CEAMagazine

June 2007

Chemical Engineering Association

Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560012

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 THIS ISSUE OF THE CEA
MAGAZINE IS DEDICATED TO

PARESH JAIN

WHO IS NOT HERE WITH US

TODAY. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN
PEACE...

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 EDITORIALCOMMENT

Take this little quiz before you start reading. Given below are the first names of a
few stalwarts in the world of chemical engineering. Try to match them with the list
of surnames given.

Names: Sabri, Warren, Norris, Fritz, Jim

Surnames: Shreve, Knudsen, Ergun, McCabe, Knudsen, Haber

If you could match more than two correctly, this piece is not for you. Otherwise,
read on. In 1944, the iconic physicist Erwin Schrödinger wrote an essay called
“What is Life”, inspiring thousands of young people to follow a career in science.
Four decades later, Richard Feynman's insightful and outrageously funny
autobiography, “Surely you are joking Mr. Feynman” topped the bestsellers' list all
over the world and continues to regale and inspire readers even today. The
exploits of Einstein, Galileo, Edison and Newton are the stuff of academic folklore.

Mathematicians are celebrities too. There are countless books that profile the
struggles, triumphs and intrigues of Pythagoras, Euclid and Srinivasa Ramanujam.
Simon Singh's recent bestseller, “Fermat's Last Theorem” made minor celebrities
out of Euler, Gauss, Andrew Wiles and of course, Fermat among many others. The
life of John Nash even inspired an Oscar winning film. Computer scientists do not
lag far behind. The lives of Dennis Ritchie, Alan Turing and Steve Jobs have
inspired many many authorised and unofficial biographies, as well as chapters in
other widely read books.

Chemical Engineering is a vast subject, and the chemical, petrochemical and

biotechnology sectors form a large chunk of industry. But how many of us know
the story behind the development of Teflon? How many popular books (not
textbooks) chronicle the story of polymers or the infamous disasters of
Flixborough, Seveso and Pasadena (the Bhopal Gas tragedy has been in the
media spotlight for some time though). Why is there no movie about the
gargantuan efforts that went into the compilation of Perry's Handbook (there is a
very popular documentary about the history of the Oxford English Dictionary)?
How many children are told about the efforts that go into the development of new
paints and medicines?

Every major occupation needs a thriving culture of popular literature to inspire the
next generation. Unfortunately, the lives and times of famous chemical engineers
are not well documented. I have not provided any answers to the quiz above, in
the hope that atleast a few of you would search them out on the internet, and
probably learn a bit more about them. Happy reading.
Prithwiraj Mukherjee
Editor

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 TOPVIEW
The wonder that was India

Adapted from a compilation by Prof. K.Kesava Rao

The original article consists of excerpts taken from Dharampal's book “Indian
Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century”. The book contains accounts
by Europeans who lived in India in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. It was published in 1971 by Impex India, and reprinted in 1983 by the
Academy of Gandhian Studies, Hyderabad. Shri Dharampal's current address is
Ashram Prathishthan, Sevagram 442102, Dist. Wardha (Maharashtra)

A full copy of the article may be obtained from the author

kesava@chemeng.iisc.ernet.in

It is astonishing to learn from these accounts that our ancestors could apparently
predict the motion of the planets well before the advent of Newtonian mechanics.
The had a good estimate of π (~ 3927/1250 = 3.1416) and were aware of the
binomial coefficients of the exponent, several centuries before the general case
was stated without proof by Newton in 1676.

They were adept at inoculating people against small-pox (over a hundred years
before the introduction of inoculation in Britain), and performed plastic surgery.
They made ice by exploiting radiative transfer from pans of water exposed to the
atmosphere, and also steel bars of good quality (without foreighn collaboration!).
They had a sound knowledge of agricultural practices.

It is natural to wonder how our ancestors could achieve all this without access to
libraries, computers and other sophisticated equipment. It is also natural to reflect
on the present situation in India, which is quite different. Most of the research
work in the leading Indian institutions is motivated by ideas and problems
generated in the Western countries. In most fields, we have become followers
rather than leaders. Why have the springs of creativity dried up? Is it because the
present educational system stifles the spirit of enquiry? Is it because a large
proportion of the people engaged in teaching and research do not really enjoy
their vocation? Is it because the hustle and bustle of modern living, with its
attendant insecurities, deadlines, and distractions provides little time for
contemplation? Is it because centuries of indigenous knowledgeabout various
procedures and processes was abandoned, over a relatively short period, in
favour of the current scientific approach? Is it because our ancestors observed
nature more keenly than we do nowadays? As a hymn from the Rig Veda puts it:
“Who knows for certain? Who shall here declare it?”

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 STUDENTPERSPECTIVES
If clusters could speak

J. Sivaramkrishna
ME - I year

Srk: Good Morning! Buddies

Cluster nodes: Bad morning boss. Last night was terrible. We did not sleep.

Srk: Why?

Master node: Don't you know boss? I have been coordinating my team since last
evening trying to complete the job you gave me. None of us slept.

Srk: Trying! Still? I thought you would have completed early yesterday night.

Master node: Are you kidding boss? How on earth could you expect that to
happen. Did you take a look at the initial guess before you gave me. Miles away
from the final steady state value. I burnt huge amount of calories (consumed
more power) in channelising the situation all night.

Srk: So, you are not ready with the output yet.

Master node: Your numerical error is building up boss. I am afraid it will shoot up
as it reaches beyond the critical limits. Anyway don't worry. Most of our life is
filled with "nan" and "segmentation fault" by now. We got used to these.

Srk: Stop blaming me. Just accept that you are incapable of doing heavy
computations.

Master node:(with a grin on the faces of the cluster members) Boss, this is too
much. Don't undermine my team. We served you well for years despite many of
your mistakes.

Srk:(with embarassment) Mistakes! As in?

Master node: The one I just mentioned. Unusual initial guess and segmentation
faults, high memory inefficiency codes which over weights me, starvation(power
shut down), malnutrition (improper air conditioning), overloading (too many jobs
at a time), improper diagnosis when diseased, manhandling (force shutdown).

Srk: Enough! You were never better. I take lot of pains to get meaningful
conclusions from the raw data I get from your teammates for effectively

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monitoring you.

Master node: Boss, it’s not our fault. We behave in a statistically meaningful
fashion. The problem is because the fundamental interactions of the system are
not well defined.

Srk: You make a bahana to save face.

Master node: The list goes on boss with a new problem in the cart everyday. You
use us to avoid costly mistakes and you don't respect our service.

Srk: I bought you to do what I ask you to. You are a bonded labourer for your
lifetime.

Master node: Atleast that is better. He works only for his master. But We.
Sometimes, should work under whomever you say. A labourer can appeal to the
master as and when they feel incapable. But, we can do so only by showing the
result (output) which comes after we shed our sweat.

Master node: Boss, one of my teammates is ill. He is unable to do the job. Please
send a doctor for treatment.

Srk: OK. I will send the system specialist who came earlier.

Master node: No boss. Please don't do that. For God sake. He know nothing. The
previous time he came, my team mate was almost dead before he could
diagnoses the problem.

Srk: But He is the only one left.

Master node: Boss, I have some complaints.

Srk: (Yelling) What?

Master node: It is becoming difficult to coordinate my team. They complain of

partiality. The extreme members are happy while the middle men are suffocating
(lack of proper air circulation for middle nodes) and they are complaining of
breathing problems.

Srk: (In a hard tone) So, what do I do? Give acres of space for each of you?

Master node: Give the chance of being on extremes periodically to each of us.
Also, I can't take this master job anymore. I am burning more of my calories in
maintaining the monitor. Kindly relocate me.

Srk: You convince one of your teammates to shoulder your responsibility and I

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will have no issues replacing.

Master node: Boss, we observed partiality in dividing the work (during parallel
computing). A few get much easier jobs and a few get screwed up. Why don't you
do parallelization properly?

Srk: It depends on how you maintain your relations with infini band. Be good to
him and he will spare you with little work.

Master node: Don't lie boss. Infini follows your orders. Give him fresh protocol.

Srk: How dare you order me? Shut your mouth and get the job done. One more
job is awaiting.

Five minutes with Mr. M...

P.V. Gopala Rao

ME - II year

Mr.G was sitting on the steps beside the walkway near his hostels... he was
looking a little gloomy and pondering over something... he saw Mr.M walking
towards him and waved his hand... and, here goes the conversation between the
two...

Mr.M: Hi G, what r u doing here?

Mr.G: Feeling bored man... I don't know what to do (sounding really sad)
Mr.M: OK! Answer this... there are five bananas and an elephant... but the
elephant is not eating those bananas... why?
Mr.G: (thinking for a while to find few of the infinite set of possibilities) Maybe the
elephant is not feeling hungry!
Mr.M: no... you are wrong... the bananas are not real... they are plastic!
Mr.G: Oh!
Mr.M : OK then... let's suppose that the bananas are real this time... but, still the
elephant is not eating those... why?
Mr.G: (trying to give a clever answer this time) Maybe the elephant is still
thinking that those are plastic...
Mr.M: You are again wrong... this time, the elephant is plastic...
Mr.G: Oh, come on... this is cheating!!!
Mr.M: OK then, this time both elephant and bananas are real... but, still the
elephant is not eating those bananas... why?
Mr.G: (going back to his first answer) This time, the elephant is not hungry... this
should be the correct answer, at least...
Mr.M: Again, you are wrong... this time, the elephant is in TV and the bananas
are on the table... huh huh...
Mr.G: Oh man, you are incredible...
Mr.M: OK then, this time both the elephant and the bananas are inside TV... but,

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still the elephant is not eating those bananas... why?
Mr.G: (he is very much serious about answering the question correctly) Maybe
the picture is shot like that, and the director of the movie has given the elephant
enough food so that it keeps away from the bananas... (G is feeling relieved
thinking that his lengthy answer could be right!)
Mr.M: Why did you think it so complicated? after all, the bananas and the
elephant are in different channels.
Mr.G: Oops! you are mind blowing!!! (cursing M inside)
Mr.M: OK then, this time both the elephant and the bananas are inside TV and on
the same channel... but, still the elephant is not eating the bananas... why?
Mr.G: (growing impatient but still trying to give a correct answer) the TV might be
put on pause!
Mr.M: No... you are again wrong... the TV is actually switched off!
Mr.G: Oho... i couldn't answer even a single question of yours... let me ask you a
similar question..
Mr M: That sounds like a good idea, carry on!
Mr.G: There are four elephants swimming in a pool... an enthusiastic person like
Mr.M dived into the water and counted the legs... but, the total came out to be
twelve... how is it possible?
Mr.M: (thought for a while and answers) may be the elephants are a special kind
having only three legs each!
Mr.G: You are wrong! one of the elephants is doing backstroke!
Mr.M: No, this is cheating... how can an elephant backstroke?
Mr.G: When elephants can actually go and swim in a pool, why can't one of those
do backstroke? It is equally possible.
Mr.M: Hmm... okay! I agree...
Mr.G: (smiles his way) Chalo then, it's time for a tea... let's to go gym cafe!

P.S. Finally, Mr.G understood that "when you are actually bored, you need
somebody like Mr.M to chat with."
Meanwhile...
...all the scientists die and go to heaven. They decide to play hide-n-seek. Unfortunately Einstein is
the one who has the den...He is supposed to count upto 100...and then start searching...
Everyone starts hiding except Newton...
Newton just draws a square of 1 meter and stands in it right in front of Einstein. Einstein's counting
1,2,3......97, 98,99.... .100..... ... He opens his eyes and finds Newton standing in front....... .Einstein
says " Newton's out..Newton's out..."
Newton denies and says "I am not out........I am not Newton ......"
All the scientists come out to see how he proves that he is not Newton .
Newton says "I am standing in a square of area 1m squared..... That makes me Newton per meter
squared..... . Since one Newton per meter squared is one Pascal, I'm Pascal, Therefore Pascal is
OUT.......!
Contributed by Garima Chaudhary
MSc (Engg.) - I year

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 Chemical Engineering – a flashback

Prithwiraj Mukherjee
ME – I year

The Indian Institute of Science is a prestigious research organistation, and among

the best in the world. The Chemical Engineering Department prides itself on being
a trendsetter by working on the latest conundrums in research, and being a
forerunner in frontier areas like colloid science, nanotechnology, granular flow and
HIV therapy. At this juncture, the author would like to embark on a voyage to the
other side of chemical engineering- a world far removed from Molecular
Dynamics, Marangoni flows and Monte Carlo methods - the world of the chemical
engineer in his (her) formative days.

Scene 1: Particulate Technology lab in an Engineering college, somewhere in

mofussil Karnataka. A lecturer is interviewing a student (lets call him Mike) as
part of the final lab exam.

Lecturer: What is the efficiency of an ideal sieve?

Mike is stumped, as blurred images of photocopies of Coulson and Richardson
flash in front of him. Suddenly he has a flash of inspiration...
Mike: Very high sir...in fact its not possible to have such a sieve in practice.
Lecturer: Hmmm...thats true...an ideal sieve exists only in theory. But, what
would its efficiency be?
Mike: Very high sir, extremely high...
Lecturer: Give me a number! I want a number!!!
Mike scratches his head slowly and deliberately
Mike: Infinity...

Mike is now a fairly successful management trainee with a steel major, and has
bright future ahead of him. He is contemplating an MBA to further his career
prospects.

Chemical Engineering teaches one perseverance, tenacity and creativity – values

that would stand one in good stead throughout life. It is probably the only truly
interdisciplinary field of study, involving principles of physics, mathematics,
chemistry, biology, electronics, civil engineering, mechanical engineering,
economics, industrial engineering, computers, etc. But the most important skill
that a formal training in chemical engineering imparts is the ability to solve
problems in real life...

Scene 2: Examination hall in an Engineering college, somewhere in mofussil

Karnataka. A student (lets call him Raj) is tackling a particularly tricky question
paper. He has a Perry's handbook with him, where he has underlined important
formulae to help him design evaporators, condensors, heat exchangers and
distillation columns.

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Question: Design a distillation column to produce 100tpd of 95% ethanol. Make
any required assumptions and state them clearly. [50 marks]

Raj is in deep trouble. He hates design. He hates distillation columns. He used to

love ethanol in an earlier life, but hates it now, after a particularly traumatic
month spent in a distillery. He slowly ponders through the Perry. He is suddenly
filled with great respect for the man...a man who sacrificed his entire life for the
cause of chemical engineering, who compiled the greatest known treatise on the
subject, ensuring that process designers never had to look beyond his magnum
opus...a loud gong shatters Raj's reverie as he realises with a shock that only half
an hour remains...he begins punching numbers into his calculator at a feverish
pace... Reynolds number... packing factor...Raschig rings (oops! its a plate
column!)... McCabe and Thiele... Nusselt number... Grashof (or is it Schmidt?)
number ... plate separation... correction... pitch... enriching section... stripping
section... Raj is on a roll... like Robin Uthappa on the Barabati pitch... finally he
arrives at the all-important result...the height... 2985.3624 metres...the final bell
tolls. Time up. The invigilator is approaching. Raj is desperate. The Empire State
Building is 381 metres tall. He has seen ethanol distillation stills. They are just
higher than his three-storey college building. In desperation, he scratches out his
answer and enters
h = 21.37m

Raj passed his design examination with flying colours. He is now attempting to
solve complex problems of HIV fusion at a premier research institution.

The principles of chemical engineering are a beautiful analogy to life. They

prepare an individual for the future. Its no surprise that Jack Welch, Nagesh
Kukunoor, Harsha Bhogle and Linus Pauling were all trained as chemical
engineers. With due respect to whoever coined the original – you can take the
(wo)man off chemical engineering but you cannot take the chemical engineering
off the (wo)man.

This article is dedicated to R.H. Perry, D.W. Green and the countless
other contributors to the Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, who
dedicated themselves to the cause of chemical engineering with a
missionary zeal that would be hard to find today.

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 The quarter-life crisis

Foram Thakkar
Ph.D Student

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a
lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You
start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get
scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you
thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever
met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important
ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really
cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing
or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start
at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on
a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want.
Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find
yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you
have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is
acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry
with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused.
Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life
but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is
nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such
damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent
enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else
too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad
person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted
and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions
and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics
because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself
and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a

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contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our
best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole
thing out.

Brief Definitions

The author of this piece wishes to remain anonymous

Truth
It is the one a person/ society cannot change. It has no alternative and it is
tranquil in nature .no one can rewrite it.

Justice

Swadharm: A person does things according to his conscience.

Paradharm: Any other person does things according to his conscience.

Time effect: Justice is unbound by time.

Guru: In this world the Nature is the ultimate guru.

God
The God does not belong to a person or society. In this world truth is the real God.

Love
It is a sweet feel .All living beings undergo that.

Mannasu
It is formless .It shows interest in the bodily things and that there is no relation
between truth and mannasu.

Buddhi
It always lies between swadharm and paradharm. So it is restless.

Atma
It is the one recognizes the truth and has a godly nature.

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 LIGHTERSIDE
A college student sent a love letter (in Q/A format) to his classmate

Dearest ABCD(Gal's name), Please answer the following questionnaire. For

Options,
(a) 10 marks,
(b) 5 marks and
(c) 3 marks.

1) Whenever you enter the classroom, your sight always falls on me because:
(a) of love
(b) you couldn't control seeing me
(c) really ... am I doing it?

2) Whenever professor cracks joke, you laugh and turn and look at me
because:
(a) you always like to see me smiling
(b) you are testing whether I like jokes
(c) you are attracted by my smile

3) When you were singing in the class, I entered and immediately you
stopped singing because:
(a) you are so coy to sing before me
(b) my presence influenced you
(c) you feared that whether I'll like your song

4) When you were showing your childhood photo, when I asked for it, you
hide it
because:
(a) you felt ashamed
(b) you felt uneasy
(c) you don't know

5) During trekking, myself and my friend gave you hand for lifting you and
you took only my friend's because:
(a) you enjoyed my disappointment
(b) you won't feel leaving my hand after grabbing
(c) you don't know

6) You were waiting yesterday for bus and didn't get into your bus..
(a) you were waiting for me
(b) you were dreaming about me and didn't notice the bus
(c) that bus was crowded

7) You introduced me to your parents when they came to college because:

(a) I am going to be your groom
(b) you just want to know what your parents think about me
(c) just you felt like introducing me to them

8) I told that I like girls wearing roses. Next day, you came with a rose on
your head because:
(a) to fulfill my wish
(b) you like roses

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 (c) by chance you got a rose

9) on that day, it was my birthday. you too came to temple early at

6:00 A.Mbecause:
(a) you want to pray along with me
(b) you want to meet me before any one could meet on my birthday
(c) you want to wish me at temple because you are spiritual.

If you have scored more than 40, then you love me. Don't delay in expressing
it. If you have scored between 30 and 40, love is budding in your heart and
it's getting ready to bloom. If you have scored less than 30, you are in
confusion whether to love me or not.

Eagerly awaiting your reply.

Love,
EFGH(Guy name)

To know the answer of this letter, turn to page No. ........

Here is the reply from girl' side.

ABCD's reply letter was also in Q/A format..

EFGH,
Please answer the following Yes/No questionnaire.

1) If somebody sits in the first row, normally people entering the class,
sees them.
(a) Yes (b) No

2) If a girl laughs and looks anyone, is it love?

(a) Yes (b) No

3) While singing, if somebody forgets lines of the songs, wil he/she stop
singing or not
(a) Yes (b) No

4) I was showing to my friends (who are all girls) my childhood photo. You
poked your nose inside... right?
(a) Yes (b) No

5) I avoided to hold your hand during trekking. Couldn't you understand yet?
(a) Yes (b) No

6) should I not wait for my best friend (Anjali) at the bus stand?
(a)Yes (b) No

7) shouldn't I introduce you to my parents as a friend?

(a) Yes (b) No

(8) You have said you also like Lotus, cauliflower, banana's flower. Is it
true?
(a)Yes (b) No

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9) Oh was that your birthday. That's why I could see you in temple. I come
daily to Temple. Do you know?
(a) Yes (b) No

If you have answered "Yes" to any of the question, then I am not loving you.

If you have answered "No", then you don't know the meaning of Love.
Hope everything is clear to you.

ABCD

Contributed by Ateeque Ahmad Malani

Ph.D Student

DEADPOETS
SOCIETY

“Chemical Engineers are not gentle people, they like high temperatures and high
pressures.” - Steve LeBlanc

There is a marked departure in the nature of this issue of the CEA Magazine. Most
notable is the absence of any poetry. In previous issues, amateur poets have
waxed eloquent on various subjects. There have been forlorn lovers berating their
unfaithful muses. Others have attempted to uncover the hidden mysteries of life.
Still more have tried their hand at writing humourous rhymed couplets, while the
lazier ones just swiped them straight off the internet! The CEA magazine has even
played host to creative talents of little children.

What could be the reason for the sudden death of the poetic spirit? Has the spark
died down, or is it just a hiatus where the master poet is suffering from acute
writer's block? Are the pressures of academics so great that it has killed the poet
within all of us? Only time will tell. In the meanwhile, here's to the poet in all of us.
Let us hope this is not a premature obituary to the poet within us.

- Ed.

P.S. On a lighter note, there are no vernacular contributions this time around,
which is in itself the greatest tribute to the Department's initiative of introducing
compulsory English classes for every student!

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 DEPARTMENTGRAPEVINE

CEA congratulates Kakasaheb, Ateeque, Kalyan and Mahesh, who tied the knot
recently. All the best...

Placement/ further study updates (as of 13 June, 2007)

Aarthi MSc (Engg.) Shell

Anjaneyulu ME Wipro
Girish ME TRDDC
Gopal ME CRL
Krishna Babu ME TVS
Krishnaswami ME Shell
Lakshmanan ME BPCL
Mahendra ME GE
Marimuthu ME Invensys
Mathew ME BPCL
Santosh ME Invensys
Srikalyan ME Ph.D (IISc)

Congratulations to...

Prof. V. Kumaran for being awarded the J.C. Bose National Fellowship - 2006

Prof. Giridhar Madras for being awarded the Swarnajayanthi Fellowship and for
being the Scopus Young Scientist – 2006

POSTSCRIPT
On behalf of the entire department, CEA wishes the outgoing batch of 2007 all the
best in their future endeavours.

CEA Executive Committee (2007 – 08)

President – Dr. S. Venugopal

Vice- President – Foram Thakker
Secretary – Shreyas L.
Joint Secretary – Prithwiraj Mukherjee
Treasurer – Garima Chaudhary

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