alpviram

My dear friend

I could probably write another long post, especially since I am on a break today due to downtime at my lab but I see that will not solve anything.. the point is we are two different sides of the same coin

You feel proud about a TOY SHERA whereas I see it as a minor achievement being extolled beyond reason. That toy incorporates well known tech involving motion sensors, possibly pressure sensors, actuators, sound and LED circuits which are available off the shelf.. A real innovation would have been something which moves and has 3-D freedom of motion. And yes, those students made it but soo much hooplah about something so minor is actually the fundamental flaw we face as a nation. this is exactly why I got involved in DTU debate. It is actually a nothing, a void made to look like something big that an act needs to brought up in the parliament to enact it..

like i said before, I raised my point, I was abused, then I abused then you abused then I abused and finally this cycle seems to be ending.. so I dont need a new post anymore.. this matter is under judicial review and I am sure judiciary will do the right thing (whatever it is). That is the last bastion against corruption that still stands in our country..

small pointers :

1.)

Took a while going through the posts unleashed by Prashant Baveja. Congratulations Prashant! You seem to have a solution for all the problems, I stand impressed.....

But how exactly do you think your suggestions are practical? Are ideas the only seed towards accomplishing something

People like pranav mistry, Ashutosh Saxena have had the answers since they were kids.. they have been repeatedly dismissed by grey haired individuals like hon VC ( and head honchos at CSIR http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091109/full/462152a.html) who have the notion that wisdom is a monotonically increasing function of age. People like mistry and saxena have been leaving india since 1950 and will continue to do so. India as a nation has been extolling mediocrity since 1948 and will continue to do so. Oh look we tried and tried hard.. women are being raped in delhi, kids are being targeted by pedophiles, farmers are committing suicide, sex ratios are going haywire, female infanticide is on the rise, we are diluting the brand value of our premier education institutions such as IITs and DCE and then we spend close to 1000 crore on CWG out of which more than half is unaccounted for and we as a nation are supposed to feel proud of it?? or for DTU or for the multiple IITs we know have?? really dude?? I cannot feel proud and never will period!!

I am not even a fraction of their pedigree.. I am more of an executer than a thinker.. to improve my thinking faculties is the very reason I started my PhD.. I am getting there.. trust me.. Its my life goal and I plan to achieve it

2. ) My karma is defined by me and I take responsibility for it. However HOn. V.C. has to reply for his 'KARMA' sooner than me.. I wish him all the best

3. ) In the near future, I will write him an open letter, detailing what all happened, my reservation against DTU and his actions..

4.) I hope your confidence translates into something useful.. Spirit of entrepreneurship has been around in DCE forever. I hope it fosters into something useful. I however KNOW that it will not

5.) The US university fair that you feel happy about, kindly check the credentials of those universities.. These are exactly those universities which consultants in INDIA use to get fake I20s for kids. Kids going to these schools end up in gas stations or driving cabs and get shot.. depressing but true. I would not take what they say on face value and neither should anybody.. this is why I paste this on your more popular blog as well.. I would acknowledge such an effort if virginia tech, virginia commonwealth universoity, arizona state university, university of florida gainsville, florida state university at Tallahassee, university of arizona, boston university, SUNY Albany, SUNY stony brook, university of delaware etc come to the campus.. these arent the top ten.. these are the univs average to bright kids go to here in America. These are the universities which acknowledge IITs through their alumni network.. bring them to DTU campus and let their admission Councillors counsel the students.. At that point, I will gladly retire..

6.) your blog now comes at number 10 while searching for my name.. It will go down.. but it is something I am proud of and always will be

7.) I will be back in 6-8 months from now.. 2-3 more good papers later and we will compare and contrast what DTU has achieved vs what I have achieved.. All my achievements (my papers have author bio and In all my bios I am a student of DCE and forever will be) are dedicated to DCE and forever will be.. Like always I denounce this conversion in strictest of terms

8.) https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzST6yNDn-hkZTUzODlmZDItNTI3My00MjI2LTkzMWYtY2ExODRhNjQ5YmU3&hl=en&pli=1

read this report if you have time.. points out a lot of things that I am trying to say.. the jist is, new blood isnt allowed to 'fix' the system.. you challenged it, you get screwed.. I dont care if I am screwed and bad blogs are written about me.. its only a proof that I am on the path of being a good scientist!!

9.)

Let's give ourselves some time...after all, what logic can dictate comparison of a University established in 1865 with a University established in 2010?!

this is whr you keep on contradicting your own self.. you say you are ex-DCE but at the same time you say that DTU was established in 2010.. DCE has been around since 1942 and your pioneer visionary has been around since 1990. All I say is has DCe achieved even 25% of what cornell has??


10.)

Rather than being proud of what we have achieved on our own (read: zero external funding, zero external consultancy and academicians, well you know them!),

whose fault is it I ask?? When Prof Sinha joined in 1997 or many others for that matter, if they were given some sort of start-up capital, they would have achieved a lot more.. The system has failed this great institution.. This institution who has generated alumini who went on to partner philip johnson ( the father of modern architecture!! ) and even now this system which is called DTU will fail this great institution as it is not correcting the ills of the past..

11.)

Toy Cars: Thank you for appreciating the honest efforts of the students, isn't it good enough that amongst the rankings you posted on your blog, DTU is the only Asian University mentioned? At least we are doing things, and we must laud the efforts, rather than calling them toy cars.

Here too, I have been misquoted.. I have never cast an aspersion on the efforts of students who build these cars. Its a very noble effort but what is the intention behind this effort?? if we go back in the history, the concept of making cars was pioneered by the defianz racing team.. students picked up on the idea of the glamor and press coverage associated with this as well as being on the good books of the then principal and the now Hon. VC and then every year, the students who couldnt make it to one team start their own.. this is clearly a bad precedent the moral responsibility of which I put squarely on Hon. VC Sh. P. B . Sharma.. these students might do well at these universities but the fundamental spirit behind learning and innovation is not being fostered in them for which the above mentioned person is responsible... I ask of these students at DCE/DTU to make a project which doesnt take them to a competition. Lets say a robotic arm which is capable of autonomously opening the lid of a jar. Now that is a real project.. Its still a matter of research for various applications.. there are no student competitions for it.. you dont get the circuit of the flight controller when you google how to build an unmanned aerial vehicle and you dont get any prize for making it work.. just the pure satisfaction of learning.. the students who make this are the students which WILL SURELY do REALLY WELL at MIT/HARVARD etc and can pretty much better a PRASHANT BAVEJA without breaking a sweat!! thats how much I believe in students of DCE provided their hearts are in the right place.. right now they are not!!! another side question// these students who made this shera for political mileage with delhi CM.. what if they were instead encourage to make this arm an automated assembly line for some sort.. from what i understand they are startup and need some sort of start up capital or project.. surely something like this would give them that opportunity!! alas they are wasted in making a toy....

A short Note on biodiesel

I refer you to the defination of the word used by your HON VC many times

Innovation is a change in the thought process for doing something, or the useful application of new inventions or discoveries

so an innovation is not necessarily a new discovery.. It could also be a new application of existing state of the art.. while you say this

Sadly, the project is led by some very incompetent people like NK, but then it is an important research on its own in the context of India. I also understand that not much has been done to take the project forward, but this responsibility should/must lie with the lead researcher, not PBS. He provided all he could to take the project forward.

I say this.. Hon Vc has been taking credit for this project since the very begining. he drive the so called biodiesel car in the campus. flaunts it as a green initiative and then when things come on the chopping block, he puts the blame back on the researchers?? come on.. biodiesel being produced on campus in my mind is still a BRILLIANT idea.. An INNOVATIVE policy of Campus Carbon Credits could be implemented wherein students who park their car on campus given a 10% tuition credit if their car is diesel and they buy atleast 100 liters of locally produced biodiesel at Rs 50 per liter per year.. they can be charged for it upfront and given a credit card for swiping at a local refilling station.. those who continue to use petrol can be charged 10% Environmental Surcharge and same can be extended to faculty as well.. an enhancement in pay vs a reduction in pay model which is workable with MUTUAL discussion and not Autocratically as he usually goes about doing his business.. I think biodiesel is a wonderful idea but being deserted as a adopted child now that more colorful projects are being proposed.. I have seen him wear his tardy blue suit every time a project is announced.. he smiles in front of camera.. makes big speeches with hollow promises.. does he care to follow up?? if he takes credit in front of the media then blame is on him.. how can you say he has done all that he can wherein with his 40+ years of experience this simple idea is something he couldn't come up with.. And FYI this is not my idea..

If he reads this tomorrow, and decides to implement this, I am sure he will claim this idea as his own.. this is the definition of academic fraud which he has been perpetrating for last so many years. So that is why i dont blame the researchers who are making biodiesel.. the blame lies with the policymaker who without knowing what to do with it calls it innovative in the press