UCE Alumnus takes over as the

Managing Director at SAIL

INSIDE THIS ISSUE By: Er. Lambodar Upadhyaya, AGM, Bokaro Steel Plant, 1990 batch /Electrical

UCE Alumnus takes over as the MD It is a matter of pride and glory for us that one of our Alumni
1 Mr. Shashi Shekhar Mohanty has taken over as Managing
of SAIL
Director of Bokaro Steel Plant of Steel Authority of India Ltd.
OJEE, 2010: The Success Story 2 He is a 1978 batch alumnus of UCE. He took over on July
31st, 2010. At present he is one of the youngest directors of
SAIL. I think he is the first Alumnus to reach such a high posi-
Alumni BBSR Chapter Campus drive 2 tion in SAIL.

Interview with Honorable VC
Distributed Systems from a 30000 ft
view
4 (Technical) in 1978. He was in Silicon Steel Mill in Rourkela Er. Shashi Shekhar Mohanty
Reminiscence of the 1st State Engi-
neer from UCE
VSSUT conducts 2nd Convocation
T&P Statistics
3 Mr. Shashi Shekhar Mohanty is a 1977-78 batch Mechanical
Engineer from UCE. He is one of the top rankers of his batch.
He joined Rourkela Steel Plant as a Management Trainee
Steel Plant. He was the DGM in Plate Mill of RSP when he was promoted to the post of
General Manager in 2007 and transferred to Bhilai Steel Plant. Subsequently he became
5
Executive Director of Projects in 2009 and then Executive director ( Works ) in Bhilai
Steel Plant in 2010. He took over as Managing Director, Bokaro Steel Plant on 1st Au-
6 gust, 2010. He is just 54 yrs old, comparatively young in our parlance. Here he has al-
ready marked an impression as a result oriented and dynamic leader. His wife Dr. Vijay
6 Lakshmi Pattanaik is a doctor by profession. He has a son, who is working as a software
engineer in Bangalore . His daughter is a + 2 student at Bhilai.

Dear Alumni, From the Editorial Team..

At the outset we would like to wish you and your family a very Happy Diwali. It is that time of the year when the country brightens
up with lights, whether it is Durga Puja or Diwali. These festivities will have a special mention in the nostalgic lanes of all UCEans.
Diwali at UCE was often about 100s of rockets, Grand Feasts at hostels, 29 (cards) in the rooms and many more..

In this third successive issue of the newsletter, we have included columns by many alumni along with the Editorial team members. It
is a matter of immense pride and glory that our esteemed alumnus Er. Shashi Shekhar Mohanty has become the MD at SAIL, Bhilai.
We get a brief introduction about him in the opening page. OJEE 2010 has been the most talked about event at VSSUT so far. We
get a glimpse of the success story that was crafted through the hard work and sacrifice of many at VSSUT in Page 2. We also share a
story where BBSR Alumni chapter helped in conducting a campus drive for the Final year Civil students in Page 2. Our Honorable
VC, Prof. D. K. Tripathy recently completed a successful year at office. We will try to get glimpses of his journey and his visions in
Page 3. To promote the spirit of technology at VSSUT, we have invited a technical article in this issue, which would be on a very
high level so that most of us can relate to it. More on this in Page 4. Orissa has the maximum state engineers from VSSUT. We get to
hear from one of our oldest alumni on his reminiscence and vision of VSSUT in Page 5. VSSUT successfully conducted the 2nd
Convocation for the 2010 batch pass out students. We will get some glimpses of this mega event in Page 6. Also, in Page 6, we get
the statistics of the placements so far. With the software companies yet to come in the final semester, the students are doing exceed-
ingly good in the core companies.
Happy Reading!
Editorial Team
1
 The Success Story
By: Prof. Rakesh Mohanty [1998 Batch, CSE (also Secretary, OJEE 2010)] and the Newsletter Team.

E
ver since its inception, UCE,
Burla has not only ensured in-
novation in learning but has
also shown its commitment and
diligence in every aspect: be it
academics, infrastructural or environmental.
It’s a matter of extreme pride and immense
glory that our new born Unitary University
VSSUT did set a mark in the field of admini-
stration and management. This is best re-
flected by the smooth and successful conduct
of Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE-2010)
for admission into courses like Engineering,
Medicine, Lateral Entry, MBA, MCA, Phar-
macy.
Until last year, OJEE was being held on the
last Sunday of May. However due to effec-
tual management, this year it was held, a
record six weeks early, on the 18th of April,
2010 and the results were declared on 20th
of May, before the declaration of IIT-JEE
2010 results. There were in total 73,577 can-
didates appearing for the examination in
various disciplines.
It was really unfortunate to have lost the
Chairman of OJEE, Late Dr. S.K. Sar on
26th March 2010 at a critical juncture. He
played a major and pivotal role during the
initial stages and laid the perfect foundation
for the mammoth task ahead. After the sad
demise of Prof. S. K. Sar, his responsibilities
and endeavour were carried forward by our
Honourable Vice Chancellor and the APEX
Committee Chair-man of OJEE, Prof. Deb
Kumar Tripathy.
The OJEE Committee members from
VSSUT Burla consisting of Secretary- Prof.
Rakesh Mohanty, E-counselling Co-
ordinator- Prof. Debadutta Mishra and Mem-
ber – Prof. Su-kalyan Dash under the dy-
namic leadership of APEX Committee
Chairman Prof. Deb Kumar Tripathy, cred-
itably and competently coordinated the
whole procedure in a fair and transparent
manner. Adding to their efforts, were the
immense support and assistance provided by
the faculty and non-teaching staff of our
University.
This is the first time ever in the history of
Orissa JEE that e-counselling was conducted
for admission, like that of the IIT JEE and
AIEEE pattern. National Informatics Centre
(NIC) New-Delhi also played a significant
role in conducting the e-counselling for
OJEE. Unlike the previous years, where
document verification and allotment were
held on the same day, this year the candi-
dates were provided with minimum 4 weeks
time for online registration and the choice of
filing through the internet. The physical
document verification was held at 16 differ-
ent Nodal Centres across the State for 18
days giving the candidates an opportunity to
report at their nearest Examination centre.
Counselling was held in different phases to
make the procedure more transparent and
error free. Even on legal grounds, OJEE-
2010 was clear and transparent with lesser
number of court cases, unlike that of previ-
ous years. Most of the cases have been either
resolved or are in favour of OJEE-2010.
With heads held high, we can proudly say
that the herculean task of conducting OJEE-
2010 entrusted to VSSUT, Burla, by the
Government of Odisha has been successfully
accomplished. This further substantiates and
reinforces the quality policy of our institute
which has evolved over the years. The newly
established youngest university of the state
VSSUT, Burla has become a house hold
name in each and every corner of the state as
well as outside the state by getting wide me-
dia and press publicity after successful con-
duction of OJEE 2010.

BBSR Chapter Conducts Campus Drive for Civil

Students
This summer, UCE Alumni, BBSR Chapter organized a recruitment drive for the 2010 graduating students of VSSUT Burla at Hotel
Presidency in BBSR. Er. Bimal Mishra (1982 batch) and Er. Satish Agrawal (2007 batch) were the organizers of the campus drive in
which a total of 7 companies participated and which was entirely sponsored by the BBSR chapter. The campus drive which was tar-
geted for Civil Engineering students, was a success and was widely acclaimed by the students and the T&P committee. We look for-
ward to continued support from our esteemed alumni to help the students with Campus recruitments.

2
 with Honorable Vice-Chancellor Prof. D. K. Tripathy
Team: Sir, First of all congratulations on the completion of a
successful year at office. In the past 1 year, we have seen a sea of
changes at VSSUT. Sir, we would like to hear from you some of
the key developmental activities at VSSUT that has happened in
the past one year.
VC: The major changes that I would like to highlight are:
1. Modification of the course curriculum
2. VSSUT conducted 2 convocations
3. The AVC was renovated.
4. Formation of various councils like the Academic Council,
Board of Management, Finance Committee etc.
5. VSSUT conducted faculty interviews for the vacant posts.
6. 3 ladies hostels and 1 boys hostels are in progress
7. Open air auditorium was constructed.
8. Sanjeevani - a vatika of medicinal garden was planted
9. Gold and Silver medals were instituted for the University
10. Several infrastructure developments were carried out
Team: Sir, OJEE 2010 has undoubtedly been the most talked
about event at VSSUT. Sir, please share your feedback on the
conduct of OJEE by VSSUT this year.
VC: Orissa JEE this year was fully transparent. VSSUT intro-
duced e-counseling successfully. We had the longest counseling
of 75 days. We also had the least number of complaints and
court cases this year. The only problem was when the JEE aspi-
rants tried to change their web passwords through private col-
leges and other agents.
Team: Sir, as we prepare the engineers for tomorrow, it is very
important that the course curriculum is latest and at par the best
institutes of the country. Also, it is important that the faculty
positions are running full strength so as to have an optimized
faculty: student ratio. Sir, please share with us your views on
this.
VC: The course curriculum has been modified at par with the
IITs. However the faculty strength needs to be improved. We
have announced around 38 new faculty positions for VSSUT.
However, the money sanction is fully at the mercy of the govern-
ment. As of now, we have given appointment to around 1/3rd of
the available vacant posts only.
Team: Sir, Industry – Institute interaction is very important for
the engineers to stay synchronized with the latest trends and in-
novations in the world today. At the same time, it is an important
avenue for Professors to showcase their skill set in order to get
grants in the form of projects from the industries as well as the
centre. Sir, in this regard, please share with us your thoughts on
how we can improvise on this in the coming year. Also, Sir,
please share with us your thoughts on Internships at the National
and International level.
VC: The faculty have been asked to bring projects, but the pro-
gress is very slow. Internships at National and International level
are most welcome. The students have been asked to apply for
internships.
Team: Sir, prior to this, you have been in top-notch posts in NIT
Warangal and IIT Kharagpur. Sir, now as the Vice Chancellor of
3
a Unitary University, VSSUT, what do you consider are the big-
gest hurdles and challenges in the path
of progress?
VC: I think the biggest hurdle is fi-
nance. There is no financial or adminis-
trative autonomy. The Govt. is not very
eager to support VSSUT financially. All
major universities in Orissa have got
grants amounting to Crores of Rupees.
However, though VSSUT has submitted
multiple proposals, they have not been
accepted. Last year we just got around
48 lakhs Rupees, which were utilized for all the infrastructural
developments. Lack of furniture in classrooms and hostels is the
primary issue. Students are forced to stay in more numbers in a
single room due to shortage in hostel accommodation. We have
tried with all secretaries and ministers up to the CM level, but we
have not got any response from them.
Team: Sir, we lack some basic amenities like internet at the hos-
tels, University buses, latest journals and books at the library, up
gradation of instruments in the laboratories, well maintained
audio visual room etc. Sir, please share with us your view point
on these scenarios and how we can develop these amenities.
VC: The internet speed has been upgraded to 10 MBPS. We
have sought finance for laboratory up-gradation. Meanwhile, we
have given the AVC a new look. Money is the de-limiter.
Team: Universities like IITs, NITs, deemed universities like
KIIT, SRM, VIT, etc arrange student interactions with personali-
ties in the field of Science & Technology like visiting professors,
industrialists, management gurus, company personnel, etc. Sir,
can we expect something of that sort in our University too. We
have had Dr. Yash Pal interact with the students which was a
huge success, Sir can we repeat such events so that the students
get to learn from these eminent personalities.
VC: We are in the process of inviting many visiting scientists
and technologists. However, positional disadvantages and lack of
communication stand on the way.
Team: Sir, as you step into another year at office, we are sure
you expect a lot from the teaching staff and the students. Please
share with us few of your expectations from the teaching staff
and the students.
VC: Primarily I expect a good deal of research and publication.
In addition to that I expect good consultancy and continued edu-
cation in the form of short course, seminar and conferences.
Team: Sir, Alumni can be a great thrust to the momentum of
activities at the University. In this regard, please share with us
how do you anticipate the role of alumni to walk hand in hand
towards the common goal.
VC: Alumni should hold a get together at their alma mater every
year, be it on Foundation Day or any other day like NITs and
IITs. I expect alumni to constitute several awards/ medals/ chairs
and extend a helping hand in infrastructure development.
By: Er. Sibasish Acharya, Technical Architect, Citi Group, USA. 2004 batch /Computer Science & Engg.

Prologue:
Recently, I went for an interview with a company whose job was to
process SMSes that are being sent in the US. One very small part of
their typical job involves sorting 10 years of data collected from
SMSes. Considering an SMS to be 100 characters long and a typical
usage of 400 million SMSes per day in the US, it is almost 100 TB
of data. Even with a typical server machine having infinite RAM,
this can’t be done in less than a year’s time. And this is just sorting;
their job involves much more intensive computation. Is 1 year time
just for sorting acceptable? Is the assumption of infinite RAM valid?
The answer is – NO. Then, can’t we process this huge data? The
answer is – of course, YES. The next question is - how! The idea of
dividing tasks to smaller units is age old. We use exactly the same
approach. We divide the huge task into smaller tasks; distribute them
to different machines to get the final result in a reasonable amount of
time. Let’s get into more specific details.
General concept:
There is a Master machine who manages a
bunch of Worker machines. When Master
gets a huge task, it divides it into smaller
chunks. Then, it assigns smaller chunks to
Workers. Once a Worker finishes its job and
returns result, Master sends another avail-
able chunk to that Worker. Once all the
chunks are finished, the Master declares the
end of computation.
Performance:
Since smaller chunks are individually proc-
essed by different Workers; it can achieve
high degree of parallelism. That makes the
processing time ridiculously less.
There is no free lunch!
Like all good packages; a distributed environment comes with its
own interesting challenges.
How to choose a Master:
Let’s see what happens if we choose a single machine as Master for-
ever. What could happen if this machine fails? The whole system
goes down. Now, let’s see, what happens if we keep on ‘electing’ a
Master as need arises. This is a very good strategy as there is, no
more, a single point of failure. If an elected Master goes down, vot-
ing is done between all remaining machines to elect a new Master.
But, the problems with this approach could be transfer of data from
old (dead) master to new master and overhead of an election while
tasks are getting processed. So, is there a
unique solution? No. Some researchers ad-
vocate the use of one master (or a group of
masters) while others prefer electing a new
master only when need arises.
Faulty machines:
Machines could misbehave as they fail or
get hacked. How do we deal with such
situations? Research shows that if a system
with 3f+1 nodes has at max f faulty nodes,
the system can fully recover. But there are
other considerations like number of mes-
sages passed between nodes for recovery
which generally ends up taking huge net-
work traffic. In practice, a trade-off is made
between recovery and network traffic.

Fault Tolerance and Reliability:

Generally, Master takes care of assigning a Conclusion:
single chunk to more than one Worker, so Despite of unique challenges, Distributed
that if one Worker fails to process the systems opens up a new area of computing.
chunk, some other Worker would process it and it won’t affect the
overall result. So, end user gets a feel that nothing wrong has hap-
pened at all. Again, sometimes, Workers are placed in different cit- Epilogue:
ies, or even countries. So, a mishap like fire, storm or bomb blast at The company I interviewed for uses an open-source framework
one particular location does not affect the whole system. called as Hadoop. It’s a popular implementation of a concept called
as Map-Reduce (which is a core concept of functional programming
but has been recently used and popularized by Google by using it in
Cost efficiency: large scale distributed systems). And Hadoop has the record of sort-
Like we discussed before, it is impossible to buy infinite RAM. ing 100TB of data in only 173 minutes!
Likewise, it may be impossible for a small business to buy server
machines which could be expensive. But in a distributed system, References:
both Master and Workers can be commodity machines like our desk- 1. http://sortbenchmark.org/
top or laptop machines. The implications are enormous. For exam- 2. Distributed Systems: Principles and Paradigms (Andrew S. Tan-
ple, if a group of friends use their laptops to build a distributed sys- nenbaum and Maarten Van Steen)
tem, they can process frighteningly impossible tasks without virtu-
ally spending any amount of money!

4
 Hirakud Dam and UCE (VSSUT)
Reminiscences and a Vision
By: Er. Ramesh Chandra Tripathy, Passout of 3rd Batch of UCE, Retd. Engineer-in-Chief, Water Resources, Orissa
It was on a fine morning in August, 1952 that I came to
REMINISCENCE
Burla (then known as Hirakud Colony), where my father
was a special class contractor en-
gaged in the construction of Hira-
kud Dam. As a student of class
VIII of Hirakud High School,
Burla I was awestruck at the very sight of
the huge earth moving machineries in
construction of the earth dam and exca-
vation of the power channel. My visits to the work sites of the
project with my father etched the overall process in my
mind, without comprehension of their implications. From
the surroundings and discussions with my father and uncles,
a reverence was developed in my mind towards engineers. I
passed matriculation from Utkal University in 1956 and the
same year UCE, the first Engineering College of Odisha was
established in Burla. The main college building was under
construction and since the Dam was nearing completion, some
‘F’ type quarters of the project, were utilised as the hostels.
rd
I took admission in UCE, in the 3 batch in 1958. As students,
In my vision, I see the entire complex from Jharsuguda,
VISION
Sambalpur, Hirakud, Burla, Chiplima and Bargarh as an
attractive Technical Tourist Terminus,
with Hirakud dam project, as the centre of at-
traction. UCE (now VSSUT) can play a pivotal
role in making this dream come true.
This can evolve around the following prominent
marvels including the HDP and VSSUT can be
the prime movers.
- Hirakud dam with its magnanimous structures
with multifaceted problems and projected solu-
tions (Cracking of concrete dams, gate problems and renova-
tions, additional spillway requirements and types, power chan-
nel with problems of weeds, power houses at dam toe and at
Chiplima, canal networks and their structures.)
- Existence of Prominent Educational Institutions like VSSUT,
VSSMC, Sambalpur University and concerned institutions with
all their facilities. (Exhibition pavilions can be opened and labo-
 This dream can come true with public private partnership and sponsorships.
METHODOLOGY
 A committee can be formed involving local populace and various authorities.
 New ideas can be called for in several forums.
I urge HDP & VSSUT to take the lead.
5
we had deep regards towards the Principal Prof. B. Prasad and
other prominent personalities such as Prof. B. Behera, Prof. B.
Mahapatra and Prof. S. K. Basu. I still recollect the won-
derful sight of hundreds of bi-cycles moving up and down
the road from UCE to Burla Township four times a day.
After graduation in Civil and Municipal Engineering in
1962 I had the opportunity to provide my squirrel contribu-
tion in the construction of Hirakud Stage-II Power House at
Chiplima. During my subsequent service career I was
never posted directly in Hirakud Dam Project, but was con-
nected with the Project, particularly
for problems related to the gate
system. As the Engineer-in-Chief,
Water Resources, Hirakud Dam
and UCE always had a place of
pride in my heart, with the realisa-
tion that I was the first student of
UCE to occupy the post. After superannuation, I have been
connected with the Hirakud dam as a member of the Dam
Safety Review panel, constituted by the Govt. of Odisha.
ratories and libraries can be developed.)
- Development of medical facilities in the College to attract out-
siders.
- Establishing Industries all around and
Thermal Power Plants at IB and other loca-
tions.
- Working on the development of Islands
and hillocks in the reservoir and all around
(examples of development can be taken
from the Sentosa islands in Malaysia )
- MCL and other local coal belt areas with
lifting, handling and backfilling mechanism.
Developments called for in the following areas-
a. Means of approach by air (developments of Jamadarpali
airport and other helipads), by train and road
b. Halting facilities for which enough space is available.
c. Developments to suit tourist attractions.
Er. R. C. Tripathy
 CONVOCATION
By: The Editorial team
VSSUT organized its Second Annual convocation for the 2009 – Best Engineering Post-Graduate of 2009-2010 to Miss Madhusmita
2010 batch students on 9th October, 2010. This was the second suc- Sahoo of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering and the
cessful convocation conducted by VSSUT within a quick span of Gold medal for the best Post-Graduate in Computer Applications
one year of being given the varsity status. The Audio Visual Club went to Sri Tushar Ranjan Patra. Also, for the first time, University
witnessed the felicitation of about 203 graduates of the year 2009- Silver medals were given to respective branch toppers.
2010 in a ceremony that was graced by Honorable Chancellor Shri
M. C. Bhandare, Governor of Odisha, with the eminent scientist Shri Bhandare, in his graduation speech, urged the students to work
and educationist, Padma Bhushan Prof. Yash Pal (Chancellor, hard at the work place in order to prove themselves and to be capa-
JNU) as the chief guest who had a very lively interaction with the ble of meeting all challenges. He said that it would in turn raise the
students where he impressed upon them the need to think logically fame and name of VSSUT.
and analytically rather than mugging up volumes of books.
In the latter part of the ceremony, mementoes were presented to the
The convocation was declared open by the Honorable chancellor. Chief Guest and to the Honorable Chancellor by our Honorable
The certificates were handed over by the Honorable Vice- Vice-Chancellor. The ceremony concluded with the National An-
Chancellor, VSSUT, Prof D.K.Tripathy in the presence of the chief them.
guest Prof. Yash Pal, Registrar Shri Suradev Sahu, members of
Board of Management & Academic Council and faculty members. Prof. Yash Pal conducted an interaction session for the students
and the faculty on the 8th of October in the Auditorium, which was
Honorable Chancellor gave away the University Gold medal for houseful and very unique experience.
the Best Engineering Graduate of 2009-2010 to Miss Supriya Mo-
hanty of Civil Engineering, and the University Gold medal for the The whole program was a great success!

Civil Mech Electrical Electronics Comp Sc Manufacturing IT

Tata Motors 5 1 1
Shapoorji Pallonji Corpn Ltd. 8 5
Vedanta 5 4 1
Mahindra & Mahindra 5
Soma Enterprises 1
Larsen & Toubro (E.S.) 4 5 1
Jindal Stainless Ltd. 1 2 3 1 2
10 26 13 1 5
As of Date: 30th Oct 2010
Total Placements so far at VSSUT: 55

VSS University of Technology
Burla
Sambalpur, Orissa
PIN—768018
Phone: 0663 2430211
Fax: 0663 2430204
Email: info@uceburla.ac.in
Website: www.uceburla.ac.in
Editorial Team:
Sibasish Acharya (2004 Computer Science & Engineerng)
Sandeep Kumar Mishra (2005 Mechanical Engineering)
Simpi Patel (4th Year Computer Science and Engineering)
Rituparna Mohanty (4th Year Computer Science and Engineering)
Sritam Jena (4th Year Electrical Engineering)
Sandeep Kumar Tripathy (3rd Year Civil Engineering)
Shradha Mohanty (3rd Year Electrical Engineering)
Saberi Mohapatra (2nd Year, Computer Science and Engineering)
Please send your suggestions and feedback at vssutnewsletter@gmail.com 6