………………..

With India having launched its first mission to the moon, a whole new space race is set to take off. The US has renewed its interest in the moon. China, Japan and Europe, too, despatched unmanned moon probes last year. In fact, all space-faring nations are eyeing ambitious interplanetary missions. The bottomline is clear: space is going to be the hottest career destination in the years to come.

“This is the space age for research,” says Jean H. Swank, project scientist at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) Goddard Space Flight Centre (GSFC) at Maryland. “The opportunities are endless. They cover the earth, planets, heliosphere (bubble in space produced by solar winds) and more.” Agrees Sandip Chakrabarti, head of astrophysics and cosmology at the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Calcutta. “The sky is the limit,” he says. “There is much scope for not only scientists but also professionals in associated fields such as engineering, communications, software, safety and management.”

Strictly speaking, however, there are two main avenues — science and engineering. “A space scientist looks into the universe using space-bound instruments or giant telescopes located on earth, while a space engineer designs those instruments as well as the spacecraft that carry them,” says Chakrabarti.

“There is, however, an overlap between the two areas because the scientist must know the limits of current technology, and the engineer needs to have a strong scientific background to be able to create an instrument that will help in the study of space,” he adds.

Aspirants who choose space science apply to research laboratories, universities and similar agencies for employment, and may begin their career as astronomers or astrophysicists. A rookie space engineer, on the other hand, joins industrial companies, consultancies or government space agencies like the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), headquartered in Bangalore, or Nasa.

However, the thin line between the two fields often gets blurred — industry sometimes looks for people with an academic background and universities too need experienced engineers.

So what are the academic qualifications required to pursue space science? “In most cases, one needs at least a bachelors degree in physics, maths or engineering, although there are opportunities for apprentices and technicians too,” says M. Annadurai, project director of India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-1.

“Look at spacecraft design and its associated constructions, for example. It needs engineers of almost all hues — electrical, electronic, propulsion, structural, mechanical, civil and thermal, as well as those versed in basic physics and maths,” says Annadurai.

Although a degree course may skew the academic knowledge of an aspirant in a specific direction, it may not necessarily deter one from a given career path. “It is often more important to have the flexibility to learn new things and a positive attitude,” adds Annadurai.

Consider the trajectory of space scientist Alok Chatterjee, for instance. Chatterjee is a project systems engineer at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology in the US. A BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, he later specialised in aerospace engineering at JPL. After graduation, with a specialisation in aeronautical engineering, Chatterjee joined Isro with the dream of becoming a rocket scientist. His boss was none other than A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Eventually, he shifted to Nasa in 1984. According to Chatterjee, the degree is more about indicating the suitability of a candidate than preparing him or her for a specific job. “The key to success is eagerness to learn and innovate, irrespective of the background,” he says.

“There are plenty of opportunities at the technician or apprentice level,” says D.K. Bhandari, director of the thermal systems group at Isro. They typically involve working in cleanroom environments, either building or helping to test space-qualified equipment. Indeed, it is the technician who actually gets to build a spacecraft, much to the chagrin of many a space engineer. Chatterjee, however, points out that engineers too work with hardware in development labs, and so “it’s not just about sitting behind PCs in offices”.

In this regard, Chatterjee’s stint at Nasa has been more than eventful. He participated in the designing of spacecraft headed for Mars. Right now he is working on an Isro-Nasa joint venture project for Chandrayaan-1. “I am involved with the designing of one of the two Nasa instruments, the Moon Mineralogical Mapper (M3),” says Chatterjee. The M3 is an imaging spectrometre that will map the mineral composition of the moon.

An astrophysicist interested in blackholes, Sandip Chakrabarti, too, worked at Nasa-GSFC in the mid-90s. “We place tools in space to examine aspects of nature that cannot be otherwise observed,” he says. Loaded on spacecraft, these instruments study the stars, galaxies, universe and beyond, measuring infrared light and X-rays and gamma rays that cannot be detected from below the earth’s atmosphere. Naturally, such research includes studies in climatology, atmospheric science, meteorology, geophysics, ecology, oceanography and so on. A truly global view of things.

Science in space also takes into consideration certain unique properties of spaceflight, such as the existence of very low gravity — called microgravity — or a near-perfect vacuum. “The microgravity environment creates opportunities for in-space laboratories that span a wide range of topics. These include biomedical studies of the effect weightlessness may have on astronauts and ways to minimise those effects,” says Chakrabarti.

There is also scope for more basic studies in biology that examine the role of gravity in the development and functioning of plants and animals.

“Astrobiology is a relatively new field that explains how life formed in the universe and how it has evolved,” says Sonali Chakrabarti, an astrobiologist at the Indian Centre for Space Physics, Calcutta. “Astrobiologists also seek to ascertain whether there was or is life beyond earth, and the possibility of such occurrence in the future.”

The profundity of such scientific queries ensures that astrobiologists draw heavily on biology, chemistry, astronomy and planetary science.

How exciting is the job of a space scientist working in a laboratory? “Work is just as much fun as on a holiday, if not more,” says Roopesh Ojha, astronomer at NVI/US Naval Observatory, Washington DC, and affiliated scientist at Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. “Professionals like their work so much that they don’t want to retire. As a result, the field is full of people well past retirement age, some who have formally retired but come and work every day,” he adds.

The career paths of Chatterjee, Chakrabarti and Ojha aptly illustrate the international nature of the space industry. “This is because no individual company — or country — can do everything,” says Chakrabarti.

What are the challenges in this field? “They are similar to those in any scientific discipline,” replies Paul Wiita, professor of physics and astronomy, Princeton University, the US. “But one thing must be remembered. If you are participating in an experiment or are relying on data from one, you must bear in mind that ill luck can sometimes lead to breakdowns that bring to naught months or even years of work.”

In the technology domain, the satellite services sector is one of the biggest growth areas for space jobs. Direct broadcast satellites, digital audio radio and Internet services via satellite are among the fastest growing sectors in the space industry.

“Most of the information gathered from satellites is processed through software systems and this provides another avenue for space careers,” says Surendra Pal, programme director, Satellite Navigation Programme, Isro. “Information technology (IT) is used extensively in the space sector for analysing earth observation data, developing software to go onboard satellites and controlling them from the ground,” he explains.

Despite the huge demand in the space industry across the globe, there is an acute shortage of skilled youngsters. “To address the talent crunch at Isro, we have set up an institute at Thiruvananthapuram,” says B.N. Suresh, director of the recently-founded Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). Suresh has been a rocket scientist with Isro for 35 years. According to him, aspiring technology graduates have already begun to shun careers in the IT industry — which is currently on a downslide — and lap up jobs at Isro.

IIST offers four-year undergraduate BTech programmes in avionics and aerospace. It also offers a five-year integrated MSc in applied sciences. “Undergraduates are also given the opportunity for hands-on experience at Isro,” says Suresh. “The current batch has already worked on a payload for Chandrayaan-1. One of the students has even designed a rover that can be used in interplanetary missions in future.”

Isro, until recently, had to cope with a massive brain drain. The agency had been losing as many as 150 fresh recruits every year to multinational companies — especially IT and finance biggies — in India and abroad. But now, following the pay hike brought about by the Sixth Pay Commission recommendation — coupled with the downslide in the IT industry — Isro has been able to reverse the brain drain.

In fact, the increasing number of space ventures has increased the workload of Isro scientists so much that the institute has been forced to outsource work to institutes across India. And this is further opening up research and work opportunities for budding space scientists.

So what are you waiting for? Reach out for the skies.

at a glance:-

Institutes in India for astronomy and astrophysics

Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai

Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad

Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore

Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune

Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore

S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Science (SNBNCBS), Calcutta

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram

Centre for Astroparticle Physics and Space Science (CAPSS), Bose Institute, Calcutta

Admission :-
To join as a research scholar / postdoctoral fellow, one needs to qualify the Joint Entrance Screening Test (Jest). However, institutes like TIFR conduct their own examination

Minimum qualification for astrophysics: MSc in physics or MSc / ME / MTech in a related discipline

Admission to IIA requires a BE / BTech / MSc in mathematics

Admission to IUCAA, RRI, and SNBNCBS requires a BE / BTech

Graduates with BSc in physics are considered for some courses at SNBNCBS

Top institutes abroad :

California Institute of Technology, the US

Harvard University, the US

Princeton University, the US

Max Planck Institute, Germany

Cambridge University, the UK

Job avenues

India
Apart from Isro and the Defence Research Development Organisation, New Delhi, the above mentioned universities recruit astronomers and experts in astrophysics. In addition, there are universities which hire professors and lecturers.

Isro normally recruits 350-400 engineers / technology graduates every year; nearly 50 per cent is provided by IIST.

Abroad
Space agencies, observatories, universities, satellite communication companies and meteorological offices

Salary upon entry :-

Isro: Rs 30,000 a month

Research scholars at universities / institutes: Rs 15,000 a month

Postdoc fellows: Rs 23,000 a month

Sources:The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster and do it with no thought of reward. Your life will never be the same again,” wrote Og Mandino, the great inspirational thinker.

In this age of rapid technological change, where computers are obsolete the moment they come to the market and business models that have governed commerce for decades have been rendered useless by the web, one time-honoured principle endures: how high you rise in business will ultimately come down to how well you treat people. The more prevalent technology becomes, the more important it becomes to master the art of developing deep connections with the people who surround you.

Here are four effective lessons to better your business relationships and, correspondingly, raise the levels of your success and fulfilment at work.

Add value

Too many people in business are consumed by short-term thinking where they view a customer as a one-time source of revenue rather than as someone with whom a lifelong relationship needs to be nurtured before it yields the win-win results you are seeking. I recently engaged a graphic design firm to create a new brochure for a leadership seminar I was to deliver to a group of investment advisers. While the quality of the brochure was excellent, the agency charged me triple the going rate for the work it did. I quietly paid the invoice but vowed never to do business with that company again.

Promises to keep

Doing what you say you will do is the best way to begin your relationships. It will also raise the level of your credibility vis-a-vis your colleagues and customers. We live in a world of hype where people say they will deliver a certain result and then, once they get the order, they never follow through on their commitment. Yet, success in business and in life lies in the follow-through. The smallest of actions is always better than the noblest of intentions and peak performers always do what they say they will do, even when it is not easy for them to deliver on the commitment.

Honesty counts

A strong commitment to working with integrity requires a daily commitment to honesty. In a crowded marketplace where customers have never had so many choices as to who they will do business with, people will drive many miles to give their business to someone who is honest and sincerely cares about their best interests. Make some time over the coming week to reflect on how often you tell little untruths and obscure minor facts. In business, as in life, the little things are the big things and your personal conduct in dealing with others is the most important driver of long-lasting success.

Hearty matter

As you enrich your relationships, always remember this cardinal rule: before someone lends you a hand, you must touch their heart. The people who really succeed in business are those who dedicate themselves to astonishing their team-mates and customers with daily acts of decency and common acts of humanity.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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• Always reward your long hours of labor and toil in the very best way, surrounded by your family. Nurture their love carefully, remembering that your children need models, not critics, and your own progress will hasten when you constantly strive to present
• The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer’s place.
• Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.

Choosing the best B-school

……………………

Ankit Gupta is tense every time there is a mention of the approaching Common Admission Test (CAT), which determines admission to most business schools, on November 16. But that in no way has dampened his spirit. The 24-year-old is determined to complete his masters in business administration at one of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM). However, Gupta has not turned a blind eye to the other top B-schools in the country.

“It will be a disappointment, but not the end of my life if I am not able to make it to one of the IIMs,” says the business administration graduate from Calcutta University, as he discusses other top B-schools with his classmates at the TIME CAT coaching centre on Park Street. According to Gupta and his friends, the most important criterion in picking a B-school is the institute’s previous year’s placement record.

“Let us make no bones about it. Money remains the major motivating factor for MBA aspirants and placement record is a good indicator of the quality of a B-school,” says Rahul Reddy, director of TIME, Calcutta, and an alumnus of IIM Calcutta (IIM-C).

However, not everybody is convinced that placement records should be the overriding factor in judging a B-school. “In India, unfortunately, all rankings are heavily dependent on salaries. Also, there is no set pattern in the rankings. Our institute does not participate in any ranking except those by the All India Management Association (AIMA), and even then we do not share salary details,” says Sushil Kumar, chairman, corporate communications and media relations, IIM Lucknow (IIM-L). AIMA is the apex professional management body.

CAT, of course, is the gold standard for many. But preparing a list of top B-schools that only accept CAT scores has its own disadvantages as some very good institutes like the Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi, XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur, and a few others have their own admission tests.

“A consensus on top institutes in the country can easily be reached if we look at parameters like the placement record, standard of students an institute attracts, popularity among aspirants, and faculty,” says Reddy.

That IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is at the top of the heap comes as no surprise. “Just look at its record of more than a decade and it becomes obvious. The institute continues to attract students with the highest percentile,” says V. Rama Gopal, head of communications, IMS Learning Resources Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based coaching major.

Despite fears of a global recession, banks recruited as many as 113 IIM-A students out of 255 in this year’s campus recruitment — a glaring indicator of the recruiters’ faith in the institute’s young wizards.

Talking about his stint at IIM-A, Sandeep Hebbar, senior analyst at Celent, a research and consulting firm in Bangalore, says, “It was a thrilling experience. The quality of teaching, faculty and students at IIM-A is amazing. The case study method of teaching — with emphasis on breaking down complicated, real-life industrial problems into smaller, more manageable concerns and then solving the entire problem through actionable recommendations — has prepared me well for my current job responsibilities of research and consultancy. IIM-A teaches you to work hard and party harder at the end of it.”

Closely following on the heels of IIM-A are IIM Bangalore (IIM-B) and IIM- C. “IIM-B has become a formidable institution in recent years and even scores better than IIM-A in some areas,” says Reddy. He doesn’t see any other institute replacing “ABC” at the top.

“Almost everybody dreams about it, but each one of us knows that only the very best make it,” says Rakhee, a final-year student at Calcutta University.

Not very far behind are IIM Lucknow (IIM-L) and IIM Indore (IIM-I). One of the distinguishing features of these institutes is their innovativeness. Be it starting an additional campus at Noida or increased international academic collaborations with top institutes in Asia, Europe and North America, IIM-L has carved a niche for itself.

When a team from IIM-I, one of the youngest IIMs in the country, was declared one of “the 10 most innovative teams in the world” at the Innovation Challenge, a global MBA innovation competition at Darden School of Business, University of Virginia, it came as no surprise to the heads of the institute. Moreover, at the campus placement this year, there were as many as 367 offers for its 173 students, with more than 30 new firms participating in the process.

One area where IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K) perhaps fails to score is location. “Location does make a difference. I think it could have done a lot better had it been in, say, Hyderabad,” says Reddy. But the IIM brand is such that these things are soon forgotten. IIM Shillong, the latest entrant to the IIM fold, may also face the same problem, but it will eventually overcome all hurdles, believe observers.

The IIMs apart, the real challenge for students lies in choosing from among other top B-schools. The S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai is one such institute, which many consider to be even better than some of the IIMs. SPJIMR is much acclaimed for its innovative teaching. Says dean M.L. Shrikant, “The emphasis is on carving an identity by continually introducing cutting-edge means of imparting management education in an Indian context”. The success of this strategy was evident more than ever before when recruiters once again reposed their faith in the institute this year, and more than 95 per cent of the students signed off as millionaires. The average salary increased by 25 per cent to Rs 13.78 lakh per annum, with the highest domestic offer of Rs 20 lakh and the highest foreign offer of $70,000.

Two other institutes that are popular are the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon, Haryana, and the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Ghaziabad. MDI’s postgraduate programme in human resource management is one of the best in the industry.

The Nirma University Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is yet another school that is being taken seriously in recent years. “The percentile for the institute was very high last year and the salary packages, too, were good this year,” says Gaurav Bajpai, who hopes to secure admission to this institute.

Some of the other institutes that students could consider include the Foundation for Organizational Research and Education (Fore) and Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, both in Delhi.

Besides the IIMs, all hopefuls should apply to those B-schools from which they feel they have a better chance of getting a call, says Reddy. “I would advise applying to around five or six B-schools other than the IIMs. One should not go on an admission form buying spree,” he cautions.

But remember, as IMS’s Vinayak Kudva says, CAT cannot be predicted. What could, however, get you into one of the other top B-schools is the kind of analysis you do of your mock tests, and knowing your strengths and weaknesses. The sooner you know them, the better you will be able to choose the right B-school for yourself.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Common touch: Science communicators also organise exhibitions

Do you like to explain arcane scientific topics to the man on the street, in a language that he can understand? Do you find it exciting to explore the link between the early flowering of mango trees, or disappearance of a species of fish, with global warming? Do you have the patience to leaf through hundreds of dry scientific journals to fish out that one exciting story, say about a promising cure for AIDS or a new silicon-like material that can make computing ultra fast? Then, science communication may be a career option for you.

Science communication is the art of communicating the intricacies of science and the amazing discoveries of scientists to a layperson in a language that he or she can understand. A person who specialises in science communication can get a job as a science reporter in national and regional newspapers and magazines or as a producer of science programmes on radio or television. He or she can also choose to become a popular science writer in specialised science magazines, or a science communication officer in national or regional science laboratories.

The practice of science communication is both exciting and challenging. For instance, a science reporter working for a newspaper may have to write about the discovery of water on Mars one day, a new genetic manipulation technique the second day or file a story on the latest archaeological find the third day.

A reporter gets to cover a wide range of subjects and the opportunity to meet a large number of people working in diverse fields of science and technology. The field is certainly challenging, as one needs to develop a minimum understanding of the subjects that one is covering.

Apart from reporting or editing science, technology, and health stories for newspapers and television, those with a background in science communication can also become popular science writers who may find jobs in specialised science magazines, a number of which are slowly coming to India, like the Scientific American or Geo. Popular science writers get to specialise in one or a few areas in science but they need to develop a much deeper understanding of their subject than, say, science reporters working for a newspaper or a current affairs magazine.

At least a handful of television channels, including the stated-owned Doordarshan, have shown interest in having dedicated science programmes. The demand for those who can handle science or technology as content can only go up in the future.

Many scientific institutions are also slowly becoming open to the idea of appointing science communication officers. For instance, a senior official of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, told Careergraph that they have been on the lookout for a competent person to look after the institute’s science communication needs.

Unlike in the West, where almost all newspapers and television channels have dedicated science desks and universities have in-house science writers, there was very little demand for science communicators in India till not very long ago.

However, that is slowly changing. Under an initiative of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication, which is part of the Union department of science and technology, several universities have introduced courses in science communication. While many universities like Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, Lucknow University and Anna University, Chennai, are offering an MSc course in science communication, there are also several postgraduate diploma courses on offer. Almost all MSc students are given a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000.

There are other institutions, like the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University for Journalism and Communication in Bhopal, which also offer residential postgraduate diploma programmes in science communication. A stipend is available to those who enrol for such courses.

Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya and the Lucknow-based Indian Science Communication Society (ISCOS) also offer distance education courses in science communication. Such courses are more suitable for those who are already working in a scientific institution or a media organisation. “Though fresh graduates can also apply, it would be more beneficial for those who are working as it can be used for skill enhancement,” says V.P. Singh of ISCOS.

Institutes that conduct science communication courses say that more and more students are applying for them. “Every year, we get nearly 1,000 applications for 100 seats,” says Singh of ISCOS.

The job prospect is good. “We have been able to place nearly 80 per cent of those who successfully complete the course each year,” says Vijay Baboo Gupta, course director at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, which conducts the oldest science communication course in the country.

For those interested in a job as a science reporter in the mainstream print or audiovisual media, the courses offered by the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media (IIJNM), Bangalore, and the Centre for Development for Imaging Technology (C-DIT), Thiruvananthapuram, will be of help.

IIJNM — which has science journalism as an elective in its one-year course — focuses on making students do at least one science story a week for the entire semester. “More than the theory, we focus on teaching students the craft of science journalism,” says Kanchan Kaur, vice-president, IIJNM.

The C-DIT course, on the other hand, specialises in science and technology communication in the electronic media.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Image by James Gordon via Flickr

Pilots do not know when to take off and when to land unless they hear hear green signals from others:

Saikat Datta knows that one mistake could take hundreds of lives but he loves the challenge his new job comes with. “The stakes are high. Every time an aircraft goes out of the hangar, it’s our assurance that says it’s hundred per cent air worthy,” says Datta, in his second year of the aircraft maintenance engineering course at the Camellia Institute of Aviation, Calcutta.

When one thinks of a career in the aviation industry, it is either as a pilot or as cabin crew but beyond the glamour and coveted uniforms are careers that are not only ambitious but come with a whole lot of responsibility. One such job is that of an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME).

…

“An AME is like a doctor, but with double the responsibilities,” says Datta. “A pilot merely flies and reaches the destination. We ensure that the aircraft is fit to fly and that passengers can fly safely, and that’s a massive task,” says Datta.

An AME’s main task is to see to it that each and every part of the aircraft is in prime working condition. From inspecting the engines all the way to the air conditioning and landing gear, an AME is expected to know the part of the aircraft he’s an expert on like the back of his hand and be able to carry out repairs if needed.

The aircraft industry in India is booming with airline operators being forced to hire pilots from abroad. The requirement for AMEs is even greater. “Currently, around 260 aircraft are in operation in India and these are set to double in the next few years. The new aircraft will be larger and far more challenging to maintain so the industry is always looking for competent AME professionals,” says Pradip Biswas, director, Camellia Airways Pvt. Ltd, Calcutta.

According to Biswas, there’s a huge demand for AMEs abroad, especially in Asia, so opportunities for Indian professionals are looking bright. The salaries in the sector have increased by leaps and bounds in recent years. A fresher with a licence can easily earn anywhere between Rs 20,000 and 25,000. “With a few years of experience and expertise on newer aircraft, a person can easily command a salary of around a lakh,” says Salimuddin Mallick, a former AME with the Indian Air Force currently working as a deputy chief instructor in Calcutta. According to Mallick, AMEs in senior posts can earn up to Rs 3.5 lakh.

“If professionals have to progress in their careers, they have to constantly gain expertise in examining newer aircraft and obtaining fresh licences. This career is certainly not for somebody who thinks that passing the three-year course will lead to a rosy future,” says Biswas.

Mallick agrees. “The first few years have to be spent in acquiring skills rather than settling into a job, and only then will the career bloom and you will enjoy the fruits of success,” he says. Another advantage is that AME is basically a license-based profession so there is no retirement age as such. “Very much like a doctor, an AME can work as long as he or she is fit enough,” says Datta.

There were not many institutes around the country offering AME courses till a few years ago but recognising the projected demand for the engineers in the future, the government’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently gave various institutes the licence to offer the course.

The training period at these institutes lasts for two and a half years followed by a semester of “post institutional apprenticeship” at a DGCA-approved flying club or an airline where students work in real-time situations.

A trainee has to take three licence examinations conducted by the DGCA and receives a Basic Maintenance Engineer’s Certificate (BAMEC) recognised by the government once he passes these. Acquiring a BAMEC is necessary for obtaining an AME licence to inspect and certify aircraft, engines and systems. The AME licence issued by the DGCA is internationally recognised.

The BAMEC is issued for both light and heavy aircraft, helicopters, piston engines, radio navigation systems and others. The minimum qualification for admission to almost any AME course is the Plus Two with an aggregate of at least 50 per cent in maths, physics and chemistry. Almost all the institutes have their own entrance exams followed by interviews. Some institutes go by IIT-JEE scores to select students. Fees range from Rs 2-4 lakh depending on the area of specialisation.

Different institutes impart AME training for different types of aircraft. For instance, the Camellia Institute offers specialisation in heavy aeroplanes and jet engines, where as the North East Institute of Aeronautics, Guwahati, works with light aircraft and piston engines. The choice is for students to make.

“If you take a cursory look at the kind of aircraft that are flying in India currently and in the coming years, you will notice that most of these are massive aircraft and require heavy aircraft engineers in large numbers,” says Sridhar Kumar, former director of airworthiness of an airline.

Some of the top institutes that impart AME training include the School of Aviation Science and Technology or the Center for Civil Aviation Training in New Delhi; the Institute of Aircraft Maintenance Engineers, Secunderabad, and the Indian Institute of Aeronautical Science, Calcutta, to name a few. India has about 60 AME training institutes, 10 in the eastern region alone.

You may click to see :->Aviation School Guide

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

Next time you admire the latest functions in your cell phone, laptop, or playstation, or stare in awe at complex medical and manufacturing computers, remember that these devices are run by a tiny silicon wafer, commonly called a chip. Chip designers the world over work to make faster, cheaper, and more innovative chips that can automate parts or the entire function of electronic devices.

Industry Talk

It is now globally recognised that India has built core competence in chip design. Today, 19 of the top 25 semiconductor companies in the world have Indian operations, and there are more than 200 Indian small and large semiconductor companies.

In addition to the obvious benefits of joining the global chip design force, an interesting option is the opportunity for a budding chip designer to come up with innovations for the existing medical, automotive and engineering companies. In fact, the trend of small, high-end design boutiques focussing on one area in chip design might become commonplace in India.

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and IDC India, in their recent report ‘India semiconductor and embedded design service industry (2007-2010)’ state that the Indian semiconductor and embedded design services market is expected to cross $7.37 billion in 2008. To achieve this phase of growth, the industry needs to focus on availability of quality manpower and focus on value creation through innovation. “With the growing expertise and capabilities in complex end-to-end design, strong IP development, and increasing talent pool, India’s growth is nearly 22%, which is three times the global growth rate,” says ISA president, Poornima Shenoy. The domestic market is also one of the fastest growing, in Asia as well as globally.

Job Profile

Executive editor Ron Wilson, who writes a blog on electronic design ‘EDN’ states that far from being monotonous, chip design is a very challenging job. “This is how IC design teams actually work, across the globe: they struggle for chip power efficiency and performance, wrestle with (the ever-changing) semiconductor processes and design methodologies, and cope with the challenges of global design teams. To top that, they herd architecture, IP, design and verification into a successful tape-out.”

Once the architecture team designs the chip, the logic design team then implements the defined design in a high-level language. The two popular languages being used today are Verilog and VHDL. With the new paradigm of System-On-Chips design, System C and System Verilog are being used for top-level design. Engineers write the code with these languages.

The circuit design team synthesises the logic description into a circuit and the physical design team details the layout of the chip. This is followed by the testing and verification stages. Verification is a very elaborate process. Typically, for every two design engineers, there are five verification engineers. Nearly 70% of all the engineers in the industry today are verification engineers, and designing a chip is a job entrusted only to experienced professionals. Typically, freshers are entrusted with the job of testing. At all stages, the design is fine tuned to come up with chips with the following attributes - low power consumption, less noise, less area usage and higher efficiency and also for testability, speed, and yield. Seemingly small factors such as a laptop going into ’sleep mode’ when you leave it idle for five minutes, is a major decision taken when the design is being ideated upon.

Awaiting the Quantum Leap

There are a few hitches though. Today, Indian engineering colleges train a few hundred very large system integration (VLSI) engineers every year, while the actual requirement is in thousands. A Master’s in VLSI is generally done as a PG programme after an MTech in Electrical Engineering or Computing. Moreover, the lack of awareness of chip design opportunities makes even potential chip design candidates go into software programming, say industry experts.

To train manpower in the area of VLSI design and related software at the BE/BTech, ME/ MTech and PhD levels, the government’s department of electronics (DoE), is developing manpower and teaching abilities at various institutes in the country using the expertise available in places like the IITs and IISc. Despite these efforts, there is a basic lack of awareness and chip design does not attract enough of the innovative, resourceful talent needed by the industry. The larger student body does not understand the semi-conductor industry or its sphere of influence in the world, given how young the industry is in India, feel industry insiders. “Even in the West, the best schools are all centered in Silicon Valley or Austin or Boston,” says Dasaradha Gude, VP and MD, AMD Hyderabad Research and Development Centre.

Courses in VLSI design and micro-electronics are offered in several education institutions in the country as MTech and ME programmes. For all the PG programmes a valid GATE score in the required discipline (electronics/electronics and communication/electrical engineering). Students need to spend a number of years on a learning curve in this capital-intensive industry. As there is heavy investment early on in training, initial salaries tend to be lesser than those of the software industry, but in two-three years they easily surpass and often double software salaries. The total workforce employed in the semi-conductor industry in India is estimated at 1,30,000 today, mostly covering jobs in embedded software, VLSI design and hardware.

Wanted: Industry Interaction and Real-Time Projects

Indian chip developers must build up their repositories of intellectual property to help the industry ecosystem thrive and that explains why world-class education in chip design is essential.

Academic institutions generally are not able to cope with the high-level of investment required to keep training up-to-date in this space. The adaptive System-on-a-Chip (SoC) architecture, for example, provides a unifying theme while allowing the development of distinct and manageable sub-projects. Students are assigned to small groups, and are responsible for specific subsystems of the larger SoC. As a result, the success of the groups is linked (as it would be in real life), forcing all students to think about global issues and system integration. This framework also fosters evelopment of student leadership and initiative. It provides a realistic experience using a review-based evaluation system.

Since the advances in Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) happen at a rapid pace, the ability to learn quickly and continuously is a must. In terms of specific skills, knowledge in the following areas is required: digital design fundamentals, VHDL/ Verilog, simulation and synthesis tools and computer architecture. Some specialised areas would require additional skills - for example, mixed signal design, which requires analog design skills as well.

If industry predictions are true, India’s chip design industry will employ around 7,80,000 people by 2015. This figure in itself is indication enough of the wealth of talent this industry needs, and the profits it can produce.

Sources: The Times Of India

Aniruddha Joshi, executive director, Hirco Group, concurs, “The real estate sector is diversifying beyond the basic bricks and mortar. Demand for real estate in growing segments like retail, hospitality, healthcare, biotech, ITES, etc, is driving the sector. Similarly, SEZs (Special Economic Zones), townships, and IT parks have generated demand for skills beyond just the traditional fields of architecture, and civil and electrical engineering, to specialised knowledge on infrastructure and urban planning. People with specialisations in environmental aspects are also sought after as developers and consumers become increasingly aware of ‘green’ issues.”

Scope and potential

Hari Nagashwaran, executive vice chairman, Hallmark Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, reveals, “Every Tier-I city is attracting huge investments for gated communities, IT parks and huge malls, which are replacing conventional shopping areas. In southern India alone, construction projects to the tune of five billion dollars are in different stages of planning.”

Oscar Concessao, a renowned architect, based in Chennai, offers, “The global real estate consulting group Knight Frank has ranked India fifth on the list of 30 emerging retail markets and has predicted an impressive 20% growth rate for the organised retail segment by 2010.”

Sources: The Times Of India

Image via Wikipedia

1. Don’t wait around. “It’s going to take time, so start thinking about it as soon as possible,” says Liz Hagger, the e-guidance manager at Graduate Prospects (see box). And don’t think that taking a postgrad gap year or a higher degree will give you magical career insight; unless you know exactly why you’re signing up, you’re simply putting off making a decision, not making yourself more employable.

2. Use your envy. Do you find yourself looking longingly at your sister’s friend and her glamorous job in tax law? “Get in touch with them and see how they started out,” says Iona McLaren, the manager of Reed Graduates, the recruiters. Talking to them will give you an insight into the job.

3. Get help. “If you are a student, go to your careers service,” Hagger says. Websites can help you to define the skills that you’ve learnt from your degree; show how they can fit a range of careers; and detail exactly what those jobs involve.

4. Use your experience. Think hard about what you like and don’t like about everything you do: clubs, part-time or holiday jobs, work experience and so forth. “Review all that in detail and extrapolate to a graduate-level job,” Hagger says.

5. Narrow it down. Don’t worry if the top jobs on your list of possibilities seem no more than mildly interesting; you have to start somewhere. “Take three ideas and investigate them further,” Hagger says. “Try to talk to someone doing the job” — your careers service may be able to do this through its network of alumni — “and get relevant work experience.”

6. Really? “Do a reality check with friends and family,” Hagger says. “Do they think that you could handle another five years of study? Do they think that you have the skills to do the job you’re looking at?”

7. Skip the programme. “Remember that a graduate scheme is just one of many routes to a good job,” McLaren says. “Consider temping or taking a more junior role in an organisation to build your experience . . . and learn more about how you work, what you enjoy and what you want out of future jobs.”

8. You don’t have to say yes if you’re not sure . . . but be very polite about no, says McLaren. “Some sectors are very small and burning your bridges can be fatal.”

9. Something is usually better than nothing, Hagger says. Don’t hold out for the perfect job. You’re nearly always going to be better off in employment than out, not least because being in work helps you to see many more opportunities.

10. You can change your mind. It’s a job, not a life sentence. You can always quit, but make sure that you know exactly why, or you risk getting into the same position again in the future.

Find out more:-
The Graduate Prospects website is prospects.ac.uk. The site offers help to summarise your skills, based on your degree topic and personal attributes, and suggests careers that will use these abilities. People who have graduated from an EU university in the past five years can e-mail a careers adviser for more information.

Read a book. Try Careers Un-Ltd: How to Choose a Career that Deserves You, by Carmel McConnell and Jonathan Robinson (£6.99 plus postage from Amazon).

Feeling cynical about it all? There’s always Trainspotting (£6.99 including delivery from play.com): “Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career . . .”

Sources:TIMESONLINE

Psychologists tell us that the human brain needs constant and ever-changing stimulation. Now don’t get me wrong, the human brain learns by repetition. But the brain becomes bored once it has mastered a task or concept, and it wants to move on.

The key to overcoming career boredom is to change, at least partially, the way you use your expertise. This will give your brain an opportunity to tackle something new and different, and it will repay you by generating extra chemical enzymes that will make you feel great.

Here are 10 activities to stimulate your brain using your existing career knowledge and skills in ways different from your daily work. Consider undertaking any of these on a part-time basis first, as a career-enhancement project. Then, if your selections inspire you, consider taking them on full-time.

Pen it down

Write a book. Turn your career knowledge into a novel, a technical training manual or a textbook.

Talk it out

Give lectures. Offer to speak about your career, and related challenges and solutions at various professional gatherings.

Expert advice

Make yourself available as an independent consultant to small firms unable to afford in-house experts.

Catch them young

Consider volunteering in local schools and colleges to help students better understand your field and how to develop the skills necessary for success.

Pass it on

Contact local colleges, technical institutes and independent training centres and offer to teach courses — for a consideration — related to your area of expertise.

Mentor minds

Become a career coach. Offer to mentor younger professionals in your field to guide them into a more successful career track.

Linked in

Create a professional association dedicated to sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues.

Ultimate solution

Survey a group of colleagues to determine what issues are hot in your field. Develop solutions and publish your findings in a newsletter or journal made available to your colleagues.

Go it alone

Find a segment of the population not currently served by companies in your field, and create your own company, even if it be a one-person operation, to provide the services or products they need.

Tomorrow’s teacher

Become a product or service demonstrator. Determine which companies in your field are producing the most exciting products for tomorrow’s market. Contact them and offer to demonstrate their products — for a fee — at local, state, regional and national gatherings.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Modern Miss Manners has a tricky question to answer: how do you turn down your boss’s invitation to be his friend on Facebook?

For those not clued in to the contemporary Internet, Facebook is a social networking site. You open an account, put all your secrets, wishes and desires on it and then invite other people to come and share. That’s all very fine when they are friends you trust, or strangers (whom you never expect to meet in the real world anyway). But would you like your boss or colleague to see that picture of you being bathed when you were four (or, if you have been bold enough, 24)?

What you can talk to your boss about is fairly well defined; there is anyway a dividing line that most people don’t cross. It is a little more complex when approached from the other side. Take one example. “Is it okay for a superior to ask you about your children?” questions Mumbai-based HR consultant Shashi Rao.

There are no easy answers. If you are being interviewed for a job, the subject is clearly a taboo area. The company may feel that a large number of children may restrict your capacity to devote time to office work. “But that’s none of their business,” says Rao. “What matters is your on-the-job performance. Jobseekers in the US have cited this as discrimination and won their cases.”

But what happens when your boss asks you about your kids after you have joined up? She may be just being friendly. Why is it that a colleague may ask the same question and not be misinterpreted while a boss has to watch her words? And why is it an even bigger problem when the employee and his / her boss happen to be of opposite sexes?

“It’s a matter of workplace dynamics,” says Rao. “The culture of the organisation is important too.” She says that there can be no clear rules on this score; 20 years ago, if you were a declared gay, you would be out on your ear from most organisations. So that’s one thing you never spoke about.

With the caveat that what’s okay depends on the country and the company, Rao says what your boss should not be bringing up with you are sex, religion, health, family, money (except when you are discussing performance at annual increment time), politics and co-workers. Her full list is much longer. If you look at it closely, there is hardly anything left to talk about. Essentially, there can be no sure-fire guide; you have to chart the minefields yourself.

Bob Rosner, author of The Boss’s Survival Guide, gives some tips on what to do if your boss starts off on what you think should be a taboo topic. Ask a work-related question, he says. Bosses get diverted. His second option: change the subject, and you don’t have to be subtle about it. Finally, use humour to get to another, safer subject.

If you want to learn more, you could take a closer look at Barbara Pachter’s New Rules@Work. With sections on “Sir, your fly is unzipped — The art of verbal diplomacy”, you’ll at least have some fun.

But taboos are an important area for analysis because they inhibit change. Says Rick Brenner of Chaco Canyon Consulting: “Taboos relating to what we can talk about are especially important in the workplace because we cannot change what we cannot discuss.”

“One common taboo is the discussion of taboos,” Brenner continues in an article posted on the Internet. “Most of us want to believe that our workplace cultures are open, and many are. But if yours isn’t, and if it has no belief in openness, there could be a taboo against discussing taboos. In effect, the “taboo taboo” is a defence mechanism that taboos use to protect themselves from discovery or intervention. If you want to examine taboos in your organisation, look for this one first.”

If you needed to ask why taboos are so confusing, this must be the definitive answer.

WATCH YOUR LIPS:-

10 things you should never say to the boss

*I really need to talk to you, it’s important.

*I don’t need anyone to teach me.

*I don’t understand.

*Could you repeat that?

*I just never got around to it.

*That’s not in my job description.

*Don’t blame me — it’s not my fault.

*Can you tell so-and-so to shut off that annoying music?

*Yeah, right. I have a family. I’m going home.

*Get yourself a slave.

Source: CareerBuilder.com