Ankur Bora
Nature does not readily yield up her
secrets, human has to seek, inquest and work tirelessly to unwrap the mystery
and majesty of the natural world. There is no better place to look than Mother Nature
to develop sustainable system and solutions for our greatest issues. There are scientists
who discerned the fundamental principle of nature and thus changed the way we
understand the world around us. And they are the inventors who unfold, harness
nature in a new device and connect them to people’s hopes and wishes; this is
how our world lights up with energy, action and progress.
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| Assam Tribune Horizon 28th July 2017 |
Nikola Tesla could be the greatest mind
of the twentieth century. He invented many of the technologies we use today;
the foremost among them is electricity. While Thomas Alva Edison is commonly
credited with inventing the light bulb, it was Tesla who formed the basis of
modern electricity. The primary
difference and subsequent feud between these two iconic inventors was over
whose electrical system would power the world – Tesla’s alternative current
(AC) system against Edison’s direct current (DC) electric power. The problem
with DC was that power generating station needed to be in the middle of the
city centers. This would also require laying expensive thick copper cable to
connect to consumer houses. That was not only economically infeasible but would
also cause toxic pollution in all the cities or town centers. The world needed
a visionary and the breakthrough for mankind came from Nikola Tesla. Tesla had
spent a great deal of time and energy investigating phenomena in nature. He
found that a rotating magnet in and out of a coil of wires would induce an
electric current in the coil. This, in a
nutshell, is the basic principle of AC current. Subsequently , Tesla realized
that unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with transformers,
sent over thinner and cheaper wires, and stepped down again at the destination
for distribution for mass consumption. Finally, it was in the year 1887, Tesla
came out with an alternative system of generators, transformers, transmission
lines, motors and lighting which solved forever how to distribute electricity
safely and efficiently to homes, shops, and factories. Tesla’s idea and profound
vision stunned the world when AC current illuminated thousands of light bulbs
at the 1893 World's Fair and Parliament of religion in Chicago. Tesla brought
the world in light, literally. It is worthwhile to mention that our Swami
Vivekananda delivered his groundbreaking speech "Sisters and brothers of
America!" at this exhibit. It is said that Tesla was greatly influenced by
Vedic philosophy and Vivekananda.
Recently, there has been renewed
interest in Tesla's work both from Industry and Academics. More and more
academics have been tapping into his unfinished work, drawing on his underlying
principles and ideals and one of them is Dr. Rukmi Dutta of The University of
New South Wales (UNSW), Australia. Rukmi
is a native of Nagaon town and I happen to know her as we were next door neighbors.
Born in Fauzdaripatty, one of the heritage neighborhoods of Nagaon , she came
from a family of teachers. Her parents
planted the value of education in her at a young age and since her days in high
school, she wanted to become an Engineer so that she could contribute to the
development of the human society through technology. Power-cut, energy shortage, load-shading were
some of the common phrases with which she grew up experiencing. “Perhaps, in such a frustrating moment, I
thought I will be an Electrical Engineer and solve all these problems”. The
wishful thinking may very well have helped shape her aspirations. But it wasn’t until she moved to Australia and
got the opportunity to research at UNSW that her
dreams got realized.
Climate change is the
biggest problem of humanity - It is expected that introduction of the electric
vehicles to our roads will reduce the amount of pollutant released to the air
significantly. At UNSW, Rukmi Dutta is currently
working on development of electric motors and drive systems for electric
vehicles. She also recognizes that the use of renewable energy resources such
as the wind, solar, hydro instead of coal for producing electricity will be
necessary to have a meaningful positive impact on the climate change. “Thus, my research work is two-folded. In one
hand, I am trying to develop electric motors and drives that will be able to
replace the combustion engines of the vehicle. I am also working towards
developing more efficient and compact generation systems that are compatible
with renewable energy sources.” Rukmi
recently published a book titled “Interior Permanent Magnet Machine Technology”
which is based on her prior field-based research. In February 2002, Rukmi joined UNSW as a
post-graduate research student. At that time, her supervisor was working on a
project related to the hybrid electric car. The challenge was to design a new
electric machine that can integrate the functions of the starter motor and the
alternator into one single device. “This
had become my Ph.D. thesis topic, and I successfully designed a Permanent
Magnet Motor, which is highly efficient, compact in size and can satisfy the
stringent power-speed requirement of a car. Design, similar to one I proposed
in my Ph.D. project was also developed by Toyota, and they have adopted this
machine for their hybrid electric car- Toyota Prius”.
Nikola Tesla was a visionary whose main goal was to share his revolutionary
invention with the world and make electricity do the work of mankind. There has
recently been an announcement that India will phase out gas-powered vehicles
and will start selling only electric cars by 2030. It’s a matter of immense pride that a young
Assamese woman, Rukmi Dutta is contributing in this emerging field. More importantly, she becomes the optimal
ambassador for the discipline of electrical engineering – who promotes and
embodies light and electricity within and beyond academics. Ms. Dutta has
demonstrated that an electrical engineer – indeed, a female electrical engineer
could bring forth a pressing issue faced by the world, set model, define a
solution in an enduring way.
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