MAR ATHNASIUS COLLEGE OF ENGINERING...MACE..KOTHAMANGALAM

 I was toying with the idea of visiting this institute for quite some time  MACE Mar Athnasius college of Engineering in Kothamangalam...my older lad Ganesh studied Computer Science here fron 2015 to 2019.

Kothamangalam is a small township closer to the Western Ghat mountains in the Ernakulam District of Kerala. Perumbavoor  is a major hub some twenty kilometers from Kothamangalam and Kothamangalam is not far from Muvattupuzha.The names of towns in this part of the world closely resemble each other and can be confusing. The district and city of Idukki is close to Kothamangalam and Kothamangangalam is transit point towards Idukki .However Idukki can also be approached through a place called Theni in Tamil Nadu. Nearly two hours from Idukki down the Western Ghat mountains is Theni.Idukki and this part of Kerala in general can be approached from Bangalore through Dindugal and Theni.

I had to get into a Kerala SRTC bus bound for Trivandrum which is a A/C hybrid bus 2+1 seater cum sleeper.Kerala SRTC must be congratulated for introducing this version of buses in its fleet because it is very comfortable. Karnataka SRTC is yet to introduce these buses to my understanding but would stand in good stead if they do so at the earliest.I had to get down at Perumbavoor which I did.

Perumbavoor is a fairly modern township with a elegant Government bus stand but to my understanding the bus-station needs better management.I had a stroll in the morning of Perumbavoor and could see large churches.The high point is that I got a budget room to stay here on the main road.My primary focus was to book a return ticket to Bangalore which I did on a Munnar-Bangalore service which stops at KSRTC Perumbavoor bus stand.

I decided to hire a taxi to Kothamangalam a very wise decision in many ways.The Taxi is a deisel run Auto-Taxi of Haridas. I was chatting with Haridass all along the stretch. TATA sons has stopped making these vehicles I was told by Haridas but is a splendid vehicle in many ways for its ruggedness and economy.The institute called MACE is on the Kothamangalam -Muvattupuzha road some two kilometers from Kothamangalam.Parking the Taxi in the stand Me and Haridas went about exploring the Institute.

I liked MACE for many reasons , a very well orchestrated place with top-class flora in and around. I had a look at the Electrical Machines lab which is half the size the lab we used to have at NIT but has all the machines. The lab incharge told me they even have Schrage motor which is a variable speed Induction drive.On the entrance to the institute is the photo of  CNR Rao.It was nice to see that Mr.Rao is honoured at this place.I used to know Rao when he was the Director of  Indian Institute of Science meeting him at times in the Faculty hall of IISc.

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Then I went to the Dept. of Computer Science and happenned to chat with a teacher of Ganesh who remembers him fonldy as a obedient lad who used to always sit in the front bench.Some how she was very glad to see me.

Thus ended a sojourn to this part of the World.This part of Kerala is less exciting to my observation acting more as a transit point to Munnar,Kottayam and Idukki.

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The Schrage Motor at REC NIT Calicut

The Schrage Motor at NIT Calicut has a special place for me..it was the penultimate experiment I did in the Electrical Machines lab of REC. The Electrical Machines lab was a zone of trials and tribulations for any student and an intense learning ground . I think the Electrical Machines Lab of REC is one of the better labs even compared with such facilities among other institutions of its kind. A large area about 1/3rd the area of a Football field housing various kinds of   Electrical Machinery. I enjoyed working at this set-up and was a very crucial part of our education honing logical skills and it is probably only in Electrical Engineering a student gets to work with many kinds of machinery with a wide range of Horse Powers.

My success rate at this lab was very very high some times out of fortune and at other times out of fortitude and this lab was always a pointer to me that I had some competence which I used to doubt and was diffident about and with time became certain about. Out of the many experiments I did here I only fumbled once and was successful at all others. It is nice feeling to wire a machine and then switch it on and to note all the meters are reading and the noise it creates and the machine responding to controls.My earliest success in this lab was as a first year student making a staircase wiring in the final exam which I executed to a high degree of accuracy.

The Schrage Motor possibly does not exist in many institutions of this kind I presume and is a special purpose Induction motor. Note the weakness of any Induction Motor is its lack of speed control meaning it works at constant speed..the speed of the rotating magnetic field determined bu 120 f / p which means the rotor speed of the motor can only be controlled by changing the input frequency or changing the number of poles. Before the invention and advent  of  Power Electronics changing of frequency was an impossible and improbable thought and the only other solution was to wire the system for multiple poles and change the number of poles thereby establishing different levels of speed. Today this motor would look obsolete or in congruent as devices exist that can vary input frequency thereby varying the speed of an Induction Motor.

On being given the Schrage Motor I wired the machine and went about my work to a high degree of  proficiency and even did the viva well and as I came out of the lab was filled with a sense of accomplishment that I can deliver under trying circumstance and the Schrage Motor was just one of those trials.