BITS Pilani

headlines

• Dr. Srikanth Mutnuri wins award from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  • 02 Apr 2014
  • BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus

  Award from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  Dr. Srikanth Mutnuri wins award from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  02 April 2014

  Dr. Srikanth Mutnuri, an Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus is one of the six selected innovators for the award under Grand Challenges India - Re-invent the Toilet Challenge -India. The Department of Biotechnology (BIRAC), Government of India and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded grants to six teams of Scientists and entrepreneurs to build a next-generation toilet.

  Dr. Srikant’s  project entitled 'Empowered septic tank as decentralized wastewater treatment system'  (EST) is based on Bioelectrolysis of wastewater which will exhibit an activated biogas ( H₂+ CH₄) production combined with a higher retention of ammonium which could be potential fertilizer . The effluent of the EST thus will have a lower load in COD and a lower odor and in turn the treated water coming out can be flocculated by physico chemical methods. The primary sludge that gets accumulated will be processed by Terra Preta composting. The Terra Preta (TP) is a special form of soil with very high nutrition storage characteristics. It was found in the Brazilian forests in the Amazon area. This system is a very promising option for new sanitation approaches, solving the problem of the fecal waste disposal by creating multiple products.

  The project is in collaboration with Ghent University and Sustainable Biosolutions LLP. The award was formally announced on 22nd March 2014 at the Re-invent the Toilet Fair, New Delhi.

• Lecture by Prof. Walter Lewin

  • 12 Mar 2014
  • BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus

  Professor Walter Lewin’s talk at BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

  Lecture by Prof. Walter Lewin

  12 March 2014

  Prof. Walter H. G. Lewin, renowned  Dutch Astrophysicist and Professor Emeritus of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  explained 'Birth and Death of stars' at BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus auditorium on 14th March, 2014 as a part of BITS Pilani University's Golden Jubilee Celebrations.

   

  Dr. Gaurav Dar, Professor and Head, Department of Physics  introduced Prof. Lewin, calling him 'one of the most famous professors in the world.' Lewin is popular for his video lecture series on Physics and massive online courses taught on MIT OCW (Open Course Ware). In 2012, Princeton Review named him among 'The Best 300 Professors in the US.'

  A member of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and a fellow at American Physical Society, Prof. Walter Lewin started the lecture by explaining the birth of stars by the gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula of material composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. He discussed the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in the stars' core, which releases massive amounts of energy. Then he enlightened the audience on the death of stars where the core becomes a stellar remnant: a white dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole depending on the star's mass;  the Sun, being fairly light in mass, will turn into a white dwarf in around 5 billion years.

  Recipient of various awards including the NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1978) and  NASA Group Achievement Award for the Discovery of the Bursting Pulsar (1997), Prof. Lewin is renowned for his propensity for teaching concepts of Physics using practical examples in a dynamic style. After he explained the Doppler Shift using two lucid examples  that of a tuning fork and a rotating frequency emitter, it was apparent as to why his video lecture series is a sensation on the internet. He explained, "Doppler Shift of spectral lines in binary systems played a key role in the discovery of stellar mass black holes."

  After explaining about the X-ray binaries, a class of binary stars which produce X-rays when matter falls from donor star to accretor star (a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole), Prof. Lewin concluded the lecture by commenting, "For stars, there is really life after death, provided they find the right companion and it is my wish that all of you during life-not after death-find the right companion, radiate and be happy." He also offered to sign souvenirs for anyone interested in meeting him after the lecture. The auditorium was packed to capacity by students from various colleges of Goa.

• Spree 2014

  • 08 Mar 2014
  • BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus

  Rise, Run, Reach: Spree 2014 Sporting Extravaganza

  Spree 2014

  08 March 2014

  Rise, Run, Reach: Spree 2014 Sporting Extravaganza

  Matthew Foschini, the 23 year old Australian footballer currently playing in the I-league for Salgaonkar Football Club urged the students to be passionate about what they would like to do in their lives and wished them good luck at the opening ceremony of Spree 2014. This sporting extravaganza,  the annual national sports festival of BITS Goa, and one of the largest sports festivals in our country kicked off at the campus cricket grounds on 6^th March.  The Opening ceremony was marked by the lighting of Spree torch , fantastic display of fire crackers and an amazing laser show.

  With its inspiring  theme Rise, Run and Reach, the festival include events  from all the major sports such as Cricket, Football, Basketball, Tennis, Table Tennis, Badminton, Volleyball, Chess and Carom. With state of the art badminton and tennis courts, a BCCI maintained cricket ground and a football pitch maintained by Salgaocar FC, BITS Goa has all the necessary facilities to hold a sports festival of the magnitude of Spree. Apart from these conventional competitions, Spree also boasts of a wide variety of offbeat and special events such as Tug of War, 3v3 (volleyball), 3BA (basketball), Anti-Chess as well as Body Building. The theme for Spree 2014 is ‘Rise. Run. Reach’, something which truly captures the motto and goal of every sportsperson.

  Spree 2014 has recorded more than 18000 registrations from colleges all over India. 70 different colleges are set to take the field at Spree. These include VIT, MNIT Jaipur, MIT Manipal, IIM Indore, Motilal Nehru College Delhi, IIIT Gwalior and NMIMS Mumbai, to name just a few.

  A number of exciting events and special nights have been lined up as a part of Spree. These include an LED Laser and light show, a freestyle football performance as well as a workshop organized by footballers from the Freestlye Football Federation (F3), a stunt biking performance by a team from Throttlerz, and finally, a DJ Night with Goa’s leading Club DJ – DJ Claudio.

  Over the years, Spree has supported numerous social causes and initiatives. This year, through Act to Inspire, Spree 2014 is associating with a number of notable NGOs such as CRY, PETA as well as YSF (Yuvraj Singh Foundation). CRY will be setting up a World Kiosk on campus to gain support for their social cause – ‘Vote for Child Rights’. A variety of other campaigns have also been initiated as a part of Act to Inspire such as a Beach Cleanup Drive, a Tree Plantation Drive, Goa half marathon as well as a Cancer Awareness Campaign. By having such a wide variety of events and initiatives, Spree hopes to make its humble contributions to uplifting society in a number of different ways.

  Spree 2014 is more than just an ordinary sports festival. With such a wide set of events and initiatives, Spree 2014 is sure to keep everyone involved and entertained, and live up to its reputation of being one of India’s leading sports festivals.

• INDO- UK INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

  • 16 Jan 2014
  • BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus

  INDO- UK INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

  INDO- UK INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP

  16 January 2014

  INDO-UK INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY during May 17 - 19th 2014.

   

  Click here for more details