Category: Alumni

My journey from being a Graduate in Electronics & Communication Engineer to joining for M-Tech in Renewable engineering was nothing short of an adventurous ride. However, over the past months at my University at Gandhigram Rural Institute, I realized that to achieve my dream, I should first be capable of embracing different cultures. This would enable me to learn the different ways I could approach things in life that were outside my comfort zone. Hence, this decision to mingle with people from different walks of life, people born and brought up in a different culture, and who spoke other languages from that of mine, pushed me to apply to the IGCS school programs.

I still remember that day; it was a late night at the end of January. I received my invitation letter from IGCS to participate in their Winter School 2020. I was super excited. From being a girl from a remote agricultural village in Kerala, who had hardly travelled out of state, let alone mingled with people from a different culture and language, now I was going to be a part of an international level program.

I started wondering about how this experience would be. Would my language skills be sufficient to interact with the other participants? Would I be able to communicate with the team? All excitement changed in an instant. The reasons that made me apply for this School stood up straight against me and I started to question my calibre. I was so confused and questioning myself: “Shall I accept this or not?” That was an endless night with circling thoughts. I tried to calm myself: “If I miss this chance, I will never get an opportunity like this”. I tried to be strong thinking: “Whatever happens, I’m going to be a part of the Winter School.” I accepted the offer to be a part of IGCS Winter School 2020, and then, I did it again and participated in the Summer School 2020 too.

The 15 days of Winter and Summer school made a substantial positive impact on me. All my previous fears were wrong. The IGCS team was very supportive, and they were frequently in contact, and they are always ready to help and always willing to listen.

I am sure that apart from being a platform to develop myself as a person, the IGCS Winter School Program also helped me a lot as an aspiring engineer. It is with extreme happiness; I say that I was not mistaken. In particular, I must say that the 15 days I spent at IIT Madras for the IGCS Winter School program 2020 brought about many changes in me both as a person and as an aspiring engineer. From language to culture, it was all diverse there, and that helped me a lot in coming out from the cocoon I had surrounded myself in. The unending discussions I had with students from Germany and the different states of India helped me understand how the differences in culture influence how we see and approach things. That strengthened my belief that as an aspiring engineer with an ambition of working in the rural sector, I should embrace these differences and try to incorporate different perspectives into my work.

The interaction I had with students and officials from Germany gave me a glance at how Germany is leading the way in Renewable Energy. The Winter School on “Sustainability in the Peri-cene: Human settlements, Food, Ecology and Governance” was instrumental for me to explore and learn about various scientific and technological solutions and contribute ideas to the issue of sustainable management of the environment and governance structures in the peri-cene. The peri-urban interface creates different kinds of problems and challenges regarding the broader consensus of environmental sustainability, regions at the edge of peri-urban areas are continually changing and expanding. The presentations and group projects gave me a good overview of the peri-urban interface. It creates various problems and challenges regarding the broader consensus of environmental sustainability and the human settlements on the Chennai greater corporation (GCC). The most exciting and challenging task was project work. My group consists of five members coming from different disciples that made our project group very interdisciplinary and exciting.

The participants’ food and accommodation, which had been taken care of by IGCS coordinators, was delicious and well planned. The coordinators were always ready to help the participants. I believe that the boundaries of countries are never going to separate people’s views and ideas but in fact, people from different geographies and backgrounds can learn from each other. Here, IGCS is an excellent platform for every student to improve their ability to exchange ideas. This platform allows every student to speak and express himself or herself without fear. For me, the 15 days of Winter School were an unforgettable experience where I met new people that became good friends. Now, I can proudly say that I am also a part of the IGCS family. I strongly suggest IGCS schools to everyone because it positively influenced my personal and academic development.

IGCS February Meetings
February 17 – 19, 2020 at IIT Madras, Chennai

India and Germany have closely collaborated in the fields of higher education and research for decades now. Since 2010, this close relationship was further intensified with the inception of the Indo-German Centre for Sustainability. The center plays a significant role in the Indo-German teaching and research landscape and is only possible thanks to the generous funding of the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, the Indian Department of Science and Technology DST and ithe center’s partner Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen. in these ten years, IGCS has achieved major milestones, among others:

• around 700 exchanges of students and researchers were funded
• several research projects condcuted and findings published in nearly 100 articles, book chapter, conference proceedings and patents
• 19 Winter and Summer Schools were conducted
• the basic course “Ecology and Environment” was introduced to all IIT Madras students’ curricula, aside from various other sustainability-related seminars at IIT Madras and German university with the particiaption of IGCS project members
• various Indo-German meetings and workshops, amongst others the workshop series Indo-German Dialogue on Green Urban Practices and Urban Resilience
• opened up its own facilities with classrooms, laboratories and offices at IIT Madras in 2017

The annual February meetings in Chennai provided the perfect opportunity to celebrate these milestones. Over the course of three days, various meetings were held, excursions to projects and Tamil Nadu’s highlights done, and IIT Madras’ flagship projects visited. The February meetings were accompanied by a RWTH delegation of 17 members, headed by the rector Professor Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger and Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Professor Dr. Ute Habel. The highlight was the celebratory event on the 18^th of February, followed by a festive dinner. IGCS and IIT Madras were delighted to welcome German Ambassador Walter J. Lindner, Consul General Karin Stoll, DAAD-president Professor Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, staff from DAAD and DFG India as well as various professors and staff from IIT Madras as guests to the event.

New faces at IGCS

At the Advisory Board meeting, the newly appointed rector of RWTH Aachen University (2019), Professor Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger, was inaugurated as new member of the IGCS Advisory Board. He is Professor Dr. Ernst Schmachtenberg’s successor.

IGCS waved goodbye to the loyal and hard-working Indian center and area coordinator Professor B.S. Murty and the area coordinators Professor Ligy Philip and Professor Sudhir Chella Rajan at the Steering Committee meetings. All three professors have done an exceptional job in bringing up IGCS to what it is today: teaching and researching on sustainability topics at IIT Madras and Germany, facilitating joint events in Chennai and supervising many IGCS-fellows, long-term guest researchers and the center’s newly appointed Postdocs. IGCS area coordinator for Energy, Professor Dr. Krishna Vasudevan takes over as Indian center coordinator and will have support from his colleagues Professor Dr. R. Vinu (Waste Management), Professor Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam (Land Use, Urban and Rural Planning) and Professor Dr. S.A. Sannasiraj (Water Management). IGCS wishes Professor Murty, Professor Ligy and Professor “Chella” Rajan the very best and looks forward working with new colleagues and the new research expertise they bring to the center.

More reasons to celebrate the Indo-German partnership

Closely connected with IGCS is the eminent role of the Director of IIT Madras, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi in the cooperation with RWTH Aachen University. Aside from IGCS, he has supported the successful Strategic Partnership between the two institutions. Since 2016, both sides have been receiving financial support under the program Indo-German Partnerships in Higher Education, funded by the DAAD- and the University Grants Commission (UGC). This helped significantly to enhance the Strategic Partnership by implementing targeted measures aimed at increasing the exchange at all levels and at institutionalizing the cooperation. It has resulted in over 100 visits so far and the initiation of joint research projects in a variety of subjects. During the visit, the award “Honorary Fellow of RWTH Aachen University” was given to Professor Ramamurthi in recognition of his scientific achievements, his merits for the bilateral cooperation and for the success story of the IGCS and Strategic Partnership with RWTH Aachen.

The years 2019 and 2020 are remarkable for both institutions. For IIT Madras, 2019 marked the 60^th anniversary. It was also the year in which the IIT Madras celebrated becoming the top-ranked engineering institute in India for four consecutive years and emerged as the ‘Best Educational Institution’ in the overall category in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. As of August 2019, IIT Madras has also been declared an Institution of Eminence (IoE) by the University Grants Commission.

Simultaneously, an international panel of experts approved RWTH Aachen‘s application as a University of Excellence in 2019. By the beginning of this third round of the German Excellence Initiative – the Excellence Strategy – RWTH has already developed into an Integrated Interdisciplinary University for Science and Technology, focusing on the convergence of knowledge, methods, and insights. It now aims to create a unique national and international educational, research, and transfer environment with dynamic research networks that transcend individual disciplines and organizational boundaries. With 2020 being the year of RWTH Aachen’s 150^th anniversary, the timing for a joint celebration of IITM’s and RWTH’s tradition of excellence could not have been better.

IGCS Germany sincerely thanks the Indian IGCS project members and Professor Mahesh Panchagnula and the staff of the Office of International Relations for their great hospitality and support in realizing the meetings and celebratory events.

German Ambassador Walter J. Lindner together with the director if IIT Madras, Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, and rector of RWTH Aachen University, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger at the celebration. Source: IIT Madras, 2020; President of DAAD, Professor Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee. Source: IIT Madras, 2020; The IIT Madras Research Park served as venue for the celebratory events. Source: Frank Behrendt, 2020.

PhD students Lukas and Nina both spent some time at IGCS in Chennai to conduct a research project this summer. With their short reports they allow us a glance over their shoulder into their life in Chennai, the ups and downs conducting their research and explain in what way their research contributes to sustainability.

Nina, RWTH Aachen University

Topic: Land-use and contamination following extreme flooding events

India’s south-eastern coastline is susceptible to flood events such as river floods, storm surges and tsunamis. During such flood events, not only sediments are transported and deposited in the catchment areas but also contaminants with potential toxic effects on human health and the environment. There is a need to improve the understanding of these sedimentary processes to evaluate the spatial distribution of contaminants in the depositional areas and the following consequences in ecological and human health-related terms.

To get a better understanding of the contamination characteristics of the sediments and land use potential of areas after flood events, a field campaign was conducted in and south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The field work included collection of sediment and surface water samples, which are currently being analyzed for various geochemical parameters in the laboratory, and studying local conditions by interviewing local residents, performing drone flights and making observations in the field. The campaign was supported by local staff of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) and of the Annamalai university in Chidambaram who helped us organizing the field work and accompanied us in the field which included finding suitable sampling spots and talking to local people in Tamil, the local language in Tamil Nadu.

The main challenges were related to field work organization and involved missing permits, adjustments of sampling locations and schedule. But in the end, we were able to collect samples at all planned locations and with the help of the observations made, based on interviews with locals and on the analytical results, we will be able to get a deeper understanding of the area characteristics, the contamination situation and the flood events, mainly the devastating tsunami in 2004 and the major flood event in 2015.

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During the exchange, I’ve experienced many highlights, like a boat tour through the mangrove forest in Pichavaram, visiting beautiful temples and getting to know new people and the Indian culture. As local staff of our cooperation partners were always with us in the field, we gained a deeper insight into the Indian culture and the daily life in Chennai and its surroundings due to all provided explanations. We received a traditional Mehandi painting, which is like henna, and turned our hands orange for approx. two weeks and we tasted a lot of very tasteful Indian food.

I am very grateful to having received the opportunity to go to India and doing research there. The work and contribution of the IGCS for the improvement of sustainability in India and the ongoing cooperation between Germany and India are very valuable for both societies.

Lukas, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel (CAU)

Topic: Testing the application of an innovative sensor for detecting microbial contamination in bank filtration wells for rural water supply near Chennai during monsoon

Chennai has a lot of lakes that are suffering severely from anthropogenic impact. Also, there is a lake cascading system that is containing seven lakes and a big marshland. My research topic is the assessment of the water quality in the lakes and of the water flow of surface and groundwater. Furthermore, this project supports Prof. Dr. Indumathi M Nambi and her team from the Civil Engineering in a restoration project of one important lakes in the cascading system.

The water quality can be determined by a lot of parameters in the field and the lab. Therefore, every month field visits are necessary to sample the lake water, measure in-situ parameters and assess further parameters in the laboratory. Also, measuring the water flow makes it possible to estimate how the pollution is spreading and where it may come from. Besides, the interaction between surface water and groundwater can be evaluated. Since the lakes are highly polluted, it is important to know if the lakes are also affecting the groundwater which is being used for washing, cooking or even as drinking water in households. To determine the water flow field visits are necessary to state the connectivity of lakes, survey the groundwater level in pipes and wells and calculate flow directions of e.g. the groundwater.

In general, to measure the status quo of the lakes, the water flows and to identify the pollution sources is important for future projects that focus on the renaturation of the lakes and on fighting the pollution in the areas. From good water quality in the lakes not only the people will benefit in many ways but also the biota that is connected to the lakes. For the sake of the environment taking action is from the biggest necessity.

A big challenge for the project is the extreme drought. Many measurements couldn’t be done because of the lack of surface and groundwater. Nevertheless, we were, for example, assessing the water quality twice and surveying groundwater levels three times. With this data, I’m continuing the work of a colleague and we are gathering a great database of the cascading lake system.

One of my highlights in India was to see the beautiful landscapes in India. Especially in places that were far from civilization and seemed to be pristine. One of those was the Western Ghats, a mountain range in Kerala. A place we were visiting there, were the Athirappilly Falls which are the largest waterfalls in Kerala. The mountains, the beautiful green rain forest, the roaring rivers, and waterfalls were impressive. Also, the chance to see a wild elephant was thrilling. But unfortunately, we didn’t see one. Nevertheless, going to places like this is a memorable experience.

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Doing a research stay in India is a unique experience. There are a lot of differences regarding the country, the culture and the people. Not everything you see here is good but overall the experience you get by living and working in India is simply great. The country and culture are very diverse, and the people are friendly and helpful. I also really enjoyed the food that offers a variety of different spices and tastes. By getting to know more about the culture and the people you get a good insight into the country. Finally, to preserve and restore the beautiful nature of India it is good to support and work on projects that aim for this and a sustainable way of living.