How to Prepare for GATE by EXPERTS!!!!!!!!!

Preparation for GATE is an ongoing process, and is supposed to happen in stages. First get your fundamentals right, and then test yourself on those fundamentals. When you have done this, you should pit yourself with the competition, which means a mock test which would give you a percentile to let you know where you stand amongst competitors.

How do you choose which coaching material to go with. This is something that is quite subjective. A coaching material cannot be assessed until you have gone through it. So, you could go by the word of your seniors as to what coaching material they followed to prepare for GATE.

Here are some parameters on which you can decide whether you should go for a particular coaching institute, use a particular coaching material, or tests:

1. Uniqueness in their study material: Study material provided by the coaching institutes is of little assistance if they are compact copy-paste or rewrite of materials taken from other books. If the reading of such material doesn’t increase interest and enjoyment then they are not worth it. There are plenty of standard books on each subject by good authors, which can make your study enjoyable during preparation.

2. Collection of quality books in their library: During the process of theory conceptualization and building application capabilities, you need good books, which can really put your brain on exercise. Check out their library!

3. Flexibility in the Coaching Model: What happens when your pace of learning is much faster or slower than the average? Is there any mechanism by which the model can identify exactly where you need help and provide the same? Is it possible in that coaching model to minimize the wastage of your time?

4. Quality of questions discussed: Number of questions discussed is not that important. By discussing and solving 10-15 conceptual questions on each topic you can build a good application capability. On the other hand solving many tricky non-conceptual questions will simply waste your time.

5. Tests and evaluation model: How is the progress of your preparation tested and analyzed? To what extent the feedback helps in identifying the areas for further work? Here I must say that this is the most crucial part of the preparation. This is the area where most of the students fail due to lack of proper test materials which can help them to build in themselves a real-test-like environment and temperament. Once you are able to choose the correct assistance for your GATE journey, it will be an enjoying and thrilling experience.

Here are some things apart from working on your engineering concepts, that you should do for a complete preparation for GATE:

 1. Solve previous years’ GATE papers: Solving previous years’ papers gives you a fair idea of what the actual paper would be like. It also brushes up your basics and exposes your ‘areas of improvement’.

2. Solve test papers: Solve as many test papers as possible. This actually is the best way to keep improving as you prepare for GATE.

3. Analyze : Analyzing your test results is a very important part of taking the test. If you do not analyze, the test does not add value. You should minutely analyze and define as to where you could have scored more; analyze your accuracy rates in various topics and maintain a topic wise datasheet which lists your performance topic wise for different test papers.

4. Simulate actual test environment : This is very important. The actual test happens in a classroom, and is timed. When you take up the test, switch off your cell phone, have a timer which times your tests, and avoid taking any breaks. Also, if possible, take up a mock test series which enables you to take the test in a classroom environment.

Pre-preparation for the GATE preparation

In this post I will try to answer some of the important questions that usually arise in the mind of a GATE aspirant.

PHASE 1: To become familiar with GATE exam.

I think I should start with the very basic question, “What is GATE all about?”

You can get the answer of this question by simply visiting the website of any IIT or IISc. For your reference I am providing one link below. One can go through that.

http://www.gate.iitb.ac.in/gate2k9/index.htm

Please note that this information is about GATE09 only. It may be subjected to change for GATE10. The websites will be updated as form for GATE10 will be available. Generally form is available in the month of October or September end.

PHASE 2: Preparation.

For a GATE aspirant after getting answer of first question the chunk of questions will arise regarding preparation. Now I am trying to answer all those questions one by one.

1. What is the correct time to start preparation for GATE?

Ideally one should study all the courses thoroughly at the college level. It means that the preparation for GATE starts as soon as one takes admission in the engineering college. But I know this is the ideal thing and only few can do this.

As in beginning no one can decide whether he want to do M.tech or not. This maturity comes in the 2^nd or 3^rd year only, as now one can decide whether he is interested in the technical stuffs or not.

As far as my personal opinion is concerned one should start preparation during the 3^rd year. And one should appear for GATE in the 3^rd year to have a feel about exam, but if one have not prepared well this will be of no worth. So try to complete as many subjects as possible (perfectly) before you appear for the GATE during the 3^rd year. This will help you a lot to find out where you are lacking in preparation, how to manage the paper in 3 hours, what is the effect of negative marking and all such important issues.

2. What is the authentic material for the preparation?

There are many different opinions for the answer of this particular question.

As far as I am concerned I had took lot of pain in the selection of authentic material for preparation. As this is the most important aspect of the preparation.

There are so many misconceptions that the book from GK publication is enough for the preparation or say various materials available from different coaching institutes do the work. Frankly speaking all these materials available in the market are supplements only. They are not at all enough for the perfect preparation for GATE.

The most important material is authentic books for a particular subject. Always prepare any subject from authentic books only.

I had approached to IITs’ professors for this and I had come to know about the various authentic books which probably I had not used during my college. And I had experienced the difference too between books used at our colleges and these books. Some of the books were same too.

I am going to produce a list of books to be used for different subjects of mechanical engineering.

1. Advanced Engineering mathematics by

a. Erwin kreyszig (John wiley & sons publication) (strongly recommended)

b. Dr.B.S.Garewal (Khanna publications) (strongly recommended)

2. Engineering mechanic (statics and dynamics) by

a. Beer and Johnston (the Tata McGraw Hill publications)

b. Prof. P.J.shah
(few but various enough examples - good book)

3. Strength of material by

a. G.H.Ryder (English Language Book society)

4. Theory of machines by

a. Amitabh Ghosh and Ashok kumar mallik ( Affiliated East –West press private Limited)

b. S.S. Rattan ( The Tata McGraw Hill publications)

Both the books are necessary for the preparation.

5. Machine design by

a. R.S.Khurami ( S.Chand & sons publication)

Though this is not the authentic book but for subject it is more than enough for GATE)

6. Vibrations by

a. V.P.singh

7. Fundamentals of thermodynamics by

a. P.K.Nag (The Tata McGraw Hill publications)

b. Van Whylen (John wiley & sons publication)

Both books are strongly recommended and necessary for total preparation.

8. Refrigeration and Air conditioning by

a. R.K.Rajput (thermal science and engineering) (Laxmi publications)

b. http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/

This is the website developed by the IITs. Here you can get web courses for almost all courses. But the psychometric processes described here are too good. Please go through that.

9. Applied thermodynamics

a. R.K.Rajput (thermal science and engineering) (Laxmi publications)

10. Heat and Mass transfer by

a. Yunus A.cengel (The McGraw-Hill companies)

To understand the fundamentals properly I strongly recommend this book

11. Fluid mechanics and machines

a. Dr.R.K.Bansal (Laxmi publications) (strongly recommended)

b. Yunus A.cengel (The McGraw-Hill companies)

To understand the fundamentals properly I strongly recommend this book

12. Manufacturing science by

a. P.N.Rao (volume 2 and 3) (The Tata McGraw Hill publications)

b. Amitabh Ghosh and Ashok kumar mallik ( Affiliated East –West press Private limited)

c. P.C.Sharma

d. S.Kalpakjian (Pearson Education) (very nice book) (fundamentally strong)

All these books are necessary for the complete understanding of the subject manufacturing science.

13. Management science and Operations management

a. Hamdy A.Taha (operations research)( prentice hall of India privet limited)

b. William J. Stevenson ( introduction to management science)(IRWIN pub)

c. B.Mahadevan (Operations management) (Dorling Kindersley (India)Privet limited)

d. J.K.sharma (operations research)

Note. The topic named “Probabilistic Inventory system” is nicely given in the Brilliant tutorials.

To understand the fundamentals properly I strongly recommend this book

Besides this previous 10 to 12 years solved GATE papers are needed.

Mechanical Engineering – Final Year Project Ideas

Benefits of final year project

Your final year project (BE or ME) can help you in the following ways:
1. You can increase your overall percentage by scoring 90 to 95% marks through a good project.
2. An industry-oriented project can add extra weight age to your resume and help you get a good job in the core mechanical industry.
3. A technically good project can give you an added advantage if you are planning for higher studies in US, UK, Germany etc.

Hence, make your final-year project valuable even if it takes a little more time and effort.

Choose the right industry
You can choose one of the following industries for your project:
Aerospace, Automobile, Marine, HVAC, Oil & Gas, Industrial, Turbo-machines, Machine-tools, Appliances etc.

Choose the right type
You can choose one of the following types:

a. Experimental Projects:
a.i. This type of projects need good lab-facilities and hi-tech instruments for measuring your experimental set-up accurately. Only IITs and IISc have such facilities. Students from Tier II and private colleges try their best but mostly end-up in cooking-up the results or change the project at the last moment due to non-availability of the above facilities.

a.ii. Also it involves more time and cost for setting up the project for those students who are already tightly scheduled with final-exams or campus interviews.

a.iii. This type is feasible for those who don’t have such constraints.

b. Design Projects:
a.i. CAE Projects – Stress analysis, dynamic analysis etc. of aero, auto or mechanical systems can be done through these projects. New design, Improving performance, optimization can be accomplished. FEM based software like ANSYS, NASTRAN, RADIOSS, HYPERMESH etc. can be used.

a.ii. CFD Projects – Flow analysis, Thermal analysis, Aerodynamics improvement are the typical projects. This uses software like FLUENT, STAR-CCM+ are used for CFD analysis.

a.iii. Flexibility and accuracy are the major advantages in this type of projects.
a.iv. However it needs some additional training

Job Opportunities

Interviewers give more weight age for good projects.
CAE or CFD projects in Aerospace and automobile systems have more job opportunities in India, US, Europe and Japan. At the same time HVAC, Oil & Gas, Marine have good opportunities in Gulf.
Choose a RELEVANT project. Go ahead and choose the right project using the above factors. All the best….

Some Project Titles.

1. CFD projects in Automobile Industry
2. Design Optimization of Diesel Engine Manifold using CFD Simulations
3. Improving the mileage of a passenger car through aerodynamics re-design using CFD Techniques
4. CFD projects in Aerospace Industry
5. Prediction and minimization of drag on an aircraft wing using CFD Analysis
6. Design of aircraft safety systems using CFD analysis
7. CAE project in Automobile Industry
8. Design optimization of chassis of a truck using CAE analysis
9. Redesign of a suspension system for passenger car using CAE analysis
10. CAE project in Aerospace Industry
11. Design optimization of nose-cone frame of an aircraft using CAE analysis
12. Performance optimization of wing-box of an aircraft using CAE analysis

More projects…

http://www.techzilon.com/aps.html

The choice of the industry can be based on your interest or based on future job-opportunities.

Study Abroad: All You Need To Know

By Inspire and Ignite

I received a message from my brother asking for guidance on GRE or GATE. I asked him to choose GRE, take coaching and stay serious till he crack it. He was bit surprised and asked me you write so much on GATE and when it comes to me you are recommending to go abroad for higher studies.

I asked him to read my post on GATE or GRE: Which one to choose, to understand me better. I kept trying to go to good university abroad right from MS till PhD. I could not pursue it or ignored that option due to lack to guidance and knowledge about how to pursue father, especially for PhD. I don’t regret the decisions I made and feel that it was really best for me that I completed all my education back in India. After living outside India for almost a decade and spending good time working with top university professors in the world I felt its important to share Study abroad in detail.

In this post I will share what all you need to know to go to study aboard, things one much consider even before applying GRE exam, what will make your journey a successful one.

Affordability
Going abroad for studies is not free, we need to fulfill few requirements and pay some fees and other costs (may be you will get them back in couple months). These costs include, coaching classes for GRE and TOFEL, running for recommendation letters, official transcripts of your degree, applications fees, flight charges and minimum living expenses would cost you minimum 3~4 Lakh Indian Rupees.

There are two ways to get this money, one is from family if they can afford it, second is to take education loan. Ironically education loan is more expensive than personal loan in India. I will discuss how to deal this money issues in coming posts under study abroad category.

Make Own Living
Some universities give fee exemption and a little scholarship every month for student survival. If you get admission with full fee waiver and scholarship then consider yourself as one of the lucky chap. Otherwise, you must be willing to study and doing some kind of job to pay your bills (room rent, food and other stuff). For me it was hard to imagine making living and studying as I am average student need more time to complete my assignment and actually learn the subjects. Studying and making my living was totally out of question for me.

GRE, TOFEL and IELTS Exams
As we are not native English speakers and most of us are rural backgrounds with little or no exposure to English as it must be there, we face huge difficulty while preparing for these exams. On the same time as our strength in math will help us to compensate this.

All these exams and their coaching is expensive.

Good University Admission
If you are not from IITs or some top school in India, cracking to top universities in US, Canada, Australia and UK is very difficult. If you are not from a good university landing in a part time job (for living in case of no monthly scholarship) or a permanent job would be damn difficult. With the visa getting expired you will feel more insecure and troubled.

Remember you are not going anywhere less than middle tire universities to have a great career. Otherwise better stay in India and nail it down to IITs and then go abroad for job. Dont compare going to US for MS with IITs.

There are ways you can still knock the doors of top engineering schools without a Bachelors degree from IITs or top universities in India. I will share this in coming posts.

Open For Non-English Speaking Nations
If we move toward developed non English speaking nation, all conditions will be relaxed and opportunities will increase. But one same, do keep in mind that you learn the language of the nation you are going, to make best use of your time.

In many countries, this will fetch your free tuition, and a monthly scholarship to take care of your expenses. If you are too weak in English and have issues with GRE then try this option. While trying to go non-English speaking countries make sure you have the list of top university and you apply in top 10.

I see great teaching faculty in many universities. A great teacher will make sure you learn the subject that eventually help you land a wonderful career.

Hope this will help you have an idea about what it takes to go abroad for studies. I will be writing few more posts related study abroad its advantages and disadvantages, common mistakes and issues. To get all the updates do subscribe to InI, likes us on FB and follow in Google plus.

Wish you all a great luck ahead

How To Prepare For GATE: Nikhil Krishnan (AIR 4) GATE 2011 (part-2)

I usually hit bed around midnight, it was 1.30AM in the morning I was awake and don’t know how to spend time. I was waiting for 2.30AM to start interview with Nikhil. He gave time at 11PM IST, and I live 4hr ahead of Indian time. I didn’t ask Nikhil to reschedule or change time because his interview was soooo much important for every single student that I cannot even thought for second to reschedule it.
After talking to him for more than hour and a half I realized that it really worth talking to him. There were several network and sound issues, but we both enjoyed the talk and tried to make it as useful and beneficial as possible.
We hope these efforts will help many students, but what makes us happier is your own contribution to your future. If you listen to us and rock your future we are successful in spending our nights, overcoming timing and geographical barriers and giving such an effort in spite of heavily hectic schedules. All these efforts are just to ask you to give your best.
Without writing any other thing, let me share what Nikhil is talking about in second part.

1. Many Publishers for GATE study material, how to choose best and deal with rest?
2. NPTEL and other online video lectures, how much time do one need to spend with them?
3. How to prepare for GATE in short time, tips for student started preparing from now?
4. When to start solving questions, after each chapter or after completing whole subject?
5. How to prepare for aptitude and general mathematics?
6. What was your biggest mistake in GATE preparation?
7. How to prepare for GATE in 3 to 4 months?

Here we go with the video, just get back and relax and listen to whole interview. Do spare us for sound quality and network issues in between. 

This was Nikhil, answered few basic questions for students all across the nation. Do share it with your friends, book mark it and listen to again and again during your preparation, this will definitely motivate you to prepare for the best.
We had lots of issues with network and sound quality but I tried to present best possible sound after processing it, please spare us for that. Do like it on youtube, I don’t know how does it matter everyone is just asking to give a thums up and I asked too.
The next part of the interview is exclusively about how manage 3hr of GATE exam time. How to exploit best practices to rip off the best results from your preparation. The tips given would definitely help every single student preparing for paper based entrence exams, whether it GATE, JEE, JAM, AIEEE or any other entrance exam.

How to manage time for gate preparation?

by All about Education

Time management is a real trick for achieving any goal in life. GATE is no exception. Recently, I have been receiving many emails and questions regarding time management for GATE exam. The questioners are either having full time job or students of final or pre final year.

The answer is not easy, and every great thing is not easy in life. If someone has a full job or college to attend they need a give an extra effort by managing their time tightly. For managing time first one need to find where is the time that they can use. I have few points to share with you all regarding time management.

• Check daily routine and write down these activities on a paper with hours. Don’t need to be very hard and strict about timing, don’t need to mention exact hour and minutes of the activity.
• Once we have a list of activities we do in a day we also have a good idea of what we are doing in a day.
• Figure out activities we are doing for fun and can be compromised for certain time.
• Make use of this time for GATE preparations.

When I was student I noticed that usually I spend time in traveling and with friends without doing any productive work. My college was 13 KM away from home and used to take about 30 minutes to reach there.

The first thing I did was started using public transportation. And second thing was to go little early. By which I can get a seat in bus to go to college and I spend that travel time either for reading, revising or taking rest in bus.

I was a student so I used that early hours to sit in library and prepared GATE and other exams. And another thing I did was to leave college very late may be at library closing time. I tried to make best use of library. When I finished my B.Tech, everyone knows where I am, if I am not in class. To make it great we need to sacrifice and need cut some of the thing which we love. Every time we make a hard decision by knowing what are we are doing, it will benefit us in long run. The hard work always pays us, one or the other day, in one or the other day.

The common distracters for students are

1. Travel long distance driving our own vehicles on regular basis.
2. TV serials
3. Too much unproductive time wasting friends
4. Too much sleeping
5. Spending too much in markets
6. Watching movies almost every weekend, watching them from bed till return to bed.

These are few common time consumers in life. If we manage them properly we can do many things miraculously on time. 

The last point is to be very consistent in our preparation. It’s not a one day job it’s a consistent effort achieve big result. 

GATE is big opportunity for student who didn’t have a chance to prove, because of image issue with lectures in B.Tech. They have a golden opportunity to prove. GATE is totally an open competition and you may beat the best student of your college with consistent efforts. 

 

Your friends may tease for your change, please don’t worry about them much. They will also cherish your great achievements in future and feel great to associate themselves with you. Hard work with consistency will take you there.

How to start preparing for GATE?

By All about Education

Once you are decided to take up GATE exam and read important information related to it, you are ready to go ahead with preparation. I have few suggestions for students who are serious about cracking GATE exam.

I divided the whole process of preparation in few steps and every individual student who aced the GATE will follow these in one or the other way. These are just simple guidelines but the most important thing is your dedication and determination. If you read these steps and appreciate them but don’t follow them then these are of no use. Therefore, I recommend every student to be very sincere and give a good try. The steps are as follows.

• Buy or get a copy of previous year question papers if possible with solutions. Having a hard copy is very important and we are going to refer it again and again during whole preparation.
• Refer to syllabus and analyze the number of questions asked in each subject. As all subjects don’t have equal marks, few subjects are preferred over others. I mean few subject may have more questions asked in exam than others. I don’t have this subject break up for GATE. If you have done this exercise, please share with us to share with many other students and also we can have a discussion over its validity.
• Make a priority list of subjects based on marks or preference given it in previous exams. Marks distribution of subject will help you prioritize and allocate preparation time to different subjects. If distribution is not prepared we usually end up in a random preparation and finally will have tough time dealing with important subjects. Just for example, in GATE CS and IT paper, around 15~20% is from Mathematics, and then Programming and Data Structures, Theory of computation, OS and digital logic.
• Allocate realistic time for each subject. And read it all, as there is huge to cover and it’s easy to ask few marks question from anywhere in a subject.
• Finish through reading of a chapter of subject, make short notes of important points, this will help you at last moment to revise what you have read.
• Once finish a chapter, go back to GATE Question papers and solve the problems from that chapter. These days there lots of question banks available in market for GATE do buy one and practice. Also to try to get Test Series from other friends. Solve all of them. This will help you to assess yourself for level of understanding of the chapter you read. Use a single note book for question answer solution because you may refer it while revising.
• Finish detailed reading at least one and half month before. Keep one month for revisions and clearing leftover doubts. Have a look of question you solved during preparation for GATE and remember how you solved them.
• Keep last 15 days for fast practice and revision. Solve as many papers and question banks as you can get from any source.
• Keep documents related to GATE like, acknowledgment of application, like hall tickets, application number and other details, in a safe place. Give it to mom or someone responsible, who can give that back to you when you need them. This is to avoid last minute tension for obvious things.

I hope these points will help many of to take a start off. Please don’t waste time and take a start. The one who start early and work consistently reach early and hope see IITs for M.Tech. GATE is a simple exam just needs constant effort to crack it. Don’t worry about competition by number of candidates appearing for GATE, make highest marks as your competition.

Don’t forget to subscribe by email to get updates in email and also do not hesitate to become a fan on face book or drop a comment.

Wish you all a wonderful luck…

M.Tech or MBA, which is better to choose?

By All About Education

This is one of the most common questions among final year engineering students. And the answer to this is not simple and just or no. There is not point comparing M.Tech Vs MBA or so, because both the courses are different and have different jobs and placements scope.

Answer to M.Tech or MBA truly depends on few factors such as where are doing engineering, what do you know and think about MBA job prospects, what do you want to do in long term and how any of these degrees help you to achieve this. I will try to mention my situation and decision when I was in engineering final year and had similar question in mind.

To start, I did B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD in computer science all in a row without taking a break and now want to do MBA. As mentioned in above paragraph these decisions depend on number of factors.

I was an average student in a private college and used to spend good amount to time in college library where they had subscription for some IEEE magazines and few general IT magazines. IEEE general magazines had last few pages of advertisement for professor jobs in different universities, average salary was around $60000 a year, which was around 25 lakh Indian rupees a year.

Apart from monitory benefit I also had in mind the social status of professor job, contribution to society and motivation to learn. Another reason was my dad’s respect to educated people compare to rich people. Rich were treated as normal people and students who scored good or achieved something great were always praised and remembered again and again.

At that time I know the only minimum condition for professor job and that was PhD in computer science, therefore I kept chasing it. But I never know the other conditions for that job such as publication, number of Phd, Research experience, Editorial memberships and conference organizing experience along with excellent teaching performance are just few to mention.

I did not opted for MBA after my B.Tech because most of MBA’s were from BSc. B.Com background. At that time with the name MBA I can only understand that if you are lucky enough you can get seat in some sate state universities. And I saw most of the MBAs working as either medical representatives or direct sales executives. With this vision of MBA it was clearly not my choice.

Wherever I went after B.Tech, I decided to learn more things there along with avoiding mistakes, which I did in past. The most important among them was making high scores. I had first class in B.Tech, I decided to make it distinction or university rank in M.Tech. I chased it again and gave tough competition, made maximum as my competition rather than some student. Good time started and I became one of the recognized ones and very independent. Good performance boosted confidence and I decided to move for PhD.

To cut the story short, I was very successful and happy with my decision. May be I made great decisions every time and reached to a place where I dreamed to go. Got PhD and joined as assistant professor in an institute of national importance. Then decided to see the software industry and resigned from professor job and join Samsung in Korea.

One day I was attending a lecture for new employees in Samsung and the presenter was from Harvard business school. He is a Swiss national and may be 5 year older than me but a vice president of strategy in Samsung. I met him during tea break and then we met many times in company. This made me think what a good MBA can do. MBA is not about just selling something. Its really about managing.

I decided to go for MBA, weird for many people and beyond imagination that MBA after PhD. But still I have a plan for it and I know an MBA form great school can do it. My view for MBA changed now, because I know what MBA’s does I feel confidant for that position and I m chasing it again.

To summarize, you should feel confidant about your future for the course you are opting for. This makes your work hard for it and you grow happy with that. I was confidant about M.Tech after B.Tech and thought that course will make me reach safe position, now I feel that with an MBA from Stanford or Harvard I will grow faster and server better.

What after B.Tech?

 By All About education

Another common question usually struck in an engineering student is what after Engineering. In this post I tired to figure out what are best possible options you can choose and are not exceptions. In other words well known and common options that you can choose after B.Tech.

Hunting a Job:
If one feel that is been to heavy to study for four years and want to start making money, then start early hunt for job. Make a profile in all job sites and social job networking sites like LinkedIn. Give it a big try and attend all walk-ins and apply all the places where you find suitable. Be prepared to travel a lot in the search from Bangalore to Pune, Pune to Dehi, Delhi to noida anywhere. Don’t miss any advertisement for fresher and don’t give up. Refer to Engineering future, scope and prospects for core companies offering jobs in special domain. 

M.Tech or MS:
If you think you need to improve or need a higher degree to feel secure or gain higher positions at right time, you should look at all possible ways to crack GATE and think about M.Tech. If you are interested in having a foreign exposure and think your family can help and support you, then start preparing for GRE, TOFEL and start looking for universities that are suitable for that.

MBA Lets change the domain:
We study Engineering for four years and at the end we are almost clear about our decision of joining some engineering stream and our career in that. By the end we know whether we can stay in the same domain, stream, or field of engineering and improve or it is kind of wasting our time if we remain in the same engineering field and you decide to change your area of study. MBA is a very good alternative, but make sure you are going to a right place for MBA. 

Research:
If you think you have patience and motivation for studying for several years ahead and work for a cool and successful career you should consider doing PhD after B.Tech, many IITs take admissions to PhD even right after B.Tech. This may take on the average 4 to 6 years to complete but will definitely make you a strong player in real life and make you confident.

Start Your Own
The exceptions can be to Start a company, be an entrepreneur and explore your world. If you have some hobby can make it a profession and make earning from that, for example paining, writing, singing, music and photography and many other hobbies. But be careful about these options they involve more risk and more gains.

What if I don’t get any of these?

This is really an important question to be answered. I feel the alternatives are join some value added courses and in some good institutes like CDAC and others that offer great value and job opportunities, as these require a good amount of money I never tried it. Rather I prefer to join a teaching job for several months use college library to maxim level prepare for interviews or GATE or GRE and get ready to jump to above fields I mentioned above. But I will sincerely be working towards my students too.

Wish everyone a great luck and ask you chase your dream with confidence. If don’t feel confident please go ahead and do something that makes confident.

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education can be summarized as:

1. Encouraging student-faculty contact

2. Encouraging cooperation among students

3. Encouraging active learning

4. Giving prompt feedback

5. Emphasizing time on task

6. Communicating high expectations

7. Respecting diverse talents and ways of learning

How to study fluid mechanics and mathematics?

How to study fluid mechanics and mathematics?

From my side, I will add this.  Fluid mechanics is a subject that you will be using in your career long after you have passed AeSI, so I suggest that spend maximum time in understanding the concepts . Relate them to your life and make them spring out of the text book . Source sink, fluid dynamics, viscosity, Reynolds's number are the core pillars of further studies. So while learning understand them well, use your imagination to connect them to your life. Study with question answer style for maximum retention.

While reading the material, write down small quiz questions on the topic you are reading. They will
be used to revise the concepts latter. My tuition teacher used this approach. While going through  the topics he made us write down trivial questions like what is source? Give examples of sink? What is the most viscous materials you have seen? etc. That time we felt, the questions were waste of time, but latter I realized how useful they were for revising the concepts.

For every study session. Spend ten minutes revising what you have already studied. If you have formed those small questions then use them to jog your memory. This ten minutes jogging session not only reinforces the previous studied material but help you begin the next session with a  positive momentum.

This three concepts can be applied to mathematics and the other subjects. Just remember, that if you can setup a simple process for your study and follow it consistently, that is more than sufficient to help you tackle any subject that AeSI throws at you.

Good luck!!
If you have some specific tip, do chip in and comment!!

Syllabus for RRB JE/SE

The written section will consists of the following
sections.
1. Aptitude Test
2. Technical Test.

SYLLABUS:
General Awareness
General Intelligence
General English.
Reasoning Ability
Arithmetic Ability
Technical Ability(Applied post subjects)
The syllabus of the technical Ability section is of the
Degree/Diploma Level subjects.
The detailed syllabus is as follows:-

General Awareness
Acronyms
Books and Authors
Current Events
Famous Personalities
Geography of India
Honours and Awards
Important Dates
Sports

General Intelligence
Analogies
Coding and Decoding
Comparison of Ranks
Direction Sense Test
Logical Sequence of Words
Number Series
Odd man out series
Series Completion

General English
Antonyms
Comprehension
Meanings
Relationship between words
Sentence Correction
Synonyms

Arithmetic Ability
Angles and sides of various shapes
Computation of decimals
Computation of Fractions
Computation of whole numbers
LCM and HCF
Percentage
Probability
Relationship between numbers
Square root and Cube root
Volume and Surface Area
Reasoning Ability
Analyzing Arguments
Blood Relation Test
Cause and Effect
Making Judgments
Puzzles
Seating Arrangement
Statement and Assumption
Statement and Conclusion

Technical Ability
Applied Physics
Applications of Light
Applications of Sound
D.C. Circuits
Electromagnetism
Electrostatics
Expansion of Solids
Force and Motion
Heat Transfer
Rotational and Simple Harmonic Motions
Temperature and Its Measurement
Units and Dimensions
Waves
Work, Power and Energy
Applied Mechanics
Centre of Gravity
Friction
Laws of Forces
Laws of Motion
Moments
Simple Machines
Basic Electronics
Basic Logic Gates
FET*construction, working and
applications
Regulated Power Supply
Semiconductor Diodes
Semiconductor Physics
Single Stage Transistor Amplifier
Transistor Biasing and Stabilization
Transistors
Electronic Devices and Circuits
Feedback in Amplifiers
Multistage Transistor Amplifier
Sinusoidal Oscillators
Transistor Audio Power Amplifier
Tuned*Voltage Amplifiers
Wave *Shaping And Switching Circuits
Electrical Power
Carrier Communication
Distribution System
Earthing
Faults
Over Voltage protection
Power Factor
Protection Devices
Protection Scheme
Substations
Switchgear System
Transmission Systems
Various Types of Tariffs
Electrical Science
AC Theory
Battery
DC Circuits
Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetism and Electromagnetism
Polyphase System
Power Electronics
Applications of SCRs and Triacs
Basic Power Control Devices
Commutation of SCRs
Introduction to Digital Electronics
Introduction to Integrated Circuits,
Operational Amplifiers
SCR specifications
SCR triggering mechanisms
Series and parallel configuration of SCRs
Working principle of a full wave, single
phase, SCR controlled rectifier for
resistive and inductive loads

How to prepare for GATE, PSU, IES?

How to prepare for PSU using my notes?

Please follow the step by step procedure given below for preparing PSU where only objective type
questions are asked.
General guidelines

I found that in all competitive examinations similar type of questions are asked. They are alike but not the same. The questions are not repeated but the theory (Funda) which needed to solve the question
remains same. So you don’t need to remember the questions and answers but you must remember the
funda behind it. Previously it was not like that. Because that time the
question paper was set by PSU people. Most of the questions were copied from the book of R.K. Jain. Now every PSU papers are set by Professors of IITs or renowned Institutes. Professors don’t copy questions but they check student’s fundamentals of the subject. So we must be prepared with fundamentals. That’s why funda is repeated.

You know that in the engineering books are not made for objective type questions. The theory involves
rigorous derivations, enormous calculations etc and our University examination is also conventional
type. We have to prepare for Objective Questions. For that first read the book carefully try to solve my
question set with your own and check with my explanations. Mark with a pencil in your books which
funda is needed to solve this problems.

For clearing doubts or any time
if you have any confusion Open a PDF file from the folder “Search for solving Question” and press key Shift+Ctrl+F then type any
keyword and search. Use down arrow key in the result.
Doing this 99% confusion will be clear. If confusion is not clear yet call me or mail me.

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

Which subject is more important? Or from where should you start?

First check my question set and calculate the number of questions asked. The subject from which most
of the questions were asked is more important and the chapter from which more number of questions
were asked is more important.

1. Strength of Material

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other books for this subject. First understand the theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations.

2. Industrial Engineering

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other
books for this subject. First understand the
theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And
then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations.

3. Fluid mechanics and Fluid Machines

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other
books for this subject. First understand the
theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And
then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations.

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

4. Production Engineering
(Manufacturing)

Concentrate on questions and answers. Prepare with my
notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is P.N. Rao (2 volumes).

First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more
number of questions was asked.

5. Theory of Machine

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but
my suggestion is Khurmi+Gupta.

First understand the
theory from book. And then try to solve my
question set with your own and check with my
explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more
number of questions was asked.

6. Material Science
Concentrate on questions and answers. Prepare with my
notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is
Hazra+Chaudhry. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

7. Basic thermodynamics

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but
my suggestion is P.K. Nag. First understand the theory
from book. And then try to solve my question
set with your own and check with my explanations. First
prepare the chapter from which more number
of questions was asked.

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

8. Heat Transfer

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but
my suggestion is R.K. Rajput. First understand the theory
from book. And then try to solve my
question set with your own and check with my
explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more
number of questions was asked.
Very important chapters
• Basic concepts ( 1D conduction)
• Unsteady conduction (Lump heat capacity)
• Radiation
• Heat exchangers

9. R.A.C (Refrigeration and Air
conditioning)

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but
my suggestion is C.P. Arora. First understand the theory
from book. And then try to solve my
question set with your own and check with my
explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more
number of questions was asked.
Very important chapters
• Vapour refrigeration cycle
• Psychometrics
• Psychometric process

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

10.I.C Engine
Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is Sharma+Mathur.

First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

It is very less important subject. Just prepare the following
topic
• Difference between CI & SI engine
• abnormal combustion
• detonation and its control
• Fuel rating ( Octane and cetane rating)
• Supercharging
• Carburetor
• Performance and testing
• Pollution control

11. Power Plant Engineering

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is P.K. Nag. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question
set with your own and check with my explanations.
First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked. From this book just study some chapters
• analysis of steam power cycle
• boiler
• turbine

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in
12. Machine Design
Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are
familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is Khurmi+Gupta.

First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my
question set with your own and check with my explanations.

First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

Strategy
how to prepare for IES???????????

Don’t think it is too hard. It is [b]not easy[/b] as well as [b]
not hard[/b]. All it needs
some serious preparation.

1st buy Previous year’s papers (New Vishal Publication)

2nd buy books from booklist I had given in this thread for your branch.

3rd try to solve Previous year’s papers with your own with
the help of books. Mark with a
pencil in your books which funda is needed to solve this
problems.

Remember questions will not repeat but that funda will have have repeated. so try to understand that funda not question answer. after 6 months you will be confident to
crack IES.

take help from. http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/

Self study is the best study. Coaching only reduce your
preparation time. By giving the
exam 2 - 3 times you will gain experience and final
selection. Coaching will reduce your
time. By self study you will definitely make some mistake
in the total process and you
will learn from your own mistake but in coaching there are
many faculties they will guide
you so that in total process you will not make silly
mistake.

Subject Priority list for IES only
1. Fluid Mechanics
2. Thermodynamics
3. RAC
4. Heat Transfer
5. Power plant (With nuclear power)
6. SOM
7. TOM
8. Manufacturing
9. Industrial Engineering
10. Design
11. IC Engine
12. Engineering materials
13. Computer related.

Subject Priority list for GATE only
1. SOM
2. TOM
3. Math
4. Industrial Engineering
5. Manufacturing
6. Design
7. Fluid Mechanics
8. Heat Transfer
9. Thermodynamics
10. RAC
11. IC Engine
12. Power plant (With nuclear power)
13. Engineering materials
14. Computer related.

How To Prepare For GATE, IES, PSU by S.K. Mondel?

How to prepare for PSU using my notes?

Please follow the step by step procedure given below for preparing PSU where only objective type
questions are asked.
General guidelines

I found that in all competitive examinations similar type of questions are asked. They are alike but not the same. The questions are not repeated but the theory (Funda) which needed to solve the question remains same. So you don’t need to remember the questions and answers but you must remember the funda behind it. Previously it was not like that. Because that time the question paper was set by PSU people. Most of the questions were copied from the book of R.K. Jain. Now every PSU papers are set by Professors of IITs or renowned Institutes. Professors don’t copy questions but they check student’s fundamentals of the subject. So we must be prepared with fundamentals. That’s why funda is repeated.

You know that in the engineering books are not made for objective type questions. The theory involves rigorous derivations, enormous calculations etc and our University examination is also conventional type. We have to prepare for Objective Questions. For that first read the book carefully try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. Mark with a pencil in your books which funda is needed to solve this problems.

For clearing doubts or any time if you have any confusion Open a PDF file from the folder “Search for solving Question” and press key Shift+Ctrl+F then type any keyword and search. Use down arrow key in the result.
Doing this 99% confusion will be clear. If confusion is not clear yet call me or mail me.

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

Which subject is more important? Or from where should you start?

First check my question set and calculate the number of questions asked. The subject from which most of the questions were asked is more important and the chapter from which more number of questions were asked is more important.

1. Strength of Material

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other books for this subject. First understand the theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations.

2. Industrial Engineering

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other books for this subject. First understand the theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations.

3. Fluid mechanics and Fluid Machines

Prepare with my notes only. You don’t need any other books for this subject. First understand the theory which is given at the starting of the chapter. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

4. Production Engineering (Manufacturing)

Concentrate on questions and answers. Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is P.N. Rao (2 volumes).

First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

5. Theory of Machine

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but
my suggestion is Khurmi+Gupta. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which  ore number of questions was asked.

6. Material Science
Concentrate on questions and answers. Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is Hazra+Chaudhry. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

7. Basic thermodynamics

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is P.K. Nag. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked. S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

8. Heat Transfer

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is R.K. Rajput. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which  more number of questions was asked.
Very important chapters
• Basic concepts ( 1D conduction)
• Unsteady conduction (Lump heat capacity)
• Radiation
• Heat exchangers

9. R.A.C (Refrigeration and Air conditioning)

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is C.P. Arora. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked. Very important chapters
• Vapour refrigeration cycle
• Psychometrics
• Psychometric process

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in

10.I.C Engine
Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is Sharma+Mathur. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my  question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which  more number of questions was asked. It is very less important subject. Just prepare the following topic
• Difference between CI & SI engine
• abnormal combustion
• detonation and its control
• Fuel rating ( Octane and cetane rating)
• Supercharging
• Carburetor
• Performance and testing
• Pollution control

11. Power Plant Engineering

Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is P.K. Nag. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question
set with your own and check with my explanations.
First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked. From this book just study some chapters
• analysis of steam power cycle
• boiler
• turbine

S K Mondal Contact: swapan_mondal_01@yahoo.co.in
12. Machine Design
Prepare with my notes and with one other book. If you are familiar with any books buy the book but my suggestion is Khurmi+Gupta. First understand the theory from book. And then try to solve my question set with your own and check with my explanations. First prepare the chapter from which more number of questions was asked.

Strategy
how to prepare for IES???????????

Don’t think it is too hard. It is not easy as well as not hard. All it needs some serious preparation.

1st buy Previous year’s papers (New Vishal Publication)

2nd buy books from booklist I had given in this thread for your branch.

3rd try to solve Previous year’s papers with your own with the help of books.
Mark with a pencil in your books which funda is needed to solve this problems. Remember questions will not repeat but that funda will have have repeated. so try to understand that funda not question answer. after 6 months you will be confident to crack IES.

take help from. http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/

Self study is the best study. Coaching only reduce your preparation time. By giving the exam 2 - 3 times you will gain experience and final selection. Coaching will reduce your time. By self study you will definitely make some mistake in the total process and you will learn from your own mistake but in coaching there are many faculties they will guide you so that in total process you will not make silly mistake.

Subject Priority list for IES only
1. Fluid Mechanics
2. Thermodynamics
3. RAC
4. Heat Transfer
5. Power plant (With nuclear power)
6. SOM
7. TOM
8. Manufacturing
9. Industrial Engineering
10. Design
11. IC Engine
12. Engineering materials
13. Computer related.

Subject Priority list for GATE only
1. SOM
2. TOM
3. Math
4. Industrial Engineering
5. Manufacturing
6. Design
7. Fluid Mechanics
8. Heat Transfer
9. Thermodynamics
10. RAC
11. IC Engine
12. Power plant (With nuclear power)
13. Engineering materials
14. Computer related.

MORE EBOOKS AND LECTURE VIDEOS FORENGINEERING STUDENTS

*Robot Builder’s Guide: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/11/robot-builders-guide.html

*The Great Collection Of Engineering HandBook: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/10/great-collection-of-engineering.html

*The Analysis of Stress and Deformation -- PDF: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/05/analysis-of-stress-and-deformation-pdf.html

*Applied Mechanics Dynamics -- PDF: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/05/applied-mechanics-dynamics-pdf.html

*Hydrodynamics of Pumps -- PDF:  http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/05/hydrodynamics-of-pumps-pdf.html

*Cavitation and Bubble Dynamics -- PDF: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/05/cavitation-and-bubble-dynamics-pdf.html

*Fundamentals of Multiphase Flow -- PDF: http://www.ebooks-freee.co.cc/2009/05/fundamentals-of-multiphase-flow-pdf.html

*Engineering Mechanics : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-%20Guwahati/engg_mechanics/index.htm

*Basic Thermodynamics: http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IISc-BANG/Basic%20Thermodynamics/New_index1.html

*Materials Science : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IISc-BANG/Material%20Science/New_index1.html

*Strength of Materials  : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-ROORKEE/strength%20of%20materials/homepage.htm

*Strength of Materials : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1109

*Fluid Mechanics : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/FLUID-MECHANICS/ui/About-Faculty.html

*Finite Element Method : http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/FiniteElementMethod/ui/About-Faculty.html

*Applied Thermodynamics :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/IIT-MADRAS/Applied_Thermodynamics/
index.php

*Mechanical Measurements and Metrology :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Mechanical_
Measurements_Metrology/index.php

*Mechanical Measurements and Metrology :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1020

*Industrial Engineering :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/
Webcourse-contents/IIT-ROORKEE/INDUSTRIAL-
ENGINERRING/index.htm

*Industrial Engineering :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?
courseId=1105

*Advanced Strength of Materials :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1006

*Kinematics :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-
contents/IIT-Delhi/Kinematics%20of%20Machine/
index.htm

*Kinematics of Machines :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1018

*Manufacturing Processes I :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-ROORKEE/
MANUFACTURING-PROCESSES/index.htm

*Manufacturing Processes I :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1106

*Design of Machine Elements I :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT%20Kharagpur/Machine
%20design1/New_index1.html

*Design of Machine Elements I :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1063

*Dynamics of Machines :javascript:fullScreen('http://
www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/nptel/Mechanical/Dynamics%20of%
20Machines/Course%20Objective.html')

*Dynamics of Machines :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1008

*Manufacturing Processes II :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT%20Kharagpur/Manuf%
20Proc%20II/New_index1.html

*Manufacturing Processes II :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1083

*Heat and Mass Transfer :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IISc-BANG/Heat%20and%
20Mass%20Transfer/New_index1.html

*Heat and Mass Transfer :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1089

*Project and Production Management :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-Delhi/
project%20and%20production%20management/index.htm

*Project and Production Management :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1037

*Machine Design II :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-
MADRAS/Machine_Design_II/index.php

*Fluid Machinery :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/
Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/machine/ui/About-
Faculty.html

*Refrigeration and Air Conditioning :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT%
20Kharagpur/Ref%20and%20Air%20Cond/New_
index1.html

*Refrigeration and Air Conditioning :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1025

*Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing I :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-Delhi/
Computer%20Aided%20Design%20&%20ManufacturingI/
index.htm

*Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing II :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-Delhi/
Computer%20Aided%20Design%20&%20ManufacturingII/
index.htm

*Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1098

*Robotics :javascript:fullScreen('http://
www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/nptel/Mechanical/Robotics%
20Course/Course%20Objective.html')

*Robotics :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?
courseId=1052

*Mechanical Vibrations :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/
Webcourse-contents/IIT-%20Guwahati/ve/index.htm

*Advanced Operations Research :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1118

*Finite Element Method :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
video.php?courseId=1012

*Strength of Materials :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/
IIT-MADRAS/Strength_of_Materials/index.php

*Materials Selection and Design :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/material_
selection/ui/Course_Objective.html

*Introduction to Finite Element Method :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1051

*Basic Thermodynamics :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/
Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/Basic_
Thermodynamics/ui/About-Faculty.html

*Principles of Mechanical Measurements :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1072

*Introduction to Turbulence :http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
courses/Webcourse-contents/IIT-KANPUR/Introduction_
to_Turbulence/ui/About-Faculty.html

*Advanced Finite Elements Analysis :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1096

*Fundamentals of Operations Research :http://
nptel.iitm.ac.in/video.php?courseId=1110

Top 10 Most Amazing Elements

It’s hard to think of elements being, of all things, ‘cool’, but the basic building blocks of every thing that has come into common use in the world is comprised of the elements. From the very air we breathe (oxygen, nitrogen, and other trace gases) to simple medications we take (comprised of many  things including calcium, magnesium, copper, potassium), all are found, or in a few cases, created, here on Earth. Though many of the elements found in gaseous forms can be considered toxic, many in liquid and solid forms can be equally as deadly: argon, gallium, and chlorine to name just a few. There are many that stand out because of their use, visible state, or exceptionally short life spans. Here are but ten (and, of course, a cool bonus).

10. Mercury – Hg

Mercury also called quicksilver, is an element that has the symbol Hg (Greek: hydrargyrum, meaning watery or liquid silver) with an atomic number of 80.  A heavy, silvery metal, mercury is one of the  elements that are liquid at or near room temperature. Mercury is used in thermometers, barometers and other scientific apparatus, though many concerns about the element’s toxicity have led to said thermometers being largely phased out in favor of alcohol-filled or digital. It remains in use in scientific study and research applications, and in dentistry. Mercury is mostly obtained by reduction from cinnabar, a mineral. Mercury occurs in deposits throughout the world and it is harmless in an insoluble form, such as mercuric sulfide, but it is poisonous in soluble forms such as mercuric chloride or methylmercury. Watch the video clip above for great footage of mercury vapor.

9. Magnesium – Mg

 Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the earth’s crust, though not found in nature in its
elemental form. It is a Group 2 element, called an alkaline earth metal. Magnesium tarnishes slightly in air, and finely divided magnesium readily ignites upon heating in air and burns with a dazzling white flame. Normally magnesium is coated with a layer of oxide that protects magnesium from air and water. Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain regular muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and the synthesis of protein. 

8. Krypton – Kr

Krypton is present in the air at about 1 parts per million. The atmosphere of Mars contains a little (about 0.3 ppm) of krypton. It is characterized by its brilliant green and orange spectral lines. Under normal conditions krypton is colorless, odorless, fairly expensive gas. Solid krypton is a white crystalline substance with a face-centered cubic structure, which is common to all the “rare gases”. In 1960 an international agreement changed the definition of the meter in terms of wavelengths of light emitted by the krypton-86 isotope. This agreement replaced the much-older standard ‘meter’ located in Paris which was a metal bar made of a platinum alloy (the bar was originally estimated to be one ten millionth of a quadrant of the Earth’s polar circumference). Many window companies now use Krypton to fill sealed panes in order to reduce energy waste, and the gas can also be used to detect leaks in industrial sealed containers.

7. Curium – Cm

Named for famed physicist Marie Curie, curium is made by bombarding plutonium with helium ions.  So radioactive it glows in the dark. Several kilograms of curium are produced each year. As curium is
only available in extremely limited quantities, it has few uses; however, it was used on a Mars mission as an alpha particle source for the Alpha Proton X- Ray Spectrometer. Curium is potential isotopes   power source as it releases three watts of heat  energy per gram gram. Most normal individuals will never normally encounter curium as it does not occur in nature and is only produced in limited quantities. Louis Werner and Isadore Perlman created a visible sample of curium-242 hydroxide at the University of California in 1947 by bombarding americium-241 with neutrons.

6. Strontium – Sr

Strontium is found chiefly as celestite and strontianite. The metal can be prepared by electrolysis of the fused chloride mixed with potassium chloride, or is made by reducing strontium oxide with aluminum in a vacuum at a temperature at which strontium dissolves off. Strontium is softer than calcium and decomposes in  water more vigorously. It does not absorb nitrogen below 380oC. It should be kept under kerosene to prevent oxidation. Freshly cut strontium has a silvery appearance, but rapidly turns a yellowish color with the formation of the oxide. The finely divided metal ignites spontaneously in air. Volatile strontium salts impart a beautiful crimson color to flames, and these salts are used in pyrotechnics and in the production of flares. Natural strontium is a mixture of four stable isotopes. The primary use for strontium compounds is in glass for color television cathode ray tubes to prevent X-ray emission. If you want to see a future rocket scientist having a play with Strontium, here you go .

5. Lutetium – Lu

In 1907 Georges Urbain was credited with the discovery of the element and won the right to name them, although chemists later changed the spelling of lutecium to lutetium. Today, lutetium is  primarily obtained through an ion exchange process from  monazite sand ((Ce, La, Th, Nd, Y)PO4), a material rich in rare earth elements. Lutetium is one of the most difficult elements to prepare and has no large scale practical uses, although some of its radioactive isotopes can be used as a catalyst in
the cracking of petroleum products and a catalyst in  some hydrogenation and polymerization processes. Lutetium-176 has been used to date the age of meteorites. Lutetium Aluminum Garnet has been proposed for use as a lens material in high refractive lithography.

4. Chlorine – Cl

We all know never to mix chlorine with ammonia, right? Well, besides that potentially devastating fact, chlorine is widely used in making many everyday products. It is used for producing safe drinkingwater the world over. Even the smallest water supplies are now usually chlorinated. It is also
extensively used in the production of paper products, dyes, textiles, petroleum products, medicines, antiseptics, insecticides, food, solvents, paints, plastics, and many other consumer products. Most of the chlorine produced is used in the manufacture of chlorinated compounds for sanitation, pulp bleaching, disinfectants, and textile processing. Further use is in the manufacture of chlorates, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and in the extraction of bromine. Organic chemistry demands much from chlorine, both as an oxidizing agent and in substitution, since it often brings many desired properties in an organic compound when substituted for hydrogen, as in one form of synthetic rubber.

3. Aluminum – Al

Remember the boom of aluminum siding back in the day? Well this stuff has thousand-and-one uses from soda cans to kitchen utensils, outside building decoration, and in thousands of industrial applications where a strong, light, easily constructed material is needed. Although it’s electrical conductivity is only about 60% that of copper, it is used in electrical transmission lines because of its lightweight. Pure aluminum is soft and lacks strength, but alloyed with small amounts of copper, magnesium, silicon, manganese or other  elements impart a variety of useful properties. These alloys are of vital importance in the construction of modern aircraft and rockets. Aluminum, evaporated in a vacuum, forms a highly reflective coating for both visible light and radiant heat. These coatings soon form a thin layer of the protective oxide and do not deteriorate as do silver coatings. They are used to coat telescope mirrors and to make decorative paper, packages, and toys.

2. Zirconium – Zr

It is used extensively by the chemical industry where corrosive agents are employed. Zirconium is used in vacuum tubes, as an alloying agent in steel, in surgical appliances, photoflash bulbs, explosive primers, rayon spinnerets, lamp filaments, etc. It is used in poison ivy lotions in the form of the carbonate as it combines with urushiol. With niobium, zirconium is super-conductive at low temperatures and is used to make super- conductive magnets, which offer hope of direct large-scale generation of electric power. Zirconium oxide (zircon) has a high index of refraction and is used as a gem material. The impure oxide, zirconia, is used for laboratory crucibles that can withstand heat shock, for linings of metallurgical furnaces, and by the glass and ceramic industries as a refractory material. Its use as a refractory material accounts for a large share of all zirconium consumed.

1. Elements 112-118 Ununbium, Ununtrium, Ununquadium, Ununpentium, Ununhexium, Ununseptium, Ununoxium

Relatively new to the Periodic Table (they weren’t even heard of when I was in High School), elements 112-118. They are completely man made by bombarding specific atoms of one element with
specific atoms of another thereby separating each into an entirely new element only stable (though not necessarily visible) for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Ununbium was first created on Feb. 9th, 1996 in a lab in Germany. This element was created by fusing a zinc -70 nucleus with a lead-208 nucleus by accelerating zinc nuclei into a lead target in a heavy  ion accelerator. The two ununbium nuclei so produced had a mass number of 27. On Feb. 1, 2004 the discovery of ununtrium and ununpentium were reported by a team composed of Russian scientists and an American scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Academy. Most of the others were created or discovered much in the same fashion in different parts of the world since then. As of yet, since none of these have been witnessed for more than a second, their inclusion remains suspect and under investigation.