Wednesday, October 22, 2008

5 Studying tips from my maths teacher at GIE?

Always begin from the basics….I remember the classes of my mathematics teacher in GIE.

He just like Natrajan sir. Always approached the problem from the basics. Whenever he was absolving a maths problem. He didn’t just write the formulae for it but analyzed it from basics…

Don’t skip small steps.. yes they take time but they also reduce the chances of making silly mistakes. If your are making many silly mistakes .then skipping steps must be the culprit. Try practicing not skipping simple steps and you will notice how effective your studies will become.

When reading something, read aloud. I know for sure that this works betters in terms of understanding than just reading in your mind. Hearing your own words you register the problem more than by just reading in your mind. Read aloud.

Begin from known to unknown… from simple to complex.. When you get a problem that you haven’t seen before start not from the end but from the basics and do one thing at a time.. go forwards one step at a time.

A big problem is like a stair case that is covered in fog. So the best way to not getting hurt is go one step at a time and from the close to the end….. just trying hard to see the other end of the staircase in the fog is not the solutions… see the next step and do it. this will bring your closure.

Always give yourself homework at the end… this is one of the most important lesson that you can take from Ganapati sir. He always had a habit of giving us 2 problems as homework. So whatever your are studying. At the end of the study session get a pen and and a notebook and in it assign yourself a homework that is assign yourself two question that the you will do when you next time study that subject…

This is very effective technique..there are 2 advantages..one when you summarize and think of two questions for the next session. Your mind will consolidate all the things you have learnt in that session and you will have a quick recap of the things your studies.. The other advantage is that once you start you next session of study for the subject it will be your warn up question. It will quickly allow you to get more productive in your study. In my work when I am leaving for the day I intentionally leave a little task undone… so that next day when I come back… I don’t wait for my mind to figure out what to do… I know that small thing has to be done and I just dig in doing that… this usually starts my day!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Did you have any idea what AMAeSI was?

When I was I was in AeSI one question that was always asked was how did you came into AeSI? The majority of answers were related that they got an advertisement in papers and then got a call and they just joined. Majority answered that before joining the institutes for some IIAE, Dehradun, for some AIE, or for some institute from Indore. they haven’t had an idea idea what AMAeSI was? They were just lured into it? so I was wondering today? With internet penetration increasing in India? What is the current state of affair? What will be the answers to this question if someone asks it now? So AeSI guys who are reading this post please feel free to post in your response in the comments…

Well I think for majority, the situation has improved and when they come in AeSI they basically know what it is all about? So tell me how you got introduced to AeSI? Did you have any idea what AMAeSI was?

Know more about Chandrayaan project director Mylswamy Annadurai

 october22-chandrayaan-mission As India embarks upon its historic mission, I stumbled upon this great article on Chandrayaan’s project director Mylswamy Annadurai. Love it.

here’s a small extract of it. You can read the whole thing here

While building India's first moon craft, Chandrayaan project director Mylswamy Annadurai was reminded of his engineering college days when he wrote lyrics to the tunes of his classmates. At that time he used to write poetry - some were published in the college magazine. 'One of the many challenges in building the spacecraft is to accommodate the six overseas pre-built payloads. We had to design the spacecraft accordingly - sort of writing lyrics to a tune,' 50-year-old Annadurai told IANS from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, 80 km from here. The man who will go down in space annals as the designer of India's first moon orbiter was born in the small village of Kotavadi in Pollachi district of Tamil Nadu. He graduated from the Government College of Engineering, Coimbatore, and did his Masters at PSG College of Technology in the same city. Now Annadurai is a veteran at the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO), having joined it in 1982.

 

Related : giant leap by ISRO

Monday, October 20, 2008

Learn from the expert

Learn from the expert. Learn from the person who has the maximum potential… yes I have already talked about it…Its simple thermodynamics. If you consider yourself the sink then your source has to be someone who has much higher knowledge.. see heat always flows from hot to cold. Consider you are cold in terms of knowledge and then get the knowledge from a source that is burning hot.. Not from the guy who just cleared that particular test the previous semester.

See he is just warm with the knowledge but your tutor is the one who has the maximum potential.

I say this because during my days of AeSI I have seen people shunning Natrajan sir’s classes and going for classes of some bhaiya who just cleared his degree. That was absurd!!! And I realized that it wasn’t for any personal attention they got there. That bhaiya was also teach not one or two people but 40 AeSI guys and gals!! This is here I saw how people just gravitate….. I had my share of studying from one bhaiya but then too I kept my other door open and I was taking regular classes from my lecturer at GIE!!

Bhaiyas maybe good but if you understand the fundamental thermodynamics then rest assured that you will soon reach equilibrium with someone who is just warm…..

Study from someone red hot!! Don’t skip the actual teachers who have more knowledge more experience. Its not only about the subjects real teachers along with the subjects will teach all other essential life skills that you will reap benefit even when you have grown to be an engineer!!

so study, learn from an expert!!!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

A historic moment for all aerospace engineers of India!!

Well AeSI engineers… a historic moment for all aerospace engineers of India!! The launch of chandrayaan… From the time I have heard about the mission I was fascinated by the prospect..

Even before the impacter was mentioned in the media, I remember I was discussing such a thing with my friends….. in pursuit of this interested I began documented all the news that I got for this mission in a blog dedicated to chandrayaan mission!! I am glad it has grown and when I look at it now it has all the information about the mission.

Thanks to my friends and people who has send in the entries..

Here’s the list of the best posts of the blog that will help you decipher the full mission.

if you are not able to see the links above Click Here

Rejoice aerospace engineers' its history that India will make this 22nd October launch.

I have made many wallpapers and a game to commemorate the events. Hope you will enjoy it too.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

How to study mathematics.

There is a line of thought which says Mathematics is a difficult subject. But it shouldn't be so. In my college days I have so many of my friends squint in the name of mathematics. some loved it absolutely while others just did it because it was part of the course.

For me mathematics has been a favorite subjects since standard 7. It was in this standard that I leant about the beauty of mathematics and the powerful technique of revision that I am going to share with you here.

I have to say that the greatest lesson that I had from my school days sir was about studying maths and about revising.

He made maths easy and as far as I can say he made us understand the importance of revision.

What was his technique? It was simple but elegant. Whenever he came to class, he went for the blackboard and scribbled some numbers like this

exercise 1 : prob 3
exercise 2 : prob 6
exercise 4 : prob 4, 6

and gave us ten minutes to solve the problems he listed on blackboard. So what was unique. He never began teaching us new topic before we had a practice of the what he has already taught us. He never minded if we cheated as he said, do it with open book but learn so you can apply it in exams and in life later.

How can one apply this concept for learning anything?
Maths has problems like this propulsion 2 is a good candidate as it contains lot of problems

so apply this simple method and i know you will excel in maths. I sure did !!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Remember this thing after you pass out from AeSI

i have written on stuff of what to do while in AeSI,but in this post i will talk of what should one do after passing. what happens when you pass out. you are happy and ready for training or job that might come your way. Some get training from AeSI and some like me managed to get it on their own initiative. What happens after this is what I want to talk.

The first month or so is great as you learn new software,learn to apply your knowledge and get a grove in the topic you are working on. In my case as I joined NAL,I was assigned to compressor design project. I liked the subject and from then on devoured the subject and any material regarding that topic,so with continued work my interest grew,i was doing well. I developed software to design compressor,validated it and as grew,i even designed it in CAD tool solidworks and this piqued my interest in CAD tools and I went into that direction,learning and doing all kind of crazy stuff in it.I was progressing,learning. so this continues,then comes a date when I felt my confidence is good and I began applying for jobs actively. Make no mistake I did that before also but only this time I had real work and my resume showed my confidence. So as expected got though the call and I get invitation for the interview. This is where I felt things are not as rosy as I think they were looking. During the interview I saw I had good knowhow on compressor design but when it came to topics I studied in flights, my memory failed me,I am giving the right answers but I am not sure if the answer I gave is right. So after coming out of that interview I realized that for a person starting only good at one topic is not enough, you are expected to be good in the topics that you have studied

Friday, October 10, 2008

How to become more consistent like the Australian cricket team?

its raining outside. raining lightly but consistently. it was raining when I woke up at 2 in the night and its raining now. As i peek out of my window,I can see the pecks of rains running down illuminated by the street light.

This reminds of the matches that are to be played between India and Australia and one thing that Australian team emanates is being consistent.

One lesson that I draw from them is to be consistent. Consistent in your performance. How can one become consistent in performance. Even the Indian cricket team fails to do that but look at the Australians. they are the most consistent cricket team of the world. Consistent in winning, day after day, match after match. How do they do that ? what helps them to beat the odds, what makes the team to deliver so consistently?

I think I know apart of the answer. some came to me as I was reading and the other came by following Shane Waugh's team of IPL. He lead the Rajasthan royals to victory and did very impressive job building a team of consistent players.

So what are the factors that we can apply in our life to be consistently productive and efficient.

The whole idea of consistency does not depend on being perfect but on being regular. Lets say I want to be consistent in posting to this blog. Sometimes I post 7 articles a week and in some I barely manage 2. Its not consistency. So to be more productive and consistent in my posting. I have lowered my bar and now I have made a pact with my self that I will post at least 5 articles per week. So that amounts to one post for each weekday.

Setting this limit and now all I have to do is write one post a day and if I do this, I know I will be consistent.

Same can be applied to your studies. As mentioned in this tips for study, commit to your mind that you will study for at least one hour a day. This is the minimum that you will put in no matter what and if you follow it, you will see that everyday you are making more progress. In my AeSI days I saw that someday I was ultra productive and did 8 hours of study and on some days I barely opened my books. What was lacking was consistency. so I set a minimum 1 hour of study limit and that did wonders. when I knew I have to study one hour, I out performed my previous weekly average. Moreover as time went I slowly and steady increased my minimum bar.

Same happened when I had wanted to brush up my skills, I did set a 30 mins limit for practicing Nastran after my regular work at NAL and I quickly mastered it.

The secret of consistency is regularity, setting up your minimum effort and then doing it no matter what.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

I am doing training in NAL but still confused!

A week back someone who is working in NAL as a trainee sent mclip_image001e this query!

I got my degree certificates and presently am in C-CADD working on aerodynamics calculations,am here in NAL since April 15, please guide me what should I do now as further am not getting clear way what to do now? Hope u will guide me as per your experience..........

Now what can I advice him?  I don’t have all the answers. If you are reading this please share your opinion in comments.

See just working on aerodynamic calculation is not enough. when you are in training know you goal. Ultimately its all for the job. So have a clear goal while entering into the training phase. Know what kind of work you want to do? or at least have an idea of the work you will like. Pick up software tools, software skills that might be needed and most of all have your resume uploaded in two of the popular job portals.

So my practical advice to him will be these 3 points.

  • He still has time so take stock and decide what you want from training? why you are doing it. Does the training helps in the work he intends to do? Answer this honestly.
  • Secondly make a resume. Post it on at least two job portals. Register and fill in all the details make them visible. And then wait for the job listing to come to you. See what jobs interests you. if something is good. follow through. This exercise will help you see what skills are needed and what your current resume calls for. So take stock and build those skills and aim for that job.
  • Learn some software. They are necessary. I know I always say that software's are just tools, but still  software is one of the reason AeSI folks go for training. Yes even if you choose no design or analysis job you need to learn ms office especially excel and word. So learn them.

Don't make any excuse... its your career you have to ride it to the destination!!!!   Well this are 3 things I will tell an AeSI guy doing training. What is your opinion?

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

A useful tip that accelerated my design and analysis software learning

TOOLS In this post I will tell you about one simple useful technique that i have successfully used in learning 3 CAD software's, two analysis software and many other computer languages. The technique that has enabled me to accelerate my learning of design and analysis software at NAL. This is the same technique that I use now as I play with Photoshop.

The concept is simple. Cranking. Cranking means just getting in the software and get started and getting the brain to produce something. you don’t need to have a clear goal or product to build but all you are doing is trying out the tools and just making your fingers move.

Now when I was in NAL after the initial euphoria about the software I was learning, it always happened that I lost the spark and no matter what I do. I was stuck. I felt dis-interested in the software.

so this is is an effective technique if you are learning any CAD or analysis program,m. Its a technique that you can apply to get started and to create that you want. Not only will you learn a thing or two new but also enjoy and see how your brain is producing results when you just cranked it up..

This is like the warning of the jet engine that happens when its still on the runway.. It doesn't do anything useful but allows the pilot to check all the system and at the signal of the air traffic controller  ... and the throttled is pushed... the engine roars to its power and pushes everyone up..

Same way this techniques of just sitting and opening up catia, or nastran and begin drawing designing or meshing anything that takes your fancy will help you learn more than 100 tutorials that you might have done..

As you progress. Think what is going on but keep the mouse moving, explore, try this menu, that menu, this option that option and see the tasks that you have never done. All this will not a waste as you will discover some gems in the quest and even if the final thing that you came out isn't what you waned but then your mind will be more ready to produce a thing that you want...

try it!!!

Free tutorial of solidworks simulationXpress

image

 

I got an email from solidworks about a free Solidworks Simulation Express free tutorial.

Right now I don’t have much time. So if anyone interested click on the picture and enjoy the free tutorial.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Happy durga puja

image Happy Durga puja guys. I am missing Durga puja this time. Being here in Bangalore for the work am missing puja... missing the night time seeing of pandals, walking long distance, eating egg rolls and visiting and commenting on pandals.....

Well rediff.com has listed 20 slides that carries the pictures of some of the famous pandals of Kolkata and of goddess Durga!!!

click here to see the pandals

loved them.... If your are staying away from Kolkata for any reason do see this slides  and for those who have never seen Durga puja of Bengal. Do check out, but mind you this pictures are nothing in compared to the actual wondering.

The most important part for me during Durga puja is the lighting. they are the fascinating!

So how are you spending your time this festive season?

AIU accreditation for AeSI

AIU_letter_for_AeSI Well someone asked me about a link to the AIU accreditation... I had the pdf but I didn't have a link so I am linking a jpg of it and hope it will help anyone who is looking for it.

Click on the picture to see the big version and print it if you want.

Don’t know i am talking about read this

A giant leap for Indian space program – is any AeSI graduate involved!!

indianspaceprogram

Biggest Indian aerospace event of this month will be the launch of chandrayaan. The often delayed mission is nearing its final launch date. The chandrayaan craft is already in shriharikota and is scheduled to fly to chanda mama any day after October 20!! So the count down has began. Its is the biggest Indian aerospace event and a giant leap for Indian space program.

Read more about the mission here.

I know that in all the Indian aerospace missions, there is always a guy or gal from AeSI. So I was wondering who are the AeSI graduates that might be involved in this prestigious mission. let me know if you know someone who is part of the mission. I would love to know that.

check this video of chandrayaan mission

Monday, October 06, 2008

Two upcoming Indian aerospace events

This post is about two major events in Indian aerospace in the month of  October and November. One of events is for the guys and gals who want to see the airbus’s A380 among the other airplanes in Hyderabad.

From the world’s largest commercial jetliner, the 550-seater Airbus A-380 to small private jets that can seat 4-10 passengers, visitors to Begumpet airport in Hyderabad between October 15 and 18 will be able to feast their eyes on these and at least 30 other variety of aircraft. Apart from static display of commercial aircraft and business jets manufactured by global players including Boeing, Embraer and Hawker among others, the Indian Air Force is also planning a 20-minute fly-past on the first and last days of the event during which not only the Sukhoi jets but also the indigenously developed helicopter will be seen in the Hyderabad skies. Source: Business Line

 

I know AeSI AGM is still far off in December, but before that Chandigarh branch of AeSI is organizing a two day national seminar called Aero tech 2008 on Recent Advances in Aerospace Technologies Maintenance and Optimization on November 14 and 15.

Any one interested. for further detail about the seminar contact

Aeronautical Society of India,
Chandigrah Branch,
C/O Terminal Ballistics Reasearch Laboratory,
Sector-30, Chandigrah – 160030.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Resume writing guidelines – a reaction to the worst resume of my life

I have already showed you all the worst crafted resume of my life. And in that I promised that when I'll get time I'll showing the mistakes and would re design the resume.  Since I have see lot of requirements in OURAeSI so I thought it high time to update you all on that.

So in this post i will give you a general structure of the resume that one should follow. While writing this I will keep the worst resume of my life in my mind.

Personal detail should be at the end. For a resume to be effective, you need to have the first page that contents all the relevant info up front. So first page of the resume is the most important.

The first thing is give in your name. Broader than anything you have, then state your phone no. And email. And briefly in one line state your location. No need to give house number or other details. Just stating behala kolkata is enough.  That is just be brief in the address. Give a general idea about your location.

Then comes the objective. Let it be brief. One line statements. As this post told you, objective is only good if its original otherwise it looses its importance. So craft a good objective or leave it.

Then if you are new a graduate. Education should be your first highlight after the objective. Be brief and to the point in it. State the year. Avoid percentage if not asked specifically. Use first class or grading level. Address of your school college is not important so skip it just give the location. For AeSI graduates follow Bishnujee’s advice and write BE aeronautical instead of AMAeSI. Why ? AMAeSI is unfortunately little known so avoid the confusions.

Then comes the important thing. Here you should rite about any practical experience you might have. Any training you attended and stuff like that. It should be the place where the recruiter will spend the most time to see if you are fit for the job so be sure when you send out the resume update this section accordingly and shuffle the list in accordance with the requirements.

Technical skills section can either come here of just after the education. make it as a bullet list. An example presented below

  • Programming Languages : FORTRAN 77 & 90 , VB ,VBA and C
  • CAE Software package  : SOLIDWORKS , CATIA v5r10, ANSYS
  • Other Software’s          : Ms OFFICE (developer and user),MATLAB

After the project summaries list, you can include the project details where you elaborate on the projects. Here also be very brief about the projects and highlight what were your responsibilities in the project.

After this you can give in your personal profile. Be brief and don’t state unnecessary details. No one will read them unless you are going for a reality show. So keep it professional.

Well this are some of the general guideline of crafting a resume. I said I have written a lot about it here, so do check it and don’t forget to get a cover letter

Outlets for AeSI community on the web

When i was AeSI there was no outlet or community for AeSI students. Only the college or the institute you studied for were your only community. During that time not getting a good answer for what stream to choose for section a. I asked my question to a scientist in NAL. But that brought the thought of uniting all AeSI students. And I began OURAeSI group.

But now the scene has changed and there are so many outlet for AeSI students on the internet. Here I'll summarize some of them that I know of. I might miss some please point me those in comments.

OURAeSI group

Primary aim of this club is to provide a common paltform to all the students, members and graduates of The Aeronautical Society of India who are spread all over Indiaand abroad. This club is not only for students/members of The Aeronautical Society Of India, it is also open to aerospace/aeronautical community of India. In this club we discuss our experiences, AMAeSI exams, books, questions, jobs and anything/everything related to aeronautics/aerospace. As an aerospace community, we strive for ..


AeSI group

Welcome to the Aeronautical Society of India Alumni website AeSI is your University for life and all graduates are members of the University's Alumni Association. Stay in touch with us to make the most of further study opportunities, the University's facilities, business services and ways to stay involved with life at the University. You can use this platform to share your queries and responses and we will keep you update with progress and development with changes in AeSI Programs and any major ..


OURAeSI.ning.com network


AeSI orkut community

my-aesi blog 
This is blog about aeronautical society of india, about aesi members and companion site to the ouraesi club. Here i post what i think and feel about the ouraesi club,AMAeSI, aesi, aeronautics andaerospace. This blog began in december 2004 and since then i am posting tips onstudies, amaesi exams, resumes,coverletter, interveiws,solidworks, catiaand anything remotely related to aesi!!

AeSI alumni

The Aeronautical Society of India Alumni Association (AeSIAA) was formed on 27th July, 2008 (Vide resolution of its first meeting, on 27.07.08 at Bangalore) in the presence of the many ex-students from all over the Bangalore. While we are planning to file application for official registration to the Registrar of Societies for registration, intense activities have already started with positive response from ex-students settled around the world.

This are some of the communities on the internet for aesi students and graduates.I am sure i haven’t gat all of them If you know more then do add them in comments.

Search This Blog