IES all I know; How to start!

By Aditi Saini

This is for people who are still in their colleges or even jobs and don't have time/money for coaching. IES is not only for coaching guys,i truly believe that!

1) Take a print of ESE your branch syllabus and paste it on your wall. Memorize it.  It is work half done. (Don't ignore or skip it! Please )

2) Buy a thin formula copy, color pens and a thicker ones for each subject.

3) Preferable pattern:

1. Read Notes: First reading,casually. It takes time to absorb the new words. In second reading,try to associate technical words with their meaning. In third refine, go deeper find the implications,applicability of the concept.
2. Read book. Notes only give simplified version.Books is where you build your knowledge.Follow the rule of repeated reading given in step 1.
3. Write concepts in your own words (Notes copy). This is the most crucial step,where you internalise the knowledge gained and put it into tangible form. Consider it your memory/thought tank from Harry potter.
4. Attack solved questions(with your own bare hands and calculators,no cheating) Got struck? Don't worry, Go to step 3,2,1,in same order. Update your own notes copy,if you find anything missing. Look at the solved question,compare.
5. Write formulas/units/tips down( Formula copy) Again a vital component of your preparation. Without formula copy,you are a soldier in foreign territory without a map. You might not use it or read it but you can explore it whenever you get lost.
6. Try to solve unsolved questions. We read,we forget,we write,we forget, but we do, we remember. Visualise the neural connections in your brain being made when you struggle with the application of the concepts you just read. These will help you fight questions in exam.
7. Mark the ones you find interesting These are your enemies which will destroy you in battlefield until conquered. Encounter them,before you go to battlefield. After all you want to save time for new enemies in exam.

At any point if time,don't get frustrated. Pick up yourself and hit again,this time real hard,harder than the last time.

Perseverance is the key.

 

Okay, one more quote I read which helped me in my preparation.

Support

How to Qualify SSC Exams

How to Qualify SSC Exams –

CGL, CHSL, Steno, JE, Police, Translator, etc Collect the syllabus of the ssc exam. You can download it from the official website of SSC. Get the ssc exam books of a better publication and also get the separate books for each of the section of ssc exam paper.

• Make a time table of your study.
• Study for at least 4 hrs a day for a year.
• Study with full concentration and try to clear your basics of the topics.
• Remember shortcuts of doing the questions and also create your own shortcuts to solve the problems faster.
• You can also buy various books for learning shortcuts for solving problems for ssc exam.
• Remember the shortcut techniques to solve the problem given the ssc exam paper faster. It will help solve the ssc exam paper quickly and you can solve more questions as it will improve your speed.
• You need to work on your speed of solving problems. For that practice one previous year question paper daily to improve your speed putting yourself in the time limit.
• Work more on your weaker sections and make them stronger with practice. Practice more and more because practice make a men perfect.
• In the ssc paper, solve as many questions as you can but only do those which you know well.
• Don’t do those question which you are not sure about. Remember there is negative marking in the ssc exams.
• If you got stuck on a particular question then move on to next one but don’t waste your precious time on particular question.
• Always wear a watch while giving any type of paper as it will keep you updated with time.  Work on your quickness to solve problems and build speed of solving problem.
• Most of the aspirants fails in these tests because of the time limit.
• Work harder with consistency will lead you to qualify this exam.

Important Tips for SSC JE

• The difficulty level of the exam is not very high. A diploma holder in engineering can easily attempt the paper. Thus, focus on the basics of engineering than solving tough problems. 
• Take as many practice tests as possible before  the exam. Make sure you time your attempts. It is as much about speed as it is about accuracy in SSC Junior Engineer Exam 2014.
• Make sure you reach the exam center well before time. This way, you won’t be stressed, which always helps you perform better in an exam.
• Attempt those questions first that you are absolutely sure about. You don’t need to attempt different sections in a specific order. Thus, you can always go back and forth between sections.
• Attempt the easy questions in all the sections first and then attempt the tough questions. As far as possible, do not play the guessing game. 
• A thumb of rule you can follow is if you know  more than 50% of the paper, you must not take undue risks and guess answers. 
• There is negative marking involved. However, if you know less than 50% of the paper, it could be worthwhile to take calculate risks.
• Paper-II is a subjective paper. Make sure you practice the subjective method of answering questions too. You must know the correct method of solving numerical problems of engineering.

If you clear the cutoff marks for paper-I and paper-II, you will have to go through an interview round. It is important that you start preparing for the interview as well from the time of the written test. Practice answering common interview questions such as
“Why do you want to join SSC?”;
“Tell us about yourself”; some common engineering theoretical concepts etc.

Tips and tricks for solving the papers

Tips and tricks for solving the papers

• The first motto while solving the question papers is to utilize your time optimally.

• The Objective Paper-I consists of 120 questions which are evenly based on English and General Studies. The questions on the topics of rearrangement of sentences and Comprehension are tedious and time consuming so it is suggested to solve those questions after completion of rest of the paper.

• While solving the comprehension part first read the passage then read the questions asked and then mark the lines which are related to the questions.

• If you are not able to solve a particular question then don’t waste your time on it and don’t get disheartened. Move to other questions and solve tough question at the end.

• While solving technical objective papers, try to solve the questions on theory first and then work on numerical questions as there is Negative Marking for each wrong answer and cut off is to be cleared in these papers hence never try to mark those answers on which you are not confident.

• On third day of examination there are two conventional papers. Before solving the paper, first of all read the question paper thoroughly and mark those questions in which you can perform your best.

• Write the answers, step by step in tidy manner to give an impressive presentation and by doing this the candidate will not miss the essential points and formulae. If some diagram is required try to make well labeled and neat diagram with freehand sketch. You will get the credit for orderly, effective, and exact expression combined with due economy of words in the conventional papers of the examination.
• Write formulae in the numerical, S.I units of concerned quantities and answers as well.

Steps to enhance your performance

1. The examination requires consistency, never say die spirit and most important is self motivation. Healthy ideas grow in healthy mind so alongwith studies do devote some time for recreation this will make enhance the memorizing power and efficiency.

2. Keep safely documents related to examination such as acknowledgment of application, hall ticket, application number and other details. This is to avoid last minute tension for obvious things.

3. One day before the examination don’t study much, just revise the important notes which you have made. Relax and sleep for atleast 6 hours so that you write exam with fresh mind.

4. Keep atleast 2 sharpened pencils, eraser, sharpener, 2 pens, calculator, hall ticket, etc. in your examination kit. Leave for your exam timely and don’t study much on the same day during travelling.

7 Career Advancement Tips for Engineers

By Barb Schmitz

There’s more to being a successful engineer than being good at math and science. Regardless of whether you graduated in May or 20 years ago, there are tips and strategies you can employ to increase your chances of career advancement, some of which might be surprising. So let’s take a look at some of these tips that all engineers can use to assure themselves that their careers remain on the right path.

1. Think like a businessman.

This one might surprise many of you, but the reality is that engineering firms are increasingly seeking out engineers who can think like businesspeople. They want engineers who have been involved with strategy and planning and know their way around a balance sheet and income statements. All engineers need to understand how the total costs to produce your company’s products affect business
decisions.

2. Think outside the box .

In this case, the “box” is your respective discipline. You might have gone to college to study mechanical engineering, but many of today’s complex products contain software and embedded electronics so there will be times when design issues will confront you that fall outside of your technical discipline. Learn the basics of other relevant disciplines, such as electronic and software design.

3. Be a team player .

Collaborative design is a part of reality for today’s product development efforts and design teams have now been expanded to include more and more people, many of which are outside of  engineering. All these disciplines must come together to resolve complex issues and formulate solutions to bring products to market. As a result, communication and other “soft” skills are as important as technical expertise.

4. Be an innovator.

Innovation in new products is what sets successful companies apart from their competitors. Always be open to new ideas, even if they come from sources outside your group. Beware of the “Not-Invented-Here” bias that exists at some companies. Companies will reward engineers who encourage innovative ideas, regardless of where they originated. To be successful and advance in their jobs, engineers must play an active part in feeding their company’s innovation pipeline.

5. Be an active alum.

Keep in touch with your alma mater  by offering to participate in technical societies to increase your networking reach and writing technical papers and/or organizing technical sessions at association conferences to enhance both your experience and your company’s reputation.

6. Keep learning.

This is crucial as the tools used to do product design and analysis are constantly changing and improving. Stay ahead of the curve and seek out new assignments and opportunities to learn new technologies, sign up for training programs and make the most of company-paid educational benefits. Also, if possible, attend events put on by professional organizations, such as the American Society of Civil Engineers or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

7. Work on your “soft” skills.

All forms of communication– written and verbal–are critical to advancement in engineering. If you’re an engineer who wants to eventually advance into a management role, you’ll need to be comfortable talking to customers, giving presentations and working with outside suppliers, agencies, etc. So developing these “soft” skills is vital. Toastmasters   International , a non-profit organization, is a great place to get your feet wet in public speaking.

Motivate yourself for Gate or future!

By Expert..

1. If you show some guts to open up by not hiding behind "anon" - may be some one would have noted your situation and might have assisted you.

2. The moment you don't get a job, you people feel that you are untouchable. If that is what you believe how outsiders can understand you?

3. You are just 23- ( believe me if you can) when I was 45, a mere commerce graduate had two
children - I left the job to move back to my state - but without a job for 1 year. Then I just invented myself - and changed not only the horses but also the entire vehicle - and migrated from accounts to advertising.

4. You have not got GATE, and you are an instrumentation engineer and you got a break in employment and you feel and decided that you have
been fucked up.

5. Did you ever do masturbation? After doing it, did you ever feel guilty of doing it? And after a week you did it and enjoyed it and after its over you feel guilty about it ... it's a unending story.

6. I am afraid you young people should learn lot from Congress party. You can not be a AAP member and still want to survive in this society.

7. There are no Sages or Sri Rama in this society and we are all in a kind of society where we make up ourselves to get our daily bread.

8. The HR manager is cheating telling you in his company - only the real worker will be rewarded;
The management cheating explaining that the sky is the limit for real performer.
The Banker is cheating that they have money to loan you;
The team manager is cheating by telling that all the team members are equal to him. And we - as an individual - are unable to tell simple lie for our own life sake.

We tell lies to our girl friends and to our parents but when it comes to the job, we want to be naked there.

9. Stop telling in resume that you have a break ( not GAP) in employment. So after two days you will believe in your resume. You search some thing - some idea, some clue to cement that "gap". And re write the resume.

10. Do not show your or explain your strengths and weakness etc., Add a good convincing creative covering letter.

11. Being instrumentation engineer - you should look for job titles like " Team manager, assist manager - commercial, or purchase or design or Site Engineer of any trade, or else get back to e commerce ( not a software job)

12. Don't get fucked up by drawing circles and boundaries around you.

13. Have some flexibility and look beyond that instrumentation and GATE.

14. There are half a billion people with out IIT or IIM
or GATE. And they are happy.

15. Do not spend too much time on FB, delete your resume from Linked In.

How to study smart not hard?

Why is it that some students study really hard, but aren’t the best in their age group or get “only” average grades? And why is it that there are other students who do not even invest half the amount of time and effort into their studies, but get good or even outstanding results?

Intelligence certainly plays a role. But: The way you study can make or break your success at school/
college/university. My recommendation is to study smart, which can help you to save a lot of time  that would have been lost with unfocused attempts of “studying hard”. This article is, however, not intended as an excuse for students not to study at all. You will have to invest the proper amount of time for studying, there’s no way around. But, this article guides you on how to make the most out of the time you invest for studying. This article’s goal is to enable you to reduce the unnecessary parts of your studies and to focus on the important.
When I started studying, I was shocked to see many of my fellow students rushing into the library only to leave with seven or more books in their hands. That’s what I call ambitious. Many of them had lent every single book our professor’s had commended – sometimes up to 4 different books per  subject. Inclusively the script for each subject, it became a massive mountain of learning material (for them). For a very short time, I was a little frightened by their eagerness, but I held on to the decision of keeping my focus on the important. I kept it simple, lent two books I really needed, and in the end – I got the same and often better results in the examinations than the “overachiever”-crowd.

How did I do it? I studied smart and only periodically hard.
How to study smart not hard?
And how to avoid studying for so long?
This article is partitioned into three parts. 

Part A) Preparation and
Part B) Mindset focus on the organization of information that makes it easier for you to recall.
Part C) is the main part of the concept of “studying smart”.

A) Preparation

1. Get a study game plan.

You want to study smart, right? Hence, it makes sense not to approach your work in an unfocused, undirected way. Don’t dive head first into the topic. That’s the way that would actually cost you a lot of time. Instead, create a study game plan where you specify the day you begin to prepare for your exams create a daily schedule of tasks you want to accomplish during exam preparation create a detailed to-do-list , (keep a close eye on what is really important) enumerate the books you need to read (better: just the important sections you really need to know for the test) itemize the various tasks and exercises you want to do for preparation.
Depending on the difficulty of your exams and how many weeks and months you have for studying,
you could also categorize the weeks/months for preparation into different phases, from
I. basic refreshment of knowledge ,
II. studying, revision and exercise to
III. intensive cracking down – social life on hold.
How to do it the smart way?
A clear goal that you pursue gradually with your plan helps you to avoid many extra- hours, but it also allows you to direct your focus on the important.

2. Summarize.

I’ve had many exams about the content of an entire  book, most of these books in the range of 500-1200 pages. And even if you have only some chapters from a book/journal to read for the test, I highly  recommend you to create summaries, while working through the book. That way, you establish the fundament on which you can build upon, during the upcoming study phase, without having to read the book all over again. But you also train yourself to quickly identify the key statements in large texts that are very likely to be tested in the exam. As a consequence, it’ll be easier for you to skip large amounts of irrelevant data, while sifting through the book.

3.Separate the wheat from the chaff.

While you listen to a lecture or read through a textbook, give the  following a try:

Separate  continuously information that is important (“ Could this knowledge be tested in an exam? ”) from the unimportant (“ Is my teacher digressing or listing irrelevant data? ”).
Take notes of the important points your professor/teacher talks about and add annotations to your script or lecture notes.  Making these important additions to your script will help you at a later time to grasp important coherences.  You can also highlight important sentences or passages from the text, so that you can easily avoid reading through large amounts of unimportant data in your script.

B) Mindset

1. When you study, give 110%

When I went to school, I almost always had to study for long periods of time in order to memorize and understand given contents. The big mistake I made  was to study hard and for long periods of time, but I was not always focused on what I did. I got distracted by my mobile phone, the internet, TV, radio, telephone, friends or any other amusement one can think of. Nowadays, when I study I always give a 110%; I reduce distractions to a minimum and give my very best to avoid procrastination. I may have a time limit of 1-2 hours, but I want to make use of that time as much as possible. Thereafter, I have even more leisure time.
How to study smart:
When you study, do it in a focused and proper way, avoid any kinds of distractions and use the time you have to the maximum!

2. Continuity

Doing all-nighters some days before your examinations will not only exhaust you to a large degree, but will also force you to rush through the data, in place of studying properly. Instead of opting for all-nighters, consider spending half an hour after each day at university with post-treatment, i.e. reading a chapter in the book, making a summary  or doing some exercises. All this preliminary work will help you to spend more time with studying (during your exam preparation period), instead of having to engage with all kinds of inefficient tasks, such as extracting data from your books, trying to
grasps (arithmetic) operations and building an understanding etc.
Why is that smart?
If you already did the groundwork during the term, you’ll be able to focus a lot more on smart ways of studying.

C) The main part of “ studying smart”

1. Don’t try to memorize, understand!

One of the major mistakes I made – when studying hard not smart – was to learn by heart, which is really time-intensive. Rote memorization is fine and dandy if an upcoming exam requires you to reproduce what you have learned word for word. But the higher you rise in the educational system, the less important will it be to memorize and  reproduce, as your understanding and the ability to draw consequences will be tested instead.
In most cases, memorization corresponds to studying hard, not smart. Focus your attention on the understanding and comprehension of the knowledge that is taught.
But: How to understand complex topics?

Establish links and associations
Information becomes knowledge through connections. If you cannot relate to a complex topic, it’ll be very difficult to understand it. But, when you discover similarities and link new knowledge with concepts that you already comprehend, understanding the matter becomes easier. Try to spot ties between different topics and establish links between concepts that overlap.
Studying smart can help you to save a lot of time Imagine the subject matter as vivid as possible. Instead of recognizing the fact that the material you study consists of numbers, words and sentences,
think in pictures (headword: visually thinking). By doing so, you direct a movie in your mind that will help you to memorize facts faster and for a longer period.
What you basically do is the association of emotions (in the form of pictures) with rather unemotional data. It is difficult to memorize the numbers “483215”, but if you link each number with a picture and create a funny story out of it, it will be very easy to memorize the number-combination for a longer period of time. [By the way, this is THE memory trick artists use to memorize seemingly- indefinite number combinations.]
Emotions
Connecting emotions with your subject will greatly help you to internalize the topic. Have fun while studying! It’s for a fact that remembering things we  associate intensive feelings with is by far easier.
Also, if you’re really interested in a subject matter, learning becomes a lot more joyous. Once you manage to become curious about your subject and develop an interest in it, you’ve made an important
step towards a smarter way of studying.
Simplification through analogies
In school and university you’ll be confronted with various complex facts and circumstances. Make
use of analogies [= comparisons] and try to compare a very complicated issue with a more simplified one, which makes it easier to understand the bigger picture of that which is taught.
Simplification through patterning
While you study, make sure to pay attention to continual patterns within the subject matter that occur again and again. By noticing and understanding these reoccurring patterns, you begin to understand the framework on which the topic is constructed. Once you have a good overview of such a framework, the acquisition of new information that is based on the same pattern will be a lot less difficult.
Make use of acronyms
If you’re confronted with difficult, specialist words,  names or formula, an acronym can be an excellent aide-memoir for the memorization of the word or formula. Take for instance the rather simplex name “Enhanced Health and Usage Diagnostic System”. It’s acronym is “EHUDS”, which sounds like “e- hud’s” or “e-hat’s”. All you have to do now is to think about electronic hat’s and you’ll most likely be able to come up with the acronym “EHUDS”, from which you can rebuilt the original name.

2. Keep the bigger picture in mind

The constructing of a car can serve as example of the learning process. Your professor supplies the “know how” during his lectures, for instance the  detailed knowledge how an engine works. The textbooks and other learning materials supply you with the chassis, frame, tires and bolts. But, it is up to the student to make use of the know how, in order to use it for the combination of the delivered material. It’s the student’s job to put the car together and to keep the bigger picture of what is taught in mind.
If the student stubbornly tries to memorize the position of each part in the car, he/she will not be able to (re-)construct a car from a thousand of individual parts. Memorizing the different names of each part will not help either.
Only by keeping in mind that the know how and material are at one’s disposal for the creation of a
car, the student can effectively prepare for an upcoming test.

3. Perfect your type of studying

There are basically four basic types of studying: Visual, Auditory, Emotional and Kinesthetic.

1. Visual Learners: A visual learner studies most effective when the learning material is depicted in a visual way, e.g. in the form of charts, maps or brainstorming.
2. Auditory Learners: An auditory learner studies most effectively by hearing the information, for instance in a lecture or by recording their own words.
3. Emotional Learners: An emotional learner studies most effectively by associating feelings, emotions and vivid images with the information.
4. Kinesthetic Learners: A kinesthetic learner studies most effective when the information can be experienced and felt, i.e. via “learning by doing”.

Effective Study Methods
In order to study in the smartest possible way you need to discover which type of studying you prefer.
Once you know what works best for you, align your process of learning to make the most out of it.
Students that are mathematically talented should put their notes into spreadsheets, graphs and charts; kinesthetic learners imagine the learning material as vivid as possible; linguistic learners discuss the material with others or record their voice while reading the subject out-loud, etc.

What is wrong with Indian Education?

So..what is the definition of wrong when it comes to education ? 

Lack of well rounded education . Nerds are restricted to books while jocks are restricted to practice nets. Unfortunately, nerds can benefit a lot from sports and learn team dynamics and how to work along with other people. Jocks on the other hand can learn a few things like critical thinking and logical reasoning.

Absence of disruptive innovators and rebels in our society . Like the commonly quoted Steve Jobs, we do have a lack of innovators (small when compared to our huge population) in our  country.

What we instead have in our country is nation of sloggers who are restricted by our underdeveloped society's definition of success and cramming in spite of unhappiness to get into an engineering college and later to get the next promotion. This is completely done irrespective of if they actually care about the subject and work but rather by social conditioning which deludes them into thinking this how they can attain salvation.

Is it unfair to compare India with say...United States ?

Well take a completely unrelated metric ..life expectancy and compare the US, India and  Singapore. Singapore was chosen by me because in the lifetime of our previous generation it managed to go from an under developed third world to a first world country. Now if you look at something as basic as life expectancy, India completely lacks behind US and Singapore with a life expectancy of something around 65. That would literally mean,  if you are in your 30s, more than half of your life
is gone (yes you can argue it is for the entire nation and not specifically the urban population.)  Anyway coming back to life expectancy, India is where Singapore was in the 1960s. 

Now what does that say to us ?

India is still in the "survival mode" . Since its creation in 1947, we have been and still are in the "survival mode". What happens in the survival mode is that we do cost-benefit  analysis of every decision in our lives and unfortunately in education, career as well as marriage. This explains why engineering is the overwhelming choice of the majority of the people in this country and in similar countries like China (who smartly have also recognized the potential of studying finance.) After we leave the "survival mode" as a nation, then only we will reach the developed stage like US and Canada where a significant fraction will choose subjects which they actually like and rather not forced by society to choose. After that when we reach the "Uber-Developed" status like Scandinavian countries, then the majority of our country, free of financial constraints will pursue their dreams.

Inspite of all this if we look at the enrollment in tertiary education in both US and India (assuming the correctness of the data, they are amazingly similar with approximately 20% enrollment with India doing better). As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012, 96.5% of all rural children between the ages of 6-14 were enrolled in school. This is the fourth annual survey to report enrollment above 96%. 83% of all rural 15-16 year olds were enrolled in school. However, going forward, India will need to focus more on quality.Gross enrollment at the tertiary level has crossed 20% (as per an Ernst & Young Report cited in Jan 2013 in Education News/ minglebox.com  "In 2006, 19.5 percent of the adult population had attended college but had no degree, 7.4 percent held an associate's degree , 17.1 percent held a bachelor's degree , and 9.9 percent held a graduate or professional degree . The historic gender gap had practically vanished.  New England had the highest proportion of college graduates, and the South Central states the lowest. "

So what is wrong with our curriculum ?

Actually nothing. Our curriculum is perfect and better than most countries. We are taught a vast majority of subjects (we will get to teaching methods later) which will allow us to recognize where  our interest lies later in life. Hardly do you get Shakespeare and C++ being taught at high school  level in developing country. Even in a developed country like Singapore, the syllabus is not so vast and people who might take History will not end up taking Geography. Unfortunately, our co-curricular activities lack behind a lot which would actually produce a well rounded individual. We end up being egoistical, individualistic narrow minded individual. However, till this crazy competition goes away, I doubt if any importance will be paid to co- curricular activities.

So who are we to blame ?

Parents, Teachers and Society "Cost Benefit Analysis of every Career Decision" When was the last time anyone studied engineering especially ECE because they liked it? They had been tinkering with circuits since young, taking apart radios and other stuff. When was the last time we studied anything because we liked doing it not because we can quote a huge starting annual salary?

Another consequence of the country being in the "survival mode", is that the insecurities of the parents are passed to the children over time and the ultimate objective is to achieve financial stability in whichever way possible.

"Myopic Definition of Success"

Standard definition of success common in our society is getting into a top engineering college followed by working in an unrelated field which would pay the most followed by getting into a B School to work in a field which you did not know  even existed when you were in high school. Although I congratulate the successful ones from the top schools, what concerns me is that the definition of success is extremely myopic. Life is  a long, long journey and although this might give you a good start, it will never determine where you end up.

In this way I will argue that we should stop blaming reservation as a curse of our society. Reservations can only stop you to a certain point and blaming them for "ruining your whole life" is extremely short sighted.

"Nation of Conformists"

We although will hate to admit, are a nation of conformists. Adventure and risk taking as a whole is just lacking in our DNA. We never explored China during ancient times (Marco Polo came from  Italy), we never bothered to go to Africa till there were jobs for us. We are shit scared to be different.  Every career decision is approved by our parents and society. We are just afraid of making a mistake and being pointed at. This comes from the very fact that  since childhood, our teachers will label anyone different to be a "problem child" who needs psychiatric help, thanks to their limitations as incomplete human beings. We are so scared that we even make our parents choose our life  partners.

Sometimes this delusion and comfort in success are gone by our early 30s and for the first time we want to live for ourselves. Unfortunately thanks to our small life expectancy and probably a family and child to support, this becomes a dream which we can never fulfill. Have you noticed why your father is grumpy all the time...this might be the very reason..!!

So is there any hope left ?

Yes! there is. This new generation is slowly breaking conventions and we are seeing more artists, more designers, more scientists.
Things will be much better by the next generation when people will choose careers out of their own free will.

Playing your strengths - How to capitalize on yourstrong subject areas to score more in GATE

GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering)

essentially examines the aptitude of engineering graduates/students in understanding simple problems and applying engineering concepts to solve them. Thus, a GATE aspirant has to develop  abilities in solving aptitude-based problems. The engineering aptitude for GATE requires the GATE aspirants to pass through the following stages of preparation:
1. Motivation
2. Preparation strategy
3. Selection of books
4. Theoretical study
5. Key concepts
6. Practice on problems
7. Revision
Time, energy, hard work and books are the basic inputs to the success in this exam. Each of the
seven stages mentioned above is critical in preparation.

Motivation:

Success in GATE needs motivation, confidence, determination, time, books, energy and
hard work. Aspirants must be full of natural motivation and curiosity for study, and should seek for knowledge as much as possible by self-interest. While preparing for GATE, the aspirant must keep in
mind what can be the long-term and short-term effects of success in GATE in his/her career- making process.

Preparation strategy:

Time, energy and other inputs of preparation must be utilized in the most efficient and effective manner. For this, the candidate has to develop a preparation strategy that includes steps such as selection of important topics for study, selection of books/chapters for specific topics, allotment of time for coverage of a particular list of topics, etc.

Selection of books:

A brief planning of the theoretical background can be enhanced by following books that are error free and cover the topics in detail. The general tendency of following too many books should be avoided to circumvent any type of confusion in concepts. For this, a suitable survey should be carried out by the candidate to reach the correct choice of books. Teachers, senior students and class-mates should
be asked about the correct book for preparation. Information available online can also be used. Although there are various resources available online, a systematic and limited browsing of the Internet is recommended to avoid misuse and wastage of time. Preparation for GATE is expected in parallel to graduate courses; the time available for preparation must be effectively utilized. This is possible only by selection of correct study material (textbooks or reference/guide books), which is very critical in preparation for GATE. The choice of books in graduate studies is equally important.

In fact, the referred book only determines the standard and level of study and preparation. Reputed publishers, such as Wiley India, offer comprehensive books specifically written by established authors for preparation for GATE. Hence, there is no need to take stress for selection of books.

Theoretical study:

Aspirants must study the topics asked in GATE papers in depth. For this, a survey of all the questions asked in GATE is a most useful step. Reference books for GATE provide chapter- wise solutions of GATE questions. A good reference book can save a lot of time and energy. Earlier,  students were required to make exhaustive notes of each topic. It was very difficult to organize these notes for revision in future. Students always face initial hesitation in starting the preparation. If not realized, days can pass without any fruitful effort undertaken. It is a general tendency in students that only a few subjects interest them. These subjects are generally taken in groups. Subjects of primary interest should be made the key to success in GATE by completing their preparation on priority. Thereafter, subjects of secondary interest must be given priority in preparation, and so on. However, the ideal recommendation is that each subject must be studied with full interest and devotion for success in GATE. It is always better if weak subjects are also studied religiously so that they  also become subjects of primary interest and one of strength for success in GATE. One must always  remember that the objective of preparation is success in GATE, and not to show someone that  you are a master in one subject but a failure in another.

Understanding of Key concepts:

Students must always make a summary of important concepts that must always be remembered and that can also be used for quick revision of the complete theoretical study. This helps in saving time and building confidence. All important observations must be clearly noted in brief so that the same can be used instead of referring to the complete theoretical study from the beginning.

Practice on problems:

The best policy to generate and maintain self-confidence is to get tested. The candidate must always be aware about the status and level of preparedness of writing the exam. Strong theoretical background and practice are of utmost importance for the fastest solution of the questions. Negative marking of wrong answers may lead to failure if wild guesses are made for filling in the answer sheets without confidence. The questions asked in this exam are mainly meant to examine the fundamental aptitude of engineering graduate/students of the respective discipline.

Difficult or lengthy questions are asked very rarely, and those questions will also be based on simple and basic concepts. A physical interpretation of engineering quantities is very important to understand the problems.

Revision:

As the GATE is held in February, at least 4 months should be given for complete revision of the GATE syllabus, with the material prepared or referred from a guide book. Thus, the revision of the preparation must start from October. The remaining month of January should be used for mastering  he key concepts, derivations, formula and selected (difficult) questions. Like any other competitive exam, accuracy of answers and time management are very important aspects for success in GATE.

About 65 questions are required to be solved within 3 hours; that is, on average, 2.76 minutes are available for each question. The questions of engineering mathematics and general aptitude are generally very easy. Hence, less time should be  given to solving questions from these topics. Speed
is a very important parameter of time management during the writing of the exam.

Famous scientists and their inventions

Some famous scientists and their most remarkable inventions and discoveries Invention is something you create by experimentation, where as discovery is finding out that already exists.

Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647)

The famous Italian physicist and mathematician is the inventor of the barometer (scientific tool used in the field of meteorology to estimate atmospheric pressure), built in 1643. It would be interesting to note that a number of Italian Navy submarines were named after the inventor.

Ferdinand Verbiest (1623 - 1688)

Verbiest was an astronomer and a mathematician. He was the one to invent the world's first automobile. The inventor came up with the idea to create an automobile while visiting China as a missionary. His automobile was powered by steam, but could not carry humans.

Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

Charles Babbage was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered as “Father of Computers”, Babbage  is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs.

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845 - 1923)

The famous German physicist Röntgen is the one who discovered the X-rays (also known as Röntgen rays). This invention allowed the German scientist to win the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

He has made a large number of inventions, but the most well known one is the electric bulb. Among other discoveries of Thomas Edison there are telegraph devices, phonograph, carbon transmitter, direct current generator, universal electric motor, and more.

Emile Berliner (1851 - 1929)

The German-born Jewish American scientist became known for his disc record gramophone (in the United States known as phonograph or record player). Used for recording and reproducing sounds on a gramophone record, vinyl record, the device (with certain modifications made once in a while) was
popular until 1980s.

Alexander Graham Bell (1857 - 1922)

During the experiments he carried out with the telegraph, Bell came up with the idea of the telephone.
The inventor of one of the most popular devices today thought that the telephone was intruding, that is why he did not have one in his workplace.

Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (1858 - 1913)

Being a mechanical engineer, Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel managed to discover the diesel engine. The German inventor was also a well-known thermal engineer, a polyglot, an expert in arts, and a social theorist.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

One of the greatest scientists of the 20th century is the creator of numerous inventions and theories that transformed a lot of concepts linked to space and time, with the most important discovery being the theory of relativity. Other discoveries of Einstein include the photoelectric effect and the Einstein
calculator.

Sir Alexander Fleming (1881 - 1955)

During the World War I Fleming worked as an army medical doctor. He is the inventor of penicillin that prevented a lot of soldiers from being infected. The discovery of penicillin managed to significantly boost the evolution of medicine industry.

Fritz Pfleumer (1881 - 1945)

The German-Austrian engineer is the inventor of the magnetic tape used for recording sound. Pfleumer decided  to grant the right of use to the AEG, a German manufacturer of electrical equipment. The event took place on December 1, 1932. Based on Pfleumer's magnetic tape, the German firm created the world's first practical tape recorder dubbed Magnetophon K1.

Frederick Banting (1891 - 1941)

Initially Banting was dedicated to politics but later decided to shift to medicine. In 1916 he completed his MD and during the World War I worked as a doctor. He was very interested in diabetes and continuously worked on a cure for it. Banting searched for cure for diabetes together with Dr. Charles Best. In 1923 the researcher was awarded with the Nobel Prize for discovering insulin.

Edwin Herbert Land (1909 - 1991)

The co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation was the first who came up with low-cost filters for polarizing light (useful system of in-camera instant photography). His most popular invention, Polaroid instant camera, was officially launched in late 1948 and allowed users to take and develop a picture in just under 60 seconds.

Konrad Zuse (1910 - 1995)

Konrad Zuse built Z1, world's first program-controlled computer. Despite certain mechanical engineering problems it had all the basic ingredients of modern machines, using the binary system and today's standard separation of storage and control. Zuse completes Z3, world's first fully functional programmable computer in 1941.

Samuel Morse (1791-1872)

Samuel Morse was an American painter and inventor who is best remembered today for his invention of single- wire telegraph system and the co-inventor of the Morse Code – method of translating textual information as a series of on and off tones. His discovery changed the way the messages are sent and received in the entire world, and even today Morse Code is still in use in various areas of radio communications.

Guglielmo Marconi (1874 – 1937)

Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi’s law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is credited as the inventor of Radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun “in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy”

John Logie Baird (1888 – 1946)

Braid was a Scottish Engineer and inventor of the world’s first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world’s first fully electronic colour television tube. Braid’s early successes demonstrating working television broadcasts and his colour and cinema television work earned him a prominent place in televisions invention.

The Wright Brothers, Orville(1871-1948), Wilbur(1867-1912)

The Wright brothers were two American brothers, inventors and aviation pioneers who were credited for inventing and building the world’s first successful airplane and making the first controlled,  powered and sustained, heavier than air human flight on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed wing aircraft.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a polish physicist and chemist working mainly in France, who is famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the inventor of radium. She was the first  woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first female professor at university of paris and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in Paris.

Sir Chanderasekhar Venkata Raman (1888-1970)

Sir Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman, an Indian Physicist, was the first to describe and explain in the review nature, in 1928, the experimental observation of the phenomenon in liquids. On 28th February  1928, through his experiments on the scattering of light, he discovered the Raman Effect. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.

Motivation and Highlights for Heat and Mass Transfer [HMT]

Motivation:

In the subject of heat transfer, we are primarily interested in heat, which is the form of energy than can be transferred from one system to another (or one part of a body to another) as a result of temperature difference. The subject of heat transfer deals with the rates of such energy transfers.

Using the principles of thermodynamic analysis alone, we can determine the amount of heat transfer for any system undergoing any process. What is, then, the fundamental difference between heat  transfer and thermodynamics? Thermodynamics is concerned with the amount of heat transfer as a system undergoes a process from one equilibrium state to another, and it gives no indication about the rate of heat transfer, how long the process should take, or what is the mode of heat transfer. But engineers are as much concerned with the rate of heat transfer as with the amount. Both parameters are equally important in the design of thermal systems.

Relevance of heat transfer:

Heat transfer is not only an extremely relevant subject in engineering industries, but also an inherently fascinating part of engineering and physical sciences. The main focus of this course will be to acquire an understanding of heat transfer effects and to developing the skills needed to predict heat transfer rates. Let us have a look at the value of this knowledge and what the applications are.

Heat transfer phenomenon plays an important role in many industrial and environmental problems. First and foremost, in the applications of energy production and conversion, there is not a single application in this area that does not involve heat transfer effects in some way or other. In the generation of power from conventional fossil fuels, nuclear sources, magneto hydrodynamic processes, or the use of geothermal energy sources, heat transfer forms the key to the technology concerned. All modes of heat transfer are important, as conduction, convection, and radiation processes determine the design of systems such as boilers, condensers, and turbines. Quite often, the challenge is to maximize heat transfer rates (such as in heat exchangers) or to minimize (as in insulations).

In renewable energy generation, there are many heat transfer problems related to the development of solar energy conversion systems for space heating, as well as for power production. Heat transfer processes are also involved in propulsion systems, such as the IC engines, gas turbine, and rocket engines. Heat transfer problem arise in the design of conventional space and water heating systems, in the cooling of electronic equipment, in the design of refrigeration and air conditioning systems, in many manufacturing processes, and in biological systems. Heat transfer issues also occur in air and water pollution problems and strongly influences climate at the local and global scale.

Highlights:

Classification of heat transfer problems: In the engineering design of any heat transfer equipment or system, the activities can be classified in to main items: (1) rating and (2) sizing.
“Rating” deals with the determination of heat transfer rate for a given system for a specified set of conditions, while “sizing” deals with the determination of the size of a system for a specified heat transfer performance.

Experimental vs. theoretical studies: A heat transfer process or equipment can be studied either experimentally or theoretically. The experimental approach has the advantage that we deal with the actual physical system (or an equivalent scaled down model), and the desired quantity is obtained by measurement as accurately as possible within the limits of the measurement technique. However, this approach can be time consuming, expensive and often impossible. For example, the system under consideration may not be existing at the design stage, or may deal with hazardous substances and hence measurement approach will not be practical at all. The theoretical approach includes analytical approach (for simple and linear problems) and computational modeling (for more complex and nonlinear problems).

Computational modeling has the advantage that it is fast and inexpensive, but the results obtained must be examined for numerical accuracy and the validity of the assumptions made in the analysis. The development of advanced computational tools in heat transfer and the increase in computing power has contributed immensely to the feasibility of solving realistic engineering problems. With modeling, the lead time in design and development of equipment can be considerably reduced. Experiments still need to be performed for validating the model outputs, but the number of experiments to be performed can be considerably reduced.