Technical interview after DRDO SET

Mr. S.M.SINDEER HAMIDI, was another person from OURAeSi group who shared his DRDO technical interview after the DRDO SET exams. He was not as elaborate as Tejas but he had listed out all questions he faced.

As in case of Tejas email, i am not cutting any of the text and posting it as it is. so enjoy and learn.

HI FRIENDS

AS TEJAS ALREADY GAVE U FULL EXPLANATION ABOUT HIS INTERVIEW AT DRDO, I WANT TO ADD MY EXPERIENCE TOO.
MY INTERVIEW WAS ALSO ON THE 1st DEC ITSELF.I WAS THE 10th FELLOW TO B INTERVIEWD ON THAT DAY OUT OF 13 WHO WER PRESENT THERE.
ONE THING I SHOULD SAY THAT THE PANNEL MEMEBERS WERE VERY SUPPORTIVE AND HELPING THE STUDENTS.AS I ANALIZED THEY WERE ASKING QUESTIONS FROM STRUCTURE & AERO FOR AERO GUYS AND PROPULSION & AERO FOR PROP GUYS. AND MORE OVER THEY ASKED MOSTLY THE BASIC QUESTIONS WHICH USUALLY ALL THE STUDENT KNOW BUT THEY DONT CONSIDER THOSE AS IMPORTANT AT ALL. SO WE SHOULD B VERY MUCH COOL AT THAT MOMENT & TRY TO PUT OUR ANSWER IN PROPER MANNER.
HERE I AM GIVING U THE QUESTION WHICH THEY ASKED ME.

Q : WHEN DID U COMPLETED UR DEGREE?
Q : WHAT U WERE DOING BY THAT TIME?
Q : WHICH ALL SUBJECTS U LIKE MOST?
Q : HAVE U HEARD ABOUT "RAM JET" OR HAVE U STUDIED SOME THING ABOUT THAT?
Q :WHAT IT IS & ON WHICH PRINCIPLE DOES IT WORK?
Q : PLEASE GO TO BORD & DROW THE RAMJET?(THEY WERE INTERESTED IN PV &TS DIGRAM)
Q :ONE OF THEM ASKED ME TO DRAW FLOW OVER A CIRCULER CYLINDER AT DIFFREN REYNOLDS NO. AND TO PLOT THE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION OVER THE CYLINDER.
Q : WHAT IS AFTER BURNER? WHERE AND WHY IT IS USED? HOW DOES THE FLAME SUSTAIN IN AFTER BURNER ?
Q : DRAW CL-ALFA CURVE.WHAT IS ITS SLOPE? WITH INCREASE MACH NO WHAT HAPPEN TO CL?
Q : FLOW INSIDE THE BOUNDARY LAYE IS ROTATIONAL OR IRROTATIONAL?
Q : HOW U CAN SHOW THE FLOW IS IRROTATIONAL?
Q : HAVE U HEARD ABOUT COLUMN? WHAT IS THE EQUATION OF CRITICAL LOAD? FOR A GIVEN LENGTH OF COLUMN HOW WE CAN INCREASE THE LOAD?
Q : WHAT IS BEAM COLUMN? DRAW THE BENDING STRESS DISTRIBUTION FOR A BEAM OF SYMETRICAL CROSS SECTION.
Q : WHY THESE CRICKET BOWLER TEMPER THE BALL? EXPLAINE THE AERODYNAMICE BEHIND THAT?
Q : WHAT U HAVE PLANE TO DO IF U WILL B SELECTED?(MY ANSWER WAS TO DO RESEARCH ON "SCRAMJET").
Q : WHAT DO U KNOW ABOUT SCRAMJET ? PLEASE EXPLAIN IT TO US?
Q : HOW U WILL CONVINCE UR PRESIDENT TO GRANT U MONEY FOR THAT? AND HOW INDIA WILL B BENIFITED BY THAT?

I MUST SAY NOW THE INTERVIEW WAS VERY COOL, THEY WILL HELP U TO h bhAT UR BEST. DURING THE PERIOD OF MY INTERVIEW I NEVER FELT THAT I AM IN BETWEEN THE WELL KNOWN SCIENTIST OF INDIA. THEY ALL WERE SO CARDIAL TO US.
OVER ALL MY PERFORMANCE WAS OK,BUT REST ALL DEPEND ON "GOD", ONLY "HE" KNOWS BETTER, LETS HOPE FOR SOME THING GOOD.
WITH BEST REGARDS.
UR FRIEND
S.M.SINDEER HAMIDI

Interview tips from DRDO SET's actual interview

One the great thing about OURAeSI group, that aims to unite all the members of AeSI, is that the spirit of community is there and people share their experiences.

Back in 2003 tejas patel gave DRDO SET examination and passed it. After that he had his DRDO technical interview. Every one has that, what special about it?

After that he was generous enough to share his experience with us in the ouraesi club. Since the number of messages in yahoo groups gets buried under the layers of many messages, i am pasting it here with my remarks at the end so that they will from hence forth available via google search and can benefit more people.

Tejas patel wrote:

this is for the idea of the friends who r doing aesi.
my interview was on 1st of dec.
there were 13 guys who had came for the interview.
i dont know, but some of the people were saying that
they have called on the merit of written test--SET
2003.
the first 3(i.e.1st,2nd and 3rd of dec) days were for
general candidates followed by 2 days for obc's and
last one for obc and sc/st's.
for the kind information out of 13 present there 7
were from ganesh institute!(i.e.more than 50% to
say).namely in the order of calling,Tejas,Praveen
Bajpai,Puneet Gupta,Prashant Jha,Darshan Trivedi,Suraj
Chaurasia and Sinder.If any body of above persons
spelling if written wrong then its by mistake only.

My interview was more of a sort of introduction then
q&a.

during my interview there were 5 interviewers.2 were
IISc bangalore's professors.one was head
GTRE,bangalore.one was of DRDO lab in agra(i dont know
which).the chairman was from REC warangal.
the rest of the talk i will indicate who asked what.


the next some initial questions from chairman.

Chairman:first question was u have done ur aesi,where
u working while studying?
myself: no
C:then did u prepared ur self?
M:no.
C:then did u took guidance from somewhere?
M:i said yes.
C:where?
M:Ganesh Institute ,Chennai.
(for the next coming candidates he himself asked u r
also from ganesh institute?)
C:u havent done any practical.?
M:yes
C:where?
M:iit madras.
C:u r in first semester , u have 3 more semesters.out
of which 2 are practical.how will u join here?
M:i will request u to give me time to complete,or i
will take a break from m.tech and join here or i will
shift my project in drdo and complete the M.tech.
C:What if i dont give u time to complete the M.tech?
M:I will request u to give me time......
C:what shall i ask?
C:have u seen any wind tunnels?
M:yes.
C:where?
M:iit madras.
C:what type?
M:all the three subsonic,transonic and supersonic.
C:what is the test section range of supersonic
windtunnel in iit madras?
M:mach 2-2.5.(it depends,but to less complicate the
matters i gave this number)
C:wht is the area of the test section?
M:(i couldnt recall exactlyso i said )100mm*100mm.

then the professor from IISc took over.
Prof:which is ur favourite subject?
M:Gas dynamics
P:Ok.i ask u one question.
M:OK.
P:design a mach 3 supersonic cruise missile,with nose
l/d ratio of 1,middle lifting surface of l/d 10 and
tail lifting surface of l/d 5.
(I was quite confused to hear so high question )
M:is it blunt nose?
P:yes
(here i make a mistake)
M:this is missile why do u want to have lifting
surface?
ALL:that u decide u have to design.
(I showed something which was a missile but i dont
know whether it was what he was asking or something
different.but i suppose he wanted that only because he
didnt gave any comment)
P:show me the shock pattern.
(again i was confused what to do,what we have studied
is only bow shock and rest we dont know what happens
at back)
(Still drew something,he didnt commented so i
suppose..)
P:show me the location of CP?
M:give me the freestream pressure.
P:just tell me by ur idea where it will lie.
M:between mid and tail section.
P:why ?
M:because we are having shock (some explanation i gave
on paper by drawing ,and he was not satisfied)
P:OK,if i give u three CP's of nose,midsection and
tail section.can u find CP.
(I was thinking to tell him to say what we do in CMcg
way.that at cp the moment wont come.)
P:i dont want explanation.
M:yes
P:how?
(b4 i say something)
P:my last hint (zigma M/zigma L)
(b4 i start my word)
P:i dont want explanation.just tell me.
(b4 i start)
C:Ok leave it.

another prof of IISc.
P2:what is stress concentration factor?
(i had heard something like that but i couldnt recall
so i gave bluff)
M:max stress by average stress.
P2:draw an rectangular element,make a hole in
that,apply a tension load.
P2:where will be the max stress?
(b4 i can put my pencil on paper)
P2:on the edges of the circle?
M:yes.
P2:ok,u must have learned theory of elasticity.take an
element from that rectangular element.show me the
stress pattern.
(I showed something ,OK.I also know that it was wrong
but i was off by the missile question)
then came GTRE head:(he asked a simple question and i
made mistake)
G:take a rod and apply bending and torsion
simultaneous ly.what will be bending moment diagram?
G:will it be direct addition or direct subtraction?
M:its addition(that's my mistake)
G:direct?
M:no,some equivalent value.(i couldnt recall the
formula there which i would have dont atleast 100
times)

then came the agra heads turn
A:so u have seen the wind tunnel,what we do in wind
tunnel?
M:we test the model
A:how we will test,directly i can take a model and
test there?
M:no there should be dynamic similarity.(at that time
it could not recall kinematic similarity)
A:what will u equate?
M:reynolds no,and mach no in our cased.
A:and ..?
M:Froude no,but we dont give much preferrence to it.
A:that's what i wanted.
A:how will i test a LCA,if i have particular reynolds
no then how will u test it in wind tunnel?
M:we will match the reynolds no.
A:how?
M:suppose u have a one fifth model then vary other
parameters so that it remains same.
A:OK

then again it came with chairman.
C:u say u have worked on supersonic WT.
C:why dont we dont equate reynolds no there?

M:at high speed mach no i similarity is more important
than reynolds no similarity.
(this is probably the wrong answer)
C:ok if i want to increase the test section mach no
what should i do?
M:increase the area ratio.
C:will that be sufficient ?
M:other consideration will be the pressure,either
increase the total pressure or decrease the back
pressure.
C:ok what is area ratio?
M(I explained that)
C:what is throat area?
(i explained that also)
C:so can i increase the area in any way i like?
M :no
C:what if i put a cone?will it give me increase in
mach no?
M:no,it will have to be carefully designed
C:why?
M:otherwise that wont give isentropic flow.
C:have u heard about method of characteristics?
M:yes but i have not applied any where.
C:OK,thank u,u can go.


i know i had made lot of mistakes but this was my
first technical interview.so i am happy even if i dont
get it.i tried to perform well,but was baffled with
the first question.

any way the above is for others information so they
dont make mistakes.
tejas.

so this is the post of tejas, i have intentionally left the message intact to give you the flavor of the sitution there. First of all thanks to tejas for the candid and honest mail about the interview.

As mentioned in the earlier post, look from where most of the questions were triggered..

The fav subject is omni present and this is where the whole interview got its focus. See how different it would have been if the question tejas's answer was more related to a subject he knew a lot about. So the first lessons to learn is have your favorite subject ready. Let it be the subject that you know the most about and the subjects in which you are most confident.

Second thing that you might have noticed is that all other questions that are asked are from the replies that tejas was giving, so you see interviewee is the one who leads the interview. It is your words that triggers the questions, so keep them to the territories that is topics that you are confident about.

Since this is already a long post i'll discuss other points in some other post.

DRDO SET interview questions for mechanical

I don't know what has happened? When i was aesi student, every year DRDO SET figured in our discussion and ouraesi had the same share of discussions but for last couple of years it has totally diappeared from an aesi student's life. I mean i have not heard anyone talking about it, there is no mention of it the ouraesi club.

Can anyone reading this update me, what's going on in regards to DRDO SET? Can an aesi folk give the DRDO SET test? I know he can. So why is the group and aesi folks silent about it. Why no discussuion. Has DRDO gone out of aesi's folks radar?

Anyway, i was browsing though my old harddisk, back from my aesi days, i found this good interview summary. It was stored as a plain text file in my computer, so i have no idea where i got this from, if someone knows the person do let me know i will mention the credits.


Basically the guy who wrote this was doing mechnical engineerring and these is the synapsis of the whole DRDO interview process that he went through after passing DRDO SET exams.


DURATION ½ HOUR
PANEL: 5 BOARD MEMBERS & A CHAIRMAN

Chairman:
1. When you have completed your graduation?
2. Where you are working now?
3. What are your favorite subjects?
1) Machine design
2) Thermodynamics

Board member 1:
1. You have to design a spring. What types of stresses are induced in spring?
2. Can you show the distribution of stresses?
3. What is elastic constant?
4. On what thermodynamic cycle nuclear power plant works?
5. Name fuels used in nuclear power plant?
6. What is enrichment of fuel in nuclear power plant?
7. What is breeder reactor?
8. If I want to set a power plant in desert of ‘Rajasthan’ and I have option of steam and gas power plant. Which plant I should set up?

Board member 2:
1. What is mean by failure in design?
2. You have to design a machine component. For what type of failure (ductile or brittle) you will design?
3. On what property u can distinguish material as brittle or ductile?
4. What is strength based and deformation based design?
5. What is mean twist of shaft?
6. Whether ductile material can fail in brittle manner? When?
7. What is the behavior of metal at low temperature?

Board member 3:
1. Wha=t do you mean by tolerances?
2. What do you mean by fits?
Board member 4:
1. What is entropy?
2. Can u give example of increase of entropy?
3. What is zero entropy?
Board member 1:
1. If a mother kisses her baby whether entropy in process increases?
Chairman:

1. What is absolute entropy?
2. On which thermodynamics cycle cooling towers works?
3. Where throttling process is used?
4. Throttling is which thermodynamic process/
5. Whether temperature increases or decreases after throttling?
6. Why there is change in temperature though mass is constant?

Board member 5:
1. What is ideal fluid?

Chairman:
A metal rod is heated in furnace. It is now allowed to cool in ambient environment. One time it is hanged vertically and in second case horizontally. In which case it will cool faster?


My Comment:
This was not a stress interview. They listen me patiently. Whenever I said I don’t know the answer they have provide me clue for answer.


Well that's it. So what can we aesi folks can learn from the whole script. What is your favourite subject is one of the important question in any technical interviews and more so if you are a fresher. This is where the whole technical interview revolves. See how many questions are centred around the answer the guy gave about his fav subjects.

In my next post i will post another DRDO interview that was posted in ouraesi long back in 2003. There are lot to learn from it, not only about the DRDO interview process but also about interview handling techniques in general.

Are you giving DRDO SET exams?

RAC INVITES APPLICATIONS FOR ENTRY INTO DRDS AS SCIENTIST-‘B’ IN THE SCALE: Rs.8000-275-13500 (TO BE REVISED SHORTLY AFTER GOVT APPROVAL ON 6TH PAY PANEL)THROUGH DRDO SCIENTIST ENTRY TEST (DRDO SET) - 2008


Challenging opportunities for Engineering Graduates in Electronics & Communication Engg , Mechanical Engg , Computer Science & Engg, Chemical Engg, Electrical Engg., Instrumentation Engg and Metallurgical Engg. and Post Graduates in Chemistry and Physics in DRDS.

Click this link to see the advetisement



The application forms with the information brochure containing the syllabus and instructions for filling the application are available at the designated Branches of State Bank of India till 31st May 2008 to General/OBC candidates on payment of Rs. 300/- (Rs. 100/-for the application form with information brochure and Rs. 200/- as Exam. fees). For SC/ST candidates there is no Exam fees and the application form with information brochure will be available to such candidates on payment of Rs 100/- only. Forms purchased from the designated Branches of State Bank of India should be filled in accordance with the instructions given in information brochure. However, for HH/OH candidates, there is no Application / Examination fee. Such candidates may obtain application form free of cost from RAC by sending a copy of “Prescribed Disability Certificate” issued by competent authority as per G.I.,Dept. of Per. & Trg.,O.M. No 36035/3/2004-Estt (Res), dated 29 Dec 2005.

The filled in application forms should be sent/submitted to The Director, Recruitment & Assessment Centre, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi – 110054 latest by 31st May 2008.


Date of DRDO SET 2008 exams

Sunday, 7th September 2008; 1000 - 1300 hrs.

Related things related to DRDO SET

What is DRDO SET?
Fulfill your aeronautical dreams with AeSI
Good resource for How to Prepare for DRDO SET and other exams?
Lay man's guide to DRDO's A,B,C

Good resource for How to Prepare for DRDO SET and other exams

Two days back i posted about DRDO SET exams and just today someone mailed me this good resource "How to Prepare for UGC-CSIR NET for LS, JRF & DRDO SET" that will be helpful for anyone preparing for DRDO SET exams.

The SET has 150 questions out of which 50 will be GK + Math and 100 Physics. There will be separate sessions for both with a small interval in between during which the candidate is not allowed to go out. Questions are again framed in the CSIR mould if one goes through the syllabi. At the same time the SET syllabus is not as elaborative as the CSIR’s. This is mainly due to the fact that DRDO specializes in particular areas like Solid State, Electronics etc. The test is followed by an interview for those who qualify the test, usually held in December.

Here's the link to the PDF document.

Related things related to DRDO SET

What is DRDO SET?
3 Suggestions for aerospace students from avionics engineer
Fulfill your aeronautical dreams with AeSI
Lay man's guide to DRDO's A,B,C

what is DRDO Scientist Entry Test (SET)?

April/May is the time when the advertisement of DRDO SET generally appears on DRDO Website (www.drdo.org & rac.drdo.gov.in) & "The Employment News" (with curtain raiser) for Direct Recruitment of Scientists 'B'.

SO watch out for this ? But wait a minute what is DRDO SET? What are the essential qualification for it? When is it conducted? And is aeronautical included in the engineering subjects in which this exam is conducted.

Here is the answers to all this questions.



RAC advertises on DRDO Website (www.drdo.org & rac.drdo.gov.in) & "The Employment News" (with curtain raiser) for Direct Recruitment of Scientists 'B'.

The prescribed Essential Qualifications as mentioned in the advertisement are bare minimum and mere possession of same does not entitle candidates to be called for interview. Where number of applications received in response to an advertisement is large, it is not possible to interview all the candidates. RAC may, therefore, restrict the number of candidates for interview to a reasonable limit on the basis of qualifications/experience/ achievements higher than that of the minimum prescribed in the advertisement or by conducting a screening test named DRDO Scientists Entry Test (DRDO SET).

DRDO SET is conducted on all India basis on 1st Sunday of September every year in order to provide equal opportunity to all students from different educational institutions in view of the increasingly wide variation of marks due to increase in the number of educational institutions in the country.

DRDO SET exam is of three hours duration consisting of two sections viz. Section 'A' of 100 questions to test the candidate's knowledge in the subject of their BE/ BTech (for Engg discipline) or MSc ( for Science Discipline) and Section 'B' of 50 questions to test the candidate's ability in analytical and qualitative skills, current affairs and general awareness to test the aptitude and scientific knowledge required for Applied Research & Development.

Based upon the organisation's requirements, DRDO SET is conducted in Engineering Subjects such as Aero, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Computer, Electronics/Electronics & Communication, Instrumentation, Mechanical, Metallurgy etc and Science subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and Maths/ Operations Research/ Statistics etc. These subjects are specified in the advertisement.

DRDO SET exam is conducted only for those subjects where vacancies are sizable in number. Details of eligible candidates, examination schedule, result of the exam, schedule of interviews and list of selected candidates are made available time to time on DRDO website http://www.drdo.com

In cases, where very few vacancies are available, NO SET exam is conducted and the individuals are directly called for the interview. The advertisement generally appears during the month of April / May every year so be on the look out.

Related stories you might like

3 Suggestions for aerospace students from avionics engineer
Fulfill your aeronautical dreams with AeSI
Lay man's guide to DRDO's A,B,C

WHAT IS DRDO SET?

What is drdo SET

RAC issues advertisements on DRDO Website (www.drdo.org) & "Employment News" (with curtain raiser in leading national dailies )for Direct Recruitment of Scientists 'B'. The prescribed Essential Qualifications as mentioned in the advertisement are bare minimum and mere possession of same does not entitle candidates to be called for interview. Where number of applications received in response to an advertisement is large, it is not possible to interview all the candidates. RAC may, therefore, restrict the number of candidates for interview to a reasonable limit on the basis of qualifications/experience/ achievements higher than that of the minimum prescribed in the advertisement or by conducting a screening test named DRDO Scientists Entry Test (DRDO SET).

The first DRDO SET is conducted on all India basis in order to provide equal opportunity to all students from different educational institutions in view of the increasingly wide variation of marks due to increase in the number of educational institutions in the country. DRDO SET is of three hours duration consisting of two sections viz. Section 'A' of 100 questions to test the candidate's knowledge in the subject of their BE/ BTech (for Engg discipline) or MSc ( for Science Discipline) and Section 'B' of 50 questions to test the candidate's ability in analytical and quantitative skills, current affairs and general awareness to test the aptitude and scientific knowledge required for Applied Research & Development. Based upon the organisation's requirements DRDO SET is conducted in Engineering Subjects such as Aero, Civil, Electrical, Chemical, Computer, Electronics/Electronics & Communication, Instrumentation, Mechanical, Metallurgy etc and Science subjects such as Chemistry, Physics and Maths/ Operations Research/ Statistics etc. These subjects are specified in the advertisement. DRDO SET exam is conducted only for those subjects where vacancies are sizable in number. Cases, where very few vacancies are available, NO SET exam is conducted and the individuals are directly called for the interview. The advertisement generally appears during the month of April / May every year. The availability of DRDO SET forms through designated banks, Details of eligible candidates, examination schedule, result of the exam, schedule of interviews and list of selected candidates are made available time to time on DRDO website (www.drdo.org).

Lay man's guide to A B C....

DRDO has posted requirement for c grade scientist.

So what is this B and C.

Well C grade means after completing M.tech or Masters where as B is for B.tech and bachelor level!

Related stories you might like

What is DRDO SET?
3 Suggestions for aerospace students from avionics engineer
Fulfill your aeronautical dreams with AeSI
Lay man's guide to DRDO's A,B,C