Institution news
Siddartha Khastgir CEng MIMechE and Mahesh Shinde CEng FIMechE gave technical talks to young members from the IMechE Germany Group in Berlin. Siddartha and Mahesh were in Berlin to attend an international conference and on the side-lines of the event, both of them took time off to deliver their talks and take part in the event. The event was combined with the Germany Group’s "Stammtisch" event (networking, food and drinks) and was held at Berlin Höfbrauhaus on 21st March 2016.
Mahesh works with Tata Motors, Pune as the General Manager for Indoor Testing. He is the Secretary of the India Branch and an active volunteer for the institution in India. He gave a talk on “Role of Mechatronics in Engineering Industries & Automobiles”, highlighting the changing face of the automotive industry and the rapid influx on electronic systems in an automobile. He further discussed the challenges faced by the automotive industry due to the changes.
Siddartha is pursuing a PhD degree at WMG, University of Warwick, UK. He is a member of the IMechE Southern Asia Region board and was awarded Institution’s Young Member Visionary of the Year in 2014. He gave a talk on “Going Driverless…”, highlighting the different types of autonomous systems in vehicles (from driver-assistance system to fully driverless cars). He further discussed both technical and non-technical challenges offered by autonomous systems. Non-technical challenges include driver’s trust in an autonomous system, ethical challenges and insurance framework. Technical challenges include making a dependable system which means thorough testing of autonomous systems, which also is the topic for Siddartha’s PhD research.
With an audience from an aviation background (Rolls-Royce), it was interesting to note the contrasts between the automotive industry and aerospace, prompting an interesting debate. However, most of the engineers present were able to relate to the issues discussed and appreciated the challenges. Siddartha was joined by his colleague from WMG, Gunny Dhadyalla who is a Principal Engineer at WMG, University of Warwick, UK.
Samuel Tilakasiri CEng MIMechE, Germany Group Young Member representative for Berlin and Eastern states and Rolls-Royce Project Systems Engineer, who was the organizer of the event, said: "Although the event was arranged on short notice, and some improvisation was required to present, the evening turned into a great success. A broad mix of experiences and cultures interacted via presentations which were excellently executed.
For an audience of Controls, Systems and Design engineers in the aviation industry, the topic of mechatronics and autonomous vehicles, presented challenges which were often common in theme, but also different to what they were used to working with. As such, the resultant debate was dynamic and provoked thinking 'outside of the box'.
Overall, this was a highly enjoyable event. I look forward to many similar events in the future and thank the presenters for their hard work on this occasion".
One of the speakers, Mahesh Shinde CEng FIMechE said: "An exhilarating experience through fruitful exchange of thoughts amongst diverse engineering sectors & cultures with a backdrop of informal yet conducive environment!"
For more information on the Institution's activities in India and Germany visit the India NearYou pages and the Germany NearYou pages of this website.