Opportunities, Opportunitieseverywhere!

You are holding in your hands the second issue of this se-

mester. It has been almost two years since the last time more than one issue was released in a semes-ter, and we are certainly pleased with the results. We hope that you share our opinion on this too.

Lockheed Martin, a world lead-er in armament systems, recently opened up an opportunity for 2 sixth semester students for an in-ternship in the US, in the area of satellites. As a part of selection procedure, the candidates were asked to prepare a presentation on any topic that had to do anything with satellites. The panel of judges included Dean R&D Dr Thomas Kurien, Dr Priyadarshanam, Dr Selvaganesan, Dr Lakshmi Naray-anan and Dr Rajeevan. After three days of presentations, Sourajit Debnath and Gulshan Gupta were selected for the program. TSR takes the opportunity to congrat-ulate the two and wish them suc-cess.

CANEUS, a private not-for-profit organization from Mon-treal, Canada conducted a 1 day

workshop on Nano-Pico satellites on 4th of April. Needless to say, the participation was overwhelm-ing and so was the enthusiasm. Experts in this field from institu-tions like CalPoly, MIT, NASA, CANEUS and Lockheed Martin had come and covered areas like Avionics, Propulsion, System En-gineering, Avionics, Structures and launches. Sessions like Cube-sat tutorial and discussions on the future course of action were beneficial, even though some ide-as discussed there felt a little too imaginative and Sci-fictionesque (read interesting). Apart from that, there were a few presenta-tions from the students’ side, that included an over-effusive talk on Cubesat based earthquake detec-tion by Kaustabh of first year and an overview of IIST’s NanoSat pro-ject (Remember me?) by a bunch of final year students (who later posed for the shutterbugs too).

As you can see, some great op-portunities have started to open up at IIST for projects, intern-ships, collaborations etc. This is probably a healthy sign that the

more03 Face Off

3 quizzes, 2 sides

04 Popular CultureKerbal Space Program: It

is Rocket Science!

more

06 KonchordsThe Good, The Bad and

The Ugly

12 Lost VoyageNostalgia and free advice;

a pass out says au revoir

14AgniputriInterview with Tessy

Thomas, The Project Director of Agni-IV

11TrippedEditor describes 2012

batch educational trip

?

feature featureAlumni write about the opportunities outside of ISRO and share their experiences.

16 May 2014 . Volume 4 Issue 3 . 16 Pages

Students’ Newspaper, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

For internal circulation only

02 news

institute is finally opening up to the outside world and recognising the need for educative opportuni-ties for students beyond IIST and DoS. And this is a far cry from a time when a student was all slated to go to the US, only to be cancelled at the very last moment (the guy had even finalised the orders for chocolates and iPads for relatives). It all started with sending Aditya Chaphalkar being sent to CalTech, after a long hiatus. Students of the new batch are expected to get ben-efited from these initiatives. And

to the Physical Science students, we are sure they have something in mind for you too.

In this issue, we will also explore the opportunities beyond ISRO with the help of pieces contributed by the alumni who are currently working elsewhere. This is mainly targeted at the first years, given that they have a much more strin-gent GPA condition and much less job security. We hope that it will be of some use to you.

echoes

Women's Day Celebration

She was the chief guest of the Women’s Day program, and true to her direct to the point and no nonsense persona, she immediately began with the presentation on AGNI project, leaving us all wondering what it had got to do with the occasion. But soon enough she moved to the Women’s segment, where she emphasised on the need for emotional intelligence in women, explaining how the lack of it results in women crying at the slightest of provocations. She then went on to describe her adventures as a project head, leaving the audience in splits with her stories, like the one in which the scientist of the mission control, at a crucial point in the launch, suffered a massive heart attack (he eventually survived). Her talk was followed by a cultural program.

Girls' timing extended

After a lot of struggling, begging and compromising, the girls’ timings have been extended to 10:00 pm on a trial run basis till the end of the semester Girls are permitted to stay out after 9 pm only on and around the road from their hostel to the main gate, allowing them to go to the canteen and go on a stroll in the aforementioned areas. This move has been welcomed by all the girls. As the extension is on a trial basis, it is strongly advised to make sure that this new found freedom is followed in the right spirit, and to avoid giving authorities a reason to reevaluate the decision.

Summer Aero Projects

32 first year students have been asked to report in the campus between 25 June and 1 July for various projects under Aero Club. Aerospace faculty members will guide the students in projects like ornithopter, 2 stage water rocket, solar absorber refrigeration and many other exciting areas, totalling seven in number. The students were shortlisted based on their participation in aero club activities, interest and availability in the summer. It is a first of its kind activity undertaken and it is hoped that other departments will come up with something like this.

echoes

03opinionFace-OffTwo junior editors voice their opinions for and against the three quiz system

Three quizzes are not-so-bad

I know that not all things are bright and beautiful, but still, let us try

to look at the bright side of having three quizzes.

The most immediate idea that hits us is that the second chance it gives us to save our grades. Many of us have experienced that dread of get-ting low marks in a particular quiz. Some silly mistake, or any other trivial reason would have inevitably resulted in very low marks, where as we know we deserved more. Howev-er, with the three quiz system, we are hopeful of making it big in the next one. Had there been only two quiz-zes, the average grade of many of us would have been lower than what it is at present. Such is the advantage of three quizzes. And we have to be thankful for that.

Also, the teachers may use it to

continuously assess the students (al-though it may seem a bit too much). It may also be because of the belief that students, when constantly sub-jected to tests and exams, learn to cope with greater pressures in life (how true is that, I don’t know). This distinguishes hard workers from hardly workers. But we need not worry. Why? Because we IISTians love to be oppressed (just kidding, this is not Wadia).

To think on other lines, three quiz-zes with best of two is almost equiva-lent to the two quiz system, if not bet-ter. For those who need to improve their grades, it gives them a golden opportunity. For those satisfied with their quiz 1 and 2 scores, they may happily skip quiz 3 without any wor-ries. We also know how many of us would really, honestly, study regular-

ly if not for the three quizzes. To be truthful, not many would give a rat’s tail to what is happening in the class unless there is a quiz around.

Of course, our participation in non-academic activities will be af-fected. But, one does not simply get whatever one wants. One thing has to be sacrificed for the other. A bal-ance has to be struck between aca-demic and non-academic activities, which depends on the individual.

Finally I would like to conclude by saying that the three quiz system is the one we need right now, not the one we desire.

The author can be contacted at sudheendra.genius@gmail.com

bySudheendra R.

Three Quizzes are Bad

Last semester(1st semester for batch of 2013) was of 3 months,

3 weeks and 3 days. And to add an-other 3 to it, we had 3 quizzes.

In school, we had three exams in a year- one at the end of each term. That’s it - nothing more. So suddenly jumping into a system of 4 exams plus teachers assessment tests for in-ternals in a little more than quarter a year was a rude shock. Over here I’d like to point out that just because we had to top a series of tests (boards, JEE mains and JEE advanced for those who have forgotten those hor-rid days) doesn’t mean we love writ-ing them.

Three quizzes was a bad idea pure-

ly because it gave the students no time for co-curricular activities. Our batch has been criticised for lack of participation in non-academic, non – “marks related” activities. When-ever there is any event being held, whether it be a seminar or a work-shop or a stress reliever session, first year participation has been mini-mal. We haven’t been able to whole-heartedly partake because of the three quizzes. People studied during Dhanak and Conscientia because they had quizzes the next week.

Apart from the mentioned, anoth-er problem with three quizzes was that it gave very little preparation time. All the preparation time we got

was utilized in mugging up every-thing we thought might come in the exams. We started studying more for the sake of exams rather than the subject.

What everyone wants in life is to enjoy what he/she is doing. If you ask me, we can enjoy anything provided we understand it. To understand it we need time to sit down and read. This is how we’ve been managing our studies for the last 12 years of our life. But now, we find that there’s hardly any time to read the topic twice (number may or may not have been exaggerated(increased) as fac-ulty readership is expected) before the exams. So there is absolutely no

byRitu Anil

continued to next page

echoes

04 reviewsquestion of understanding all details and hence quite obviously not even a mention of enjoying it.

To counter this issue, I have on hand a solution- change the entire system. The whole point of exams is to enable the teachers to check whether the students have fully un-derstood the subject; not whether the students have fully been able to mug up the subject. For this we need a slightly tweaked version of the two quiz system. Agreed that three quizzes give us a chance to improve in case we flop up in any test. But couldn’t we follow a system of two

quizzes in which the best one will be taken for internals for say thirty marks? End semesters can be for fifty marks and the remaining twen-ty marks can be based on projects rather than assignments or tutorials or “surprise” tests. Nobody can copy projects as opposed to tutorials and assignments, which I must admit we all do. Besides it is a foolproof way of learning. There can be a presen-tation or a paper to be submitted at the end of it. This definitely sounds like a better system than the current one because it gives students time for other activities and allows them

to understand and enjoy what they learn.

The current system is extremely jam packed filled with assignments, tutorials, tests, tests, tests and tests again. The last two semesters’ experi-ence for the batch of 2013 was super hectic and W. H Davis has perfectly summarised it in the following lines:

‘What is this life if full of care,We have no time to stand and

stare.’

The author can be contacted at ritu.anilkumar@gmail.com

What is cool?KSP developers are supposedly a

bunch of uber cool pop culture en-thusiast. This is the reason why there are countless pop culture references and humorous quotes all over the game. For example: .‘Answering the ultimate question’ and then few seconds later, ‘Finding the ultimate question’ ‘Adding ‘K’ to every word’. I leave it upto you to explore all such references and enjoy. As you start the game you would find two modes: Ca-reer and Sandbox. Starting with ca-reer mode is better for newbie since it helps understand the basic aspects of the game. It is bit difficult game to start off blindly and you wouldn’t even be able to fly a single stage rocket. I recommend watching/read-ing tutorials (they are fun and not to

be confused with the drab academic ones) after laying your hands, ex-ploring some aspects of the game. In Sandbox mode all the features and parts of the game are unlocked and there are no monetary constraints.

KSP is based on fictional solar sys-tem somewhat similar to our solar system. With Kerbol as the central star and 7 planets. Kerbin is the Earth equivalent which is home to Kerbals, short funny looking humanoids that

Space is the final frontier for most of the IISTians’ career and I wish all the best to everyone who is living his/her dreams (literally). But if your dreams have been shattered after having

a reality check in IIST, don’t worry. You can have the dreamflight right here on your very own desktop. Yes, the Kerbal Space Program (KSP) by Squad Developers promises the most realistic space adventure you have ever thought of.Nerd Warning: Don’t take the game too seriously from your course point of view. The game is meant to be for fun and to enhance your creativity and innovation.

The Popular Culture Column

byAbhishek Panchal

Randall Munroe (xkcd comics) on KSP

continued from previous page

05reviewscarry out the space program. Kerbin has 2 moons. The gravity of Kerbin is same as that of Earth. Similar com-parisons can be drawn with other planets too.

What is super cool?You can build and launch your own

goddamn rocket! Remember the times when you watched the launch of ISRO rockets and wished if you could be in the control room and do the countdown? No it’s not the same here. You don’t have to go through all the checks and green lights. All you need to do is make a decent looking and aerodynamically feasible rocket and pull up the thrust and hit the space (the ‘space’ key). The chase camera allows you to be with the rocket as you see yourself disappear into the unknown. SAS and RCS (I had no idea what these were before) would help keep you aligned to your direction of motion. You are given control to change roll, pitch and yaw of the vehicle as you wish and unless you want to see your rocket crashed on the ground you wouldn’t fiddle much with it initially. Basic process is to get in a parking orbit around the Kerbin preferably in a equatorial plane. “Reaching a stable orbit around Kerbin is one of the first things bud-ding space programs strive for. It is said that he who can get his ship into orbit is halfway to anywhere” quoted by Kerbal Astronomy.

The basic rocket design includes a command module, fuel tank, rocket engine and for reusable purposes, parachutes. Apart from these there is the supplementary part which in-cludes RCS, batteries, lights , Aero-dynamic wings, nose cones etc. The staging needs to be setup manually and each stage can be separated dur-ing flight using decouplers. Feeling lost? Don’t worry because online tu-torials will familiarise you with all these in no time. There are options available for speeding up time so you wouldn’t have to wait for months to carry out interplanetary missions. I

know Mars Mission has been keeping you waiting for a long time.

What is 0 K cool?If above description is not enough

to arouse interests of budding space scientists then let me tell you that all of the orbital mechanics in KSP is quite real and if Kerbal universe did exist it would behave almost the same way as in the game. The game uses patched conic approximation (assigning sphere of influence to each body) instead of n-body problem. Al-though not accurate, this method is still used by all the space agencies for orbital calculations till the final fine adjustments are made for detailed designs.

However there are quite many in-accuracies in the game. The celes-tial bodies have unrealistically high densities compared to real life. The aerodynamics is based on simple ap-proximations. This provides unrealis-tic drags on vehicles making the task easy for re-entry. The structures also have amazingly high resistance to wear and tear. Re-entry shock heat is not introduced at all. But the game is still in its alpha stage and is under heavy development. So there is a lot of scope of improvement. Although the game lacks in proper aerodynam-ics and atmospheric effects; the real-istic launch and in flight graphics and breathtaking landscapes during the flight very much make up for it.

Recently, NASA partnered with Squad to introduce an ‘Asteroid Re-direct mission’ similar to real life NASA counterpart which brings in new, never before tried challenges for gamers. It is seen as a way to reach out to young wannabe scientists all around the world who would put their ideas in a innovative and crea-tive ways.

The final verdictBuilding spacecrafts and carrying

out the missions is one thing, what’s better is the experience in experi-menting with available alternatives. There are tons of mods and spacecraft parts available online that can elevate your KSP experience to a completely different plane. There is dedicated wiki and a subreddit where the mem-bers of KSP community share their experiences and achievements.

Squad Developer’s KSP is worth a shot especially for IISTians and it would be a break from conventional mainstream games while convincing yourself that you are definitely not wasting your time here. It is not dif-ficult to play once you give enough time to learn the basics. As the game’s slogan rightly says, "How hard can rocket science be, anyway?"

In an orbit around Mun, preparing to land

The author can be contacted at abhishake.iist@gmail.com

06 news

Konchords 2014 byJaswanth Subramanyam

Most people might not even know what it means but what it has grown to be is clear in our minds. Music is expression and Konchords is where IIST expresses itself, in more than one way. In the Immortal words of Jay-Z “History doesn’t repeat itself, it Rhymes”. Its one heck of a rhyme year after year with Konchords.

Starting off, Conscientia might be the Unknown but ironically Kon-chords is the unheard of. Initially it was fairly simple, one letter and an intro to the Administrative Officer for that signature for permissions and a shuttle to the hostel office. De-spite Konchords being dumped in /temp memory, it could be refreshed each time. But hardly things remain so simple. In a budding college like IIST powers, positions, people and procedures change quite surpris-ingly.

One fine Monday afternoon you suddenly get to know that the con-cerned officer doesn’t have the pow-er anymore. Ok cool, only the office to go to has changed. Right? “Kon-chords? What is that?”, a question we heard at almost every step. This col-lege has a very strange way of teach-ing things, and one thing we learnt the hard way was how bad loopholes can be and also that trusting others’ words is not the wise way to go.

When the now ex-council chair-man said that the letter was fine and forwarded it, how were we untrained space monkeys supposed to know? Oh wait, you have no idea what I’m talking about, right? Well it’s the money. For the past two years, the letter had all the permissions needed but alas, bureaucracy needs more than that. After all was said and done and it was time to settle the payment, we had a huge surprise waiting for

us. One loophole costed us dearly, literally. Time passed and the bills were decomposing at a snail pace in our rooms instead of the IIST’s pay-ment files.

Time passed and changes hap-pened for better or for worse again. The power change dice rolled again. It was time again to start afresh and bury the past one. This time we had the time, day and the budget ap-proved by the council. What we were not aware was that the mem-bers with the power to approve the budget were not present at the coun-cil meeting. The cross section of the time when we could go to the office and the time they were free was al-most nil. One day before, the fire was on. It was that day we knew higher ups need to sign. The procedure was to get the budget approved one month before by the higher power. The council did approve it almost a month ago but it was a useless. Fi-nally it was stated that “Students are taking things for granted.”

At this point of time, the mind goes blank. The best way to describe the feeling would be that of jumping off of a plane without a parachute. The question of whether someone

pushed you or did you jump didn’t matter anymore, only the weightless-ness and the clear view of the ground that is getting closer every second. The worst part is that you know the fall isn’t going to be pretty.

We were readily given the per-mission to conduct the event but no funds to do. We were told 12k was an easy amount, 600 students 20 each, can’t you do it? We understood that Mr.Money is the only one that can save us now. This was just the beginning of a long day and we had no clue what was in store for us. We had the permissions, we had the hos-tel and vigilance offices to cover. But tick tock, the time’s 5:30 in the clock. That means the day’s over - go home time. Bad time for letters and signs. But still ring-a-ling the phones ring and things get going. Its about time for the next twist in the plot. The sound system chetta dropped the bomb on us. He needed 70% advance before coming and gave us 15 min to tell if we can pay when he comes or not. Looking at our distressed faces then a passerby asked us “Bhaiyya, is Konchords gonna happen?”. What a timing. He wasn’t wrong to ask, the sound chetta I mean. Last time

Year wise contribution for Konchords 2014

Organizer of IIST’s musical extravaganza talks about the hurdles he encountered while organising the musical night at IIST.

07opinion

‘A mother, a friend, a daughter, a lover; but a woman before all.’

Seen as the weaker sex and dis-missed by most men as hormonal, I’m just here to tell you, that whoev-er said no one understands women is completely right. Another ques-tion often spoken in relation to this is ‘what does a woman really want? ‘Thankfully I have the answer for this and no its not love, understanding or even affection. The answer is respect and acceptance.

Ours is a society where women are treated as a different class of citizen altogether. I’m not talking about the disrespect or the humili-ation caused due to crimes against women because that might lead to wonderfully thoughtful and under-standing comments like those of our dear Mulayam Singh sir. I’m talking about the reservation of seats for women in buses, colleges, election and an excessive display of gallantry and respect. For e.g. if a guy is walk-ing with a girl, purely out of typical male chivalry he is duty bound to walk her back home. Is the girl so delicate that she cannot walk back herself? Then why do guys behave as though their self-respect is at stake when we tell them it’s not required? The same goes for when we offer to

pay our share for a date. Do you not get it? We are independent women. We are not in a particularly helpless position that we cannot pay our bit. Paying for us each time and showing excessive courtesy for us isn’t being a gentleman. It is making us feel in-ferior.

Along with this respect comes expectation too - expectations that if you do not fulfil you are a not at all how an ideal lady should be. La-dies are expected to ‘be seen and not heard.’ They are supposed to be se-rene, calm, composed, not swear and certainly not talk about “bad stuff”- at least not an ideal lady. An ideal lady is not even supposed to know “bad stuff.”

Society has crazy double stand-ards. A girl is mad if she compli-ments some guy and even if she does, he will feel happy, but a girl when complimented by a guy is expected to appear offended even she is happy within. No one likes too bold and open a girl. She is called ‘loose’ and ‘characterless.’ Picture this, a group of say 6 girls, sitting at a table, some-thing funny happens and they are laughing. The stares they get at that point are sensational. Taking anoth-er scenario, why is it that a really nice girl who has a boyfriend dismissed as

a bad person? People prefer a girl to be sloppy, shy, dim-witted or even bad persons rather than a girl with a wayward sense of humour or one who has a boyfriend.

We independent females are not accepted and we know it. Hence, al-though we know that we are amazing people, we do not let the world see us for who we are. We hide behind those perfect walls we build. The walls are beautiful but they aren’t real.

Though no one will openly tell this to you in the present day unless they are really are super conservative and narrow minded, the fact remains that we are expected to behave ac-cording to the norms of pretty, dain-ty, sweet and simply adorable. And so we do. Should we care so much? Why should we bother about what society thinks about us? It’s our lives, let us live it the way we please. Bril-liant as it may sound; the comments we hear about ourselves are just too much to bear at times. It doesn’t help if people you care about like family can’t accept you. So we change. For others we change - because in the end, we care.

byRitu Anil

The author can be contacted at ritu.anilkumar@gmail.com

he was at a loss of 5k, 8.4k in hand was his demand. Oh hold on, our ac-counts weren’t empty, let’s get to the ATM. But then:

//Transaction Cancelled// //Un-able to Dispense cash//

Booyah, Life -1, Organizers – 0

Thankfully that was the last of our troubles for the day. A couple of friends and juniors came to the rescue and things moved ahead. It turned out to be a spectacular night with overflowing performances and a great crowd.

Afterwards, around `12K was col-lected from the students, with year wise distribution given in the pie-chart.

Behind the Bamboo Veil

The female editor opines on what women everywhere want from you. It most definitely is not what you thought.

The author can be contacted at jaswanth93@gmail.com

08 opinionOpportunities3 Alumni talk about the opportunities outside of the Department of Space Machinery for those who are looking for (by choice or compulsion) greener pastures.

Abhinav GoelB.Tech. Aerospace Engineering, IISTPGP from a reputed Management Institute

Management as a career option after IISTWhat does it offer?

A career in management will put you in the driving seat in a business or an organisation, at first for smaller functions, and eventually (hope-fully) for the entire organisation. It is an opportunity to put to use many faculties like creativity, logical think-ing, technical ability and number crunching at the same time. You get to lead, to make decisions and to see them through. It can be a means to leapfrog into managerial roles within your organisation or industry, or to update yourself in the latest manage-ment practices. It is also one way to change careers or seek newer oppor-tunities. After IIST, you can choose to remain in the aerospace industry or explore others based on your in-terest.How do I get into management?

You can choose to look for a man-ager’s job in a company or start something of your own or join some-one in your family. Many people choose to undergo formal education first, in one of two ways. MBA is the study of how businesses are run and managed. A course in ‘Management’ is different from an MBA in that it is not focussed on businesses alone – it encompasses any organisation or ac-tivity that needs to be managed. The IIMs offer courses in management, while some other universities (both Indian and foreign) offer MBAs. A formal education is a window into all different functions of an organisation like finance, marketing, operations etc. as well as into different kinds

of organisations and sectors, and it helps if you have no background in management at all.

Streams: You may want to special-ise in one of the different streams in management, based on your interest. These are: Marketing, Finance, Op-erations, General Management, Hu-man Resources and Strategy among others. This choice needs to be made after spending some time to under-stand what each entails and whether you have the right aptitude, attitude and inclination for it. You can also make this choice after the first year of education.

The standard procedure for a man-agement programme is to appear for the Common Admission Test (CAT) or Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT). Indian universities ac-cept scores from both, however, the fee for students accepted using each of these is different. CAT/GMAT, along with your academic scores and work experience, forms the basis for a call for the next phase – a group discussion and/or written ability test, followed by a personal inter-view. Scores of all phases are aggre-gated to come up with the final list of admitted students.Why should I do it?

Management is not necessarily a natural next step after engineer-ing, even though a lot of engineers choose to do it. There can be mul-tiple reasons for choosing to study management after graduating from IIST but it is important to make sure that only the right reasons are con-sidered.1. ‘$$$’

The bazillion rupee figures quoted in placement reports are dizzying, but they are seldom a clear reflection of reality and never the right yard-stick for assessing a career option.

The job you get and the money you get paid as a manager is a function of several factors including your ca-pability, academic performance, ap-titude and not in the least, luck! The exorbitant figures quoted in papers may apply to a minuscule fraction of graduates. So unless you really want to be a manager, and like the kind of work managers in different functions do, it can be quite a pain in the neck, considering the high opportunity cost.2. ‘MBA is cool – look at those women and men in suits!’

Nothing we do in engineering gives us a glimpse of the real world of businesses. It may appear glamor-ous from the outside, but it is a lot of hard work. Beyond the suits, it is a dynamic world fraught with daily challenges and requiring endless ef-fort. It can be very unforgiving and does not guarantee job security.3. ‘I didn’t get past the minimum required CGPA. What else can I do?’

This is perhaps the most dangerous reason to go into management. Re-gardless of your CGPA, you must sit down and analyse all different career options available to you before zero-ing in on any one. And your analysis must factor in your capability and in-terest in the field more than any ex-ternal factors. Remember, manage-ment education doesn’t come cheap. You may be a great photographer or artist, or you may be great with programming. Getting into manage-ment will then only take you away from your dream career.4. ‘I don’t like my work here.’

Your liking your work in a par-ticular place is dependent on several things – the quality of work, work culture in your department/centre, attitude of your bosses, etc. Very of-ten, a drastic career change may not

09opinion

even be required in order to get work that you like. It may be best to seek a change in division / centre / organi-sation if you think you might like the work elsewhere.5. I want the MBA tag’

Remember, management educa-tion is only a means to becoming a manager and gaining access to the job pool. Before paying obscene amounts of money, first for the bond, and then for the education, it only makes sense to be clear what you want to do with that education. Otherwise, you will be faced with a difficult decision after you get your degree. So your decision should be based on your understanding of and excitement for potential manage-ment careers, rather than the pros-pect of an IIM tag.6. The right reason

Like any other career choice, man-agement is not the answer to a lack of understanding of what you want to do. It is also not the ‘I’ll-do-this-if-I-don’t-like-anything-else’ option. It is a conscious decision to take up a career where you can lead people and organisations in the pursuit of their goals. Simply put, you should get into management only if you want to become a manager and think you have the aptitude for it.

Prateep BasuB.Tech. Aerospace Engineering, IISTMSS14, International Space Univer-sity

Into the unknownPardon me for the plagiarized ti-

tle of the article, but this seemed apt for the context I was asked to write about. It is legitimate to feel lost when the time comes to contemplate options beyond the safe embrace of IIST-ISRO. I felt the same too, espe-cially since we had to pay the bond

amount of 10 lakhs INR. But I took the engineer’s approach to final-ize my decision of what to do after leaving ISRO. The first step is to do trade-off studies, the pillar of systems engineering, between the available options. I try to elaborate in this arti-cle how to answer the quintessential questions of what to do, where to do, and how to do, in the best possible way I could think of while listening to a lecture on Space Medicine at my present college, the International Space University (ISU).

Assumptions:• That you have already decided to

give your career a slingshot after be-ing in the cradle of DOS, GOI for 4 or more years.

• You want to study/work abroad. I am not considering domestic op-tions in my trade-offs.Part I –The ‘What to Do’ Decision-making Tree

This is the most important ques-tion that we need to ask ourselves before taking the plunge. The key to finding the correct answer is not easy, but the clichéd concept of thinking along the lines of ‘follow your dream’ or ‘do what makes you happy’ usually works for reaching a decent understanding of your short-term future goals.

P.S. A quick brush-up of your CV and non-academic strengths is also necessary to make valid practical de-cisions. Dreaming to become a doc-tor after getting an engineering de-gree may not help.Part II - The ‘Where to Do’ Decision-making Trade-off

College reputation and total cost of pursuing the course are generally the main criteria that students con-sider while putting applications for colleges. But off late, there have been

restrictions to work based on nation-ality, especially in the aerospace sec-tor of USA (see ITAR rules). Hence, students from countries like India, who borrow huge loans at crazy cur-rency exchange rates, need to con-sider this factor too while deciding where to study. To illustrate the idea, I show the trade-offs I did for select-ing where to apply.

The selection of the countries was based on the reputation of their col-leges and the availability of suitable industry (aerospace in my case). I figured out that the most important factors for selecting the country were the cost of educations, availability of scholarships, industrial interface, and barriers to work after comple-tions of studies. The three European countries seemed the best options, although the only negative part about them was the language barri-ers, since English is not very popular in these countries.

Part III – The ‘How to Do’ ChecklistIt’s a simple sequential process. Af-

ter the previous step has been con-cluded, we know which exams we need to write (GRE, TOEFL). Apart from the US and UK, other countries do not require GRE scores. European countries usually ask for TOEFL to check the candidate’s fluency in Eng-lish, and some like France consider Indians to be English speaking and don’t even ask for this requirement.

The general checklist for foreign col-lege application is as follows:

Decision making to select the right college can be troublesome. I would have made a risk matrix (risk se-verity vs risk likelihood) too, but it would be inaccurate as the percep-tion about risks varies from individ-ual to individual. There is no dearth of opportunities beyond ISRO for

10 opinion

aerospace engineers, but one has to make his decisions wisely, and some-times even intuitively. I studied pro-pulsion electives in IIST, published two international journal papers in the area of fluid dynamics, ended up working in operational side of pro-pulsion engineering, and currently I am studying economics and busi-ness of space propulsion! My intern-ship starting from this June at SES, a global satelite services firm with its own fleet of 56 GEO communica-tion satellites, is based on the market studies of using electric propulsion in satellites against the other prob-able candidate, plasma thrusters. My team project at ISU is based on using remote sensing technologies for in-creasing the responsiveness of gov-ernments to climate change induced migration (which I will be presenting at the International Astronautical Congress this year in Toronto), and my individual project is a concurrent system design of a 3U cubesat, with special emphasis on developing a novel concept for Attitude Determi-nation and Control System!

The crux is that do not limit your-self as a specialist in the area of your interest developed during your un-

der-graduate years. This is what Dr. B.N. Suresh always emphasized, and correctly so. Keep an open mind while applying to courses abroad, and take up new and interesting projects during your time at IIST to learn and gain good exposure, and not just to make your CV look good on paper. The application process is tiring, and at time harassing. Patience is the key during this phase, and once you are through it, it’s a brand new world of exciting opportunities that awaits you.

Prachi AgarwalB.Tech. Aerospace Engineering, IIST PGDM, IIM Shillong

I wanted to do an MBA since I was quite young, probably I didn’t even fully understand what an MBA is all about. It wasn’t something that anyone asked me to pursue, I just happened to be fascinated by the course and the curriculum. Then as I moved up on the academic ladder, engineering happened. I say happened because I really didn’t give it as much thought as MBA. So three years of my life were spent preparing for the JEE, and before I knew it, I was pursuing Aerospace Engineering!

When I had todecide the discipline for my engineering, aerospace was an obvious choice for me because it was full of wonders for me. And I never did regret that choice. Studying aerospace at IIST was a great experience because I learnt many things from teachers who had been involved in a lot of practical applications and hence understood the nuances of the discipline. It was rigorous but I thoroughly enjoyed it. While in the last year, I finally made up my mind to pursue MBA and with two months in hands, I began preparing. The real dilemma I faced was whether to pursue a career in research or go for MBA. It took a lot of thought but finally I decided to go for further studies.

MBA has been a totally different experience from engineering. Shillong has its own charm and the only thing similar in Trivandrum and Shillong are the rains. Graduation college had more freedom to pursue interests, whatever one liked, one could join. Here even to join clubs or committees, one needs to prove his/her capability and it is highly competitive however it provides much more interactions and peer learning. The question which keeps on coming up is why MBA after aerospace engineering? There is no standard answer to satisfy people however I discovered that a lot of courses are actually similar in both the disciplines and it becomes more enjoyable to study them from a new perspective. The journey till now has been amazing, learnt a lot both in terms of academics and its applications. Joining ISRO would have been great and I might actually do it after finishing my studies but a year ago, I wasn’t ready for it. I feel a person should do whatever makes them happy in life and I’m glad that I went for what makes me happy.

Country Cost of education

Cost of living

Scholarship availability

Language barrier

Availability of industry

Barrier to work after study

USA High Medium Low Low High HighUK High High Medium Low Medium High

Germany Low Low Medium High High LowAustralia Medium High High Low Low Low

France Low Medium High Medium High LowNetherlands Medium High Medium Low Medium Low

The authors can be contacted at abhinavgoel2@gmail.comprateepbasu@gmail.comprachi.yourfriend@gmail.com

11news

As part of the college curricu-lum the second year B.Tech.

Students go on an educational trip to a tribal area and to view their lifestyle first hand. Of course while en route to the location they make a few detours here and there. Our college most generously makes ar-rangements for transportation and accommodation. Oh wait! I mean it used to make these arrangements up till the last to last year. Then what am I describing you ask? Well we did make a few trips all over the campus for our trip (with little success). Let us first recount the fate of our im-mediate seniors. They had planned a visit to the Tribal regions of Ooty, with everything going according to plan. Then on the penultimate day of the trip a bus carrying the unfor-tunate students of Sarabhai Institute of Technology (of all possible names) fell down. The institute decreed that an overnight trip to a hilly region is unsafe and pulled the plug on the trip. They advised to visit tribes in Nedumangad instead.

Now the trip is traditionally held in the odd semester but due to de-

lays in decision and lack of dates to conduct the trip it was shifted to the even semester. The location was se-lected as Wayanad, the dates were decided as 7th, 8th and 9th of March. Everything was going rather too smoothly which is always a bad sign here. There were signs of disapproval from the higher authorities from the start citing budget issues. Then en-ter a MoU between IIST and Indian Naval academy (INA), Ezhimala, Kerala. The details of this MoU are still not perfectly clear to us, hence I will refrain from stating it. The immediate consequences however were the introduction of a visit for us on the 8th and 9th March for half of us and 15th and 16th for the sec-ond half, the purpose of which was not mentioned clearly enough. The original tribal visit was rescheduled to 18th, 19th and 20th of April (like that would ever be allowed).

In excitement of a bonus (educa-tional) trip 72 of us registered for this INA trip, then it dawned on them what its implications would be on the tribal visit. We tried to refrain from this visit, even a meet-

ing prior to it went almost unat-tended. Many even forgot about it (again sketchy details). The dates of 8th and 9th March passed without any event. Then on 14th the insti-tute realised: Hey, What happened? A quick meeting was called and they convinced us (using very powerful persuasive skills) that an INA visit is in the best of interest for us. A ten-tative promise of the Wayanad Trip was also put forth. So nearly 72 of us went and after establishing that we are a famished lot (IIST mess), some sightseeing and asking a series of never ending questions to the guides we returned back. It apparently was pleasant enough for people to even be thankful to the ones who organ-ized the event.

Now the institute claimed that a trip had already been conducted and stating that Tribal visits are non-sense and it is pointless going there, they extremely politely said “That’s it folks”. And here ended our educa-tional tribal visit.

Tripped2012 Batch Editor talks about their ‘educational tribal trip’ and the experiences that gets one wondering whether this is going to become a new annual trend

byAtma Anand

The author can be contacted at atma1106@gmail.com

The Lost VoyageDisclaimer: Any character in resemblance to people real or dead is definitely 'not' coincidental. The article is subject to author's (biased) opinions and the reader is requested not to take it to his/her heart. Also, carefully weigh the opinions and suggestions before you take them for granted.

byArvind Vairavan

It's that time of the year at the cam-pus, where 1st years and 2nd years

are desperately waiting for the new batch to arrive, to interact with love and care. Also, it’s time for the oldest batch waiting desperately for an offer call or getting ready to finally achiev-

ing a sense of freedom.Final year is when you realize you've

grown old enough to implement the valuable lessons you've learned but young enough to not give a damn about anything. From biometric sen-sors to curfew and prison grills on

one side, space science to friends on another, life here has been a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs.

Hence I thought, since my days here are nearing their end, I'd leave you all with the most important les-sons that life at IIST taught me. It

12 farewellwill be helpful. Or not. Either, here it goes:

1. Choice - Everything is: Joining IIST. No doubt, for most of us, it was a matter of choice. Call it the best op-tion or the worst option you had, but here you are.

There is a man I know living by the side of mountains, who single hand-edly runs most activities in the in-stitute, while most of us have chose not to intervene and thus avoid the chance of getting tanned coming out of our rooms. Yet, we choose to criti-cize and crib about everything hap-pening around.

2. Ignorance: More often than not, you'd be referred to as a future sci-entist rather than a student here. So, watch your step. You don't want to be starting a student union, creating a revolution and putting yourself into unwanted trouble. Don't blame any-one, you and I know, their boundaries are limited. Ignore.

You'll come across despondent ex-istence of a few that might make you wonder if this is the worst way to live. And you might feel what a wrong place to be at. Ignore.

You'll be posed a million questions at the gate by folks who have un-canny resemblance to black cats and policemen, sometimes you'd see the ego bursting up and you'd be chalked down with most illogical reasons. Again. Ignore.

3. Make the best out of the worst: Two steps from hell. If only the grade

sheet had an additional column for cribbing about college life, I'd have scored a straight 'S'. And I know I'd have had a tough competition. Never-theless, this place has made me who I am today. I kid you not, IIST has been the place.

A place from where I started to MAD(Make A Difference),a 3 year long journey that taught me les-sons of a lifetime! A place I wanted to run away from ended up with me landing in teams that organized two TEDx(Technology, Entertainment and Design) events. A place where I could rekindle my interest in drums, dance, poetry, football and basket-ball. A place where I learned to fail. In short, you've opportunities hidden; it's your call whether or not to make the best out of it.

4. Moving on in life: You have a sug-gestion that could change everyone's life at IIST. Put it forward and bring it

to the notice of you-know-who. Face them. The outcome is decided simply by tossing a coin - heads they win, tails you lose. Most members of the ‘you-know-who’ clan cannot be any more of a condescending expertise. A million times and over, everything seemed futile but faith is what kept me running in this institute. There have been changes and few for the good. When nothing goes per plan, the best option you have is to move on.

5. Seize the moment: If there is a beautiful sequence of moments, I'll have to name; without a second thought, I'd say - late night chats. Ac-companied by maggi or grass, some-times both or sometimes neither, opening with rumours and gossips, it would most certainly end with non-sensical discussions ranging from purpose of life to conspiracy theories. I'd not have come across masakalli or

Dhanak 2012 closing ceremony

13farewellbaby-kurien videos, otherwise.

6. Dreams change and so do people: As a child, I wanted to become an as-tronaut. And then, IIST happened. As-tronaut->Football player->Astronaut->Politician->Social Entrepreneur, that's more like the shift in my dreams. Nothing is fixed. I spent the first phase of my college life wondering how to lead the life of a scientist and then I realized, I don't need to succumb to what's on my plate, I might as well turn it upside down.

Nothing remains the same, especial-ly people. Over my 4 years, I've been close to a few and now I hardly see their faces and vice versa. People have changed or maybe, I have. Yes, it’s part of life.

7. Everyone has their own perspec-tive: World class institute, as termed often (at least, used to be). Perhaps, no other institute in our neighborhood would come close in terms of lab fa-cilities, internet facility, lodging and to a good extent, the faculty. But I'd call this a place of irony in terms of life and student activities. I know for sure the dominant section would say you're here just for academics and the’ future’ prestigious offer. But hey! I beg to dif-fer and I might join you in blaming you-know-who. But I'd say their inten-tions are right, just that they prefer de-livering what they think we need rather than what we actually we want. And we end up having wrong notions.

8. Co-existence - Proxy and love: It's so much fun to cover up someone’s you-know-what or in other words, marking attendance for your friend who is either physically or mentally ab-sent in class. The funny part is, most teachers who declare free attendance, stand with their decisions changed within a couple of days, thanks to the overwhelming response given by stu-dents post the declaration.

Love is always in the air. No, I'm not talking about couples inside the campus(I'm surprised the frequency of switching partners has reduced or maybe I ain't paying enough attention) but about the Mallu-mallu, bengali-bengali or any other cult-cult love. But

guess what, it won't do you much dam-age. Accept it, you and I have been a part of it.

9. What you are asked to do is always shadowed by what you love doing: Tired of hearing, the purpose of college student is to study (not learn). Strictly. But you know that never happens with most of us while there are those kind of people who score straight As and Bs just to defy our belief system. A)I'm not one of the kind. B)I don't even hang out with such people(anymore). That aside, most of us love gaming, comics, serials, football and cricket matches, which should be strictly termed as re-ligions here.

The amount of time I spent framing equations between time left for the exam and no. of chapters to be cov-ered/no. of pages left in the photocopy of notes lying on your desktop, or cal-culating the required GPA has made the amount I spent actually studying very much insignificant.

10. Memories count: Word. That's what is going to stick with a person for years. Some of the best things I've come across in my 4 years are undoubtedly the fests and Konchords. In spite of the not so attractive location (no man's land), we have witnessed good participation (though virtual foot-fall increases exponentially during the time of sponsorship approach) during both Dhanak and Consci-entia and we managed to deliver them with great panache. Not the best fests across the country and organizing them is sure an ordeal, but, mind you, spreading happi-ness and organizing such, matter as much as winning and delivering the best.

Late night chats and roof top discussions have taught me more in life than the rigorous academ-ic curriculum I've been through. What may come and what may go, but Philips as a brand will be re-membered forever.

Camouflaging myself with the 'not-so' aesthetic atmosphere of the campus, I found happiness, solitude, answers, and I also hap-

pen to ponder upon a few realizations. At the end of four years, I’m here lost and left confused. Trust me, to be lost and confused is the most beautiful part of life. This has been 'one lost voyage’, not always pleasant but definitely the most challenging experience. Ever.

Such life. Such energy. Such lessons. Such whining. I'm not sure if I would ever want to start all over again but it sure is a journey to be remembered. My life at IIST has shown me a way not through answers but questions. I'm going to leave you with one ques-tion that changed my life profoundly. 'If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow this person to be your friend?' Think about it, multiple perspectives and multiple answers. There is no right or wrong here. Remember, I'm not go-ing to grade you. Even if I do, I shall not judge you by that, unlike many others.

This is me signing off. Hoping to see you on the other side.

The author can be contacted at arvind.dan@gmail.com

14 interview

The Agniputri

TheAgniputri from Alapuzha and Pride of India, Tessy Thomas graced the campus on the occasion of a belated Women’s Day. And she granted the TSR team an audience for a rather

brief interview. Project Director of AGNI-IV missile and the first Indian woman to head a missile project, Tessy Thomas has served as an inspiration to people who struggle to juggle their personal and professional lives. In January 2012, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Indian Science Congress that Mrs Thomas is an example of a "woman making her mark in a traditionally male bastion and decisively breaking the glass ceiling"

TSR: You have been called some amazing names like ‘Agniputri’ and ‘the missile woman of India.’ Has there been something you’ve been referred to that you really appreci-ated?TT: all these have been flattering. as long as they refer to me in a posi-tive way, I am happy. No particular favorites though. The, media has named me all this. I’m happy with my name.

TSR: What next breakthrough can we expect from DRDO?TT: We are currently busy with Agni IV and V. Technology wise we are working on MARV. Normally the Government gives us projects to work upon. Currently I’m working on Practical Systems, there are so many projects.

TSR: Being a working mom has been considered one of the hardest things to pull off. How did you find the journey?TT: It’s challenging when you come to an age of responsibility. It’s tough but as far as coming to this stage, it’s a leadership role. So you have a team and you have to put extra effort to get things done.

TSR: Were there any challenges in coming to professional life?TT: Yes, there are situations where we have to accommodate. Of course I have a very good family (Husband and son). My husband being from naval background understood me.

My son needed looking after majorly during High school.

TSR: The high level of responsi-bility placed onto your shoulders must hardly give you any free time. But when you do get time off, how do spend you time. In other words, what are your hobbies? TT: I used to play badminton, though not for a few years. I enjoy, cooking and watching T.V shows. the soaps that are played, I just switch it on and watch them..

TSR: What have been the challenges faced by DRDO due to MTCR (Mis-sile Technology Control Regime)?TT: Agni comes under that, but be-ing totally indigenous, there are no restrictions. We are doing our job.

This has actually helped in technol-ogy growth.

TSR: You have seen some major suc-cesses not just personal but for the whole country. was there any par-ticular instance of immense satisfac-tion?TT: When I came to Agni IV as pro-ject director, totally from nose tip to the bottom of the missile, we have redone everything and achieved world class system. We even reduced the weight drastically. We did it and that was the ultimate satisfaction and then A-5 – it was the nation’s pride. These have a special place in my memory.

TSR: Missile technology was pre-dominantly a male dominated field.

Dr. Tessy Thomas

15interviewWere your views equally accepted?TT: Our culture is sharing knowl-edge. There’s no point in redoing the things. In my opinion science has no gender. Whatever the knowledge is there, technical arguments will be there and best of the option will come out.

TSR: Did you have any other plans than DRDO?TT: I was fascinated by all the rock-ets when I was in Thumba only, and also by the jet planes. But I never thought I’ll be here one day. I wanted to be an engineer. I took up Electric Engg. As I didn’t get Electronics, but I chose Electronics subjects like RA-DAR in spite of difficulties. I applied to DRDO because of these subjects.

TSR: How was your childhood?TT: (Laughs) Just like any other per-son’s. All six of us – 5 girls and 1 boy were happy. It was normal type I guess. Now we have all become com-puterised. My family was always sup-

portive and there with me.

TSR: Do you think the number of women in Missile Tech. is increas-ing? TT: Yeah, comparatively. When I joined there were around 5 of us. Today it’s more like 10-15%. Top post will also increase in the coming years.

TSR: Do you have any role model in life?TT: Look at Dr. Kalam. He has a very friendly nature. Most of us know about him. When you meet him, he asks you, ‘Who are you?’, ‘What are you doing?’ That alone uplifts your feelings. And very knowledgeable too, we all newcomers got an op-portunity to learn from him. He has been a role model for the country, being the president. Even today he is interacting with me.

TSR: If not DRDO, then what would you be doing?

TT: I would be teaching, although I didn’t teach my son except during 11th and 12th.

TSR: You also applied for IAS. How did that come to be?While coming back from the DRDO exam itself I applied for IAS and HAL, just for the sake of exploring all options. It didn’t go very well but I got a call from DRDO right after and the rest is history.

TSR: Would you like to give any advice to us, especially the girls for joining ISRO?TT: Don’t look this side that side. Work like any scientist. That’s all. Everyone learns the same thing. What you are doing you should be strong gin that. As far as you have the knowledge and the commitment to work nobody can stop you from working and that is the culture these days. If your output is good people will appreciate you. You just have to put effort.

TSR is in the fourth academic year of its publication. Originally started using funds collected from students in buckets that editors took from door to door in their hostels, the Institute generously agreed to take over the charge of printing after the reprographic facility had been set up from the fourth issue onwards. Each issue of TSR is approved after examination by the Publication Council's members from the faculty. We thank the Library and Reprographic teams for their invaluable support and all our readers and facebook fans for their kind gesture. Feel free to contact us for obtaining digital copies of our archive issues.

thesoundingrocket@gmail.com

Editorial BoardThe Sounding Rocket

Abhishek PanchalAtma AnandPrabodh KattiRitu AnilSourajit DebnathSudheendra Raghavendra

Puzzle Corner answers1. Taare Zameen Par. (Like) Stars on Earth. The background symbol is astronomy sign of Earth.

2. Christopher Latham Sholes.The text deciphers to 'The inventor' using qwerty keyboard positions as coordinates.

16 chetta po

To find a delightful eatery in our second home was very diffi-

cult although we managed to clinch something. After rigorous hard-work and a lot of walking we got a pseudo-Delhi food restaurant “Moti Mahal” and a traditional multi-spe-ciality cuisine restaurant “Flavours”.

FlavorsLocation: Near Taj Residency, Thy-caud, Vazhuthacaud

Walking down the narrow stairs to Flavors, a small restaurant in city’s heart, we had no idea that this ex-perience is going to forever change our standards for Italian cuisine. The Italian food was delightfully sa-voury and served with elegance.

The other items on the menu were just about average though and

lacked the taste. The dishes served were too traditional and not meant for a casual street junkie.

Avoid Chinese, Thai cuisine and North-Indian. Caesar Salad and Mexican were mind-blowing and if you find them better anywhere else, please tell us. The Kung Pao chicken is also worth a try.Ratings:

Moti MahalLocation: Mallaparram road, Pat-tom.

A place to eat if you are bored with all the other north restaurants

and can’t survive the hardships of the campus food. The ambience was impressive, as were the North Indian delicacies. The service was way better than what we had expe-rienced for some months.

Malai Koftha is a must-try. Tangdi Kebab is recommended for all the chicken lovers but avoid the Hy-derabadi Murgh.

Not an expensive place but it hits hard on your purse if you aren’t holding it strong.

Ratings:

The Hunger Mania byRohit Singh Kush Sreen

Anuj Sarode

Rohit Kush AnujAmbience 7.5 6.5 7

Food 7 5 7.5Quality 8 5 7.5

Rohit Kush Anuj

Ambience 7.5 6.5 7Food 7 5 7.5Quality 8 5 7.5

"Real knowledge is to knowthe extent of one's ignorance"

-Confucius

Quiz Club of IISTFriday evenings at 5.45 Bring a pen and a friend