July, 7th, 2015. The day of final presentation of my M. Tech dissertation. The moments before the presentation was shrouded by mixed feelings of nervousness and alacrity. The presentation was held in Seminar hall, CESE Building, IIT Bombay. Addressing the chairperson, I started my presentation sharp at 11.30 AM. The hall was fully packed with the audience. The examination committee was seated in the first row. The External Examiner of my examination committee was Mr. V. M. Motghare, who was Joint Director at Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in Air pollution division. I presented each and every slide in the presentation in a simple assertive manner.
These were the 23rd and 24th slides of my presentation. Everybody in the hall was overwhelmed and clapping. As soon as I completed my presentation, Internal examiner of my examination committee was very happy and he said, "I haven't seen this kind of work, atleast for the last 10 years". After the presentation, everyone was greeting me, one of my friends said, "No M. Techs, none of the Ph. Ds have ever got so much of media attention in their work. You, have done really a great job, we are proud of you!". That was really a million dollar moment for me, but I never forget the amount of hardship I faced to achieve that.
My project guide was Prof. Rashmi Patil and co-guide was Prof. Rakesh Kumar. Prof. Rakesh Kumar was Head of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute's Mumbai zonal lab. He was an Adjunct faculty at IIT Bombay. Earlier, during the project meetings, Prof. Rakesh Kumar had talked about the devices which would control air pollution in the open atmosphere. Control of air pollution in open atmosphere is rather, a very critical area. The roadside pollution levels are increasing day-by-day, more and more people are suffering from asthma, bronchitis and many other diseases due to air pollution. But there was hardly any solution found yet. We were thinking of making a device which can be installed over the road dividers, which will be able to reduce the roadside air pollution in my M. Tech project. The project span was from January 2014 to June 2015. The month of July passes, but there was no appreciable work done in that direction. The first stage assessment of the project was held in mid September and there was hardly any work done yet to show.
Actually, I was also preparing for UPSC Engineering Service exam, as I have expressed in previous blog posts. The written part of exam for the exam was held in June, 2014. This part of the exam requires a lot of dedicated efforts and so I had a little chance to dedicate required amount of time to my project work. I had considered doing more work after the UPSC exams to makeup project schedule. The UPSC exams were over and I decided to give extra efforts in my project.
I decided to learn Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to design the air pollution control devices. Let me tell you, these software were one of the toughest software used in engineering field and they were based on theory which was originally related to mechanical engineering. I started learning the software with the help of limited tutorials available on the internet. Meanwhile, Prof. Patil offered me visit to Newcastle University, United Kingdom through a joint project known as UKIERI, whose project proponent was Prof. Viren Sethi. The visit was due in month of February, next year. As travelling was one of the activities I always loved the most, I accepted the offer of going for the UK visit. I was pushing my limits and putting dedicated efforts towards my project.
The first stage assessment of my project was help in the month of September and it passes away with some vexation, as there were some gaps pertaining to the format of the project report and I had to reproduce it with corrections done.
After the fuss of first stage report assessment was over, I wholeheartedly started to endeavor my project work. Until now, I had perfectly understood the aim of my project. It was to design and make such workable stuff which can be installed in the open atmosphere an to reduce air pollution. I had googled a lot, but I could hardly find any weak trace of such devices around the globe. My energy and excitement was increasing day by day and I had made to very clear to myself, "Until and unless, I won't make such a workable device in my M. Tech project, I won't leave this institute with a degree". In other words, I was ready to make a sacrifice of my degree, and a dream to become an IITian for such a cool idea. But why won't I? After I successfully passed my 8th class exam, my father took a decision to take a cable service first time; alas only for 2 months of vacation. In that short period of delight of cable TV, I used to fight with my siblings to watch Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel. I still remember a 100 pages short notebook, in which I has sketched designs of possibly how an bike engine and steam engine would work. Murmuring sound of bike always fascinated me, as of how does such a small device gives so much power to wheels. Just a few seconds of animation showing a piston moving up-down inside a cylinder trigger an answer for a mammoth question of bike engine since childhood. That day, hours and hours were spent in searching possibilities, as of how the bike engine would work. That book, I have still preserved with me. Since childhood, I had dreamed of making such machines and similar kind of stuff. This was the motivation for me, burning inside my heart to materialize chance of my M. Tech project to create such devices. Creating and making devices and machines. Doing a work, which would be useful to some one, and not for the sake of getting good grades and simply occupying space in the library.
I had sketched an approximate plan in my mind. To finish CFD modelling to design and estimate the capacity of the devices to reduce the air pollution till mid-December and then on basis of that, start fabricating the devices in the month of January. For non-technical people, modelling is nothing but mathematical calculations to estimate the effect of some phenomenon or a process. I had made this planning on the assumption that, UPSC interview would pop up in the mid-February and I would have enough time to prepare for it. Also, as soon as UPSC interview was over, I would complete my UK visit and back to fabricate the devices I had designed. Bit by bit and little by little, I had started having command over CFD modelling. I had started sketching preliminary drawings for modelling of the devices.
UKIERI, was an initiative to connect educational and research institutes in India and United Kingdom. IIT Bombay and Newcastle University from UK was a part of it and it carried out many activities including programs such as Student exchange. And through this student exchange program, I was going to go for a visit to UK. Prof. Sethi was the project proponent of this project. September, 2014, delegates from Newcastle University were visiting IIT Bombay. My guide, Prof. Patil asked me to plan a meeting with them an express my research plans with them. Within the busy schedule of seminars and discussion sessions, I managed to get an appointment with Prof. Namdeo from Newcastle University. I prepared myself for the scheduled time of the meeting. I arrived at the place of the meeting. For my surprise, the third person except me and Prof. Namdeo was neither my guide nor my co-guide, but he was Prof. Sethi. I was about to explain my research plans but until then, Prof. Sethi started asking me question.
Me: Yes, sir
Prof. Sethi: Have you completed your CFD modelling work?
Me: No Sir, not yet. But I am very close to it.
Prof. Sethi: But have you?
Me: No
Prof. Sethi: Any professor helping you in your CFD modelling work?
Me: No sir, but I am taking online tutorials and taking guidance from mechanical engineering students also.
Prof. Sethi: I don't think, you may succeed in your work and I even doubt that, you may be able to complete your M. Tech.
Me: No sir, I am very close. Please trust me...
The meeting ran hardly for 4-5 minutes and I was clearly labelled as a dumb and ignorant person who is not even competent enough to complete his M. Tech degree. Thereafter, each and every meeting, with my guide, I was humiliated. I was always cursed for incompetency. I felt like crying, I did not see any way out. Finally, a month later, I was informed verbally, I wasn't going for UK trip. Just, two days before they informed me, one of my senior had informed me about this. He also told me, who was going to go instead of me. That was Prof. Sethi's student. After a bit of research, I came to knew that Prof. Sethi's student, who was going to UK instead of me, was preparing for UK trip well before my the meeting with Prof. Namdeo and Prof. Sethi. I was stunned. If they did not wanted to send me, then why was I humiliated.
And suddenly, everything became cold and quite, as if nothing was happened. Everyone suddenly felt, I was a good student and doing a good research work. Between all this chaos, I attended UPSC interview at Dholpur house, Delhi.
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| At Dholpur House, UPSC, after the interview |
My interview was very nice and peaceful as contrast to the chaos in my academic life. I returned back to Mumbai the day after my interview was over. After coming back, I met Prof. Rakesh Kumar. Prof. Rakesh Kumar, Head to NEERI, Mumbai, my co-guide, was kind enough to give me a second chance to complete my project. I meet him in his NEERI office in Worli.
He was very calm and composed and explaining me how time was a constraint in my project. He introduced me some staff who would help me in my project and also gave me some money for the project. I was so overwhelmed, my happiness knew no bounds. I started working my fingers to the bone. I used to work day and night. I used to make plans, designs and gather information for procuring material in nights and physically used to go and find the appropriate material, cut it, shape it according to the design and test it during the day time. In this due course of time, many times I used to forget to take meals. Many time, due to overwork and fatigue, I used to be get demoralized. But I used to remember Maratha soldiers fighting in the battle of Panipat under the leadership of Sadashiv Bhau Peshwa and get back to the work.
On the 5th of March, 2015, I was with some of my friends in my hostel. I never used to forget to spend some time with my best friends. Many times, they used to be my real motivators. Time was about 7-7.15 PM and I was consistently checking Facebook group of candidates selected for interview and UPSC website for IES results. Suddenly, while checking my FB group, I noticed someone had posted, 'I got XX rank'. I was stunned for a second. Next second, I told Daulat Ram Meena to check UPSC website, if IES results were out. He hitting upsc.gov.in bookmark, he found that result was out. He then clicked to download the list of selected candidates from the UPSC website. It would have taken 8-10 seconds to download the list. And I don't really remember, if my heart was beating for that 8-10 seconds. Replay of memories of hard efforts put by me for this selection started playing in front of my eye. Daulat downloaded the list and pressed CLTR + F command to find my name in the list. And he screamed, "Abe, tera selection ho gaya, All India Rank 59", (translated: You got selected, All India Rank 59)". I was living my dream. Within few minutes, phone calls started, they were greeting me for selection. I don't remember but till 10-10.30 PM, I got almost 100-120 calls saying congratulations. The selection made my spirits go high and I started doing my work more energy.
Until end of the May, the device was almost completed and we were going to test it near IIT Main gate traffic intersection.
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| Device being readied for experiments |
We started testing it near IIT Main gate junction. We used to run the device for only traffic peak conditions when the pollution level used to be very high. We had to battle soaring temperatures during morning peak hour of our work. Sometimes the temperatures used to as high as 43°C.
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| Snap of temperature and carbon monoxide sensor |
I had two helpers to help with my task. I used to tell them to sit in a shady place and count vehicles, while I used to stand in hot sunlight to measure pollutant levels. This we were doing to find the effectiveness of the device we had made to reduce the pollution. So, this was one of the main component of the research and we had to do it in any cost. For five consecutive days, we were battling soaring sun and high physical stress. Every evening, after the work was over, I used to feel as if there was fever in my body. I knew, others who had got selected with me in IES would be living a lavish life with doing no work other than giving interviews on dailies and giving talks in schools and colleges in their natives. But I did not mind working in that condition. On the sixth day, morning I got a call from the guys who were helping me saying."We are very tired and exhausted due to work, we won't come today". Nevertheless, I had other tasks to do which I completed then.
On the seventh day, we were back on work. After completing the morning session of experiments, I was resting in my hostel room. And then my phone rang,
Person on phone: Am I talking to Mr. Vinayak?
Me: Yes.
Person on phone: Hi, I am Nikita Arora, I want to know about your project. Dr. Rakesh Kumar has told me about this
Me: Thank you for you interest. My project is based on....(I went on telling)
Nikita: Okay, so I will be coming to see your device and experiment.
Me: Okay, you may come at 5 PM.
I didn't knew who was she. I thought, she might me some research scholar from NEERI. At 4.30 PM, again Nikita called me,
Nikita: Hi, I am on Main gate of your institute.
Me: We have not started our experiment, can you please wait. You may come inside and wait.
Nikita: No, they are not letting us inside.
Me: What is the issue.
Nikita: We have NDTV tag on our vehicle and so they are asking for permit from public relation office.
That was a real WTF moment for me. What! I am going to be interviewed. I don't believe this. I went there with formal dressing. They were ready with the cameras and other personnel. We started out device and they filmed it. The whole interview ran for about an hour.
June 5th, 2015, World Environment Day was going to be celebrated at Mantralay, Mumbai by Government of Maharashtra. There was also green environment related exhibition at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Mumbai. I got an opportunity to exhibit my device there. At around 11 AM, Hon. Minister of Environment, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Ramdas Kadam, Hon. Minister of Environment, for state, Shri. Pravin Pote, and other secretaries visited out stall. We had made our stall, where the device was to be kept, ready in the early morning itself. The minister was very happy to see such a device which reduces air pollution. He inquired about the cost of this device, the influence area and other important parameters of the device. He also said, we will first test the device at five intersections in Mumbai, and if successfully worked, will install this at atleast 100 such intersections in Mumbai where pollution levels are very high.
After the minister left out stall, many news reporters came to us and started gathering information about the device.
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| Mumbai Mirror, 6th June, 2015 |
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| Hindustan Times, 6th June, 2015 |
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| Mumbai Mirror, 6th June, 2015 |
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| DD News, 7th June, 2015 |
And this,
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| NDTV, 19th June, 2015 |
And many more. Many news agencies, who flashed my devices on their channels, I didn't even get a chance to recover the photos or videos of the report.
Then after month long, writing thesis report, it was submitted on 30th of June, 2015. On 7th July, 2015, final presentation of my dissertation was held in Seminar Hall, CESE, IIT Bombay. Many were present just to see, why did the did caught so much media attention.
By the grace of God, I successfully completed my M. Tech and waiting for IES joining.
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| And the moment of our Convocation |
