46 Early research in Electrical Department and experience in a factory

As  mentioned earlier, RECs  were  mostly teaching  institutions in the beginning. Very little research work was being done and teaching was given paramount importance. It is only recently that members of faculty are showing more interest in research and publications. The reason for this, obviously, is the   importance given for research, publications and consultancy in career promotions. Over-emphasis on research and consultancy results in teachers spending less time in the preparation for teaching. It is well known that in I.I.Ts  members  of faculty who are good in these,  go up the  ladder faster than those  who are  only good teachers. Exceptional teachers like Dr.V.G.K.Murthy  in IIT Madras and  Prof A K Mahalanabis in IIT Delhi were clear exceptions as they were exemplary teachers and  brilliant researchers at the same time.  Ideally research should be complimenting teaching, but unfortunately very few good researchers even in I.I.Ts are poor or mediocre teachers. In my opinion, many of the teachers in RECs/NITs are definitely superior to their counterparts in IITs. Fortunately the students admitted to I.I.Ts are the  best  in the country in intelligence and the infrastructure  also being  very good, they  learn  themselves and do very well in their career.

In the 70s , the  only research that was going on  our Electrical department  was with  initiatives from Dr.P.S.Srinivasan.  He had done his PhD in USSR and the research work had    immediate relevance to the industry. It is well known that in Europe, most of the research done in academic institutions were of immediate application of the industry. Because  of this those who have done PhD in Germany , USSR  etc were good in doing research of immediate use to industry. Dr.Srinivasan   was a very good example for this. Since he was also an excellent teacher this was a unique  combination.

One of the research and developmental work was to use thyristor to develop several gadgets. This component was being used in power control devices and he developed several gadgets using thyristor. Thyristor like  transistor is a solid state  power controller or an electronic switch. Instead of three terminals in transistor, thyristor has four terminals with the fourth terminal used to control the power flow into a device. Thyristor was slowly replacing the mercury arc rectifiers which were too bulky and inconvenient to use. Dr.P.S.Srinivasan developed a thyristor controlled  device to change the speed of a fan without wastage  of energy. This speed regulator will not get overheated as it does not waste any energy in its circuit. This was probably a forerunner of the present-day electronic regulator for fans.

Using the same principle, he had developed several devices to control motors  in  different applications. One such development resulted in replacing the commutator of a D C machine. Sri.P.P.Gervadis and Sri.Thomas Joseph (left for Nigeria and later resigned from REC) were associates  with him in this project. It is  during this period, Century  Cotton Mills, Bombay made an enquiry about a  controller for  motors  used  in their spinning mill.

In the textile mills of those times, several relay contactors were used for winding cotton threads in forward and reverse directions. When current is reversed alternately, these relay contactors were   damaged due to sparking and required frequent maintenance. Dr.P.S.Srinivasan suggested a better alternative to these  contactors which  could be used as  special type starter for each motor. This was tested  thoroughly  in our laboratory for several days and  he was ready for installation in their factory. Department deputed me to install these motor starters in the Century Mills Bombay.  I was to attend a summer school in Bombay I.I.T. during that time.

So, I installed the special starter developed in   REC Calicut in a factory. With some help of the technicians   in their factory, their motor starter was replaced by this starter and the working demonstrated satisfactorily. The factory staff was very happy with the performance and I reported this to Dr.PSS  after installation. I returned after purchasing some cotton clothes for our kids   from the sales outlet in their factory. It was a unique experience to me as I had not worked in any industry till that time. In general, very few of the teachers in academic institutions get a chance to work in industries to enhance their knowledge and experience. Our exposures were limited to a few visits to the industries during our educational tours with the students. In many countries in the West, close interaction   exists between industry and academia which is beneficial for both. In our country, practicing engineers have very little   confidence in academic work and vice versa. Many problems facing the industry could be effectively tackled  by  joint work of the  engineers in industry and teachers in engineering colleges.

It is really doubtful whether any serious industrial research is being carried out. Often, what is happening is re-engineering of ideas  taken from gadgets  manufactured outside.  takes the role of original research. Large number of seminars and discussions have taken place between the  persons involved   but nothing serious  is being  done to  reduce  the widening gap between industry and academia.

There is a provision for training of teachers in industries for short periods of 3-6 months with full salary and some additional allowances, but very few takers are there for such training opportunities. The quality of teaching in engineering will definitely be better if the teachers  have direct exposure to industry and methods  of the industry. In many  countries in the West,  engineers  in industry  work in academic institutions and teachers  in industry   alternately. The research outputs from academic institutions will be really useful to the society .Let us hope  with recent  emphasis  on skill development and promotion of start ups , this sad state of affairs will change.