Dr. Suresh Gupta, Dr. Smita Raghuvanshi and Mr. Subhajit Majumder attended 3^rd World Congress on Biotechnology organized by OMICS Group which was held at Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC), Hyderabad, India during September 13-15, 2012. They presented their research there. The title of their research presentations were:

Mr. Nikhil Prakash and Mr. Dipaloy Datta, Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering visited USA to present their papers in the 2012 AIChE Annual Meeting during 28th October - 2nd November, 2012 in David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, USA.

The titles of papers were: 

• Nikhil Prakash, Modeling and Kinetic Parameter Estimation of Ethylene Polymerization with Silica Supported Dimethylsilylene bis (η5-inden-1-ylidene)zirconium dichloride Catalyst using Differential Evolution Approach
• Dipaloy Datta, Extraction and Back-Extraction Studies of Picolinic Acid Using Tri-n  Octylamine Dissolved in 1-Decanol

Dr. Samir Hemant Mushrif, Assistant Professor, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has visited Department of Chemical Engineering during 29-30th October, 2012. He has been instrumental in possible collaboration in graduate studies and research between BITS, Pilani and NTU. He met the faculty members of department of chemical engineering and expressed his concern for the possible collaboration in research. In this regard, he has delivered a seminar focusing on his research areas and of various faculty members of SCBE, NTU such as such as Catalysis & Chemical System Engineering, Nanotechnology & Printed Devices, Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Synthetic Biology and Biosensors & Devices, etc. This insightful and interactive session certainly paves the way for possible collaboration between the two universities. He has also interacted with the UG and PG students. This interactive session includes the information on infrastructural and funding support available for scholarships and research opportunities at SCBE, NTU.

8^th Annual Session of Students' Chemical Engineering Congress "SCHEMCON 2012"

Department of Chemical engineering, BITS-Pilani, Pilani Campus and the Students’ chapter of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE), Pilani Regional Center jointly organized the 8^th Annual Session of Students' Chemical Engineering Congress "SCHEMCON 2012" with the theme "Energy Efficient Technologies for Green Environment" during 21^st-22^nd September 2012.

The inauguration session of SCHEMCON 2012 started with prayer to Goddess Saraswati (vandana) performed by the group of Prof. Anil Rai on 21st September morning. It was followed by the lighting of the lamp by the chief guest Mr. P. Vijayaraghavan, President of IIChE and ex-President of Reliance Industries Ltd., Vadodara Manufacturing Division and other members sitting on the dais. During the ceremony, there were esteemed guests available from the various fields of Chemical engineering society such as Dr. Ashim Kumar De, Honorary Secretary of IIChE, Prof. V K Rattan and Mr. C.P. Ramulu, Vice Presidents of IIChE and other IIChE council members. The guest of honor for the inauguration was Prof. G.Raghurama, Director, BITS-Pilani, Pilani campus.

The total participants registered for SCHEMCON 2012 was 397 of which there were 89 female and 308 male candidates. There were 122 IIChE student members and 16 IIChE council members present during SCHEMCON-2012. The total number of papers presented was 141. There were participation from 56 colleges including 4 IITs (Kanpur, Delhi, Madras, BHU) and 2 NITs (Jalandhar and Durgapur). Some of the colleges with top participations were MVGR College of Engineering- Vizianagaram (72 Nos.), St. Joseph's College of Engg-Chennai (34 Nos.), BITS Pilani-Pilani Campus (30 Nos.), Annamalai University (30 Nos.), Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engg.- Visakhapatnam (29 Nos.),  &  NIT Jalandhar (28 Nos.).  

There were total 6 technical sessions with 10 themes (Bioprocess Engineering & Biotechnology  (BEB), Energy Engineering  (ENG), Environmental Engineering  (EE), Modeling, Simulation & Optimization (MSO), Petroleum Engineering  (PE), Process Control & Instrumentation (PCI), Reaction Engineering  (RE), Separation Techniques (ST), Transport Phenomena (TP),New Materials and Polymers (NMP)). 9 key note speakers delivered their talk on the various aspects of the theme “Energy Efficient Technologies for green Environment”. A technical quiz was also been conducted in two stages – one elimination round and a final round. The technical quiz was uniquely designed under the able guidance of Dr. Pradipta Chattopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering.

There was also an MP Chary Memorial Award for which, there were 10 applications received out of which 5 were shot listed for final presentation, but only 4 could present their work . Mr. Sandip Patil  from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian institute of Technology Kanpur was awarded the MP Chary Memorial Award which contains a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- and a medal. The cash prize was given here and the medal will be given in CHEMCON 2012 to be held in NIT Jalandhar during December 27-30, 2012.

The best papers in each of 6 technical sessions and the winner and runner up teams in technical quiz were also awarded.

There was a cultural night organized for the participants in the institute auditorium on 21st September evening followed by the gala dinner at VFAST hostel.

The valedictory session for the conference was conducted on 22nd September 2012 evening. The chief guest for the function was Mr. P. Vijayaraghavan and the guest of honor was Prof. R.N.Saha, Deputy Director (Administration), BITS-Pilani.

The student delegates as well as the IIChE council members expressed their deep satisfaction on the successful conduction of the conference. The IIChE president Mr. P. Vijayaraghavan remarked it as a benchmark for the future SCHEMCONs.