IIT Bombay organized a workshop on Solar Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Technologies and Applications during December 12-22, 2011.

Amrita’s A-View e-learning platform enabled participants in 35 remote centers including Amrita Schools of Engineering at Amritapuri, Bengaluru and Coimbatore to attend the workshop.

A multi-modal multimedia-enabled system that uses four high-resolution displays to provide an immersive learning experience through the internet to participants, A-View has been used for several such workshops in the past.

One goal of these workshops is to train teachers in engineering colleges all over the country in topics of contemporary relevance.

“In the tropical areas of India, intense sunlight is available for long hours every day. Solar energy, therefore, has great potential as a future energy source,” explained the workshop organizers.

In India, solar energy is being promoted by the Government via the National Solar Mission to promote ecologically sustainable growth, while addressing energy needs in the country.

Professors from IIT Bombay associated with the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education taught the theory classes.

The practical sessions were conducted at the remote centers in Andhra Pradesh (NIT Warangal), Arunachal Pradesh (NERIST Nirjuli), Assam (Tezpur University, Sonitpur), Gujarat (NIT Surat and School of Solar Energy, Gandhinagar), Haryana (NIT Kurukshetra), Karnataka (Manipal Institute of Technology), Rajasthan (Jaipur Engineering College) and Tripura (NIT Agartala).

Several colleges in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu also participated.

The Amrita Schools of Engineering hosted participants from nearby colleges as well. Full-fledged laboratories were set up to conduct the practical sessions on solar photovoltaics.

The workshop focused on all design aspects of solar energy harvesting systems.

“This program increased the awareness among the teaching community about the use of clean energy, the need to create job opportunities in the renewable energy sector for the young generation, the possibilities for transforming the way of life in rural areas and the need to kick-start a major new industry segment in the area of solar energy conversion,” stated Dr. Kanakasabapathy, Vice-Chairperson of the Amrita EEE Department at Amritapuri.

“The outcome of this program was that the requirement for the trained teachers, engineers and scientists that are needed in this critical area will be met over the next decade. Teachers in these areas had the opportunity to develop their competences and knowledge on a highly specialized subject, and can now teach it to hundreds of students at their colleges.”

Earlier, IIT Bombay conducted yet another nation-wide workshop sponsored by ISTE (Indian Society for Technical Education) on Heat Tranfer.

Participants in 30 remote locations participated in this workshop during November 29 – December 10, again using the A-View e-learning platform.

“A-View made it possible for teachers located in different places to follow the course almost as if they were all in the same classroom, since they could interact directly with the instructor,” shared Ms. Devi Parvathy S., Assistant Professor, Amrita Department of Mechanical Engineering at Coimbatore, who coordinated participation from her campus.

The course included an introduction to heat transfer and to one-dimensional conduction, conduction rate equation, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and heat diffusion equations.

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Transforming Education
Remote Center at Amrita Campuses for IIT Workshop

January 26, 2012
Amritapuri Campus