E-Foundry Cells opened in institutes across three states

Dr. B. Ravi, Institute Chair Professor Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Metal casting offers a range of career opportunities to

engineering and polytechnic students, in foundries, tool-

rooms, suppliers of various materials and services to

foundries, as well as original equipment manufacturers

spanning virtually all sectors. While IT, financial and other

services have emerged as preferred employers,

manufacturing continues to be the main driving force of the

economy. Hence there is a need to enhance the interest and

employability of students in the manufacturing sector,

especially those directly or indirectly related to metal casting.

With this goal in mind, E-Foundry Cells have been opened in

three engineering institutes and two more are planned in

Gujarat, M.P. and Maharashtra. These include SGS Institute of

Science and Technology, Indore; DKTE’s Textile and

Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji; BH Gardi College of

Engineering, Rajkot; CSP Institute of Technology, Changa; and

SV Engineering and Research Institute, Pandharpur.

The inauguration of the E-Foundry Cells were coupled with

teacher training courses in ‘Casting Design and Simulation’

conducted by the host institute in collaboration with IIT

Bombay. In total, over 300 teachers from about 140

engineering and polytechnic institutes were trained how to

make their courses more interesting, augment laboratory

experiments, define meaningful student and research

projects, and engage with local industry. Each institute was

provided a set of high quality course material including DVDs

of lesson videos and animations, presentation slides, and

books related to the subject.

The learning resources are freely available online and can be

accessed at E-Foundry (http://efoundry.iitb.ac.in, or Google

efoundry). Since January 2013, the site has clocked more than

180,000 page-views by 30,000 visitors from all over the world.

While India accounts for over 75% users, others are from USA,

Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Australia, UK, and Mexico, all of

them major producers of castings. Within India, the largest

number of visitors is seen from Mumbai, Indore, Kolhapur,

Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Kolkata,

all of which have foundry clusters.

The most powerful feature of the site is a facility for online

simulation of casting solidification. Users can upload a 3D

model of casting and within a few minutes, view its colour-

coded temperature profile. This enables identifying hot-spots,

which require feeding; and cold-spots, which require proper

gating. E-Foundry members have simulated 3500 castings

during the last six months, which can be viewed in simulation

gallery.

Teachers hold the key to unlocking the potential of their students and directing them to meaningful careers, including those related to metal casting, which requires young talent to grow and become globally competitive. This requires empowering the teachers first, by providing them adequate training, high-quality course material, and institutional support. The E-Foundry initiative of National Knowledge Network mission is showing teachers and students that metal casting is an interesting and useful field to pursue.

E-Foundry teacher training programmes at Changa, Indore, Pandharpur, Ichalkranji and Rajkot conducted in July-Sep 2013.

Top: E-Foundry Cell at DKTE’s TEI, Ichalkaranji. Bottom: E-Foundry Cell at SGSITS, Indore; Students learn to use the online Simulation Lab.

The resources were developed over the last two years by a dedicated team at the E-Foundry Lab of IIT Bombay, supported by

the National Knowledge Network mission of the Government of India, New Delhi. Teachers are now using these resources to

make their courses more interesting, and to better engage the students. The students are able to understand a complex

manufacturing process, and explore industry-oriented projects. The industry benefits by the access to manpower and expertise

in academia.

The E-Foundry Cells use both online and printed resources to train their own students, as well as others from local institutes and

industry. They offer a one-month certificate course in ‘Casting Design and Simulation’. The pedagogy is driven by the principle of

self-learning, with weekly guidance by the local teachers trained by IITB. The students are finally evaluated in three ways: online

score at E-Foundry, an offline examination conducted by the local E-Foundry Cell, and a project report endorsed by a local

foundry.

The ‘Hall of Fame’ in E-Foundry and other evidence show that the above initiatives are succeeding in bringing students back to

manufacturing. Several thousand students are now spending an average of over 15 minutes online in E-Foundry classroom,

simulation lab, library and discussion hub. Teachers trained in the one-day programmes have vowed to visit a local foundry and

explore joint projects for their students. The energy of a new generation of young engineers trained by these teachers, coupled

with the experience of senior foundrymen promises rapid growth of this important industry, which urgently requires leveraging

the latest technologies to meet the rising expectations of their customers and remain globally competitive.