The Sounding Rocket

23/12/2021

The semester was brought to a brilliant closure with the Christmas celebrations on 20th December 2021. Feliz Navidad 2021 captured the festive spirit of Christmas in its entirety. With the college authorities and students back home joining the inaugural function online, the inaugural function was sprinkled with Christmas themed musical performances in different languages. Then with the Santa showing up, the secret Santas were revealed and gifts were exchanged. Special cheers to the Santa who although wasn’t mythologically accurate in physique would have made the fabled one jealous with her sheer enthusiasm and spirit through the whole night. A tug-of-war competition was organized to be a test of strength, coordination and gravity.
Post one of the delicious dinners in lockdown, a carol parade was organized around the hostels to awaken the dancing vibes which continued into the seminar hall and the event was topped off with a DJ night.
Kudos to the organizers (mainly the PhD community) for pulling it off.

07/11/2021

Being the first student-led offline event since the onset of the pandemic, this year’s Diwali celebrations outperformed expectations by miles. The spirit of Konchords, the bi-yearly music event of IIST, was reignited and was merged with Diwali celebrations to put up a wholesome event on 4th November 2021. The M.tech and PhD communities of IIST came alive with their stellar creative performances and owned the stage. The evening flourished with group and solo performances in dance, music and poetry. A brutally honest rant, a mesmerizing flute performance, a stand-up all added up to the identity of the event. The event was interspersed with fun activities like the trendy flip-the-bottle challenge, an imitation of the “Squid Game”, and a mini quiz to involve the audience. The event ended with an Aarti and sweet distribution. As a cherry on top, an energetic DJ night was hosted to cap off the celebration.

Aside from this, the food menu in the mess was customised and boosted up to levels of a feast to break the monotonous routine and to remind many tongues that they are alive after all. The Open-air Theatre in Student Activity Center (SAC) was beautifully decorated with diyas and in the generously clear night, it was a concrete garden of fireflies. The lights mirrored and sparkled the joy and happiness of the night, and most importantly, it meant hope, maybe a little more than usual.

A big shoutout to the organizers who were able to pull off this event in such a grand fashion. Unlike normal times, the organizers consisted of people from every segment and batch, including M.techs and PhDs as the whole IIST student community truly came together to celebrate Diwali. From being an almost cancelled event in the evening of 3rd November to being on the most well-organized events of IIST on the evening of 4th November, the event took the emotions of the organizers on a ride. So a special thanks to them for holding it together till the end.

29/08/2021

After a prolonged period of slumber, IIST stirs to life albeit in ways never seen before. Emboldened by the success of the pseudo virtual independence day celebrations which saw IIST’s youtube channel inching its way back to relevance, the decision to host a virtual Onam celebration was taken. Sticking to the essence of true IISTians, the event was planned within a short span of one week, with the organisers flooding inboxes asking for entries and participation. It all culminated with Onaaravam 2021 which kicked off with all the pomp and glory an online event could muster on the afternoon of the 28th of september. Performances were recorded and edited beforehand and were showcased on the day of the event. The show was a mix of the traditional performances like the thiruvathira, the onam song (Vanji paatu) and some new items like a drama that took the audience on an e-tour through kerala, explaining the spirit of the festival and all it entails along the way.

Even though the rain soaked celebrations on campus were sorely missed, this sure was a memorable event to start off the new academic year. Kudos to the second and third years for pulling it off.

In lieu of pictures, we have artistically taken screenshots this time.

13/08/2021

"It was just like a relay race. I was running because someone handed me the baton. I was running because people were rooting for me. I was running because time was running out. In all that haste, I never stopped for a moment to think about why I was running. But I did know that I wanted the race to end.

It was as simple as that. I prepared for JEE because my sister did the same. My family told me that it was my dream. I believed them. And as a consequence, got a royal treatment for those two years. For a while, I even enjoyed the preparations, exams and results but after that, it became tortuous. My competitive spirit died somewhere along the line. When the race finally ended, I was rewarded with a few options. Most of them were immediately turned down by my father as there was not enough "scope" in these fields. I finally tried holding onto BITS Pilani Physics but I didn’t have answers to my father’s questions about jobs in this field

So there I was, standing in BITS Hyderabad campus, enrolled in a branch with “more job prospects”, Electronics and Communication. The first year rushed by in exploring college and hostel life. And after that, I felt clueless. At a time when everyone around me was focusing on their interests and crafting plans for their lives, I was oblivious to my own self and what I wanted. Right from class four, I was pigeonholed into becoming an IITian. And with the race over, I was confronted with this big void in my mind for the first time; something which always existed but I never recognized.

I started questioning myself - “Why am I even doing engineering?”. I started seeking refuge in my old hobby of arts and craft. I started bunking classes and spending time on sketching, painting on the walls of my room and cutting my clothes to modify them. I even tried saving money to buy a sewing machine to enroll myself in a distant fashion designing course. At that point, I was sure about one thing- I am not going to continue this engineering degree.

“You’ve prepared for this for two years, don’t give up now. You can pursue your arts parallelly”, one of my school friends advised me. I thought about my father. I thought about the questions he would ask. I thought about myself standing there without any answers. So I stayed. And now in retrospect, I am glad that I did.

At the end of fourth semester, we were supposed to do an internship. I got mine in Mumbai, which later proved to be the period of awakening in my life. In the busy streets and on the tranquil seashores of Mumbai, I realised that there is more to life than just studying and preparing for the future. I realised that I could actually finish my engineering degree and it still need not decide my future. I also realised that art and fashion were just my hobbies. I could not picture myself as a professional artist. So there I was sitting in my room one evening after work, again clueless, but in a much more exciting way.

The answers came in tiny 2D boxes - the so-called ‘‘black box’. Everytime I would see one of them on the blackboard while my teacher would explain the circuits, I would only wonder about that box. What is in that box? What makes it work in this particular way? And just like that, I got an idea of what I wanted to do. Initially I thought that Material Science would answer these questions of mine but I looked at the coursework and I realised that it wasn’t exactly aligned with my interest. I got a better idea during my seventh semester, when I went to Delhi for my thesis project. I got introduced to Solid State Physics for the first time by working with a scanning tunneling microscope. Soon after my final semester, I got placed in a company in Bengaluru and decided to prepare for GATE while working. Only one thing was left- I had to convince my father. His only concern was that unlike my batch-mates in BITS, I wanted to do my masters in India, not somewhere abroad. For which I prepared the “Sharma Ji Ka Beta” method. As the topper of the 2014 batch of my college went to IISc to do his masters, my father finally agreed to let me prepare for the same. And after a year, here I am, a SST master’s student in IIST, exploring all the things which I had wished to learn!!"

- Mohitha Adira , M.Tech Solid State Technology, Batch of 2020 admissions.
is an initiative to bring the IIST community closer by knowing each other better.

31/07/2021

“With me the present is forever, and forever is always shifting, flowing, melting. This second is life. And when it is gone, it is dead. But you can't start over with each new second. You have to judge by what is dead” - Sylvia Plath

The pandemic drags on as a relentless war, twisting into every inch of our existence, forcing us to adapt, to change and not always for the better. Read on as Digvijay Kumar narrates a tale of two dots drifting apart, yet yearning to come closer.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you wish to publish your stories, do write to us at [email protected]. Happy reading!

They appeared as two black dots suspended in separate light funnels, facing away from each other when seen from above. Two moths trapped in…

17/12/2020

Teaser 3: Zeroing In with Dr. B.N. Suresh
The willingness to deal with failures is neither new nor an exceptional idea at all when we take a closer look at the great minds across history. Doesn't parlaying the mistakes into future gains instead of mourning them define success?
In an exciting conversation with Dr. B.N. Suresh, a first-generation scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation we gained a much-coveted insider’s view into the fascinating work of ISRO.

Stay tuned for the big picture coming soon and to gain closer insights into the life of a Space Scientist who has been a part of ISRO from its outset.

Cover art by Aksh*ta Arora. Background score: 'Dreamcatcher' by Purple Planet Music.

14/12/2020

Teaser : Zeroing In with Dr. BN Suresh
Treading a path with so many variables to play along, where failure awaits at each turn, how does one reach heights in the field of ‘Rocket Science’?
Singing the songs of a journey so complete and detailed with adventures, we bring you a conversation with one of India’s pioneering rocket-scientist and researcher who has played a fundamental role in the Indian Space Program, Dr. BN Suresh.
Stay tuned for the upcoming episode, where we converse with a direct perspective of life in the field of Space Sciences.
Cover art by Aksh*ta Arora. Background score: 'Moment of Inspiration' by Purple Planet Music.

10/12/2020

Zeroing In Season finale - Teaser
Curiosity is one of those virtues that we all are the masters of in our childhood. If we are lucky (and adamant) enough, we are able to sustain it through the storms and seasons of life. Perhaps it won't be an exaggeration to say that this is what keeps us alive.

The greatest of discoveries and inventions were born out of mere curiosities of beings who held on to their questions every time when the numbers didn’t add up.
How else can life be defined if not as an adventure of the how’s, the why’s and the what’s?

Concluding with the first season, we bring to you in the season finale, a brilliant discussion with an internationally acclaimed scientist, a visionary and veteran in space science, whose contributions have essentially shaped a whole nation's technological advancements over the last half of the century.
Present alongwith in the conversation were some of the brightest young guests from secondary schools across the country!
Can you guess who our next guest is?

Stay tuned for more details! Meanwhile, dig in for the first view of the final episode of Season 01, and stay tuned for more of Zeroing In, an initiative by the Alumni Association of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST Alumni Association).

Artwork by Aksh*ta Arora.
Background Score from Purple Planet.

03/12/2020

How does one figure out which part of the sky would rumble today? Or if there would be enough sunshine for the Dandelions by the window? Or if one should be carrying an umbrella to work?

There are way too many variables for one single atmosphere! And then go in the interaction of the oceans and more. Imagine the complexities that go into dealing with such a chaotic system. The same interactions that house the reasons for everyday weather, long term climate patterns, and the crucial ideas of climate change— tracing all of life from the ice ages through to the day— how do we deal, understand and predict it all from a scientific perspective?
Looking back to the sixth episode of Zeroing In/Season 01, in our conversation with Dr. GovindanKutty M., we discovered the intricacies that go into generating such atmospheric models for weather forecasting, meteorology, and other aspects of Atmospheric Sciences and also, about the current scientific perspective of climate change.
Tune in to hear on the complete episode now!

Artwork by Namann Jain and Shreya Mishra.

02/12/2020

Have you ever wondered how do scientists find the precise drugs to deal with a problem out of virtually trillions of compounds possible in nature? Given that the process of drug discovery takes more than a decade of intensive trials and research to be considered successful or unsuccessful, how do researchers optimise the process while also generating sufficient outputs?

To this end, in S01/E05 we conversed with a researcher in the field who deals with such questions and a fascinating technique that solves the dilemma— combinatorial chemistry!
Combinatorial chemistry is a useful tool for rapidly optimizing molecular properties, particularly ones that are difficult to design a priori. The idea can be used to generate a large number of variables in a format that allows for selection of an optimal subset.

Nature uses a combinatorial approach to generate diverse functional macromolecules, such as the large number of antibodies that recognize non-self-molecules. Combinatorial chemistry builds on this approach and provides an array of concepts and methods to solve molecular optimization problems. Since specific molecular interactions between proteins and their ligands have been recognized as the molecular basis of most biological processes including diseases, it becomes possible to study and optimize the interactions between drugs and their target proteins on a molecular level. Thus, drug development has turned into a systematic and rational task of optimisation after combinatorial chemistry.

Dive into the fifth episode of Zeroing In’s Season 01 to explore our conversation with Dr. Sreejalekshmi K.G., who probes into such ideas as combinatorial chemistry, drug discoveries and further, everyday in her laboratory.

Artwork by Fenil Shah, Shreya Mishra and Naman Jain.