Introduction to chapter by Suresh Babu
Pursuit of Material World(s)
In a hot summer afternoon, thirty years back, Kovai express was making its usual last lap of the journey, its wheels hugging the steel rails near Peelamedu - Avarampalyam curve. I looked out through my window with trepidation of my future at PSG Tech. On either side of the tracks, I saw lot of small industries with tubular furnaces among grey sand piles.
I turned around ask my brother-in-law, who is a native of Coimbatore, what are these? He looked at me with pride, and said that those are cupola furnaces in foundries, the economic engines of Coimbatore. With beaming eyes, he went on further and explained that they make parts that goes into all other machines which is used by other businesses, including textiles, we produce here in Coimbatore. Somehow, as the air with burnt iron fragrance enveloped me, I knew that my life was cast in the materials world.
As the time at PSG Tech moved on, as we made friends, as we learnt engineering tools to design parts, melt metals, make molds for castings, blacksmithing, machining, and weld, our tapestry of life was unfolding right in front of us. Following incidents formed the nucleus of my career.
First, a technician in-charge of melting furnace at PSG Tech foundry influenced me. All day long, he will take a scoop of molten metal from the melt and cast into a disc shape. He will put that disc in a pneumatic tube. Magically, it will be transported to another part of the building. Then, he will wait for a phone call for a report that helped him to make the decision to pour or not to pour the molten metal into casting. I approached this man and asked him, what you are doing? He looked at me said, “hey kid, this is like cooking, if your ingredients are not in proper ratio, your food will be bad.”
If the molten material is not in the right composition, all the castings will be junk and the foundry will loose lot of money. I can see his passion, pride and commitment to his job. Reluctantly, not hiding my lack of knowledge, I asked what is at the end of that tube? He said there is a lab, which checks the recipe. He followed with an authoritative voice in Tamil: “Book knowledge can only take you half the way, to scale the whole mountain, you need to know practical knowledge of using ropes and ladders.”
With my friend, Sundar and Subbu, I made the trek to the laboratory and found the plasma spark analyses instrument. That machine took those discs and evaporated the constituents into a vapor and measured the relative concentration of silicon, chromium, molybdenum, nickel and iron. Again with reluctance, one of use, asked the question, why are these recipes important to the casting? The lab manager looked at us with a weird look and said you are wasting my time, you should have learnt it from NKS.
NKS, i.e., Prof. N. K. Srinvasan taught us Physical metallurgy. In one of the lectures, while he was talking about dislocations and its impact on properties, he articulated his research experience pertaining to semiconductor materials in Columbia University, USA, with a glitter in eyes. I was convinced, at that
moment, he was not in that classroom; he has time-transported himself to his past to a lab in Columbia.
This, was the moment I realized there is a fun in asking questions, “why, what, when and how related to materials world,” and can also build your career answering the questions!
Looking back, I am humbled by our teachers’ passion and realized the real meaning of the kriti, “Endharo mahavubhavulu, andhariki vandhanumu,” composed by Tyagaraja. In the same spirit, I salute the great teachers and scientists, as well as, my friends who have inspired me to pursue the world of materials. This chapter provides an overview of progress and future direction of shaping the materials in
the last thirty years from my viewpoint. I hope these tidbits of experiences strengthen the creativity and grit of all future PSG Tech students.
Pursuit of Material World(s)
As the time at PSG Tech moved on, as we made friends, as we learnt engineering tools to design parts, melt metals, make molds for castings, blacksmithing, machining, and weld, our tapestry of life was unfolding right in front of us. Following incidents formed the nucleus of my career.
First, a technician in-charge of melting furnace at PSG Tech foundry influenced me. All day long, he will take a scoop of molten metal from the melt and cast into a disc shape. He will put that disc in a pneumatic tube. Magically, it will be transported to another part of the building. Then, he will wait for a phone call for a report that helped him to make the decision to pour or not to pour the molten metal into casting. I approached this man and asked him, what you are doing? He looked at me said, “hey kid, this is like cooking, if your ingredients are not in proper ratio, your food will be bad.”
If the molten material is not in the right composition, all the castings will be junk and the foundry will loose lot of money. I can see his passion, pride and commitment to his job. Reluctantly, not hiding my lack of knowledge, I asked what is at the end of that tube? He said there is a lab, which checks the recipe. He followed with an authoritative voice in Tamil: “Book knowledge can only take you half the way, to scale the whole mountain, you need to know practical knowledge of using ropes and ladders.”
With my friend, Sundar and Subbu, I made the trek to the laboratory and found the plasma spark analyses instrument. That machine took those discs and evaporated the constituents into a vapor and measured the relative concentration of silicon, chromium, molybdenum, nickel and iron. Again with reluctance, one of use, asked the question, why are these recipes important to the casting? The lab manager looked at us with a weird look and said you are wasting my time, you should have learnt it from NKS.
NKS, i.e., Prof. N. K. Srinvasan taught us Physical metallurgy. In one of the lectures, while he was talking about dislocations and its impact on properties, he articulated his research experience pertaining to semiconductor materials in Columbia University, USA, with a glitter in eyes. I was convinced, at that
moment, he was not in that classroom; he has time-transported himself to his past to a lab in Columbia.
This, was the moment I realized there is a fun in asking questions, “why, what, when and how related to materials world,” and can also build your career answering the questions!
Looking back, I am humbled by our teachers’ passion and realized the real meaning of the kriti, “Endharo mahavubhavulu, andhariki vandhanumu,” composed by Tyagaraja. In the same spirit, I salute the great teachers and scientists, as well as, my friends who have inspired me to pursue the world of materials. This chapter provides an overview of progress and future direction of shaping the materials in
the last thirty years from my viewpoint. I hope these tidbits of experiences strengthen the creativity and grit of all future PSG Tech students.