Why Should I Study Chemistry?

"The country which is in advance of the rest of the world in chemistry will also be foremost in wealth and in general prosperity."

- Sir William Ramsay, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 1904 

Chemistry - Role and Significance 

Chemistry plays a vital role in everyone's lives and has an impact on almost every aspect of our existence in some way or the other. Everything on our planet is made up of chemicals. Chemistry helps us understand how items around us are made and most importantly, how we are made. Our body is made up of various chemical compounds and elements. Chemical reactions occur when we breathe, eat, sleep and even think. Right from birth control to the progress of the life cycle - all have been made possible using the unambiguous services of Chemistry. Chemistry helps one understand the functioning of nature and comprehend the occurrence of natural phenomena, thereby, making life a little less mysterious. It gives us answers to questions such as why are plants green? How is cheese made? Why leaves change colours in autumn? What is soap and how does it clean hands? Chemistry is often referred to as the central science-connecting all other fields of science with one another. Basic knowledge of Chemistry is essential for Geologists, Biochemists, Pharmacologists, Astronomers and Geneticists. 

Career Opportunities for Chemistry Graduates

A graduate degree in Chemistry serves as a basis for higher studies and plenty of opportunities are available in the field of research and development. Since most of the industries use chemicals directly or indirectly either as raw material, as catalysts, as products or by-products, experts in chemical science get an opportunity of utilising their in-depth knowledge and know-how of the different types of chemicals, their compositions, properties and environmental impacts in all these sectors.

After completing a degree in BSc (Hons.) Chemistry, one can opt for pursuing a master degree in Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Drug Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry. Some sectors where B Sc (Hons.) Chemistry graduates can seek employment are pharmaceutical industries, chemical manufacturing, forensic science departments, plastic industries, agrochemical industries, etc. Apart from these, a Chemistry graduate can also utilise his expertise in fields such as oil, gas and power sectors and also in defence services.

The relevance of studying Chemistry lies in the fact that it encompasses the study of a wide variety of things as all matter is made up of chemicals. There has been manifold progress in the field of chemistry over the years and many new areas are waiting to be explored by the upcoming scientists. A Chemical Science graduate can therefore utilise the abundant resources and opportunities available and contribute immensely towards the welfare of mankind.

Dr Aditya Sharma 

Assistant Professor 

Department of Applied Sciences

The NorthCap University, Gurugram

5G: Revolutionising communication across the globe

5G technology offers potential to revolutionise the telecommunication industry as it is estimated to cater faster communication than any other existing technologies. Data speeds in 5G are anticipated to be approximately in the range of 0.5 - 10 Gbps with less than 2-5 millisecond latency, depending upon network configuration.5G advancements are estimated to benefit in driving innovations in vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to infrastructure,vehicle to pedestrian and person to person connectivity. Moreover, international standardisation brought about in the field is projected to fast-track the implementation of industrial automation and connected cars on a bulk level. 

5G Technology Market Trend

The international market for 5G technologies is estimated to be at $5.53 billion in 2020, and is expected to grow to $667.90 billion by 2026, recording a CAGR of 122.3% from year 2021 to year 2026. Asia-Pacific will be on the top in contributing to the international market, with $2.20 billion in 2020, and is assessed to reach $329.09 billion by 2026, recording a CAGR of 130.7% in projected duration.

Key Growth Factors

As we know, necessity is the mother of invention. The foremost driving force of 5G technologies is the ever increasing need for an enriched mobile internet experience, in association with increasing enthusiasm for smartphone among users. As per Ericsson Mobility Report 2019, 5G has the capacity to reach to 65 percent of the world population in 2025. In 2025, 5G networks are expected to carry nearly 50 percent of the world’s mobile data

Source: Ericsson Mobility Report 2019

In a nutshell, 5G is estimated to gain significance in 2020, empowered by coverage roll-out and accessibility of devices. It is evident that 5G in contrast to earlier cellular radio technologies would not be limiting itself because of shortage of user devices.

In India, 5G services are estimated to be offered in 2022 and is expected to have  11% of mobile subscribers at the end of 2025 while 74% of North Americans are estimated to avail 5G services in 2025.

 

Source: Ericsson Mobility Report 2019

Top Impacting Factors

As per Allied Market Research, the foremost drive factors for 5G technology market comprise increase in numbers for IoT devices, rise in requirement for content streaming services and an increase in requirement for connections with less latency in industrial automation.

 

  The top factors impacting the expansion of 5G technology globally are as follows:

• Increase in the numbers for IoT devices: As mentioned by Gartner, the number of IoT devices is expected to grow to 50 billion by the time year 2020 is over. The same data is experiencing growth at an exponential rate. The technology would deal with increase in requirement of  bandwidth, need for future application services and enhanced acceptability of the Internet of Things (IoT). This technology is expected to facilitate the delivery of unprecedented data speeds while at the same time, making improvement in the complete user experience and significantlyenhancing realtime data processing competences in IoT devices. It is expected to have 28% of cellular IoT connections as broadband IoT, with 4G/5Guniting them by the time 2025 gets over.The collective number of all types of IoT connections is estimated to be 25 billion by the year 2025.

   

• Implementation of edge computing: Edge computing permits a great volume of data to be handled near the source of the data, helps in real time assessment with lesser response time and at the same time enhancing reliability and total response and it also helps decrease privacy and security troubles.

• Rise in requirement for content streaming services: Content streaming would enhance expansion of services in the media and entertainment sector at an exponential rate. As per  vXchnge- a major colocation and edge data center contributor in the US, 70% US  subscribers opt for minimum one streaming service however an average user subscribes to more than three streaming services.

• Increase in investment in smart cities: The rise of Machine-to-Machine Communication is increasing in industries because of requirement of more and more devices in applications like smart homes, smart cities etc., thereby, making it more sensible to enhance mobile network communications with accelerated speed, thus becoming a key driver in the expansion of market. Involvement of lot of money in developing smart cities will generate huge  opportunities for the deployment of 5G technologies within smart cities.

• Opportunities in Autonomous Vehicle Industry:Autonomous vehicle market at international level is growing rapidly and is estimated to cross $550 billion by 2026. Chief automotive vendors i.e.Toyota,General Motors, and Ford, have made collective investment of more than $1 billion in self driving start-ups and Artificial Intelligent technologies. Furthermore, 5G communication is estimated to support transfer of large amount of data and to provide better processing which is more effective and improves the total performance henceforth, drive the increase in autonomous long distance transportation. As per Ericsson Mobility Report 2019, the automotive industry is estimated to be one of the  four leading industries for providing prospects for 5G enabled services in 2030.

• Health Sector: 5G is estimated to provide speed up to 10Gb/s and would decrease latency time to 1 millisecond or less. This transmission would be highly efficient and with no connectionloss, subsequently benefiting the crucial applications in healthcare and other sectors.

Dominant Market Players

The top players reported in the market are Qualcomm Inc, Ericsson,Orange S.A., Deutsche Telekom AG, Telstra,Huawei Technology, Nokia, Intel Corporation, Telecom Italia, andT-Mobile. 

Tech Mahindra is another player entering the 5G market. They are developing 5G use cases with USA-based hospitals to provide support for managing devices from a remote area and ultimately managing surgery from a distant area that would necessitate uninterrupted network availability to efficiently control the operations in the hospitals.

Vodafone is undergoing trials for 5G and developing out tests in various areas of United Kingdom. Other leading vendors e.g.  EE , Telia are also aggressively conducting the tests in the region which eventually would help them to be prospective buyers of the 5G enabled projects.

Nokia and FAW Group will be using 5G to fast-track digital revolution of automotive segment of China. It would be deploying a 5G testing network to upkeep Research & Development in self-directed driving and connected vehicle simple mentations. It will also unite with FAW to provide services required for digital revolution such as data centres, big data,cloud, and 5G network slicing solutions.

Single-purpose refers to traditional infrastructure providers to support wireless network build outs while Multi-purpose refers to a mix of venture networking companies that have stretched their reach into the telecommunications industry by making a package of hardware, software, and services and verifying them.

Single purpose provider evaluation	Multi-purpose provider evaluation
Leader:  Ericsson, Samsung	Leader:Hewlett Packard Enterprise/ Aruba, Cisco Systems
Follower:  Huawei, Nokia	Follower:  Dell EMC
Laggard:  ZTE	Future Player:  Lenovo

As per Moor Insights and Strategy report published on Forbes.com,Ericsson is the winner on the single-purpose infrastructure side and Hewlett Packard Enterprise/Aruba is for multi-purpose infrastructure. Ericsson is also doing a wonderful job of distinguishing itself by investing into Artificial Intelligence.

Indian Scenario for 5G deployment

5G High Level council is established in 2017 for setting up a network to provide 5G services in India and end orsechanges in policy and action plan to accomplish the vision. In India, telecom industries are keenly involved in launching commercial 5G  by investing in Research & Development, by creating  trial beds, by making technological tests for implementation and analysis of use cases. Following are the steps taken in the direction of implementation of 5G environment in India.

• Fibre backhaul is critical for deployment of 5G network infrastructure with high speed. India targets to increase its fibre layout to 2.5 million km under the government’s leading program ‘Bharat Net’by 2022 as compared to existing 1.5 million km.

• Few network providers initiated 5G tests with Indian operators in the year 2017 only.

• The 5G committee of the telecom ministry plans to offer 6,050MHz spectrum for 5G services in 2020.

• As per the latest report published in Economic Times of Feb 2020, the department of telecommunication has already collected applications from Bharti Airtel,Vodafone Idea,Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.(BSNL) and Reliance Jio in mid January for 5G field tests.

5G is expected to have massive impact on the world. In the meantime, India and other countries are racing to install the infrastructure needed for the next wave of innovation to hit.

References

• Ericsson Mobility Report 2019. November 2019. Retrieved from https://www.ericsson.com/en/mobility-report
• Valuates Reports, Allied Market Research. 2020.5G Technology Market by Offering, Connectivity, Application, and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020–2026.Retrieved from https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/ALLI-Manu-1C7/5g-technology-marke

• Confederation of Indian Industry and Deloitte Analysis Report. 2018. 5G: The catalyst to Digital Revolution in India. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/in/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/in-tmt-the-catalyst-report-one-noexp.pdf

•  Market Insight Reports. November 2019.5G InfrastructureMarket – Growth, Trends And Forecast (2019 – 2025). Retrieved from https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/5g-infrastructure-market-growth-trends-and-forecast-2019-2025-2019-11-19

•  Moor Insights and Strategy Report.2019. Who Is 'Really' Leading in Mobile 5G, Part 4: Infrastructure Equipment Providers. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/moorinsights/2019/07/19/who-is-really-leading-in-mobile-5g-part-4-infrastructure-equipment providers/?ss=enterpriseandcloud#776840ba9130

Dr. Sharda Vashisth

HOD-Electrical, Electronics and Communication Engineering Department

The NorthCap University, Gurugram

Role of Universities in Promoting Research, Innovation and Start-ups Ecosystem

For the past few years, a new trend can be observed within Indian Universities, where much buzz is going on to promote research, innovation, and start-ups. The government has made it mandatory for the Universities to work in this direction. All the major national ranking systems such as NIRF and ARIIA focuses on these areas for judging the Universities. There are two types of approaches where the government can play a role in promoting such activities. One is a top-down approach where the government acts as a planner and involves directly with innovative activities and helps in providing subsidies, funds, and promotes technology commercialization. In another approach, i.e., bottom-up approach government acts as a facilitator and helps in creating linkages and networks among universities, industries, entrepreneurs, accelerators, venture capital, large firms, etc. In the Indian education system where more than 70% of the sector is captured by private universities/educational institutes, the role of government is limited. However, in the case of public/government-funded educational institutes, the government plays a significant role in funding and technology transfer.

It becomes challenging for private universities to promote such activities on their own. Though some funds and schemes are available for the private sector, but the limited output is observed. To tackle such situations, universities are playing both roles of top-down and bottom-up approaches for creating the culture of research and innovations. Universities are providing funds to the faculties/research scholars and act as a facilitator in creating linkages and networks among peers, industries, entrepreneur, etc. At present, the innovation ecosystem for private universities can be related by Fig. 1, where 80% of the contribution is through university funding and their linkages and networks. Government agencies make about 20% of the contribution. For successful implementation of the research and innovation ecosystem in private universities, government roles and contributions have to improve and increase beyond 50%.

At The NorthCap University Gurugram, the contribution towards research and innovation ecosystem is supported through various schemes, and Vice-Chancellor Innovation Funding is one such platform. An annual amount of ₹ 10 Million is available for faculty and students to encourage innovative ideas and research. This scheme aims at encouraging innovative ideas amongst research workers, faculty members, and students to seed research activity. Further, to support research, The Master Jagannath Centre of Excellence & Incubation (MJCEI) at The NORTHCAP UNIVERSITY is established. The funding from the VC Innovation Fund acts as an initial grant to nurture ideas, passion & convert products into start-ups.

Fig.1: Role of various stakeholders in promoting research, innovation and innovation start-ups in private universities

The projects under VCIF are selected based on a few key elements, “FOCUSS” which are decided by university committee members and are presented in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Key elements “FOCUSS” required for projects under VCIF

These elements ensure the uniqueness of projects which are submitted under VCIF and also ensures the timely completion of projects. The completed projects which have chances of commercialization can further be transferred to The Master Jagannath Centre of Excellence & Incubation (MJCEI) of The NorthCap University for converting them into successful start-ups. Some of the projects sanctioned in the 2019-20 session are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Granted projects under VCIF in 2019-20

S. No.	Project Title	Amount Granted
1	Smart Car Management System	Rs 68,000/-
2	Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) Disciplined Oscillator	Rs 2,70,000
3	Synthesis and electrochemical characterisation of NiCo2O4@MnO2/N-doped Graphene as composite electrode material for supercapacitor applications	Rs 1,99,090
4	Automatic domestic gas stove controller for boiling liquids	Rs 4,100
Total		Rs 5,41,190/-

Some of the outputs of the VCIF sponsored projects are mentioned below:

●      Recent Indian patent on Automatic universal LPG stove control device for boiling of liquids, Publication No.: 51/2019

●       Research paper publications.

●     Initial funding from VCIF and experimental results obtained help students to apply for funding under various government schemes.

●       Placements on the basis of project work carried under VCIF.

●       Won inter-university project competitions.

Further, it is noteworthy to mention that 55% of the faculty at NCU are female members who have fetch many Women Scientists Scheme (WOS) instituted by The Department of Science, Govt. of India and thus adding to the research culture of the University. University also focuses on interdepartmental research activities to utilize the full potential of work force. The continuous research/innovation activities carried out by faculty members are well appreciated as it forms an integral part of assessment and career advancement for them at NCU.

The aim of this article is to highlight the role of private universities in uplifting research and innovation activities. At least 10% of the annual budget should be allocated for research-based activities for enhancing research culture, where government funding is not available. Many Indian universities provide initial seed funds to their faculties for lab setups and to carry out research activities. Such funding not only attracts doctoral and post-doctoral students but also boost confidence in faculties to uplift their research career. The initial lab developments and research activities may further help in acquiring government-funded projects in the future.

By: Dr. Satnam Singh

       Assistant Professor,

       The NorthCap University, Gurugram.

Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Mechanical Engineering

Since the beginning of existence, man has evolved as the most adapting species on this planet. The capabilities of advanced learning, reasoning and perception are intrinsic to mankind and this potential for evolving new pathways and creating new fields and theories by constantly progressing in the field of technology has helped man achieve many milestones. One such field where constant progress is being made in today’s world is Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Artificial intelligence essentially refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. AI is presently being used in many fields such as education, games, healthcare, finance, marketing, and many more. But the fact remains that despite continuous progress, we are still very far from utilizing it to its full potential. This is because man hasn't yet fully understood and captured the capabilities of human intelligence. The progress that we have made so far in this direction is just the tip of the iceberg. If we wish to advance to the next level then extensive research needs to be conducted in this field so that we can experience a better quality of life and can focus on working at aspects that are more critical and important. 

Once the Artificial Intelligence based machines which can analyze and decide like human beings are developed, these intelligent machines need to be integrated with mechanical mechanisms for developing Robots so that human-like action or other desired actions could be performed. This is where the field of Mechanical Engineering which deals with all kinds of mechanisms, machines and physical devices shall play a major role. These hi-tech Robots will help us in performing tasks that involve risk, are difficult, or repetitive, thereby leaving man to focus on other productive creations. 

Figure 1: Material handling by a Robot 

Figure 2: Robots performing assembly 

Figure 3: Robots used in car manufacturing 

Robotsare already being used widely for performing various tasks in different industries. In the field of Mechanical Engineering, they are extensively being used where material handling, manufacturing, assembly and other operations are being performed. Certainly, their scope and applications can further be expanded in many other directions. The interesting and exciting field of multidisciplinary applications of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Mechanical Engineering once fully explored and utilized further will lead to amazing outcomes. Inter-disciplinary research in this emerging field is the need of the hour as Robots that perform actions based on human-like intelligence can be used not only in industrial applications but also in our day-to-day lives. 

Dr. Pramod Bhatia 

Professor 

Department of Mechanical Engineering 

The NorthCap University 

Gurugram

The NorthCap University Shifts from Regular Classroom teaching to online teaching

During this time of a pandemic (COVID-19), being the citizens of India it’s our social responsibility to take care of those who are around us and ourselves gave that the initiative had to be taken. So, as directed by the Govt., the University decided to suspend all regular classes from 16th March 2020 onwards. 

I think online classes have given everyone a reason to stay focused on their normal schedule. The Northcap University was ready and took great measures to practice social distancing and still be able to grow minds by sharing online academic platform. 

Understanding the fact that the whole process of online classes sometimes is not on the track being habitual of the offline classes, the teachers are keeping a check on every student’s personal growth and making sure that the lectures are being delivered with full understanding from both sides. Regular assignments and doubt calls to coordinate regarding the same are helping us out to get a hold on the situation. 

Before switching to the online classes completely the university held test runs with the students in order to get them used to this concept and using the Microsoft Team software has made it far easier for the IT team as well the teachers and students to deal with any backlog or interference. There is no chance anyone misses their class as they get notified by the software and faculties via text/ email. 

Personally I think if this system works out then we can cover most of the classes via this software when we can’t go to college due to some reason this will help us grow the future possibilities in the academic as well as regular terrain. 

As a student myself I find online classes to be a comfortable source knowing that I will be safe at home and studying with my classmates. We can exchange notes as well as communicate personally; this setup is giving everyone at the similar experience of a class just virtually. 

I am sure once again we have proven that technology has never disappointed us in the case of any problems NCU has always emphasized on practices and this time this is helping us out to find solutions in this time frame. 

You Quarantine while you learn and you don’t do it alone. 

By Yukti Bhasin (Student of Final Year BTech ECE)

Imbibing A Culture Of Counselling Clients At NCU

Mr. HimangshuRathhee

Assistant Professor, School of Law

The NorthCap University

School of Law, The NorthCap University always encourages the students to develop interviewing, planning and analytical skills in the lawyer-client relationship which is an integral part of the legal profession. The lawyers are assumed to have the listening and questioning skills needed to conduct an effective interview. Regrettably, these aspects have often been overlooked in the curriculum of legal education. The client consultation competition is a means of focusing student’s attention on these skills early in their careers. The main objective is to understand and imbibe in our principles that the “aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts but values”. In realizing the same, the school of law has been organizing Client Consultation Competitions successfully to develop the values and also give the students, experience in the art of understanding and counselling their clients effectively.

The Competition is aimed at promoting greater knowledge and practical skills among student advocates in the preventive law and counselling functions of law practice. It will encourage students in developing interviewing, planning, and analytical skills in the lawyer-client relationship in the law office. Interviewing and advising are a significant part of most lawyers’ work.The Competition provides an opportunity for a valuable educational interchange between students, law faculty and legal practitioners. The Competition simulates a law office consultation in which two law students, acting as lawyers(attorneys/solicitors/legal practitioners), are presented with a client matter. The students conduct an interview with a person playing the role of the client. School of Law, The NorthCap University, Gurugram hitherto has organized five successful editions of the Competition. 

The 5th Edition of National Client Consultation Competition, 2019 was the latest in the series of the annual event. Hon’ble Mr. Justice B.P Singh, former Judge Supreme Court of India was our Chief Guest of the programme. 31 teams from all over the Country came down to participate in the event. University School of Law and Legal Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University came out as winners.Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow came in the second position. The final round judges were Professor P.S Lathwal, Justice J.C Gupta and Justice S.K. Katriar.