2022 Report : Life is a game!

 January 2022

Planning of UG level full-semester course and 5-day CEP course with Dr. Chirodeep Bakli, titled "Wind Technology : Fundamentals and Applications", supported by Prof. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay (Head, EE). Course proposal submitted. 

Choosing and ordering of (i) Electromagnetic Flange-Mounted Brake (EFMB), and (ii) Cup-Anemometer with Wind Vane.

Blade casting methodology update.

Hub alignment with new HT bolts.

Site inspection by Mr. J. S. Rao (Exe. Engineer, Civil Construction and Maintenance Section, IIT KGP) and Mr. S. Ghosh (Sr. Exe. Engineer, Electrical and Mechanical Works Section, IIT KGP).

Laptop repair (with new SSD).

Hysteroscopy polypectomy and mutual-fund investments in Kolkata.

Control Systems design work begins in SIMULINK by Mr. Pritam Das, under the supervision of Dr. Bakli.

Study of Incremental Rotary Encoder (IRE) and Absolute Rotary Encoder (ARE).

Yawing System Design begins.

February 2022

Car Repair.

Blade casting methodology finalization with Prof. Prasun Jana and Mr. Gautam Poddar.

New students in the Wind Turbine Project Team :

1. Mr. Kashyap Patel, 2nd year, Mechanical Engg.
2. Mr. B. Nandkishore, 3rd year, Mechanical Engg.
3. Mr. K.S. Pavan Kumar, 2nd Year, Aerospace Engg.
4. Mr. Soham Sen, 2nd Year, Electrical Engg.
5. Mr. Priyanshu Gautam, 2nd Year, Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg.

Yawing system design quantification.

IoT (Internet of Things) planned for the wind turbine.

Arrival of (a) Electromagnetic flange-mounted brake (EFMB) and (b) Anemometer with Wind Vane.

Visit of second cousin Piyali (from Bengaluru) and her mother.

Planning of a CEP course titled 'Fundamentals of Vibration'.

First testing of the anemometer (in Students' office) for data collection by Mr. Pritam Das and Mr. Kashyap Patel.

March 2022

Arrival of Incremental Rotary encoder. Site-visit.

 

IRE gear making by Mr. Nirbhay and Mr. Jus Jaisinghani, testing by Mr. Pritam Das and Mr. Nirbhay.

Brake stand design and fabrication.

Stretcher-making for full nacelle by Mr. Kashyap Patel.

Blade fabrication methodology finalization with Prof. Prasun Jana, Aerospace Engineering.

3D printing of blade and its crucial parts by Mr. Jus Jaisinghani, inspection by Mr. Gautam Poddar.

Nacelle Space optimization planning.

Yaw system design begins

Project Internet-of-Things (IoT) portal begins, by Mr. Priyanshu Gautam.

Anemoemeter testing on site by Mr. Pritam Das, supported by Mr. Nirbhay, Mr. Kashyap Patel, Mr. Priyanshu Gautam, Mr. B. Nandhkishore, Mr. Soham Sen. 

 

Controls team makes its first presentation : Mr. Pritam Das, Mr. Soham Sen, Mr. Priyanshu Gautam.

IIT Kharagpur Senate approved the 3-credit course "Wind and Micro Hydro Technology", co-proposed with Dr. C. Bakli, as a depth (compulsory) course for the 2-year M.Tech program in Energy Science and Engineering, and open as an elective for undergraduates across all disciplines.

The complete team meets Prof. Dhrubajyoti Sen, Dean (Student Affairs), and Professor, Civil Engineering.

CFD analysis update by Mr. B. Nandhkishore. 

Yaw IRE design and set-up plan by Mr. Jus Jaisinghani, with feedback from Prof. B.D. Sahoo, Dept. of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engg.

The team gets new students : Mr. Souvik Basak (3rd year, ME) and Mr. Ishan Nargolkar (2nd year, OE&NA)

April 2022

Mechanical team's first presentation to Prof. A.K. Samantaray and Prof. Anirvan Dasgupta, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. 

Trip to Mandarmani (after 7 years).

Teaser released for Phase 3 (Nacelle Assembly)

New FRP Sample making by Mr. Ishan Nargolkar.

First attempt at blade casting, led by Jus Jaisinghani.

May 2022

RPM IRE testing by Mr. Pritam Das and Mr. Priyanshu Gautam.

UTM testing of FRP samples.

Davis anemometer on-site installation and data collection. 

Blade casting : Suction side.

CFD analysis of wind turbine rotor. 

Visit to Kolkata.

Brake-stand making.

Brake testing.

Blade casting : Pressure side.

Wind vane testing in the wind tunnel of Prof. Chirodeep Bakli.

Blade casting : Nose joint (1st attempt).

June 2022

Controls systems code-migration from ARDUINO UNO to RASPBERRY Pi by Mr. Pritam Das and Mr. Priyanshu Gautam. 

Fixing the Analog-to-Digital converter (ADC) to the micro-controller, live wind data collection and processing, testing of Anemometer-vane, and RPM IRE in Raspberry Pi by Mr. Priyanshu Gautam.

Blade adhesive study by Mr. Devraj Das Adhikary and Mr. Souvik Basak. 

Indigenous Slew Drive finalization by Mr. Souvik Basak : supplier deal begins. 

Construction of the anemometer stand, and its installation on site.

Purchase of manual caulking / adhesive applicator gun and nozzle from Kolkata by Mr. Ishan Nargolkar and Mr. Devraj Das Adhikary; for joining the blade.

Blade casting : Nose joint re-making (3rd attempt).

Induction motor testing in the Machine Lab, Dept. of Electrical Engineering.

July 2022

Blade stems perfectly aligned between the suction side and the pressure side of the blade. Edge preparation done for blade-joining (nose side and tail side) of both sides of the blade. 

Bed plate optimization by Mr. Souvik Basak and Mr. Kashyap Patel. Blade strength analysis by Mr. Pavan Kumar in ANSYS. Nose-taping of the blade.

Phase-3 planning beings : by Mr. Kashyap Patel. 

Site-installation of ACD anemometer and wind vane. Ethernet cable-laying on site. 

Trip to Singapore. 

International Congress on Sound and Vibration (ICSV28). Presented the following papers :

• A. R. Krishnanunni, N. Datta, “A Simplified Procedure to Calculate the Natural Frequencies of a Small Wind Turbine Blade with Centrifugal Loads”.
• D. Swaroop, J. L. Jaisinghani, N. Datta, “Dynamic Response Analysis of Monopole Tower for Customized Small Rooftop-Mounted Wind Turbines”.

Meeting close friend Shrutivandana Sharma after 12 years. 

Cycling around :  East Coast park, Bedong Jetty, Tanjong Rhi Pier / Suspension bridge / Lookout tower.

Exploring Singapore : Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Buddhist Temple in Chinatown, Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India. 

Trip to Jurong Bird Park.

August 2022

Alumni Meet : with Batchmates Jayanta Mandal and Vishal Kumar.

Started teaching my new core full-semester course on Wind Technology, to the 1st year M.Tech students of the School of Energy Science and Engineering. 

The making of the blade.

September 2022

Blade joined! 

Wrote several recommendation letters for the project students. (I love supporting deserving students in furthering their careers). Also wrote an abstract for an international conference, co-authored by an undergraduate student. 

The feedback to my new course on Wind Technology in the School of Energy Science and Engineering was excellent. I planned to offer the course in the next semester also. 

Swimming became enjoyable. I learnt how to tread water. I cleared the test for 200 m non-stop swimming and 7 minutes of non-stop water treading. I also learnt to duck-dive and reach the floor of the pool. 

The second half of this month saw a major burnout phase. The speed and intensity of work for this whole year had overwhelmed me. I needed a break. It was coupled with a severe emotional breakdown. Someone had betrayed me. I got attacks now and then. Hormonal imbalances happened. My lipid profile again went for a toss, with the cholesterol numbers climbing up. 

October 2022

REST. I took help and some soothing medication to de-clutter my mind. I stayed at home and unwinded. Slept a lot, sometimes for 12 hours a day. Cancelled classes to stay in my solitude. De-fragmented my brain. Stopped over-thinking about the future. I realized I still have a bit of PTSD due to my mother's death. It has been more than 21 months and still I get flashbacks of her illness and death. Felt a bit depressed for a week or so. Took time off from normal life. Began music therapy : listened to zen meditation music a lot. It was a very good break, something which I had not taken for over a year. It was OK, I told myself. Life has its own patterns and rhythms. Not all months are as productive as others. Over-work leads to fatigue. I was mentally fatigued with work. I was simply not feeling up to it. I shelved my work guilt-free. Had I not, I would have been taxing myself, decimating my productivity, and getting burnt out. It is OK to pause at times. Retrospection is important. We sometimes need to halt out journey, step back, and access ourselves. I was tired accomplishing tasks and completing To-Do lists. Life had been on a high gear for a year now. It was time to hit the brakes. Working continuously had sapped me of all my energy. I was drained. I needed to recharge my batteries. 

November 2022

Wrote my diary. Recapitulated my last 40 years. It has been full of hard-work and challenges. IIT had been ruling my mind since 1996, i.e., when since I was in Class 9 and had first heard about it. I had been chasing the IIT standards since then. From 1996-2001, I prepared for the toughest engineering entrance exam in the world, i.e., the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), to reach IIT, with an All-India rank of 2262. For the next five years (2001-2006), I was an undergraduate student, clearing IIT's curricular requirements and other expectations. Then in 2006-2011, i.e., during my PhD at the University of Michigan, I was preparing to be an academic researcher, and painstakingly getting my credentials ready to apply as an Assistant Professor at IIT. From 2011 onward, I became a faculty at IIT, and kept meeting its requirements of research publications. I had no life of my own except work. I had no hobbies. I barely had friends. WORK was never-ending for me. I could never switch off. One idea always gave rise to many more. My brain was constantly flooded with new problem statements. Every professional success whetted my appetite for more. I was always trying to get new lines on my CV. Chasing academic goals had become a habit. I had become a workaholic. (In this blog, most of pictures are about my work and my students). There was no work-life balance. I was doing work-related stuff even at home. Most of my travel in these 11 years had been work-related (conferences, project meetings, industry visits, etc.). I always kept myself to the IIT KGP motto "Dedicated to the Service of the Nation", and forgot to live for myself. Building human resources had become an obsession for me. I was working for others' betterment, completely forgetting my own life (because I had already established myself in a respectable position). I had been a workaholic because I was afraid of sitting out on the game. I was running some unending race. I was done now! I was time to make a dignified exit.

Instead of seeing IIT as a (mere) employer, I had still seen it from a student's point of view, and had taken the immense pressure. I had written 50+ high-impact international papers, taught over 15 different courses (including labs), handled over 100+ students in projects (PhD / M.Tech/ B.Tech), held administrative posts, handled work-calls 24/7, been physically available for work round-the-clock. There was no 9-to-5 routine. Actually, I had never "settled down" in KGP. I was always dreaming big, and KGP was a stepping stone. No, I am not talking selfishly. I had myself contributed enough to the consolidation of this stone. I had done my duty towards the society and the nation. I had slogged it out in this remote place, where there was nothing else to do. Aur kuchh karne ka nahin hain, toh phir thoda kaam hi kar lete hain? Is it not high time to live my own life? How long should I be condemned to a uni-dimensional life here? How long should I punish myself, without a social life and a personal life? Lagta hain poore duniya kaa bhaar apne khandhe par uthha kar chal rahi hoon. 

Took a strong and conclusive decision :  The Wind Turbine Project will be my FINAL work at IIT Kharagpur. Period.

Began my final push towards the wind turbine project. Slowly got back to work. Gathered my Wind Turbine Group back, and mobilized them into executing tasks, one by one. Began planning for Stage 3 of the project, i.e., putting everything together to give shape to the machine. Began purchases. Listed out all components. Sequenced the assembly process. Scheduled the blade-production in parallel. In any project, planning is paramount. When tasks are planned in advance, once can clearly foresee the process, and plug in the details.

December 2022

Stage 3 of the Wind Turbine Project began in full swing. The nose-cone of the hub was designed by Mr. Devraj Das Adhikary using CFD. The Blade production was outsourced. Electrical equipment (Power Supply Unit, 3-phase contactor, DC motor, converter, multi-meter) were purchased. Electronic protocol testing was started by Mr. Harsh Singh, under the supervision of Mr. Pritam Das. Mechanical components were ordered. The Drive-train layout fine-tuning was started by Mr. Sayan Siuli and Mr. Souvik Basak. The infrastructure was painted white under the supervision of Mr. Lavesh Kasodekar. The extreme weather protocol inputs were advised by Prof. K Jayanarayanan (CORAL) to Mr. Priyanshu Gautam and Ms. Gargi Raj. The RPM-IRE gear was redesigned by Mr. Nirbhay, and was given for the final 3D print. 

Mechanical team got a new student : Mr. Tanish Goel, 2nd year, Mechanical Engg.

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