Dr. Saravana Kumar M P

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The B.Tech Civil Engineering Student, Bikalpa Gautam (20BCL0135) is undergoing ‘Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)’ under the supervision of Dr. Tan Chuan Fu, SIMTech. This program is funded by the Agency for Science, Technologyand Research (A*STAR), Singapore.

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The B.Tech Civil Engineering Student, Anil Khadka (20BCL0138) is undergoing ‘Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)’ under the supervision of Dr. Bidur Kafle at Deakin University, Australia.

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The B.Tech Civil Engineering Student, V. YashwanthRao (16BCL0105), is undergoing ‘Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)’ under the supervision of Prof.Dr. Stephen P. Mattingly, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, USA.

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The students of M.Tech, Structural Engineering, Subhashree Panda(18MST0008), KanaksharadNikam (18MST0007), FarasSahilAhamadShabbir (18MST0061) completed their individual projects under the guidance of Prof.Dr.SubramaniaamRajan and Prof.Dr.Narayanan Neithalathat School of sustainable engineering and the built environment (Ira A), Fulton schools of engineering, Arizona State University.

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The M.Tech – Energy and Environment Engineering student, Aswathy Das A (18MEE0010), was selected for “Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)” in Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Canada under the supervision of Prof.Dr.VenkateshMeda.

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)

The M.Tech – Energy and Environment Engineering student, SanjilaNeupane (18MEE0027), was selected for “Semester Abroad Programme (SAP)” in Department of Civil Engineering, Kathmandu University, Nepal.

Best Paper Award

Mr. M. Monish Raj, student of Dr. B. Srimuruganadam has been awarded second prize for presenting the technical paper titled “Exposure to fine concentration and its inhalation dosage in urban environments” in the “4th Indian International Conference on Air Quality Management (IICAQM 2019) organised by Department of Civil Engineering, IIT madras, Centre for environmental Science and Engineering, IIT Bombay and Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, University of North Texas on 18th -20th December 2019 at IIT Bombay.

Best Poster Award

Mr. Shashank Somwanshi ,M.Tech (Energy and Environmental Engg, School of Civil Engineering received Best Poster Award (First Price under Environmental Category – Gold Medal and Cash Price of INR 2000) in the 15th International Symposium on Metal Ions & Organic Pollutants in Biology, Medicine and Environment (METALIONS 2019) held at CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur, India, 30‐31st October, 2019 for the poster titled ‘Potential dose attributed to the particulate matter exposure from indoor air pollution sources’, under the guidance of Dr. B. Srimuruganandam (Associate Professor, SCE, VIT-Vellore) in collaboration with Mr. Sanket Mankar (Project Assistant, CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur), Dr. Sangita Goel (Scientist, CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur), and Dr. R. Gupta (Prof. and Head, Dept. of Civil Engg., VNIT, Nagpur).

2019 Student Design Challenge

Third year Civil Engineering student Mr. Asmit Goel ( 17BCL0162 ) won the Third place in the Transportation Engineering Design Category in the 2019 Student Design Challenge conducted by Bentley Institute that operates to Empowering future professionals, the student digital skills enhancement arm of M/s Bentley Systems, USA. Mr. Asmit was guided by Dr. Sasanka Bhushan, Associate Professor, SCE. Congratulations to both Mr. Asmit Goel and Dr. Sasanka Bhushan.

CSIR Senior Research Fellowship

Junaid Nabi (17PHD0084) under the guidance of Dr Abdul Rahim, Department of Structural and Geotechnical engineering, from School of Civil Engineering was awarded the CSIR senior research fellowship-Delhi for the title “Assessment of structurally optimized beams” from April 2019 for the period of two years.

CSIR Research Fellowship

Congratulation to Anjali R (17PHD0172), Department of Environmental & Water Resources Engineering for receiving CSIR Fellowship the guidance of Dr. S. Shantha kumar for the research project titled “Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Wastewater” from April 2019 for a period of two years.

Indo-US Fellowship

Ms. Anu Mary Ealias, Research Scholar (SRF- UGC MANF) in our School of Civil Engineering received Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (WISTEMM)-Women Overseas Student Internship Program supported by the DST, India and implemented by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), to visit University of California, Irvine, USA for a duration of 6 months.

Research Internship At University Of PISA

Congratulations Ms.Jayashreelakshmi Perumal (18BCL0169) , Department of Civil Engineering on completing the “Research studentship Programme “ at the Department of Earth Sciences of the UnIversity of Pisa ,Italy to work on the Indo-Italian project titled “Petro-archaeometric characterisation of potteries from excavated sites at Alagankulam and Keeladi, Tamil Nadu ,India “ for a period of 9 weeks . She worked on the minero -petrographic characterisation of ancient ceramics, acquiring skills and expertise in thin section analysis and X-ray diffraction data acquisition and processing . She also worked in collaboration with the Department of chemistry of the University of Pisa and CNR institute of Pisa in performing the experimental sessions of GC-MS analysis on organic residues ,portable XRF and Raman analysis on non- destructive spectroscopic characterisation of ancient materials.

Research Studentship Programme

Heartiest congratulations to Kunal Kakria (17BCL0049) and Nithin Nerella (17BCL0063), Department of Civil Engineering for being selected as a part of “Research Studentship Programme” at the department of Highway and Pavement Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM in collaboration with Novapave Sdn Bhd for a duration of 2.5 months. They studied the possibilities of utilizing Tyre Rubber as a filler in asphalt and Fiber with varying gradations in asphalt and studied their effects while finding their scope in road construction. They also worked with different materials like Cold Set Asphalt (Vialit, Germany), Fiber Mastic Asphalt (Malaysia), Runway pavement (Shell, Indonesia) etc. performing the experimental analysis by Resilient modulus, Flow and stability, Marshall fuel test etc.

Mr. Kunal Kakria (17BCL0049), B.Tech, School of Civil Engineering under the guidance of Dr. S. Thirumalini, School of Civil Engineering and Dr. Venkatesh Srinivasan, School of Electrical Engineering presented a paper titled “Three-Dimensional Implementation of Modified Rolling Sphere Method for Lightning Protection of Giant Medieval Chola Monument in South India” at the 14th IEEE International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS) held at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka from 18th to 20th December 2019. The research explores the use of 3D modeling of old Chola temples and using various methods to identify the locations susceptible to a lightning strike along with suggested preventive measures.

Skill Empowerment Programme for Women Workers in Construction Industry

School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology and Ultratech Cement jointly organized a Skill Empowerment Programme for Women Workers in Construction Industry.

Dr.S.Shantha Kumar, Dean, School of Civil Engineering and Dr.A.Sofi, HOD-SGE delivered welcome address to the gathering. Dr.A.S.Santhi, Professor – SCE delivered felicitation address and she appreciated the partipants for coming forward to this Training Session. The Chief Guest Er. A.P.Murugan, Asst. General Manager Regional Technical Services, Ultratech, Chennai delivered speech regarding importance of selection of Construction Material, Techniques, effective plastering methods. As a part of this programme, practical demonstration of testing and characterization of mortar and concrete was given by T.Prakasam, Territory Technical Services, Manager, Ultratech and Dr.S.Balamurugan, Asst. Professor (Senior), SCE.

Dr.T.Shanmuga Priya, Associate Professor, SCE delivered the vote of thanks to the gathering at the end of the programme. Totally 60 women workers in construction Industry have benefited in this programme.

International Conference on Recent Trends in Construction Materials and Structures (ICON2019) 18-20 September 2019 (Inaugural Function)

School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology organized a three days International conference on “Recent Trends in Construction Materials and Structures” (ICON2019), from 18th to 20thSeptember. Dr. G. Viswanathan, the founder and Chancellor of VIT inaugurated the conference by lighting the Deepam in the presence of the Chief Guest, Thiru P.G. Venkatram, Chief Executive of L&T Infrastructural Engineering Ltd., Chennai. Our chancellor, during his presidential address, he comprehended the importance of civil engineering and added that it was the first established department at VIT. He also cited that civil engineering being the mother of all engineering branches will always subsist to show its prominence in this word. He informed the gathering about the humongous investment plan of the Indian Government in infrastructure development and how it creates opportunities to civil engineers for building their careers in this field. A conference Souvenir was released by the Chancellor and the Chief Guest.

Thiru P.G. Venkatram has nearly 30 years of experience in design of bridges. He is involved in the design of a number of cutting-edge cable supported bridges. In his inaugural address, he reiterated the importance of being a civil engineer. He called civil engineering as the “glue that holds all the society together.” He appreciated the delegates for coming forward and presenting their research and informed that their work has to go through a lot of steps such as testing, prototyping, validation and checks on safety and reliability before being used in practice. He said that “knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied” and appreciated the organizers for this opportunity to share knowledge.

The conference had some keynote speeches from eminent speakers, Dr. Choong kok Keong, Associate professor Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr. Lau Hieng Ho, Professor and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Swinburne University of Technology, Malaysia, Dr. Prachand Man Pradhan, Associate Professor, Kathmandu University, Nepal and Dr.Radhey Sharma, Professor, West Virginia University, USA.

As a part of the event, a pre-conference workshop on “characterization and micro-structure analysis of concrete” has been organized with 80 participants form institutions across India on 17th September 2019. The resource persons, Dr. Manu Santhanam, IIT Madras, Dr. B.B. Das, NIT Karnataka and Dr. J Karthikeyan, NIT Trichy have delivered thought-provoking lectures. A technical design contest namely Make-A-Thon was conducted where 96 students of VIT, formed into 16 groups, exhibited their creativity in all the five themes provided to them. The best design model was awarded with a cash prize of Rs. 6000

The scientific committee of ICON 2019 received more than 100 research abstracts. After peer reviewing all the abstracts, 52 delegates are presenting their research paper in the conference. Eventually, selected papers will be submitted to SCOPUS indexed publications namely, ACI Material Journal and Disaster Advances and Springer’s Proceedings for consideration for publication.

ICON2019 PRE CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

It is well known that the microstructure of concrete has a significant role in influencing its properties include strength and durability due to the effect of various parameters like porosity, permeability, and pore size distribution. To achieve high strength and good durability properties, to prevent concrete deterioration, to reduce the capillary porosity and to accomplish a substantial reduction in the total porosity, a need to reduce the gel porosity is required. This leads to a change in the C-S-H structure from porous to more crystalline phase, i.e., change in concrete micro-structure. Therefore, gaining a deeper understanding of how the performance of concrete is impacted by its microstructure is of prime significance. This workshop aims to provide a platform to impart knowledge on the microstructure of concrete and its influence on the behavior of concrete.

Make-A-Thon

A technical Design Context namely ICON2019 – Make-A-Thon was organised by Dr. A. Sofi, Associate Professor & HOD, Dr. T. Meena, Associate Professor, and Dr. J. Jayaprakash, Professor, School of Civil Engineering, VIT. This event was held on 10th August 2019 at Foodys, VIT, Vellore. A total of 96 students from both UG and PG programmes of School of Civil Engineering, participated in the make-a-thon event. The students of 16 groups exhibited their creativity in five different themes that includes Earthquake Engineering, Building Stability on slope, Bridges, and Tall Structures to them. The best design model was awarded with a cash prize of INR 6000.

Fellowships

Awards

Team EKALVYA -2020

The B.Tech undergraduate students of SCE, VIT, Vellore were participated in American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) student chapter events (Concrete Canoe Competition, Sustainable Solutions and Blue Sky Competition) and In-House events (Aura-Zap, Trionta Wall, Kegrete and Treasure Hunt) held at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Erode, India during 3 – 6 March 2020.

They won the Champion in the “Concrete Canoe Competition (Indian Zone)” and qualified to participate in University of Wisconsin, Madison in this year. They won First and Second prizes in Sustainable Event and Blue Sky Competition, respectively. In addition to that, they bagged First and and Second Prizes in Aura-Zap &Trionta Wall and Kegrete& Treasure Hunt In-house events, respectively. They were the overall champions of the Conference by winning both the ASCE and In-house events. VIT will host the ASCE Indian Student Region Conference in the upcoming year 2021

Team Eklavya is the first and only Civil engineering team of VIT, Vellore. It started its journey in 2015 by setting first concrete canoe “Poseidon” to sail at IIT Madras and winning a commendable position. It became the first ever Indian team to participate in the National Concrete Canoe Competition (NCCC) with the concrete canoe “Holi” held at University of Texas in Tyler. In 2017, Team Eklavya casted the canoe “Ambush” for NCCC held at North Carolina, USA. They won the “David Bayer Sportsmanship Award” and secured a noteworthy position. Team Eklavya was also the first team from India to participate in the Student Steel Bridge competition organized by the American Institute of Steel Construction with the steel bridge “Veer” in 2017.

Team Eklavya has successfully followed its motto, “Engineering beyond the bull’s eye” over the course of 4 years.

Eklavya was formed with the objective of making learning a practical exercise and innovate by adopting new technologies in the field of Civil Engineering. Eklavya has achieved various accreditations in several regional colleges. Some of them are 1st position at CEA, IIT Madras; multiple first positions in CONCLASH – Kongu Engineering College, Erode 2018; official Invitation to present Team Eklavya and their workmanship in front of delegates and students at Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.

Some other important international accolades are – 2nd lightest concrete canoe at ASCE NCCC Charlotte, USA, 2017; 5th position in Design Paper and Presentation, multiple consolation prizes at various events held across the USA in 2 years. In 2018, VIT organized the first ever Regional Conference of the Competition in India. Team Eklavya won the conference with the canoe “Kaarvan” securing first position among all categories, amongst teams from all over the country.

Indian Society of Earthquake Technology, Vellore Chapter

Managing committee

Indian Society of Earthquake Technology, VIT Student Chapter

ISET Student Chapter was established in March 2017 and by the initiatives taken by VIT Vellore, so as to encourage students to attend and organize conferences, workshops, training programs, etc., and thus to gain more knowledge about the earthquake resisting structures and uses them for social welfare. Every year we get new members added and the widespread awareness has marked an increasing profile.

Faculty Coordinators

2. Mr. Simon. J Assistant Professor, VIT Vellore

• A National Seminar on ‘Earthquake Engineering’ – 17.02.2017 at VIT, Vellore
• Basic Modeling and Analysis using Abaqus for Civil Engineering Applications – 23.09.2017 at VIT, Vellore
• Sturdy-A-Thon – 23.09.2017 at VIT, Vellore
• Workshop on ETABS and SAP2000 – 24.02.2018 at VIT, Vellore
• Workshop on Abaqus – Civil Engineering Applications – 17.03.2018 at VIT, Vellore
• Workshop on ETABS – 04.08.2018 at VIT, Vellore
• Workshop on SAP2000 – 04.08.2018 at VIT, Vellore

Indian Concrete Institute- Students Chapter

• One-Day Workshop on “Analysis of RCC framed structure using STAAD.PRO” 30^th August 2017
• One-Day Workshop on “Self Compacting Concrete” 17^th January 2018
• A one-day workshop on “Optimization of RCC structures” 4^th February, 2018
• One day workshop on “Cold Formed Steel Structural Design As Per Is 801” 24^th February, 2018
• One day Workshop on “Repair and Rehabilitation of Structures” 17^th March, 2018
• One day workshop on “Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures (IS 1893:2016 & IS 13920:2016)” 24^th March, 2018
• Two-Day National Conference on “Special Concrete” 20 & 21^st   September 2018
• Build-A-Thon – 5 & 6^th  October 2018 at VIT, Vellore.
• One Day Workshop on “Concrete Mix Proportion for Practicing Engineer” 20^th February 2020 at VIT, Vellore.

Faculty Coordinators of the Chapter

One Day Workshop on “Concrete Mix Proportion for Practicing Engineer”

School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology and Ultra Tech Cement Limited jointly organized a Workshop on “Concrete Mix Proportion for Practicing Engineer” in association with ICI – VIT Students Chapter on 20th February 2020. Dr. A. Sofi, HOD-SGE delivered welcome address to the gathering. Dr. S. Shantha Kumar, Dean, School of Civil Engineering, delivered felicitation address and he appreciated the participants for coming forward to attend the Workshop. The Chief Guest Er. A. P. Murugan, Asst. General Manager Regional Technical Services, Ultra Tech Cements Limited, Chennai delivered speech regarding importance of selection of Construction Material, Techniques, and achieving Mix proportioning. Technical Lecture delivered by Dr. S. Bala Murugan, Asst. Professor (Sr.) and T. Prakasam, Territory Technical Services, Manager, Ultra Tech Cements Limited. The practical demonstration and testing of concrete were done by the ICI – VIT Student Chapter, VIT Vellore. Prof. M. Hareesh, ICI – VIT Faculty Coordinator delivered the vote of thanks to the gathering at the end of the programme. More than 35 members from Vellore District were participated in the training programme.

American Society of Civil Engineers, VIT Chapter: ASCE, since its inception, has been making its mark in the vast world of VIT clubs and chapters. It won the Best Chapter Award in 2015 and 2016. It has been consistently organizing greatly informative classroom events on topics such as MS Project, Use of Nanomaterials, Building Information Modelling, etc. It has a long history of organizing mega successful events for Riviera and Gravitas such as Zenith, Jenna Reloaded, Suspendo, Sumo Wrestling and Zorb Soccer. It continues to do so with the same panache. ASCE-VIT provides a platform for civil engineers, and a way to vicariously be part of the rich co-curricular culture of VIT. Not only does it contribute to ASCE globally with the insights of young scientific minds towards the constantly budding field of civil engineering, but also gives students the opportunity to explore the discipline holistically. This is how symbiotically, ASCE helps provide engineers who can excel theoretically as well as practically. ASCE-VIT, along with its extravagant events and workshops, organizes one of the most awaited grand fests- “The International Civil Engineering Symposium” every year by the month of March. Attracting budding civil engineers not only from within the campus but throughout the periphery of the state, this fest offers every kind of skill through workshops that a student seeks for along with numerous fun events.

• Icivil 5.0
• Suspendo
• The Mighty Boat
• Jenga reloaded
• Zenith
• Contraption
• Civil-o-pedia 2.0
• Zorb-Soccer
• Sumo-Wrestling
• Splash The Ring
• The Civil Business
• ITS-Intelligent Transportation System
• Construction Building Methods
• Construction Materials and Techniques Workshop
• Revit-BIM Workshop
• MS Project Workshop

WATER CONSERVATION WEEK

School of civil Engineering (SCE) organises Water conservation week every year in the third week of March during water world day. “ Water Conservation week 2019” programme at VIT university Vellore was held between 18 to 22 March 2019. The main objective of this program was to include among student community and public about the importance of water and how to address water problems. Various events involved part of this program provide platform for students to show the case their talents in water conservation, rainwater harvesting, recycling and reuse of waste water and technically solving water related problems. The event organised are i) Leak a Thon ii) Street play iii) Show case by student iv) Ideathon v) Guest lecture vi) Quiz vii) Drawing competition. Overwhelming responsibility from student community across the university was observed. Students participated with great enthusiasm in all the above programs showcased their talents during various events, such as, how to solve water scarcity problem, flash floods, waste water disposal problem, problems due to water contamination from industries, handling drought situation. This program is definably helpful for students to understand problems faced by society and how to find solution to these problems by applying multi-disciplinary engineering techniques.

Masons Training Program

Three workshops were conducted for Masons by VIT in association with Ramco Cements Limited on,

VIT – TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SUPPORT FOR VELLORE CITY

Our civil engineering students Ketan Srivastava, Aastha Maniar, Sheikh Suhail and Vishal Agrawal under the guidance of Dr.S.Vasantha Kumar, Associate Professor carried out a detailed traffic and junction layout study at Green circle, one of the busy rotary intersections in Vellore and submitted the report to Superintendent of Police, Vellore. The remedial measures as suggested by the students such as design of traffic signals, road widening, shifting of bus stops to decongest the traffic were immediately implemented. It has got published in THE HINDU newspaper.

Green Circle Widening Done As Per The Proposal

Our B.Tech Civil Engineering students namely, P.Priyadharshini, B. Dhanalakshmi and K. Settu under the guidance of Dr.S.Vasantha Kumar, Associate Professor carried out a exhaustive traffic study at Chitoor Bus Stand Junction in Katpadi, Vellore and suggested various remedial measures to reduce traffic congestion at the Junction. The study results were submitted to Thiru. P. Pakalavan, IPS, Superintendent of Police, Vellore.

Identification Of Accident Hotspots In Vellore District

A detailed accident study was carried out for Vellore district by Dr.S. Vasantha Kumar, Associate Professor, School of Civil Engineering. Accident hotspots were identified using GIS and maps of hotspots were prepared and submitted to Superintendent of Police, Vellore. A detailed field investigation at the identified accident hotspots was carried out to find the causes of accidents and remedial measures were then suggested.

SAFETY WEEK-2017

PHYTOREMEDIATION TO RECLAIM THE POLLUTED LAKE OF PULIYANTHANGAL, RANIPET

Dr S.K. Sekar and Dr S.Thirumalini undertook the characterization studies of lime plasters at Naganatha Swamy temple and Thanjayur Palace for proper restoration of structures.

Dr. P.Porchelvan , Dr. S.Shantha Kumar and Dr.B.Srimuruganandham serve as expert members of the district level environment impact assessment authority with the Ministry of Environment and Forest Department .

Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS)

The Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) was established in the year 1948, having headquartered in New Delhi, aimed in promoting co-operation among engineers and scientists for the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in the field of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering and allied fields and their practical applications. To promote closer interaction amongst geotechnical engineers spread all over the country, local chapters of the Society were introduced in 1968 and they were encouraged to organize activities throughout the year.

About IGS- Vellore Chapter:

The Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) –Vellore Chapter was inaugurated by the Former President of IGS Prof G N Ghandhi in the year 2013 at VIT University Vellore, becoming the 37th local chapter of IGS. With enrolled life members of various backgrounds, the society provides a common forum for academicians, research workers, designers, construction engineers, equipment manufacturers, and others interested in the geotechnical activity. Several Seminars, lectures, and workshops were organized continuously for the benefit of local engineers and students.

To provide an opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Civil Engineering to get exposed to careers and opportunities in the field of geotechnical engineering, IGS Student Chapter was inaugurated in VIT, Vellore by the IGS President Dr. N.K.Samadhiya on 21.10.2021. This student chapter was inaugurated to develop leadership skills among students through activities like seminars/workshops/lectures. Technical events organized by the Student chapters will also expose them to the wide coverage of current trends and exciting professional/teaching/research opportunities in geotechnical engineering.

IGS VELLORE CHAPTER OFFICE BEARERS