Recording Online Lectures

Now since we all are confined to our homes we are using various apps for online study. I always felt recording lectures and posting on platforms like YouTube will be an added advantage to students. I am sharing my experience here about recording the lecture and posting it on YouTube. Please share it. If you have better idea please share so that teaching community can be benefited.

Please find the list of software which one can use to create one's own video by sharing your screen (ppt, software, excel, word anything) and uploading on platforms like YouTube.

1.  Tiny Take by MangoApps ( allows recording upto 5 mins) in free version

2.  Screencast-O-Matic. Very useful and allows to record 15mins of video. Directly we can upload vidro on YouTube from the app only. My experience is good with Screencast-O-Matic, however currently I'm facing some issues with it. 

3. Bandicam. It allows for 10 mins of video. I have just started using it.

YouTube videos are very good mode as students can see it at their own will, can do back and forth and also post queries as a comment. My experience has been very encouraging and students are enjoying studying through this platform. Moreover, 15 min session in this form can cover easily content of roughly 30-40 mins. 

These videos can be watched by students before we conduct online classes and online (zoom) classroom sessions can be kind of question answer or doubts clearing sessions. 

I am sure there would be other ways but I thought of sharing this with you all based on my experience. If you have some better platform or ideas please share. 

Let's make virtual learning a better experience for students. 

Stay Home Stay Safe. 

Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst....

Last year I received a WhatsApp message which was basically intending to spread awareness about how husband and wife must share the information about their financial and day to day practices. There are so many day to day activities which are being done by either husband or wife and the other person is not even aware about the same. For example, paying bills, banking transaction, investment, dealing with house maid and the list may be long. As per the convenience/liking of the couple the responsibilities are divided. Most of the times, the division is such that the other partner is not even aware about anything related to other’s task. Still as per our culture financial dealings are being handled by male counterpart. Now the point is that if suddenly something happens to husband or wife, how would the other person cope up with the situation? At this point, apart from the loss of your nearest one you are also faced with so many other problems. Relatives around you would be there for some time but ultimately it is you who will have to fight the way. So the solution to it is share every minute details of all such things.  I am listing some of the things here but the list can be long and can differ from couple to couple…..

    1)      Log in id and password for all the financial belongings like, internet banking, demat account, password of debit card, credit card, bank locker.

     2)      Account numbers of all the accounts, pan detail, aadhar detail, election card details etc..

    3)      If the utility bills are paid online detail about the same. Also if any bills are being paid through ECS it should be known to both the partners.

    4)      Investment details and contact details of financial advisers.

    5)      Detail about the loan taken or any other financial liabilities or if you have given money to anyone.

    6)      Nomination details

    7)      If you own a property where are the property papers, share certificate etc.

    8)      Details of the insurance and policy  life and general

Apart from this I think whenever earning partner dies it becomes difficult for the other partner to meet the financial requirements.  So to meet the requirements, one must have following as a part of insurance…. (Details on this policies I will share some other time) 

    1)      A term plan equivalent to minimum 10 times your annual income. (Just a thumb rule which I read somewhere, one can decide ones requirement)

    2)      Critical Illness policy covering critical/terminal illness like stroke, cancer, heart attack etc.

    3)      Personal Accident Insurance covering total and partial disabilities.

I know money can’t replace the loss but it will certainly give you an extra edge to concentrate on your life and your kids in absence of your loved one.

I wish no one come across such a situation but, the life is full of uncertainty and as they say “Hope for the best but, be prepared for the worst”

Suggestions and ideas welcome.

Though I have written the above post keeping in mind Husband and wife the same is true for other relationship sharing similar things.

To Dabke Sir with lots of wishes

Prof. Dabke retired last month and here I am to share my experience about my association with him in last few years. I am very lucky that I had a chance to be his student at PG as well as PhD level. In between these two phases I have always bothered him with number of queries related to Thermodynamics, Excel, Modeling and Simulations and many other courses.

I still remember my M.E., Thermodynamic classes where in I really learnt what Thermodynamics is all about and how can one teach it in its most beautiful way. It was Prof. Dabke who made us fond of the subject through his teaching. Apart from teaching thermodynamics he taught so many things through his innovative ways. Say it to be tutorials to be done on Excel or the assignments of thermodynamics which requires you to go to library. In class room he always used to ask questions rather than just teaching. He would pause and askes us to answer those questions. Sometimes even inviting us to discuss that on the board. All such things made his teaching very interesting.

I was lucky to have my dissertation work under him. During my association for dissertation work he was very supportive. I had learnt so many things from him. If you have any problem and you go to him he will ask you questions in such a way that while you answer them you get the solution. Many a times it has happened that just by seating in front of him only gave the solution of the problem. I have never seen him taking any question very lightly. My work was on computational aspect using MATLAB and I remember him coming with me at my computer and asking very minute details which I would never have thought of. But, if you answer them you learn that his perspective is so different.  His way of interpreting the results and converting that in the sentences is really unique.

Apart from Thermodynamics his knowledge on Excel is immense. Many a times I would have called him for the solution of problem I am facing and he would just answer the question step by step over the telephone. He was really a mobile excel help for me.

During my PhD work he has been a rock solid support to me. His suggestions have made my thesis more valuable. Continuously for more than four years we worked on a Equations of state and his guidance mad a remarkable difference in my work.

Today whatever I am at professional level is only because of him. He has been my mentor in real sense. Whenever I came across any problem I seek his help and he has really get me out of that virtually every time. Apart from being a good academician Dabke sir is a very good human being. I have seen very few people in this world who can match his calmness. You feel a great sense of peace when you go and seat with him. His smile will get rid of your doubts/problems almost instantaneously.

I wish him all the luck in his life and may God bless him with healthy retirement life. I would also wish that he continues to spread the knowledge and bless the students like us.

Good bye NS for Heavenly Journey

So what's new ?

This is what we were used to listen to every Thursday and Monday at Nirma University till last year. I wonder now no body is going to ask me What's new ? Yes, we lost a person with unmatched dedication to professional field.

I would start with my M.E. admission. I went in the office where he along with other professors asked me why am I willing to join M.E programme and I said I want to be a teacher. He laughed in his natural way and said from where will you bring the vacancies. Will you start your own college ? I had no answer but I was assured the I am admitted because the then HoD took my GATE score card. But, I had received a very strong signal from NS that he will be the person who will not let the life easy during M.E.

He was teaching CRE (the name of course was Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering) which was almost same as our BE course and he used to show the same slides which he might have prepared years back. But, he had the charisma to hold the class. Though we were learning the same material as we could have at BE but his touch made the things different. His style of checking the answer sheets was also different. If you are solving for conversion or time for any particular conversion you have to first get the mathematical formula and at the last you have to substitute the values. If you substitute any value in any of the equation in between he will deduct the marks. So we never got the expected marks in his courses.

I would also like to share an experience which I think created a negative impression of mine in his mind. We were GATE qualified students and were supposed to get stipend of Rs. 2500/pm. However, due to some administrative delays we did not get stipend for initial few months. One fine day we got the message from our office that the stipend will be distributed between 2.30 to 3.00 pm. But, unfortunately between 2.00 to 3.00 his lecture was scheduled. We were so excited that without thinking of the consequences we thought of going to get the stipend during the lecture. I lead the group and took his permission. He said you can go during the lecture. He started the lecture and soon the clock was showing 2.30. I waited for few minutes but then I suddenly stood up and requested him to let us leave. He said "If you think getting money is more important than gaining knowledge you may go" I do not know what happened to me and I left the class and my friends followed. I wanted to work on catalysis under him in my M.E. project but he had other plans and (i think) due to above incident he did not pick me up. He never believed in computational aspect and I still remember his words during my M.E. projects. You are "Reinventing the Wheels".

After leaving MSU I joined VVP Engineering College and I somehow wanted to convey him that I was not as bad as he thinks. So, whenever I got a chance to discuss with him I took the full advantage but I was getting a feeling that he is not very comfortable. It was in CHEMCON 2002 when I got the best presentation prize he came to me the next day and praised me for the work and the presentation. I was very happy.

I left VVP and joined Nirma. During that time he used to regularly visit Nirma. During Chemozale of 2005 he called me and said every year you present paper at CHEMCON but you are not focusing on one area. This is the high time that you zero in on any topic and start working for your PhD. He also told me that if you want to work on Thermodynamics (which was not his area) he would talk to Prof. Dabke. So I started working on and in 2006 I registered as a PhD student under him with Dabke sir as my co-guide. During this 5-6 years of close association with him I had learnt so many things from him. His dedication, disciplined approach in every matter, his encouragement and his comments on my writing styles and many more to add. He said that if you do not join PhD now you will miss the train. I realized the value of that statement just after the completion of my PhD. I completed my defence in July 2011 and October 2011 I was promoted as Associate Professor. I could correlate his words then.

 

I always wanted to gift him something as token of my gratitude towards him but due to one or other reasons I kept on delaying and today I am in a situation that I just can't reach him. I will always regret this.

I must thank him for showing me the path in the academic life. His contribution to Chemical Engineering Field in Gujarat and in India is unparalleled. His contribution to Chemical Department Nirma University is immense. Because of his able support we could achieve so many things at the department.

I would always remain indebted to the great person for his contribution to my professional growth.

May his soul rest in peace.

Aum Shanti

 

Getting in to Engineering

From last few days the weather has changed and it seems that Rain God might shower some water on us. This is also the time when engineering aspirant students (and more so their parents) are eager to know where would they get the admission ?  Every year during this time I receive so many phone calls from students or their parents for giving them "guidance" on which college to opt for. I recall one of my teachers at MSU saying when you are doing your research two extremes are bad, 1) when you do not find anything related to your topic in the open literature and 2) when you find hundreds of research papers about the topics of your interest. Right now the condition is like point (2). Main two questions students facing are,

1) There are so many engineering colleges in Gujarat only and the question is which one is better ?

2) Which branch one should opt for ?

Now basically the answers to both the questions may vary from person to person. So, it would be difficult to provide any general or specific answers. But, I would try to list some basic points which one should keep in mind before zeroing on the institute and/or branch.

1. Choice of branch or choice of Institute ?

This is the most common problem people come across. Most of the time it is the branch which students (and hence parents) opts for and not the institute. However, it is the other way round. The reason I am writing this is because most of the times our choice for branch is based on trends and not by real choice. I have observed students saying the branches of their preference as, Mechanical, Computer, Electronics and Communication and if not then Information and Technology. Now this order does not make any sense to me. If a person is really interested in Mechanical then the branch which gives similar subjects are Chemical, Production engineering. Similarly for EC the better alternative branches are Electrical or Instrumentation and Control and letter on one can specialize in Masters degree. 

As I have written earlier most of the times the choices are based on trends and trends are always changing hence it is better to be with an institute where you get overall good learning environment. So, if  the choice is not based on a very solid ground always prefer Institute over Choice.

2. How to rank an Institute ?

The next thing comes to mind then how to rank an Institute. There are many ways to know about an Institute .  There are Institutes that does  not require any great deal of knowledge to say that they are better than others in the state. Some of them are, IIT-G (of course you must have passed JEE for getting into it), NIT Surat, Nirma, DDU (DDIT), MSU, L D College of Engineering, and some others but the real problems starts when we are not sure that are we going to get in to any of these or not. Providing some of the yardsticks for ranking various other institutes,

a) The fee structure of an Institute (The fee structure is decided by the Committee of Governing agencies). A common thumb rule is more the fees better is the institute in terms of providing infrastructure, good faculty members and complying other norms required for a good engineering institute. 

b) The fee structure is decided for some fixed period (mostly for three years) and hence it is possible that an Institute few years back may not be the same so the other thing one may check is the GTU resutls (if the Institute is GTU affiliated). [This is not very accurate yardstick as results is the joint outcome of many persons teachers, students ,examiner, but still gives a fair indication of the teaching learning process of an institute in general]

c) See the website of the shortlisted institutes and try to check the qualifications of the professor of the departments you are interested in. Common activities done by them. Most of the Institutes keep their websites updated so it should give you a good idea about the environment of the Institute. Also try to visit some of them which are near by to get an idea about the physical infrastructure. During the visit always visit the department interested, library, canteen (of course) and if possible meet some senior faculty members of the department. 

d) Check the placement records (if possible). This is one of the most important criteria. However, not the topmost. Placements are important but, see branch specific placements. Most of the engineering students are welcomed by software industries. Now if that is what you intend to end up with its fine otherwise check the placement of the branch you are interested in. Having 100% placements does not mean having the placements in branch specific industries. Be aware of it. To check it one may contact the placement officer of the college.

e) One of the most important aspects of ranking an Institute (according to me) is our own financial conditions. Though I said that the more fee structure is better that is not true for government engineering colleges. If one feels that our financial conditions limit our self in getting in to an average or above average SFI chose the similar ranking government college. [This may be a bold statement but, I think is practical]. Never take the decision emotionally because ultimately it is not going to help our cause. So, be double sure before getting in to an average SFI.

3. Selecting a branch

This again is a very Interesting thing. This is where we generally do not follow our own thinking. I think sparing some of the students and parents most of those who called me are not able to answer my question why any specific branch ? Depending upon our own liking we must opt for the branch. Not only our liking of the subjects but also after getting the degree what kind of job we are going to get. So do a basic study. Now in the era of google one should not have a problem of getting the information about any branch and its future. Also decide weather you wants to go for post graduate degree or not. Selecting a course for long term benefit is better than just going with the trends. 

4. Always verify very good or very bad opinion about an institute from non authorized persons.

Though the students studying in a college are the best source many a times there opinion are biased.  There are so many people who are willing to give you free guidance on which college is good or bad depending upon the experience of their neighbors daughter's (or son's) friend's cousin.  So be aware of such opinions. I have seen very educated people falling in such traps. Now, the other person has nothing to do with the final outcome he might have told just for time pass but it might ruins ones future. So double check when they give either of the above mentioned opinions.

To sum up 

1) Select an Institute

2) Make a list of branches you are comfortable with and make a matrix of institute and branch according to your liking

3) Never base you decision on the opinion of a person who is not entitled (authorized) for it

4) Look in to your pocket before investing a huge amount. We always invest our hard earned money after looking at the interest rates (if any bank gives 0.5% more we run to get our FD account there) So, check the returns here as well

5) Never be emotional for getting in to engineering. If you have got less marks accept the fact and get in to good science college, that will make your future brighter

Best of luck to all the students and parents for proper selection of the engineering branch and/or institute.

Ideas, views,suggestions and additional information are always welcome

Its time to buy Air Conditioner

The title seems like an advertisement. Well it is certainly not. I am thinking of buying a new Air Conditioner (AC) at my place and like any other thing which I bought I have done my "basic" homework for various products available in the market. [People around me always blame me for not deciding on any such thing instantaneously and stretching the matter to unnecessary length but irrespective of those views I do take my time in arriving at a final decision]. So here is what I came across when I was going through the products.

1) Panasonic was cashing on two things Inverter technology, econav mode and nanoG filter.

2) Samsung was talking about its virus doctor and built in stabilizer as well as bio sleep mode

3) Hitachi was talking about its multiflow and iclean technology

4) Sharp was talking about plasmatech as well as Inverter tech.

Like any other customer I was curious about the working of all above as the cost factor was significantly different for different specifications.  What I found during discussions with the sales persons or officials representing the companies is that they know very little about their own products.  

I will talk about the experience I had with Panasonic. Before I went to Panasonic store in an exhibition I had done my homework. But,  I was not very much sure about the difference between antibacterial filter and nano G technology. So, first I asked that to a sales person but he could not give proper answer so I asked the person who was in charge so he routed me to some other person. He explained me about the nano G stating that it removes all the dust particles, pollen, virus and bacteria. He said it also removes the invisible viruses. The viruses which we can only see in sun rays and not by naked eyes. And I was shocked. He talked about so many other things but eventually I realized that only I will have to find the difference between the two technologies. Expect Sharp I had similar experience with other brands too.

I am coming back to my initial lines and would like to ask everybody that how many times we purchase the goods by doing proper home work ? We can spend time on fb, twitter, online gaming but can't we just check some basics of the goods we are purchasing. If we are not going to do this so called techno-sales persons would continue explaining us the "truth" about their products and we will blindly accept them. I have faced this situation many a times for almost every product. The technosales persons are either reluctant to discuss pros and cones of their product and if you ask them they just say anything. They can afford to do this because we as a customer are very lazy in finding out some simple details about the product. Before buying anything one may just go through “ buying guide of-------------”.  It is the tendency to accept the things without going in to the details that has lead to this situation. Very few people take pain to know the product profile. I have even seen highly educated people to be reluctant about getting information about the product they are buying.  

Helping all of you with my homework on a/c hope this will be helpful. If you have something to add please feel free to do so. 

What should be the capacity of your A/C ?

It depends on the room size and if the area is below 100 sqft you can go with maximum 1 ton. Between 100-150 you may have 1.5 ton. In fact one may visit the site of LG for getting these details. However, these are rule of thumbs and may vary depending upon the floor, direction of sun and other things as well.

What are new star ratings ?

The new star ratings are more energy saving, The 3 star product of 2011 is now 2 star and likewise for every rating. You may see the star rating with energy saving potential in with green back ground for 2012.

Which refrigerant is used in my a/c?

All the a/c comes with R22 now a days but it is likely to be phased out by 2020. Our A/c running on R22 need not be replace as the production of R22 will be continued till 2030. Many companies like Panasonic, Sharp have come up with inverter technology which uses R410a. More on this for those who are interested can be shared. 

Difference between plasamcluster (Sharp), nanoG (Panasonic), virus doctor (Samsung) and antibacterial filter.

The antibacterial filter will remove the bacteria which will enter the a/c machine and thus makes the air purified. However, in the case of all other technologies the machine releases some trillion negatively charged ions and these ions get attached to positively charged ions (virus, bacteria, pollen etc) and take them in the machine and thus make the room purified. 

Rahul The Wall

It was September 16, 2011, when Indian Cricket followers and entire cricket community had witnessed a historical moment in Cricket when The Wall was playing his last ever ODI against England. I did not liked the way he got out, looking at his records of not getting bowled out much of the time but, if I compare, Bradman got out at zero in his final innings against Rahul getting half century in last ODI, I take it.

I am a great admire of Rahul and the way he has shaped his cricket career. He started as a great test player but, he always lacked a luck to be in top stories. I exactly remember the Lords test when Dada and he were playing for the first time and Saurav made his maiden test century and Dravid missing out merely by 5 runs. But, the consistency which Rahul has shown is unparallel. I have always liked batsman like Dilip Vengsarkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Praveen Amre and all those who depend on technicality for their batting but, Dravid was the most successful of the all. The reason may be his Strong determination ignoring all the criticism.

There was a time when Dravid was unwanted part of ODI team but, he managed to fine tune his batting style and his attitude to match ODI temperament. Moreover, he worked upon his Keeping skills to be an inevitable part of Indian ODI squad. I feel sorry for him for not being a part of the world cup winning team (I may be partial when writing this but, he could have been a part of that team). He has shown the world that if you keep your basics correct you can perform well in any form of cricket. For example, his three sixes in the last T20 match were awesome. Something which was mix of the technique with slog. Though the strokes were similar in style like Yusuf Pathan hitting it over boundary the style statement of Rahul made it more technical.

I always had a quarrel with one of my friends at Rajkot (Vishal Kothari) about Sachin and Dravid. (Though personally I feel there is no comparison. Both of them have their own way of playing. I am also a fan of Sachin but any blind follower of Sachin must admit that Consistency wise there is no match of Dravid). I admit that Sachin is the greatest player produced by India in the world of Cricket and I do not want to show Dravid superior than Sachin. But, personally I have always put Dravid ahead of any cricketer. I admit that Dravid does not have any attractive stroke play but he has classical drives to disturb any bowler in the world, I admit that he can not hit big sixes but, his capacity to play in gaps makes him a better player. His ability to stick to the wicket in Test cricket and score the runs was his greatest strength. You will rarely watch him getting out for a rash shot which you may find with any other cricketer.

I happened to read the article written by Dipak Solia (Editor of Aah Jindgi) in Divya Bhaskar about Sachin and Dravid. I was always the fan of Mr. Soliya's writing and by writing this article he has really made a special place in my mind. He describes Sachin as China and Rahul as India. He says that Sachin like China have attractive stork play but Dravid like India progresses slowly but steadily. He has critically written plus and minus of both great player and he has put in extra effort to make sure that he has never compared them. He says Sachin is No. 1 but Dravid is No.2  with a minor difference. A great article a must read for both Sachin's and Rahul's fan.

Rahul had a great life as a cricketer, he has a great cricketing mind and was a great slip fielder. I have always tried to incorporate his style in my batting (with a great failure) and I consider my self lucky to watch him playing cricket. Apart from being a good cricketer you can feel that Rahul is a great human being. You would never find any cricketer giving adverse remarks on him. I wish him best of his life and would be keen to see him playing the test cricket.

Good by Rahul.