Internship Experience By An IITian.

In the last article I had written  about 7 Reasons Why You Should do Internship which you can read from here .Some days before I was just surfing Facebook and I got a very nice article from Facebook page Inside IIT  about the internship which was Submitted by Tapobrata Behera, IIT Kharagpur.
Below I am sharing that article,
I hope you will like that

Internships are the craze of the moment. One of my seniors said that it is always advisable to utilize each and every vacation of your college life and do something noteworthy for your CV! So I also asked my dad to liaison with his friends and ultimately I got a winter training at one of the steel plants. It was the first day of my 4 week vocational training and my dad introduced me to my mentor. After exchanging the pleasantries with my mentor, he asked me to follow him. First we were supposed to visit the STEEL MELTING SHOP.

"So, you are from which college?" he asked me while typing a reply on his smart-phone.
"IIT-KGP sir," I replied with a sense of pride.
"That’s really nice. Which branch do you belong to?" He asked, looking into my eyes with a sense of admiration.
"I belong to metallurgy department, what about you sir?" I asked him.
"I am also from metallurgy department, IIT Madras. By the way, we have reached the STEEL MELTING SHOP."

He then showed me the huge furnaces, flow of molten metal and started explaining them briefly to me. After that I asked him a few inquisitive questions . He was able to answer almost all of them and I had started to admire him for his knowledge . After that we both went to a canteen as my mentor had not taken his breakfast and wanted me to accompany him for the same. The following conversation took place after he came ordering his dosa and coffee and sat in front of me.

"The entire process is so fascinating. It must be quite some fun working out there?" I asked him, and my mentor could read the exuberance on my face.
"Yes .. the process is very fascinating. But do you know .. I never enjoyed to learn all this facts and stats which I was telling you. Aeroplanes used to enthrall me a lot in my childhood days and I had made up my mind that one day I will design and develop new aerodynamic models. However, as you know, in IIT you don’t select the branch, THE BRANCH SELECTS YOU (based on your rank). And similarly I had to settle for Metallurgy. A senior there, introduced me to the concept of department change. I used to think that maybe we have to develop a project on a topic of our desired branch and I used to spend all my time reading and collecting data about the various aerodynamic models. It gave me immense pleasure and filled me with joy when I understood how exactly planes like BOEING 747 and Fighter Jets function. By the time I came to know that branch change was related only to the “PERFORMANCE IN SUBJECTS OF FIRST SEMESTER” all my dreams were shattered. Thereafter my grades suffered terribly . Do you know why did that happen?" He asked me, stirring his coffee with a spoon.

"I am really sorry to hear that, sir. And no sir, I don’t know." I replied and was anticipating a pretty stark reality by now.

“Right from my first semester, I rarely enjoyed the courses. A few courses were interesting, but I was all the more interested in learning about the working mechanism of an aeroplane. I used to miss majority of my classes, not because of my dedication to aerospace engineering, but because I could never really make sense why a few courses were being taught to us. I thus ended up with 1 F grade in my first semester and that ended my chances of securing a branch change. I was occasionally reprimanded at home for my grades. My parents never realised that AERONAUTICS was my forte. In the subsequent years , I had to give up on all of this as I was closing on a very poor CGPA and was thus left with the inevitable task of studying hard to score an acceptable CGPA.

Study, because if you don’t, you won’t be able to able to earn your bread and butter, and in doing so I sacrificed the thing which meant so much to me and which, according to me, was the only reason of my existence in IIT. And now you see, I am here before you, stating you all the facts and data which don’t really mean much to me. It was only that “BREAD AND BUTTER” phrase which caused to me give up on my passion. Your survival is thus inextricably linked with your CGPA not with your passion in IIT. I really wish something could be done to remedy this crisis. What is your CGPA at the end of first year by the way?" He asked with me, with a dry smile on his face.

"Umm.. I think we are done with the coffee and dosa. Maybe we should go and checkout the other departments?" was my reply and we both got up to visit the other departments.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by Tapobrata Behera, IIT Kharagpur

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Please do share with us your internship experience if you have any.

Thanks for reading.

15 Tips for EXAM PREPARATION by Mr Rahul Verma

 All of you are preparing for your exams and most of you are left with three or less papers in sec b, so this may be your last semester of AeSI exams. Next sem most of you will complete your degree.

I know these are the most tensed moments for a society student when he has last semester to complete section B. Question keeps roaming in mind “will I be able to clear the degree this time or not?” What if any of one paper is left? “Again I will have to waste one more sem”

Most of the students start losing their confidence due to peer pressure. And even they are good in knowledge and worked hard full of sem, they fail in one or more papers.

I want to ask WHY TO LOSE THE BATTLE JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR LOW CONFIDENCE??

Try to keep grip on your confidence, I’d tell you few thing that I did and helped me in my last sem of sec B.I will be very happy if it may help you:

1) Just keep in mind: jo bhi karna hai, jitna bhi tension lena hai, bas es sem hi lena hai...etni mehnat krni h ki next sem exam na likhna pade.

2) Plan breaks during your studies, use your most of the time for your preparation by avoiding tiredness.

3) It will be excellent if every day you can write test on previously asked question papers, if yes then do it for all the three subjects every day and mark your mistakes. If you do it for ten days continuously just before your exams then you will get solid confidence and good chances for clearing the papers.

4) Plan your syllabus and write chapter-wise tests on theory and numerical portion for each chapter. Do it in such a way so that most of the things/things where you are weak will get covered in your test.

5) Collect the things on one separate note that you need to revise frequently. List out all the formulas equations and important diagrams use minimum words and use symbols and drawing pictures to minimize the words. It will help you to revise faster.

6) For example if you usually forget the formula to be used in exam then write one test on the formulas only, it may look foolish but later after exam you will find how useful it was.

7) Complete your revision few days before the exams anyhow and plan for writing the test and correction self.

8) Divide your day in to two halves, in one prepare the questions and revise the theory and in second half write the test on the chapter/s you decided earlier.

9) It will boost your self confidence and you will be able to identify where usually you do mistakes in exam.

10) Just circle your mistakes with red pen and write the correction in front of them.

11) In case if you have two or more exams continuously then mix the questions from all those subjects in your question paper and write a detailed test. It will be proved very helpful in exam if you could do this.

12) Now before your exams you need not to revise full syllabus, you can revise most of the things by reviewing your test papers itself.

13) Post the formulas short notes in your room wall, bathroom, and toilet or in kitchen so that you can utilize your time most wisely and efficiently.

14) Keep your weekly and daily plan right in front of you where you sit to study. Write those things on board that you need to do later to avoid missing them.

15) If you have any of your idea or experience please share it so that it can help others.

Thank you.

Note : PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO THANK RAHUL.

What you should do in Section-B (Avionics) which you don’t know.

I came across many situations where AeSI recent graduates have to walk together with the engineering graduates of Electronics background in order to get selected in an interview. I know it is damn difficult but not impossible. The fact remains the same that many Avionics engineers are working as an Embedded Software/Hardware engineer. Henceforth it is very much essential to learn the basics of various safety, security and mission critical standards, software and hardware. Unfortunately it is not a module of your Section-B syllabus however by spending few hours a week; one can certainly assure that he gets a job after completing his engineering degree.

Case study: I have recently joined a company where it is very much essential to know the basics of reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. I certainly wasn’t aware about these terminologies hence I have started taking advantage of social media. I have downloaded certain videos from YouTube on reliability basics and then I have downloaded couple of white papers about various methods of reliability predictions. No doubt, I wasn’t able to grab all things in one time but I certainly have learned new things. One should always remember that learning is an ongoing process.

I strongly recommend you to learn the basics of following modules before you start job hunting:

-     

1. Requirements Engineering: Learn the basics of requirements engineering.
2. Design, Modeling and Simulation basics: You can learn many things at Mathworks website.
3. You have C, C++ as a module in Microprocessor & Software Engineering subject of Section-A. However getting is the right answer can never make you a good programmer. It is very much essential that you should know the art of writing software code. MISRA – C, C++ can help you in doing the same. There are various technical FAQ and discussion threads available on official website of MISRA.
4. Basics of Software Testing. Specially modules like static analysis, unit testing, code coverage.
5. Basics of In Circuit Emulators and hardware debuggers.
6. Reliability Prediction standards such as MIL-HDBK-217, NPRD 95, etc.  How organizations predict reliability and do impact analysis. Google modules like Fault Tree Analysis, Reliability Block Diagrams, Failure Mode Effect Analysis, etc.
7. Hardware Debuggers
8. Basics of compilers, IDE, RTOS, middleware, etc.

I know that being a student, it is very difficult to learn these many things but if you know at least the basics so I am sure that nobody can stop you in getting a good job.

Start asking “W” questions like

What is it?

Why is it used?

What are the methods?

Which companies are the best in each area?

How the knowledge of it can help me in my career?

& many more. 

Happy Learning! Please let us know if you require any additional support or information from our side. You may mail your queries as a comment below. 

Cheers!

Don't escape it... A tip from Chennai Express

Pritesh wrote an email in OURAeSI and I think readers of this blog would benefit from reading it, so here is it unedited. 

Best way to escape from your problem is to face them.-Shah rukh khan in CHENNAI EXPRESS.

Yes ,its indeed true...

I had seen many students in AeSI who drop the subject once they failed in it and excuse they make is ,YAAR BAAR BAAR EK HI EK CHIJ PADHAKE PAK GAYA HU (i am bored by reading same and same things) but the fact is that they are escaping from that subject .

In my case whenever i had anysubject back i took it as a challenge and prepare in such a way that however hard the exam paper may come, i should not get less than 50 .at this time you have all ready basic concept of the subject .you just have to make it strong and on that u can easily can make the strong building so u can score in that subject .

In case suppose you had dropped that subject than u have to clear it at the end of ur section A or B .By the time you allready had forgotten your concepts so u need to study them again and grasp it.

My many of friends had written single paper for almost 4 to 8 times and they are now doing well and pursuing their masters from NITs/IITs.

You too can do it but don't escape from papers and face them.

NOTE: dar sabko lagata hai lekin dar ke aage jit hai...

for more AeSI TIPS LIKE US ON FB : 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/AeSI-Counsellor-Every-AeSIan-must-like/153878841421493?ref=hl

Now it's your turn. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree, post your comment.

Don't forget to thanks Pritesh!!

And if you are an AeSI student, then AeSIAA is sponsoring a two day workshop/seminar on Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft for you. More  info and registration here at the following link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1PTAMYdHtCYVZNroYBldWIn8fq_zYeOj2qjSwzLP2ZOk/viewform

Register now!!

How can I do my best in exams?

How can I do my best on the exam?

A lot of people have asked me this and the following passage is the best answer to that question.


"How can I ace my exam?" If you're a student, you are naturally concerned with how you perform on examinations. But, ironically, focusing on the impending test itself is not the best way to improve your performance on it.


Suppose in a few months you were going to be asked to do thirty push-ups. You could concentrate on what to eat the day before the push-up competition, and what shirt to wear that's not too tight or too loose, and how to give 110% at the time of the challenge. Or you could slowly, over time, increase the number of push-ups you can do each day between now and then so that it would be no effort to pump out thirty push-ups at test time.

"How can I do my best on the exam?" is not the best question to ask in school. Better questions include these:

"How can I become more engaged in the course material? "How can I become more engaged in the course material?"
"Could I give a lecture explaining the material?"

These questions lead to actions that you can take—becoming an active listener, joining a study group, or, even better, tutoring other

From the book - The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking by Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird

No Guarantees

There are no guarantees in life, but the odds are that if you can take care of these 3 things in your life, the rest will take care of itself.

1. Be good at one thing. The 'thing' doesn't matter. What matters is that you are better at one thing than anybody else. Build that skill. Hone it so much that its shines through even in dark. Being good at one thing and knowing about it will inject confidence.

2. Be a marketeer. Marketing is not a skill only needed by a corporation. You, as an individual, need it more. To market yourself. To market your creations. To showcase your work. To articulate and defend your thoughts. Even Apple's iPhone needs marketing. So cultivate marketing skills!

3. Be the salt. Ask any chef, or cook, whatever dish he or she prepares if there isn't salt, it isn't anything. Salt adds value. It completes the flavor. Same way aim to add value in whatever you do. Be it work, study, or any assignment. The more value you add, the more valuable you become.


An update:
In a weeks time, I am putting up something that will be useful for all AeSI students currently in section B or on the verge of training. So stay tuned.

Constraints and AeSI study tip

Great designs always have constraints. In many ways, design is defined by constraints and using them elegantly.

Designing a study schedule is the same. If your schedule is to study every available time between "I wake up and go back to sleep", then you aren't doing it right.

The right way of designing your study schedule is putting constraints. Constraints as to when to study and what to study.


Constraints makes life easy and more fun.

When you know you have constraint of not studying on Sundays. You will study more attentively on other days.

You will study more intently if you know next time you will get to study this subject is after 3 days.

Constraints and following them methodically can make things easy. Sounds counter intuitive. Try it.

Constraints is the difference between leading a stress free student life and leading a life in a pressure cooker.

More study tips at http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=study

Refresh your study techniques for AeSI exams in an hour

We all use these techniques one or all at one point of time. I certainly used many though never called them with those names. Having this techniques available on YouTube is great.

One can easily pick them and keep them in his or her study arsenal.

AeSI exams are first approaching, I think its a best time for AeSI students to visit this YouTube page and spend an hour to renew these study techniques.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTQtrvTjTcs

Life of a Avionics Trainee !

We are habitual to read A as in Apple but now I shall tell you how this Apple become Avionics.
We all know the taste of an apple. Come let's taste Avionics this time.
I'm sharing the real life training experience of an avionics student and due to confidentiality, I'm not sharing his name & the laboratory name where he is working as a trainee.

Hi Bhaiya
I’ll try to make it feel like a story instead of a report, I think it is a better way to make people understand by telling them a story along with a moral instead of making them feel that it is some kind of a report.

After trying very hard for 6 months by pulling strings ,repeatedly begging people ,I finally got the chance to do a project at **** in autopilot. So I’m happy and at the same time nervous , about how thing are going to be in  **** , such a big organization and such scholar people, and I’m just a puny aesian who have just a little knowledge about control system.
Some how I reached there and meet my mentor , the profound scientist in autopilot.  The first day he said I’m a very busy person ,I’m not going to give much time. You do what ever you can , show it to me , then I decide what to do and rest. I agreed. The division of **** I’m in , I didn’t knew that they only make missiles and have no interests in aircrafts. My mentor said draw me the control forces and the moments of a tail control missile , that was the first question. I have studied about aircraft for the 4 yrs but I have no knowledge about missiles, so I said I don’t know about missiles, but if u want I can draw you the control forces of an aircraft. He said ok, but I need the diagrams for missiles. He gave some books and said read this and come prepare tomorrow. Now ,how to draw the control forces diagrams of a thing which is complexed and unknown to me in one day. Still I read 2 , 3 chapters and went the next day.
That day I figured out what are the types of missiles, how they are classified,and so on.
Next day I went and I showed what have I done, mainly the diagrams of cp aft of cg for stability and the basic control surface movement from the book he gave me the previous day.
He saw the thing and said, no I don’t want this, just tell me how do you control a tail control missile?.
I was speechless and breathless. I shot few blank arrows ,nothing happened though and then I turned the page where there was a diagram of statically stable missile with cp aft of cg. I said the criteria for statically stable missile. He asked how do you control an unstable missile?
Again I went blank. He said studying one or 2 chapters won’t do study the full book. I was thinking how was it possible in a day, still I said sir can you me more books I can’t understand from the previous book. He gave some more books, and I said I will come back after I finish these, he said go.
I started reading those and got nothing, ‘cause they not the basic books and so I turned to check what aesi have suggested for rockets and missiles . I got SS CHIN there and started with that.  The book was meant for the basic and I was happy.
I drew the control forces diagram along with the transfer function and went to him. He again asked me the same question how to control a unstable missile , I said it not possible using a single control surface.
He said tail control missiles have only one control surface, then he himself told me the answer which I knew but I thought that was not  appropriate ‘cause you won’t get a proper stability using it, as there will be oscillation, but he said that is different but basic is this.
So that happened and next task he gave to  design a 2 loop configuration of a missile pitch , yaw and roll autopilot and determine the gains. I thought I came here to learn it and he Is telling me to design it,wow.
After looking here and there in various thesis and algorithms which I didn’t understand  I drew a design and showed him. He said I told just close the loop no compensators are needed, ne never said anything like that previously ,but still you can’t tell him anything. He said just close the loop and check the root locus, nyquist ,bode plot of the plant and the closed loop system. I asked , what should I checked for?
Then he gave the the design criteria’s , like the gain margin, phase margin, overshoot, settling time and others. He asked what datas are you using I said no datas, just the examples given in the books. He said come and use my thesis data .i was thinking who is a bigger **** me or he? I wasted my whole week looking here and there and now he is talking. Still i’m going to get his data tomorrow and start over again.
So what is the moral
-Know about the company you are aiming for.
-Complete the literature  of your project and select a area of work before entering the company.
-Get a good mentor.  

This is the story of a student who is in Section-B of Avionics and waiting for his final result. I hope by reading  it you'll understand what is the job of a trainee ? What one does in internship ? and apart a real example of the quote : "Where there's a will, there's a way."

If you have something to share which can become a lesson to learn for others, so you're welcome.
Please contact team-MyAeSI at
sukhbinder.singh@gmail.com

Why AESI is not up to the mark for me? - an aesi students view

After my recent post on update from aesiaa, I received this email from an aesi student. And I am posting his email here for giving it a wider audience.

I am changing the name for obvious reasons. But the points raised by him are genuine and worth to ponder.

I have sent a brief reply to this email to him, will post the same here, latter this week.

Now over to the student of aesi......

hello sir,

I am tony, AVIONICS stream , cleared 16 papers so far(65.2%). I don't know what to say and what to expect from this email but still you asked me to shoot you a mail, so i'm writing this. When you wrote the last blog , then i got a little carried away
and wrote things that shouldn't be said or atleast the way i put it .

I'm sorry for that, but truely sir what i wrote was straight from the heart and if you think from our student side, then it won't be that wrong if you see.

What AESIAA is doing or trying to do, is very impressive and yes every one has a life and sorry for putting it that
way. What i want is that someone could carry my words to AESI, as i
can't do it myself as long as i haven't completed it, thats it, what i meant when i wrote it . I thing AESI doesnt deserve that kind of pride 'cause of the negligence it shows to students like us,and the lady who picks up the phone she is over smart, i think, don't even know the proper rules,

Why AESI is not up to the mark for me?

1) Absolutely no motivation from their side, u don't get credit on merit , nor deserving students are offered any job after completion, so when there is no motivation how one is supposed to study,

2) very elusive policies and rules, the rules regarding training and projects in sec-b are not clearly mentioned in any written notice, u have to call AESI to seek information and that stupid lady hungs up without even listening to your queries,

3) Syllabus not upto the mark what industry seeks from avionics,
students, nor it is suitable for GATE, we have to study a hell lot extra to cover it up, its not so in case of aero-mechanical though,

4)Wont give authority to any college , like IGNOU so they can train us
the way they want and practical can be included.

5) i don't understand every organisation wants to see its growth , but why not AESI ? its going the other way round, its being decades since
the foundation of AESI, progress is nil not slow,

6) The curriculum does n't encourages quality students, most of the students who are present in AESI are simply 'cause they didn't get
chance in good colleges not like me who want to study aeronautics ,,

7) there is a huge void between passing of 20 papers and getting a job
'cause :-
a) No one knows AESI that well
b) % marks are not good of majority of students
c) no practical knowledge only theoretical, so that effects confidence of the student itself
d) to gain practical knowledge u have to get training from organisations which are mostly unpaid and u have to pay them instead, so that kills time, money ,patience and aesi is not be bothered about it

8) "u are 21 \22 yr u are an engineer and working for a good company "
chances for either of this case or both to occur is tending to 0% i believe

Sir , i have spit it out, i don't know how will you take it but i certainly can't feel proud of an organization which
lacks this qualities, i'm very sorry sir, my apology again.

-Tony

What are your views? Spell them in the comments but let's be nice.

Why we fail AeSI exams?

A recent comment by Yash on this blog post (http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/2011/08/5-quick-questions-aesi-studentgraduate.html
) made a good point.

Student fail AeSI exams because of lack of knowledge, lack of
expression and lastly because of tension in the exam hall.

Yash advocates that to release that tension, take practice exams.

I agree this works but I would like to add to the conversation.

Beating lack of knowledge is straight forward. Spend time learning.
Put in the effort.

Lack of knowledge will surely doom you. It's the foundation. If it's
not strong, nothing can be built on it.

Lack of expression. This requires practice. Practice tests as
advocated by Yash are a great way to tackle lack of expression. If you
are failing inspite of studying, then this is the likely culprit.
Practice answering and taking mock exams!

Tension. The third reason that chokes your exam. I think tension is
the symptom here not the cause.

The real cause is our expectation. Yes our expectation that this is an
important moment and the exams are the do or die. This self
expectation causes the tension and eventually overwhelms us.

Yes the moment is important. But we put more weight to it than
necessary. In the exam hall, we need to tone down our expectations and
just give the exams as it's just other class work.

All my exams where I had this light attitude in the examination hall,
I actually did very well.

We choke not because we haven't studied but because of weight of our
expectation. So study hard, and when it's time to be in the
examination hall, take everything light.

It worked for me and I know it will work for you.

Do you have any other tip, do share in the comments.

By the way, thanks Yash!

Explore more aesi exam related post via this link http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=aesi+exams

Just study and leave everything else

I received this following mail from Rohan.

Hi sir,
For long i am searching for a proper combination of activities to
spend time on, bcoz i feel that " just study leave every thing else"
doesnt work in long term, so sir by your own experience can u plz
suggest some do's and dont do's.
thanks sir
Rohan
G.I.E, Sec 'B'

He has a great point. I dont believe in just work and no play.

In fact this is how I got into starting this blog and ouraesi club back in 2002.


My long stated opinion on this blog is that when you are in section a, you shouldn't think much about job and after aesi, but concentrate on your studies and use your spare time to explore whatever takes fancy to your mind at that time.

It may be kite making, taking cooking lessons, creating aircraft models, singing, dancing etc. The point is, section a give you time to expand your horizon. Gives you opportunity to grow laterally. So do that. It's the time to experiment.

I certainly did that.

As you pass section a, you get into the grove and start to know what you enjoyed and loved. This is the time to take up serious career related things. This is time to look beyond aesi and see what is on demand and what skills you want to build.

I certainly did this. I like programming and this is what I took up in section b. If you like analysis or building models or reading. Begin those tasks.

The tasks are not that important. Decide what skills you want to have when you graduate and start working on them.

How much time you spend is not important. More important is the consistenty. Put in your minimum hours in those skill building exercise and you are on to a great start.

So what's your take on this? Let's come up with activities and things that one can do in this period.

More on this at http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=after-aesi

I am stuck in the same AeSI subject, what should i do?

Saw this email from an AeSI student.


"
afraid if i m to stuck in SecA due to that paper only. so i need ur urgent help regarding which books to follow that adheres to the question pattern so that i can at least pass the exam. its my 3rd year running..and i have no time. "

My first comment to him will be, go to a quite place, have some time and brainstorm what is it that he is getting wrong?

Keep AeSI out of the blame game and think hard on what can be your faults.

Just write out wherever comes to the mind. Don't judge. Keep thinking and pushing yourself for the reason on what is going wrong. Think back to all exams and find the causes.


Once you have number of causes, you will definitely begin seeing a pattern emerging. Now is the judging time. Find the main reasons that you see now.

Is is the lack of your understanding of the subject? Or is it your lack of expressing it in the exams. Or is it a combination of both?

You can fail in the exams only for two reasons, either you lack understanding of the subject or the understanding is not expressed well in the exam papers.


Find the reason and implement steps in your study routine to eliminate it.

Hope this helps. Blog readers, do you have any other ideas, feel free to share them here.

5 simple steps to have a productive day.

Be it in AeSI as a student or as a trainee in NAL or in your day job, here are 5 simple steps that can help you have a productive day.

1. Plan ahead.
Planning the day well in advance or the night before works great. This works because it untangles planning and action.

2. Make a routine.
Very similar to first point. Having a routine for all routine tasks helps in separating the action from planning. Frees you from day to day decision. Be it in what to study or what to work on next. Clearly maps your path.

3. Mix and match.
Working on one thing hours on is not going to cut it. Imagine how monotonous Sachin's batting would have been if he just used one shot all the time. Similarly, mixing different subjects or different activities in your work life goes a long way in keeping you alert and productive.

4. Not just work.
Work and no play is a bad combination. So Work and play. Don't just do serious stuff. Do the trivial stuff. Mix essential tasks with fun but non essential tasks. Life will be much more easier.

5. Process is important.
"Karam kiyae ja, fal ki chinta mat kar" says Bhagvat Gita. The process is important. The journey is the core. So make it a point to enjoy it. Destination will eventually arrive.

Most successful students and professionals use one or combinations of these steps. Why are you waiting for?

Good luck.

More tips at http://my-aesi.blogspot.com

Breaking inertia

After a few days of good posting and setting up a momentum, an external routine change brought everything to a stop.

One day I didn't post and then the next day and then the next, it continued and I realized I was in a rut of inertia.

For a couple of months I have been observing how difficult it becomes once I loose the momentum. The inertia restricts getting into the previous mode.

So over the years I have seen these three techniques valuable in conquering inertia.

1. Time yourself for a simple task. For example to break my posting inertia, I set a timer for 7 mins and then allow myself to write whatever comes to my mind. This initial jolt of action usually does the trick.

You can employ it to break your non study inertia, to set your routine to include some fortran learning or something more specific to your need.

2. Take up the simplest task and do it. If the project is overwhelming, then take up the simplest task related to it and resolve to work on it in next 10 mins. Notice I haven't mention complete it. I said work on it. Make a huge difference.

For my current personal project, I am building a patron neural file reader, and to curb the inertia that has developed because of my break from it, I sat down and just choose to do the simplest task of writing a flow chart for what I need to do.

3. Change your activity. If the activity is indoors. Go do something outdoors. If it's computer related, do something non computer related. Just changing the context for sometimes helps you crumble the inertia.

These were the techniques that has helped me curb being stuck in inertia.

Inertia has featured a lot on this blog and you can found how and where via this link http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=inertia

Supporting structures

They are building an over-bridge on the road next to our area. Construction had began a few months back.

The actual work is going on now, but the pre work, securing the place, creating by pass roads, erecting supporting structures have began way back at the start of the year.

Now the slabs and the cement work is in full swing and I am sure they will finish the work by the scheduled time.

Why don't we apply the same technique for completing our resolutions and goals?

At the start of the year we decide some resolutions like to get fit and we start. And loose the steam just a week or month later.

Why not create supporting structures like the people in construction industry do?

Why not erect our own bamboos just the way it's done for building homes, before the actual work begins.

A little pre preparation on your goals ( resolutions) can go a long way.

If your resolution is to study more, make plan to fix a time for it. Support the resolution with necessary details of keeping the books you want to study close by, deciding what to study and fixing the time.

Once everything is ready, rest is just a matter of following the plan.

So if you have written some resolutions for yourself, make sure you build some solid support for achieving them. Think what changes you can implement in your surrounding to help you reach your resolution.

Have a success filled new year!!

Posting frequency and one exam study tip

From the post frequency, you can determine that I am quite busy with
things other than the blog.

In fact, I am not busy but I am in fluid state of lots of travel and
being in Indian weddings!! So am not able to find any time to sit and
post anything substantial for you.

Hope this explains the gaps of posts. Will resume the regular
programming once I get past this state by the end of this month!!

By the way, here's a simple tip to accelerate your exam preparation.

Speed up your pace of study. Read more quickly, write at increased
speed.

Increase your pace. Just speeding up and working at more than the
normal rate has two effects. It will save you time as you will cover
more in the same time. Since you are studying a pace not your normal,
brain will work extra to caputure and won't fall to it's default mode.

So get going, if you are giving this semesters amaesi exams, best of
luck.

5 rules to study smart for AeSI

Over the years writing on this blog, i have realized these are the 5
priciples of studying smart.

They crop up in one way or another in any successful student I see.

1. Know why you are studying something?

2. Focus only on one thing at a time.

3. Keep distractions off.

4. Have a plan to execute.

5. Mix and match different subjects in a day.

Click http://my-aesi.blogspot.com/search?q=study+aesi&max-results=100
to read more elaborately on the above rules.

As always, tell me what are your smart study rules.

Airbus FYI - An opportunity for you

Today's blog post is about an opportunity. Opportunity named Airbus FYI.

What is Airbus FYI?
Airbus FYI is a contest that challenges students worldwide to develop new ideas to deliver a greener aviation industry.

"It's a rare opportunity for tomorrow's generation to join Airbus in our vision for the eco efficient aviation industry of the future; to tackle the two percent the industry contributes to manmade CO2 emissions and meet the needs of air transport in a sustainable way; and to win EUR30,000."

Round 1 has started but you can register up until 30th November 2010!

What is the competition about?
Airbus FYI involves three progressively competitive and challenging rounds - judged by a panel of Airbus and industry experts - concluding with a live final. It's not just about engineering; students are encouraged to think about the overall Life-Cycle:

1) design; 2) supply chain; 3) manufacturing; 4) aircraft operation; 5) aircraft end-of-life. The teams selected for Round 2 will be asked to develop their ideas with support from Airbus staff. The five teams shortlisted for Round 3 will win a VIP trip to the final which will be held during the International Paris Air Show - Le Bourget in France, June 2011.

During the final, the five finalist teams will present their ideas to an independent jury - including industry experts - for a chance to win EUR30,000; the runners up will share EUR15,000. Students wishing to take part must register correctly as a formed team of between three and five members by 30 November 2010.

who can participate
To participate, they must be registered to study full or part time at a recognized degree-awarding institution and could be studying a Bachelors, Masters or PhD level degree in any discipline - from engineering to marketing; business to science; philosophy to design. There is no age limit. And students within a team do not have to be of the same gender, nationality, from the same University - or even the same country.

Airbus FYI involves three progressively competitive and challenging rounds - judged by a panel of Airbus and industry experts - concluding with a live final during the International Paris Air Show - LeBourget in France, June 2011. The competition timings for FYI 2011 are:

Registration: Closes 30 November 2010
Round 1, Project Proposal: 01 September 2010 - 10 December 2010
Round 2, Project Submission: 17 January 2011 - 15 April 2011
Round 3, Project Presentation (development): 16 May 2011 - 17 June 2011
Final, Project Presentation (live): June 2011 (International Paris Air Show -Le Bourget, France)

Read the complete FAQ here  http://www.airbus-fyi.com/pdf/Airbus-FYI_FAQs.pdf
More information: http://www.airbus-fyi.com/

Live like a sprinter, not a marathoner

Studying or learning any tools or working for an office assignment, it
always better to be sprinter than a marathoner.

Giving your total attention to your immediate task for the short time
and accomplishing something is much better than sitting on the task
for whole days and weeks and doing a marathon!

I knew a close friend of mine who was a marathoner. He used to study
all day, had a book with him always. I knew he wasn't as productive as
we saw his day dreaming while having a book in his hand.

There was this other guy who was a sprinter. He studied few hours but
he was focused in those hours. We rarely saw him sitting at his study
desk all day.

All day marathons may be easy but it's the sprinting that brings
better results.

So are you a marathoner or sprinter?