3 students from SRM University offer peek into ‘silent’ aircraft
Three aerospace engineering students from Chennai have landed in London, with a project to create the aircraft of the future with zero propulsion noise.
The team from SRM University has reached the finals of a global competition organised by aircraft manufacturer Airbus and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).
The team, comprising Balakrishnan Solaraju Murali, Michael Thomas and Anita Mohil, is among the five groups that have made it to the finals of the 'Fly Your Ideas' competition that saw 6,000 students in 618 teams from 82 countries vie for the 30,000-euro top prize.
The other teams in the final are from Australia, Brazil, Italy and Malaysia. Ideas floated in the competition included planes powered by body heat, luggage floating on a bed of air or even an aircraft running on liquid methane. The SRM team's top line idea is called 'Engine Air Cooling System for Noise Reduction.' The trio has found a way to reduce propulsion noise by modifying the shape of the jet exhaust using intelligent materials (shape memory alloys).
The final hurdle will see students present their ideas to a jury of Airbus and industry experts at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse on June 12. The winning team will receive the 30,000-euro prize with the runners up bagging 15,000 euros.
The winners will be announced at an exclusive ceremony at Unesco's headquarters in Paris on June 14.
Aerospace engineers from across the world had to create the aircraft of the future, covering one of six themes identified by Airbus as the key 21st century challenges for a greener aviation industry.
These included addressing energy need, efficiency, affordable and traffic growth, passenger experience and community friendliness. Charles Champion, Airbus' executive vice president, engineering and Fly Your Ideas patron said, "The entries were assessed by experienced Airbus engineers who were extremely impressed by the quality of work and innovation. These talented students from around the world represent the future of our industry and I am looking forward to welcoming them to Toulouse for the final round."
Throughout the competition, Airbus mentors have worked with the teams to provide guidance and support with their projects in addition to a member of staff from their university.
Airbus and Unesco say competitions like this are becoming increasingly important after a study from the McKinsey Global Institute revealed innovation could be under threat from an engineering skills gaps that could be hitting the economy hard. McKinsey forecasted that high-tech companies will face a shortfall of 40 million skilled workers by 2020, with aerospace likely to suffer, along with motor and the medical equipment sectors.
6/12/2013 06:39:00 AM
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is now targeting hospitals and hospitality sectors in Tamil Nadu to promote solar energy as an alternative. To demonstrate this, the Government of India partnered with the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and Global Environment Fund (GEF) to conduct programmes based on solar power for market development.
A business meet, held at SRM University on Tuesday, demonstrated the positives of the UNDP – GEF project on Concentrated Solar Technology (CST) by inviting faculties from various institutions, hospitals and hotels in Tamil Nadu. The project has been planned for a duration of five years (April 2012 – March 2017) under which they are targeting nearly eight States in the country, including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in South India.
According to Sudhir Kumar, Joint Director of World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE), Tamil Nadu has shown great interest in this initiative. “This being the third campaign in Tamil Nadu, the State has already come up with nearly 45 project ideas. Out of this, we are looking to approve at least 20,” he said.
The event also saw the participation of various representatives from hostels and hospitals in Tamil Nadu.
The attractive, yet expensive alternative has not deterred the hospitality sectors as it gives them an opportunity to contribute to the nature. “The main idea is to give back something to the nature, so moving towards a renewable energy will be healthy decision,” said Dinesh from Taj Fishermen Cove. A recent policy announcement of the Tamil Nadu Government asking various sectors to spend three per cent of their revenue on solar energy has led many hotels to try this alternative.
The project has several advantages other than being environmental friendly. The Union Government is giving users a 30 per cent subsidy for commercial use and 60 per cent subsidy for non-commercial use.
Using solar power in commercial areas will also give users an 80 per cent of Income Tax rebate. Pankaj Kumar, DPM in UNDP insisted to make optimum use of this subsidized opportunity by the sectors before the subsidies are pulled back.
