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September 04, 2019
Eureka! The Archimedes PrincipleArchimedes was possibly the world's greatest scientist — at least the greatest in the classical age. He was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and engineer. Many of his inventions, theories, and concepts are still in use today. Perhaps his best-known achievement was his "Eureka" moment when he discovered the principle of buoyancy.


'Eureka! Eureka!'
Archimedes has gone down in history as the guy who ran naked through the streets of Syracuse shouting "Eureka!" — or "I have it!" in Greek. The story behind that event was that Archimedes was charged with proving that a new crown made for Hieron, the king of Syracuse, was not pure gold as the goldsmith had claimed. The story was first written down in the first century B.C. by Vitruvius, a Roman architect. 

Archimedes thought long and hard but could not find a method for proving that the crown was not solid gold. Soon after, he filled a bathtub and noticed that water spilled over the edge as he got in and he realized that the water displaced by his body was equal to the weight of his body. Knowing that gold was heavier than other metals the crown maker could have substituted in, Archimedes had his method to determine that the crown was not pure gold. Forgetting that he was undressed, he went running naked down the streets from his home to the king shouting "Eureka!" 


The Archimedes principle
According to Boundless, the Archimedes principle states that the buoyant force on an object submerged in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by that object. 

If a glass is filled to the top with water and then ice cubes are added to it, what happens? Just like the water spilled over the edge when Archimedes entered his bathtub, the water in the glass will spill over when ice cubes are added to it. If the water that spilled out were weighed (weight is a downward force), it would equal the upward (buoyant) force on the object. From the buoyant force, the volume or average density of the object can be determined. 

Archimedes was able to determine that the crown was not pure gold due to the volume of the displaced water, because even though the weight of the crown was identical to the weight of the gold that the king gave the crown maker, the volume was different due to the various densities of the metals.
Uses of the Archimedes principle 

The Archimedes principle is a very useful and versatile tool. It can be useful in measuring the volume of irregular objects, such as gold crowns, as well as explaining the behaviors of any object placed in any fluid. Archimedes' principle describes how ships float, submarines dive, hot air balloons fly, and many other examples, according to Science Clarified. The Archimedes principle is also used in a large variety of scientific research subjects including medical, engineering, entomology, engineering, and geology.

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September 03, 2019
Bengaluru: Disruptive technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are making their way into classrooms as humanoid robots to teach students and interact with them as teachers do, at a school in Bengaluru.
"Our robots impart lessons daily in five subjects to about 300 students in Classes 7-9 in four sections by turns. They also interact with them and respond to questions in the subjects," Indus International School's chief design officer, Vignesh Rao, told IANS here.
Though the 5 foot 7 inch robots, dressed in formal female attire, do not replace real teachers, they complement them in teaching lessons in the subjects and reply to FAQs (frequently asked questions) from students.
"We have programmed the interactive robots to answer questions students frequently ask on the subjects and related to them. With AI in play, the robots are able to respond to questions and doubts of our wards after a lesson is taught," said Rao.
The private international day-cum-boarding school has 25 co-ed students in each of the four sections for Classes 7-9. It is affiliated to the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate (IB) Institute and follows its syllabus, which is recognized worldwide.
"The AI-enabled robots teach lessons in Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History and Physics to Classes 7-9. As per the Collaborative Learning Model (CLM), the man-machine team, comprising a teacher, students and the robot, collaborate in the classroom to deliver a lesson. The teacher collaborates with the robot and brings out the key concepts, relevance and application of the lesson being taught," said Rao, who also heads the project.
Rao and his 17-member team have designed and built the three robots in-house from light-weight 3D-printed materials with imported smart servo motors. These robots emulate human-like gestures while delivering the lessons in the classroom.
"It has taken our team nearly two years to design and develop these robots with software, hardware and AI to make them teaching assistants and allowing the human teacher to be more relevant in the classroom so that they can focus on the child and not the subject alone," he added.
The team consists of teachers in the respective subjects - programmers, content developers, graphic designers and hardware engineers who built the mobile robots, weighing 45 kgs each.
Though the team did not rope-in any manufacturer to make the robots, it sourced hardware and software components from the best players in the industry to assemble them in-house at a cost of ₹8 lakh each.
"The response of students to a robot teaching them is positive and encouraging. They feel the collaboration between a human teacher and a robot enhances learning. It makes the human teacher focus on the child and personalise learning," Indus Trust Chief Executive Lt. General (retd) Arjun Ray told IANS.
Touted as the first-of-its-kind, the school plans to scale the pilot project to roll out more robots for other classes and more subjects in future.
The school is also in the process of applying for an international patent to protect the IP (intellectual property) of its Eagle 2.0 version humanoid robot.
"The CLM purpose is to make human teachers more creative in the education sector. Robots will not replace their human counterparts but will work collaboratively with teachers as a tool or assistant to enhance the learning experience for the students in the classroom," added Lt. General Ray.
Anvi Kurade, a Class 8 student in the school here, said it was fascinating to watch a robot taking classes and teaching lessons in as many as five subjects.
The Indus Trust has 14 educational institutions across the country, including three top-ranked K-12 international day-cum-boarding schools, eight early learning centres, Indus Training and Research Institute, Indus School of Leadership and Indus International Community Schools in Bengaluru and Belagavi in Karnataka, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
About 4,000 students from 38 countries are enrolled in the Indus School and its branches, which have 520 teaching faculty.
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September 02, 2019
Thermal Engineering is a specialized sub-discipline of engineering that deals exclusively with heat energy and its transfer between not only different mediums but also into other usable forms of energy. A Thermal Engineer will be armed with the expertise to design systems and processes to convert generated energy from various thermal sources into chemical, mechanical or electrical energy depending on the task at hand. Obviously, all Thermal Engineers are experts in all aspects of heat transfer.
Many process plants (basically somewhere where some raw material or resource is converted into something useful, e.g. power plants, oil refineries, plastic manufacturing plants, etc.) contain countless components and systems which have to be designed in terms of their heat transfer; it is particularly important to ensure that not too much heat is retained so the component or process is not disrupted. Conversely, some processes or systems are designed to use heat to their advantage and a Thermal Engineer must make sure enough heat is generated and used wisely (i.e. sustainably).
Thermal Engineers must also know about the economics of the components and processes they design to make sure they not only provide an improvement over the existing solutions but also don’t lose the company money. Thermal Engineers are not limited in areas of specialization and can work in numerous fields. Below is only a brief example of areas a Thermal Engineer can work in:
  • Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in small and large-scale residential, commercial or industrial buildings.
  • Renewable energy systems.
  • Military and defense equipment.
  • Electronics and electrical components and systems.
  • Aerospace components.
  • Boiler, heat exchanger, and pump design, amongst others.
Common industries that regularly employ Thermal Engineers include power companies, the automotive industry, and commercial construction. While Thermal Engineers will generally spend most of their time working in an office they are often required to travel to the site of their current project.

The annual salaries as high as $193,500 and as low as $45,000, the majority of Thermal Engineer salaries currently range between $52,500 (25th percentile) to $114,500 (75th percentile) across the United States. The average pay range for a Thermal Engineer varies modestly (up to $62,000), which suggests there may be fewer opportunities for advancement based on skill level, but increased pay based on location and years of experience is still possible.
Based on recent job postings, the Thermal Engineer job market in both Mumbai, IN and the surrounding area is not that active, but at the state level for, companies are hiring. People working as a Thermal Engineer in your area are making on average $95,538 per year or the same as the national average annual salary of $95,538. ranks number 1 out of 50 states nationwide for Thermal Engineer salaries.
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September 02, 2019
Starting a study session without a plan
Some students think that starting with the easiest tasks—or the ones they're best at—will "ease them into" the material. Trouble is, when you get to the harder tasks, you still have the leap to make—and you're more tired, too. Suggestion? Start with the hardest or most challenging task.

Spending hours studying, but not getting anything done
Some students think the best studying is slow studying. Reading every word, one by one, writing every sentence of the paper, one by one, preparing one's presentation, one word at a time. But like any cognitive activity, studying is a process that takes place over time and gains strength by building up speed. If you focus too narrowly on the individual elements of what you're doing, you suck the life out of the learning and disrupt the intellectual growth that's possible, even in studying.

Being distracted by social media and cell phones
Some students keep three windows open as they read their E-textbook: one for the book, another for Facebook, and the third for Twitter. And then they flit back and forth from screen to screen, counting all the time as study time. When you're counting up your study time, count only the time you actually engaged with the material (not just the time you sat at your study place). If you can't do this honestly in your head, write it down. The pencil never lies.

Trying to cram for tests the night before
Many students think they can study really well the night before the exam ("I'll remember it best if it's freshly studied"). Few can.

Not asking the teacher for help when you don’t understand
Many professors give study questions or at least say in class what will be most important in the reading. Be sure to consider these all-important (and time-saving) suggestions before you start your reading. If yours is a class with math problems or proofs, be sure to consult the problems done in lecture or section before taking off on the new ones. Often the homework problems are variants of or extensions of, the work already is done.

Studying to remember, instead of studying to understand
It's useless to just shovel stuff into your mind that you don't understand. If you really are understanding what you're studying, you ought to able to explain the main ideas, in your own words, to someone who hadn't done the studying. Take the time to think about what you're studying—don't just prepare to parrot it on some upcoming exam.

Never using an agenda
Many students set elaborate study schedules—nothing wrong with that—and then beat themselves up when things don't go according to plan. Maybe some tasks took longer than anticipated, maybe some additional materials are needed to complete the task, or maybe you were just tired or distracted that day. Don't be too hard on yourself when you haven't kept 100 percent to your plan. Keep in mind that you'll have many study sessions and that remaining in a positive mood about your schoolwork is more important than how anyone study session—or indeed series of sessions—go.

Not learning from your mistakes
Some students do a lot of preparing to study or getting organized for studying. But they never get down to doing the studying. Don't give yourself credit for studying when you're actually just cleaning your desk or reorganizing your files on your laptop.

Don't count a "study group" as a study group.
Many classes have required or optional study groups in which you get together with a group of students from the same course to study the material. If you're participating in one of these, make sure you and your cohorts are actually studying the material, not just each other. If, for whatever reason, you're not studying the material, have a nice time—just don't count the time as study time.

Don't misidentify yourself as an owl. 
Many students think they can study really well late at night. Very few can.
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September 01, 2019
Taking a product from concept to reality is an intricate, expensive, and time-consuming process. Perhaps this is why entrepreneurs and innovative companies are celebrated so much in our culture...it’s not easy, and there is definitely some risk involved. Let’s take a deeper look at the process to create something from nothing, and how Creative Mechanisms may be able to assist!


You can break down the creative process into five simple stages:
  1. Idea
  2. Part design and prototype development
  3. Mold design, tool build, and mass-production via injection molding (for plastics)
  4. Assembly, packaging, and logistics
  5. Branding, promotion, and sales
Although the first and last stages typically garner most of the popular attention, steps two through four are the bread and butter of product development. You have to design an aesthetically pleasing, functional part - without recallable defects from manufacturing in order to have a successful product launch. Without a fundamentally sound product, you’re sailing against the wind.

1. Get the Idea. 

Skills involved in this part of the process include entrepreneurship, creativity, and business administration. Ideas typically originate with individual strategists, designers, entrepreneurs, or inventors. Coming up with a good one requires the ability to anticipate what people need and being able to visualize the concept before it’s a reality. While this might sound difficult, getting a good idea is the (relatively) easy part. The tough thing is making your idea a reality.

2 - 4. The Nitty Gritty.

The skills required to design and develop a part and prototype are pretty specialized. Specific capabilities that Creative Mechanisms can bring to the table include Computer Aided Design, Engineering, CNC milling, and industrial grade FDM printing. There are a lot of ways to crack this nut. Independent design shops, independent prototype shops, and independent injection molding manufacturers are out there. That said, you’ll benefit significantly from working with a single company that can walk through all three stages of the process with continuity. This drastically increases your chances of getting a design that’s functional and also manufacturable (meaning the part design, the material, the injection mold tooling and the injection molding specifications will be thought through from the beginning).

5. The Product is Complete.

So What? Once your idea has been taken from concept to reality, you may feel as though the work is over, but that is certainly not the case. What good is a functional, manufacturable, perfectly machined part if no one knows about it? Branding, marketing, and ultimately selling your work is what makes future innovation possible. Typically you’ll work with a marketing agency on the branding and promotional side of the product launch. For sales, you’ll need to distribute via e-commerce or through a variety of different relationships with retailers and/or direct sales people.
We’ve shown that it’s not necessarily a cakewalk to bring a concept from idea to reality. The good news is that there are ways to mitigate the risk and work involved, and thus ensure greater chances of success.
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September 01, 2019

Whether you’re applying for a job or conducting a public meeting, communication is a vital tool for engineers to master. Here’s how you can get started.
Don’t believe the stereotype: professional engineers aren’t shut away in workshops and labs. They’re at the heart of engineering firms and need to be excellent communicators to make sure their colleagues, customers and sometimes the public understand the importance of their work.
Here’s a 5 ways to improve your communication skills.

Handshake
People need to know who you are before they can trust you.

1. Make a good introduction

Before you can persuade anyone of anything, they need to know who you are and why they should listen to you. If you’re addressing a public meeting you should set out your role and credentials and those of your organisation. That will help build trust with your audience and give them a reason to take you seriously.
Similarly if you’re writing a job application letter, you should start by summarising your relevant education and experience. The recruiter will then know you fulfil the basic criteria and it’s worth their time reading the rest of your letter.

2. Balance detail with clarity

The only thing worse than listening to someone when you’ve no idea what they’re talking about is listening to them ramble on about nothing at all. The key to avoiding either of these scenarios is working out (or making a good guess) what the people you’re speaking to already know and what they will want to know.
If there’s a risk they’re unfamiliar with technical details and jargon then keep it simple at first – you can always add more detail in later. And if you do mention terms or concepts they may not have encountered before then make sure you explain them in clear language.
Equally, don’t skip over detail in favour of broad, bland statements full of meaningless marketing speak. (Avoiding any words or clichés you hear frequently on TV shows like The Apprentice is a good start.) Make specific points and back them up or illustrate them with examples while always trying to relate what you’re saying back to the point of view of the listener.

ICE communications competition meeting audience
Choose your style and language according to who your audience is.

3. Strike the right tone

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. Getting your tone of voice and the style of language right is vital to keep people interested, engaged and open. This will usually depend to some degree on what you’re talking about. How serious is the situation you’re discussing? How formal is the setting? How well do you know the people involved?
But there are obvious things that always apply. Never be rude or patronising, even if someone asks what you think is a stupid question. Try not to speak as if you’re reading a script, whether you’re trying to remember all the points you want to make or you have notes in front of you. And always try to sound like you think what you’re saying is interesting and important – if you don’t, no one else will.

4. Explain ‘why’ as well as ‘what’

When you’re talking to non-engineers, it’s important to understand that not everyone has the same enthusiasm for technology and design that you probably do. What they’re likely more interested in is what changes your engineering can make for them, whether that’s manufacturing products more cheaply, making a car run faster or reducing traffic congestion.
If you can outline a problem and then explain why your proposed solution is the right one, giving appropriate technical details along the way, then you should find people much receptive than if you just bombard them with a grand plan. Similarly, in a job application situation you need to explain why your experiences and skills match the requirements of the role – listing them isn’t enough.

5. Be confident

You won’t convince someone of your argument if you don’t seem convinced yourself. Avoiding eye contact, mumbling and too much self-deprecation or making fun of yourself will make people think you either don’t know what you’re talking about or don’t believe it.
Instead, make sure you speak clearly and firmly without being aggressive. Use positive language and focus on solutions rather than problems – you’ll find most people more receptive and make yourself look like a better engineer. And remember that everyone gets nervous. The trick is to act like you’re confident even if inside you’re suffering doubts about yourself.
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September 01, 2019 1

There are always various activities that can be done separately or combined in enhancing one’s experience. Herewith, there are few guidelines respectively outlined to serve as a practical reference.
1. Give yourself enough time to study
Make a study schedule that fits your way of studying and do not leave anything for the last minute. While some students do seem to thrive on last-minute studying, often this way of partial studying is not the best approach for exam preparation. Write down how many exams you have, how many pages you have to learn, and the days you have left. Afterward, organize your study habits accordingly.

2. Make sure your study space is organized


Make sure you have enough space on your desk to spread your textbooks and notes. Ensuring that the room is sufficiently bright and your chair restful enough are also points to consider. Pay attention to details that can distract you and remove them from your study space. Make sure that you feel comfortable in your study space and that you are able to focus. For some individuals, this may mean complete silence, while for others listening to music helps. Some of us need complete order to focus, while others like to study in a more cluttered environment. Make sure your study space is friendly and pleasant so that you can fully concentrate.
3. Use flow charts and diagrams
Visual aids can be especially helpful when revising study material. At the start of a topic, write down everything you already know about the subject. Closer to the exam, transform your revision notes in a diagram. In that manner, the visual remembrance can aid your readiness considerably when taking the exam.
4. Practice on old exams
One of the most effective ways to prepare for exams is to practice with an old version of previous exams. Also, an old test will help you see the format and formulation of the questions and it will be good for you to know what to expect but also as a worthy practice for measuring the time you need for the actual test.
5. Explain your answers to others
With the help of your family and friends, you could excel in your exam. Explain to them your reasoning for why you have answered a certain question in a certain way.
6. Organize study groups with friends
Study groups can help you get the answers you need and finish tasks faster. Just make sure the group is focused on the subject and they are not easily distracted.
7. Take regular breaks
Regular breaks are needed for the brain to regain its focus. It is not the best tactic to study long hours because long-term retention of knowledge is almost impossible. The most important part of studying is to develop a routine that fits your study style.  

8. Snacking on healthy food is good for the brain

You should not eat unhealthy food while you are studying. Keep your body and brain fit by choosing natural, fresh and vitamins rich food that is good for you and would improve your concentration and memory.
9. Plan the day of your exams
Check all the rules and requirements for the exam. Plan your route and the time it may take you to reach your destination – then add on some extra time. You do not want to arrive late and deal with even more anxiety.
10. Drink plenty of water
While studying for exams and even during an exam, it is advisable to drink water. Remaining hydrated is vital and adds to your overall positive mood.

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