Hindu as the 'Man of Virtual Observation', is the Directorat the IUCAA.C. Mohan, an IBM Fellow (the highest technical position) based in San Jose, California, hasgiven talks in 35 countries and is an alumnus of lIT Madras. Jeff Lieberman, an MIT graduate in four de-grees, would, quite contrarily, keep the seminar brisk and dynamic. Nir Merry, VPof our Co-Sponsor AppliedMaterials Inc. will grace the occasion with his presence. S K Malhotra, Head, PublicAwareness Division atthe Department of Atomic Energywill also spend some worthwhile moments with us. The guest lectureswould also be notable for the presence of eminent media personality Prabhu Chawla, ex-chief editor ofIndia Today, and Editor-in-chief of the Chennai-based The New Indian Express newspaper.

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The IC Engine Assembling Workshop will seek to give its partici-pants a first-hand experience at disassembling and the reassem-bling their own IC Engine. The workshop is being conducted byAerotriX, brainchild of lIT Kanpur alumni. The workshop will takeplace over 8-10 hours on a single day with the participants beingallotted into one of the three days according to their batches.Quark controls has claimed that though AerotriX takes similaraerospace and automobile engineering workshops in several cam-puses across the country, this is the first time that they are orga-nizing an IC engine assembling workshop. The workshop will bedivided into the following four modules; starting with a lecture onIC engines, then disassembly of one, followed by a lecture on theindividual parts of the disassembled engine. Finally, the partici-pants will be asked to reassemble the engine they had dismantled.

W O R K S H O P S

STOP MOTION PHOTOGRAPHY

Stop Motion Photography is in lay man terms a technique tomake physically manipulated objects appear to move on theirown by moving the object by small amounts taking a photographof each state and then by playing these series of frames in con-tinuous sequence. A stellar example of that technology is thecritically acclaimed Cold Play video "Every teardrop is a water-fall". The Stop Motion Photography Workshop, conducted by Mr.Hitesh Gusani, will feature a lecture on the basics of Stop motionphotography and then the participants will have the opportunityto make their own Stop Motion Animation Movie. Mr. Gusani isthe head of 3D India and one of the most established photogra-phers in the country. The workshop is slated to be approximately8 hours long and requires no previous knowledge.

If you experience the limitless bliss of scrolling over menus and ma-noeuvring gaming consoles then here's your thing, as Quark 2012brings you an exclusive workshop called Touch 1.0. Presented byi3indya technologies, known to have conducted the same workshopthroughout the country, including one at our sister campus (Pilani),the workshop looks forward to teach the participants (in groups of 3)both hardware and software components of the subject after an intro-duction. The course then plans to cover the crux, software and appli-cations, optical technologies, building the mini touch multi pad andmany more, on a personal kit given to each participant. Rest assured,there are no pre requisites for the workshop, and it covers all thebasics you need to move to the next level, answering your querieswhether you'll be able to absorb "so much" in a matter of "hours".With 30 off campus and several on campus teams already registered,you can be assured that if you're in, you might leave intrigued.

rTOUCH 1.0

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W O R K S H O P SHaptic Robotic Arm is a robotics workshop to be held on the 3rdand 4th of February. The workshop is being organized by Techno-philia Systems, and has a total duration of 16 hours. Participantscan register in teams of up to four members.Haptics is a technology used to interact with the physical worldthrough the sense of touch. It has a wide range of applications inthe fields of communication, gaming and medicine. The workshopis designed as an introduction to the world of haptics through ahands-on experience. Each team is provided with their own robotickit, which they will be required to assemble.The workshop will begin with an introduction to haptic technologyand its applications. Itwould then proceed to advanced robotics,including the working of sensors, actuators and microcontrollers,as well as the design and assembly of the robotic arm. The work-shop will also discuss the applications of this technology in wiredand wireless communication systems.

A N DR OID A P P D E V E L O PM EN T

Android App Development is a workshop to be held on the 4th and5th of February. It is being conducted by Robotech Labs, who arepioneers in the field of technological training, and has been certi-fied by RCSACanada. The workshop has a total duration of 16hours.As the name suggests, the focus of this workshop will be to devel-op applications using Android platform. The standard platform tobe used throughout the course of this workshop is Android 2.0.The workshop would cover a wide range of topics, right from abasic introduction to Android technology, to several advanced op-erations and applications of Android. It contains both a theoreticaland a practical component. It also includes a Project Discussion,where participants will be given a chance to develop their own An-droid application.Android is the best-selling mobile platform in the world, and it hasbecome a familiar part of our lives. With its ongoing success, An-droid applications and developers are in great demand, and thisworkshop provides an excellent chance to put your own creationinto the Android world.

The Business Law Workshop, being held for the first time in any techfest of the country, will be conducted by IP leaders Consultancy Ser-vices, on day 1 and day 2 of Quark. As an added incentive, the partici-pants will get certified by the National University of Juridical Sciences,a prestigious law university in Kolkata. The workshop is divided inthree modules, each module focusing on different aspects of legal for-malities to be taken care of. The workshop takes you through eachfeature thoroughly, starting from setting in motion your own businessto approaching a VC (Venture Capitalist) for funding. The workshoptouches upon important facets of entrepreneurship which includes re-cruiting employees, speeding up dispute resolution processes and in-troduction to basic labour law & municipal law compliances. The stu-dents will also be given a Start-up Business Law kit, the contents ofwhich include 8 agreements and assorted toolkits.


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SPECIALSA U A O A A

Aurora in association with Quark'12 brings this year a lightdisplay show with a unique blend of magic, illusions, hypno-tism and surrealism, presented by the renowned mentalistArvind Jayashankar. An illusionist with multiple talents, ArvindJayashankar has appeared on Dutch national television on 'DeNieuwe Uri Geller' show and also has been a part of numerousinternational galas, charity events and private shows. In hisastonishing show "An Evening inside Your Mind", he willshowcase the eternal enigma of one's consciousness andenter our minds through his art of mind reading and control.In his act "Strolling Magic", he will create an atmosphere ofeerie silence among the audience by performing tricks on small groups of people."Stage mentalist act" is the centre of

attraction of his every show, bringing to picture the articulate art of mind reading, future prediction, ESP(Extra SensoryPerception), levitations, comedy, illusions etc. Assisting him in his "Northern Lights Journey", will be Bollywood's re-nowned music composer and lyricist Shantanu Moitra (best known for his score in films Parineeta, Hazaaron KhwaisheinAisi, Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots), who along with the music club, will be providing the background score to theshow. Known for his soft, melodious songs, Shantanu is sure to create a soulful ambience. "Confused Pop" band Farid-kot, winner of Channel V launch-pad, is set to scorch the stage aswell. Added attractions include a pyrotechnique showby sfx pyrotechniques and a 3D projection mapping show by DreamPoint Animations. The Special nights will also fea-ture a performance by our ever-dependable Mime club, though details about the performance have been zealouslyguarded by their members till now.

[UU IDIT IODSark 2012 promises an enthralling experience of state-of-the-art technical exhibitions. Gridbots Technologies Private

Ltd, Ahmedabad will display the several varieties of robots, the main attraction being "The Speech Sensing Robot" ande "Hexapod". The Naval Armament Research and Establishment and National Institute Oceanography (NIO) will behowcasing various undersea equipments, used to measure plate tectonics, geophysical fluid fluctuations and sealoor geology. The motive behind their exhibition is to educate us about the marine ecosystem and the involvement ofbjects like physics, chemistry, biology and geophysics in oceanographic studies. Iqbal Ahmed, an ingenious technicalraftsman will display his miniature models which include the likes of "shearling miniature machine", model internalmbustion engine, iron lathe, stationary steam engines, Stirling engines etc. The most beautiful of his engineered art

s "Victoria", a miniature steam engine and "Mary", a beam engine. A mobile Planetarium with a digital sky in 3D wille demonstrating the very basics of some advanced concepts of Astronomy.Naval Aviation will be displaying its exhibits in four categories: Armaments, Communication devices and sonars, scaledown models and original working engines of aircrafts. Hopes can be set sky-high as an actual aircraft may also sup-osedly be brought into the campus. One of the major attractions of this edition of Quark is slated to be the Tech-oLounge, featuring "Cloud Wall" (a digital wall), an augmented reality table, a flight simulator and a motion - sensingbox 360 in the Discovery Dome by Planetarium. The DRDOcontingent will again be on display in strength this Quark,th 2 elite DRDOlabs, ARDE(Armaments Research and Development Establishment) and HEMRL(High Energy Mate-ials Research Laboratory), poised to pitch their tents on campus.he DRDO contingent will again be on display in strength this Quark, with 2 elite DRDO labs, ARDE (Armaments Re-earch and Development Establishment) and HEMRL (High Energy Materials Research Laboratory), poised to pitchheir tents on campus.

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H I G H L I G H T S

- -- -- B I T S M U NStarted in 2009 to give a cultural and more rounded feelto Quark, the BITS Model United Nations has grownover the years to be one of the largest college levelUnited Nations Simulations in the country. With a pro-jected attendance of 400 delegates, BITSMUN 2012hopes to surpass almost all collegiate MUNs in India,and make it an attractive avenue for cultural exchangebetween international students as well.This year's Councils have been decided keeping in mindthe fast changing global scenarios, with new develop-ments in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. So apart from

the usual three - General Assembly, Security Council and Economic & Social council - BITSMUN 2012 will also featureUNESCO,WHO and NATOas new additions.Since the press is an integral part of the working of the United Nations, BITSMUNwould continue with its tradition ofalso hosting the Press Corps which provides invaluable insight into the power of media for those who wish to pursueit.The debates this year will expound on topics like state sponsored terrorism, the situations in Yemen and Libya, assis-tance to countries willing to demilitarize, illicit trade and theft of cultural goods in South-Eastern Europe, ethical impli-cations of stem cell research & genetic testing, combat against malnutrition in developing nations, etc. These delib-erations will be taken up by the appropriate councils in BITSMUN 2012.Participating delegates include candidates from NSIT Delhi, Symbiosis (Pune), lIT Kharagpur, a few NITs, prominentlaw colleges (NLU Bhopal) and colleges from the Mumbai and Delhi universities.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

The BITSG-CON, (BITSPilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus Green CONference) isgoing to be held in the auditorium on the secondday of QUARK201 2, the 4th ofFebruary. BITSGCONstrives to take usforward into the future of renewable re-

source utilization, conservation of fossil fuels, sustainable development and mass production of Eco-friendly technologies.Aimed at promoting new renewable resourceslike the hugely popular "geothermal energy", it brings to front the day to dayactivities of professional environmentalistsand the projects undertaken by budding Ecoentrepreneurs. It also provides a plat-form to studentswho have recently displayed a stringent commitment towards promoting "A Greener Future". BITSGCONwillaim to ensurethat every individual would be enlightened during the conference about the seriousconsequencesof wastageof resources.Speakers include internationally acclaimed green experts and clean energy institutions.RiteshArya, one of the pioneers inGeothermal Energy Production,discovered groundwater at a depth of 11,000 ft in Hima-layas, a feat achieved by no one till date. He isfinancially assisted by three Nordic groups as well as the Norwegian StateOil company in hismissionto dig out resourcesin places where no one thought it could be. RishuNigam, an avid film-makerand distinguished TERImember (TheEnergyAnd ResourceInstitute), shetailors her every film towards promoting a Greenerworld. A geniusin articulating humaninteraction screenplays, sheisa powerhousewith noble goals to establish a safer future.Harit Soni is the founder of EcoLibriumEnergy, a successfulstart-up aimed at managing household power consumption.Fea-tured as one of the world's top innovators, he makes energy saving a reality. Dr Ravi Kuchimanchi,the "Swades Man", is aninspiration to every NRI in the world. Earlier employed in the meteorological dept of NASA,

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he returned to India and took up the initiative of lighting up a hundred housesin hisnativevillage.S Mohan Raghavan, a BITSPilani alumnus,isactively involved in providing support toprojects in the field of renewable energy. Theman behind World's first Hydrogen Poweredthree wheeler, Mahindra's Hyalfa and General Manager of Mahindra & Mahindra R&DCenter, Dr.Matthew ~ raham, will speak about the c onqes one islikely to'~ee in th auto-

~mQlbile Industry in th~ ears to come. DT Barki woyld Clisoossways of emFtO~ertnQIndia- - '\ I \ 1 " - ~, t~ '~( ol;>r!n~rgy. a d ' i t s ~ePt 1 > e hid~\ f i l lr f ' - lihNeBor~r'te - = - & ! ~~11:\.'

" ,~ . . . , b #~ , f ~4 \ ' " \.:', ' ",.~ '0 ~ "(' 4 , ~ '" -.


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INTERVIEWS1)111ll l l l lJ (~111l"TI.JlEdltor-In-chlef~ The New Indian ExpressD i t 9 W G r J l d : H ow do you think students can effectively take up the role ine nsu rin g a b etter p olitica l d ass an d effectiv e a dm in istratio n?F r J b hu C h J w lJ : S tu d e n t s a r e t h e b a r o m e t e r o f c i v i l s o c i e t y s i n c e t h e y r e p r e s e n t b o t hp r i m a r y - t h e i r o w n - a n d s e c o n d a r y - p a r e n t s a n d e ld e r s - o p i n i o n s . T h e y a r ei d e a l i s t i c a n d h a v e m o r e e n t h u s i a s m f o r p r o j e c t s . T h i s g e n e r a t i o n o f s t u d e n t s i s a l s om o r e p r a g m at i c t h a n t h e p r e v i o u s o n e s . T h e i r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s y s -t e m s a n d a w ar e n e s s a r e b e t t e r , s i n c e t h e y a r e i n t o s o c i a l m e d i a a n dt h e I n t e r n e t i n a b i g w a y a n d h e n c e h a v e c o m pa r a t i v e m od e ls t os t u d y e a s i ly . T h e y e a t f a s t f o o d b u t g e t c o n n e c t e d g lo b a l ly m uc hf a s t e r . T h ey a r e o nl y i n te r e s t e d i n k no w i n g t h in gs w h i c h t h ey r e q u i r ef o r t h e i r f a s t e r g r o w th . B u t t h e y d o n 't p a r t i c i p a t e i n d e m o c r a t i c p r o -c e s s e s . T h e y m u s t a s k q u e s t i o n s , s e e k a n s w e r s a n d c h a l l e n g e f r i v o -l o u s s o lu t i o ns . T h e y m u s t v o te .D W : H ow im portant do you think college festivals like these are for all-rou nd develo pm en t of a stu den t?F C : T h ey p la y a n i m p o rt a n t r o le i n i n s t i l l i n g a s e n se o f c u l t u r a l p ri d e a n d a w a r e n e s s .T h e y a l s o m ak e t h e s t u d e n t m o r e p a r t i c i p a t i v e a n d c h a l l e n g e h i s o r h e r c r e a t i v es t r e n g t h s . S u c h e v e n t s a l s o h e l p i n d e v e lo p i n g m an a g e r i a l a n d i n n o v a t i v e s k i l l s .T h es e a r e n o t f e s t i v a ls b ut l a b o ra t o ri e s f o r i n ve n t i n g n e w i d ea s .

D W : On w hat topics w ould your guest lecture touch upon? W hat expecta-tions do you have Q uark 2012 and the students?F C : I t w o u ld d e a l w it h v i c i o u s c i r c l e o f c o r r u p t i o n a n d t h e h o w s tu d e n t s c a n b r e a k i t .I t w il l a l s o t o u c h u p o n t h e c r e d i b i l i t y o f m e d i a a n d p o l i t i c s . Q ua r k 2 0 1 2 s h o u ld b e ac a t a l y s t f o r c h an g e f o r e v e r y w a l k o f l i f e - f r o m t e c h no lo gy t o p o li t i c s , f r o m e n t e r t a i n -

- m e n t t o b u s i n e s s . I t s h o u ld p r o v i d e s t r a i g h t s o lu t i o n s f o r c o m -p le x a nd c om p li c at e d p ro b le m s.D W : H ow necessary is the existence of a cam pu s m edia,you feel, and what shou ld be its role? To what ex tentsh ou ld in vestig ative jo urn alism b e en co urag ed ?F C : C am p u s m ed i a i s a n i m p o r t a n t t o o l t o f a m il i a r i z e t h o s e i n -v o lv ed w i t h c o m m u n i c a ti o n, s y st e m a t i z e t h ei r t h i n k in g a n d i n fo r-

- m n t i o n d is s e m i n a t i o n c a p a b il i t i e s t o b ec o m e c o he s i v e, s t r u c t u r a l t h in ke r s . I t a l s oh e lp s f o rm a s o ci a l e t h ic a l g r i d t o u n de r s t a n d s i t u a t i o n s i n a d ul t h o od . I n ve s t i g at i v ej o u r n a l i s m s h o u ld b e e n c o u r a g e d e a r ly e n o u g h b u t s h o u ld b e d o n e w it h o u t p e r s o n a lb i a s e s c o m in g i n t o t h e p i c t u r e . I t s h o u ld a l s o b e d o n e i n s u c h a w ay t h a t i t e n c o u r -a g e s t h e f a c t f i n d i n g t a le n t s o f t h o s e w h o m a y b e c o m e f u tu r e j o u r n a l i s t s .

f.IJI1INI)I~11S IN f .1 1 S f'lll Professor of Computer SCiences, UW-Madlson Computer Architecture GroupD it 9 W G rJ ld : H aving stu died fro m B IT S-P ilan i earlier an d then from U ni-versity of Illinois you've had you r fair share of ex perience in the tech-nical edu cation sector. W hat acc. to you is the difference betw een edu -cation in India and abroad? W hat can students here do to be com peti-tive at the global level?C u r in d G r 9 in c ; h 9 0 h i : W e ll , I h a v e n e v e r l e f t t h e t e c h n i c a l e d u c a -t i o n s e c t o r , h a v i n g a l s o t a u g h t a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f W i s c o n s i n s i n c e1 9 8 5 s o I h a v e lo t s o f e x p e r i e n c e . T e c h n i c a l e d u c a t i o n a t t h e u n d e r -g r a d ua t e le v e l i n I nd in , e s p ec i a l ly a t p l a c e s l i k e B IT S -P il a n i , i s a b s o -lu t e ly f i r s t r a t e . T h er e i s a r i g or o us s t u d y o f a b ro ad r a n ge o f s u b je c t s .F o r i m p r o v i n g c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s , m y r e c o m m en d a t i o n i s t o i m p r o v e a n dh o n e y o u r c o m m un i c a t i o n s k i l l s ; i t i s y o u r w r i t i n g a n d p r e s e n t a t i o ns k il l s t h at w i l l d if f e re nt i a te y ou f r o m o th er s w h o h av e s i m i la r t e ch n i c als k i l l s .D W : W hat are you r com ments on the research facilities and opportuni-ties o ffered b y B IT S-P ilan i U n iv ersity, an d I nd ia, in gen eral?C 9 : A c tu a l ly I a m n ot q ui t e f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e r e s e a r c h i n fr a s t r u c t u r e i n t h e t e c h n i c a la r e a s i n I n d i a n u n i v e r s i t i e s . S im p l y b y lo o k i n g a t t h e m e t r i c s o f r e s e a r c h o u t p u t --pnpers p u b li s h ed i n le a d in g i n te r n at i o na l v e n ue s - - - i t a p pe ar s t h a t I n d ia n u n iv e r s i -t i e s h a v e a lo t o f c a t c h i n g u p t o d o . I e x p e c t t h a t i s w il l h a p p e n i n d u e c o u r s e o n c et h er e i s a n a t i o n w i d e e m p h a s i s o n b u i ld in g r e s e a r c h -i n t e n s i v e u n iv er s i t i e s , a s i t i s i nC h i n a . T o m e i t i s c le a r t h a t t o c o m p e t e g lo b a l ly i n t h e l o n g r u n , c o u n t r i e s n e e d t o b ele a d e r s i n t h e k n o w le d g e c r e a t i o n s p h e r e a n d t h i s i s b e s t a c c o m p l i s h e d b y h a v i n gt o p -n o tc h r es ea rc h u n i v e rs it i e s.D W : W hat are your expectations from Quark 2012, and abou t what w illyou p rim arily b e add ressin g th e stu den ts?C 9 : I e x p e c t I w il l s e e lo t s o f v e r y e n t h u s i a s t i c a n d h i g h ly - m o t i v a t e d s t u d e n t s . Ih o p e t o t e l l t h e m th a t w it h h a r d w o r k , i n s p i r a t i o n a n d d e d i c a t i o n , t h e y t o o c a n p u s ht h e b o u n d a r i e s o f t e c h n o l o g y a n d c r e a t e i n n o v a t i o n s t h a t c a n h a v e a s i g n i f i c a n ti m p a c t o n t h e w o r ld .

D W : W hat topic, according to you , du ring the cou rse of your research, hasbeen a prom ising and exciting developm ent? H ow can it have an effecto n the co mpu ter scien ce in du stry?

C 9 : W e ll , I h a v e b e e n lu c k y t o h a v e w it n e s s e d a n d p a r t i c i p a t e d i nt h e d e v e lo p m en t o f c o m p u t e r a r c h i t e c t u r e ( m y r e s e a r c h a r e a ) a sw el l a s t h e c o m p u t e r i n d u s t r y . T h e a r e a w he r e I h av e d o n e m o s t o fm y r e s e a r c h - - - (m ic r o ) - p r o c e s s o r m ic r o - a r c h i t e c t u r e - - - h a s s e e n ad r a m at i c c h a n g e i n t h e n e a r ly 3 0 y e a r s t h a t I h a v e w o r k i n g i n i t .M an y o f t h e i d e a s w e p r o p o s e d i n a c a d e m ic p a p e r s o v e r t h e y e a r sh a v e f o u n d t h e i r w ay i n t o c o m m e r c i a l m ic r o p r o c e s s o r s a n d s i n c e am ic r o p r o c e s s o r i s a t t h e h e a r t o f a n y c o m pu t a t i o n d e v i c e , m an yh u n d r e d s o f m il l i o n s o f p e o p le w o r l d w id e h a v e e n d e d u p u s i n gp r o d u c t s t h a t h a v e t h e f r u i t s o f o u r r e s e a r c h . T h a t i s t h e b e a u t y o ft h e f i e l d o f c o m p u t e r s c i e n c e a n d e n g i n e e r i n g - - - y o u c a n h a v e a h u g e i m p a c t a s t h e

p r o du c t s o f y o ur w o r k e n d u p b ei n g u s e d ( d ir e c t ly o r i n d ir e c t ly ) b y a s i g n if i c a n t f r e e -D W : Today, m ore and m ore engineers prefer to study m anagem entrather than pursu e their interest in sciences. Do you think it is provinga d etrim en t to te ch no lo gical ad va nce men ts?C 9 : I a m n o t t o o s u r e a b o u t t h a t . A n i n d i v i d u a l h a s t o p u r s u e w h a t i n t e r e s t s t h e mth e m os t . I f i t i s m a n a g e m en t r a t h e r t h a n e n g i n e e r i n g / s c i e n c e s , s o b e i t . B u t Ih o p e t h e y m ak e t h a t d e c i s i o n a f t e r r e s e a r c h i n g t h e lo n g e r - t e r m a s p e c t s o f t h e i rc a r e e r c h o i c e . I n t h e U S t h e r e a r e f r e q u e n t ly s t o r i e s a b o u t t h e m o s t s a t i s f y i n g c a -r e e r s . M an y o f t h e m o s t s a t i s f y i n g c a r e e r s a r e i n t h e e n g i n e e r i n g f i e ld s ; m a n a g e -m en t i s r a r e ly i n t h e t o p g r o u p . R eg a r d i n g b e i n g a d e t r i m e n t t o t e c h n o l o g i c a l a d -v a n c e s , a g a i n I h a v e m i x e d f e e l i n g s . O n o n e h a n d s u c h e n g i n e e r s m a y n o t b em a k i n g t e c h n i c a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s . O n th e o t h e r h a n d , m a n a g e m e n t t h a t i s a l s o t e c h n i -c a l ly s a v v y c a n p r o b a b ly c u l t i v a t e a m o r e p r o d u c t i v e e n v i r o n m e n t f o r e n g i n e e r s .A n d a n y i n d i v i d u a l w il l l i k e l y n o t b e c o n t r i b u t i n g m u c h , r e g a r d le s s o f t h e i r c a r e e rc h o i c e , i f t h e i r h e a r t i s n o t i n i t .


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INTERVIEWS(~11('JllIN IBM FellowD i t 9 W G r J ld Sir, yo u are w rrently in volved in all aspects of tran sactio n,database and w orkflow m anagem ent. C ou ld you tell us m ore abou t yourc urren t w ork ?o M o n J n : F o r t h e la s t f e w y e a r s , I h a v e b e e n s t u d y i n g t h e i m p l i c n t i o n s o f S t o r a g eC la s s M em o r i e s ( S C M s ) , f o r e x a m p le P h a s e C ha n g e M em o r y ( P C M ) , o n s o f tw a r e a n dh a r d w ar e a r c h i t e c t u r e s . M o r e r e c e n t ly , I h a v e a l s o b e e n w o r k i n gw i t h I T u se r s , a n d I T s y s t e m d e s i g n e r s a n d a r c h i t e c t s w h o h a v e v e r yd if f e r e n t s o rt s o f r e q ui r e m e n t s t h an t r a d i t i o n al e n te r p ri s e c u s t o m -e r s w it h r e s p e c t t o d a t a m an a g e m en t s y s t e m s. F o r e x a m p le , W e b 2 . 0c o m p a n i e s a s w el l a s f i n a n c i a l i n d u s t r y c u s t o m er s w an t s o m e n e wr e a l t i m e functinnclity. S uc h r e q ui r e m e n t s d em a n d t h e d ev elo p m e n to f n e x t g e n e r a t i o n o n l i n e t r a n s a c t i o n p r o c e s s i n g s y s t e m s ( O L T P )w h ic h a ls o c om b in e o n l i n e u nn ly ti c nl p ro ce ss i n g ( O lA P ) f e at u re s.D W : 2. Do you think m ore associations like the IEEE should be intro-du ced to the stu dents at the college level to develop their passion in thesubject?O M : D e f i n i t e ly y e s ! S tu d en ts s h o uld b e e x p os e d t o j u n io r a n d s e n io r t e c h no lo qi s t s t og i v e t h e m a g o o d f e e l f o r w h a t s o r t s o f c a r e e r s e x i s t a n d h o w to t h i n k o f lo n g - t e r mg o a l s r a t h e r t h a n o n ly s h o r t t e r m o n e s i n c h n o s i n q t h e i r a r e a s o f s p e c i a l i z a t i o n a n dc h o o s i n q t h e i r j o b s . B e i n g m e n to r e d b y t h e r i g h t p e o p le c o u ld h e lp s t u d e n t s le a r n lo tm o r e t h a n w h a t t h e y g e t f r o m th e i r c l a s s e s a n d t e a c h e r s . I f t h e s t u d e n t s a l s o g i v et a lk s t o t h e i r p e e r s i n e v e n t s o f t h e s t u d e n t b r a n c h e s o f p r o f e s s i o n a l a s s o c i a t i o n sl i k e t h e I E E E a n d A C M , t h e y w il l a l s o d e v e lo p t h e i r s o f t s k i l l s w h i c h , a t t h i s p o i n t ,s o r e ly n e e d t o b e i m p r o v e d a c r o s s t h e b o a r d a m o n g s t t e c h n i c a l p e o p le i n I n d i a .

D W : As an lIT M adras alum nus, how do you think engineering colleges inInd ia have evolved o ver th e years?O M : S i n c e t h e t i m e I f i n i s h e d m y B .T e ( h . i n 1 9 7 7 , t h e e n g i n e e r i n g c o l l e q e s s c e n e i nI n d i a h a s ( h a n g e d d r n m e t i c a l ly . T h i s m u s h r o o m in g o f c o l l e g e s a c r o s s I n d i a h a s h a d i t ss h a r e o f g o o d a n d b a d c o n s e q u e n c e s . T h e r e i s t o o m uc h v a r i a n c e i n t e r m s o f t h e q u a l -

i t y o f e d uc a t i o n, t h e i n fr a s t r u c t u r e a n d t h e f a c u l t y ' s quelif iccticns.A tt e m p t s a r e b e i n g m ad e t o b r i n g m o r e o r d e r t o t h e c h a o t i c s i t u a -t i o n t h a t h a s d e v e lo p e d . O f c o u r s e , c o m p a r e d t o m y d a y s , s i g n i f i -mtly m uc h la r g e r n u m b e r o f s t u d e n t s h a v e g a i n e d t h e o p t i o n o fc h n o s i n q e n g i n e e r i n g a s t h e i r u n d e r g r a d u a t e s t u d y a r e a s i n c es e a t s a r e p le n t i f u l a n d a r e a v a i l a b l e c lo s e r t o t h e i r h o m e s .

D W : T oday, m ore and m ore engineers prefer to study m an-agem ent rather than pursue their interest in sciences.

Do yo u think it is pro ving a detrim ent to techn olo gical advan cem ents?O M : Y e s , t h i s m a d r u s h i n t o m an a g e m e n t i s n o t a g o o d s i t u a t i o n . I t i s a n o v e r a l l s o c i -e t a l p r o b le m t h a t c o m e s f r o m m is p la c e d a p p r e c i a t i o n a n d p e r c e p t i o n s r e l a t i n g t om an a g e m en t c a r e e r s a n d v a lu e a d d i t i o n o f m an a g e r s . A p e r s o n m o v i n g f r o m a t e c h -n i c o l p o s i t i o n t o a m an a g e m en t p o s i t i o n w it h o u t t h e r e q u i s i t e s k i l l s c o u ld b e ad o u b l e w ha m m y - t h e lo s s o f a g o o d t e c h n i c n l p e r s o n a n d t h e e m e r g e n c e o f a lo u s ym a n a g e r ! N o t a l l p e o p le a r e c c p n b l e o f b e i n g g o o d m an a g e r s a n d s o p e o p le w ho a r eg o o d t e r h n k u l l y s h o u l d h a v e t h e o p t i o n o f p u r s u i n g lo n g t e r m t e c h n i c a l c a r e e r s i nw h i c h t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n s a r e r e w a r d e d a p p r o p r i a t e ly . I n d i a n s o c i e t y a n d m a n a g e -m e n t i n o r g a n i z a t i o n s h a v e t o r e c o g n i z e a n d c e l e b r a t e s u c c e s s f u l t e c h n c ln q i s t s a n ds c i e n ti s t s . E m pl o y ee s s h ou ld b e m a d e t o f e e l p ro u d a b o ut s t a y in g t e c h n i c a l

Q U A R K A S S O M E S EE IT ...

How t o c ra ckthi s code ?!


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