PIMSR’s IIC organised a Field Visit to PCE’s Research Lab & Maker studio on 22nd February 2023, Wednesday with 20 students and 2 PIMSR MMS faculty. The objective of the field visit was to see the PCE’s Research Lab & Maker studio facilities that exist in campus to encourage, develop and mould PIMSR students to be Young Entrepreneurs. The time of this visit was 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. and the venue of the visit was PCE’S Research Lab & Maker Studio ground floor, R wing.
First, students visited the CNC laboratory which is located in R-002. Prof. Richa and Prof. Vaidya from PCE briefed about the machines in the Computer Numerical Control laboratory. CNC Laboratory is the place where everyone can come up with unique and innovative ideas and shape it. Prof. Richa demonstrated with 8 to 9 levels of machines which are being used to develop an idea into a product.
In CNC laboratory, taking digitised data, a computer and CAM program is used to control, automate and monitor the movements of a machine. The machine can be a milling machine, lathe, router, welder, grinder, laser waterjet cutter, sheet metal stamping machine, robot or many other types of machines. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process in which a digital file is used to create a three dimensional solid object. In the 3D printing process, sequential layers of materials are laid down by the 3D printer until object creation is completed. Common laser cutters are primarily used to cut materials like wood; some plastics, and paper and cardboard, although there are more powerful laser cutters that can cut through metals and much thicker materials. Laser Cutters Can be quick, and churn out designed parts in just a few minutes. Prof. Richa shared all the above information & showed one alegria trophy made by students with the help of laser cutting and cardboard designing.
After the CNC laboratory, students visited Innovation and Research Centre which is located in P-002. This centre is dedicated to Phd scholars to carry out their research and live projects. Prof. Binju, from mechanical Engineering background, explained about drone technology. He showed some drone images from the centre like Kolhapur garbage Kesba, Leopard design, environmental image and explained about them in detail. Prof. Binju briefed about the development of the Bench top Biaxial tensile testing machine which was kept in the centre. It is an interdisciplinary project that consists of mechanical and computer projects.
Prof. Binju also showed a second machine model that was used by the dentist. This machine has a sensor and it takes around 1 kg load. It has a block diagram and it is a chewing jaw machine. It is very useful to the dentist. Because of this equipment doctors can easily find out how much tobacco, and cigarettes affect our jaw or teeth. It is a chewing mechanism which they are planning to make cost effective. Prof Amey, who is working on Plastic polymer explained about the main function of plastic polymer. Both natural and synthetic polymers are remarkably involved in comfort and facilitation of human life and are responsible for life itself. In the last leg of the field visit students then visited the Industry 4.0 Laboratory on the 4th floor in P wing. In that laboratory, three machine models viz; 5G Communication machine model, Robotics & Automation machine model, and artificial intelligence and machine learning model were explained along with its usage and importance. These three machine models were explained by the respective professors who are working on it in detail. Students engaged themselves through observations, active listening and by asking questions to seek clarity regarding the innovation & techniques in the electronics and telecommunication Engineering research field.
Through this visit students gained knowledge in the field of engineering and also how an idea can be converted into an innovative startup! The experience was enriching and enlightening for the students and they definitely benefited from this field visit.
