ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON E-MOBILITY FOR SMART CITIES & IEEE PES SBC INAUGURATION

       E-Mobility for Smart Cities, the Second Workshop in the series of workshops on “Smart Cities” organized by IEEE Kerala Section, PES Kerala chapter, LMAG, Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust and SCTCE was held on 27th April 2019 at Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering (SCTCE), Thiruvananthapuram. The inauguration of IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter was also held along with the workshop.

Inaugural Ceremony

        The code of ethics was administered by Adith (Secretary, IEEE PES SCT SB) followed by the Welcome address by Dr Boby Philip. The Presidential address was delivered by Prof. Prabhakaran Nair (Principal, SCTCE)

Prof. V.K Damodaran (Chairman, Centre for Environment and Development) inaugurated the workshop by lighting the lamp and spoke about the need to combat climate change and pollution and role of E-Mobility in it.
Er. Sarada Jayakrishnan (Vice Chair, IEEE Kerala Section) congratulated the college authorities for setting up a new PES Student Branch in the College. She said PES is the most vibrant branch in the Kerala Section. She briefed about the glorious works undertaken by the Section and PES Chapter. She invited students to be part of the Tencon Conference in October 2019 in Kochi. The formal inauguration of the PES Student Branch Chapter, SCTCE was done by her.
Er. A. Suhair (Chairman, IEEE PES Kerala Chapter) in the felicitation speech reflected on the importance of Big-data Analysis, processing and fast communication and variety of for smart cities. He also mentioned that the PES Chapter will involve student community to study various aspects of the Smart Cities which will be reviewed and consolidated as a report to IEEE and policy makers.
Er. Hareendralal (Chairman, LMAG) spoke on the increase in urbanisation and the need for use of public transportation by all. He also quoted PES Kerala Chapter is the largest PES Chapter in the world.

Prof. Shobha Manakkal (Vice Chair, IEEE PES Kerala Chapter) addressed the

students on Student Branch activities. She also quoted that, ‘A Country is rich when a rich man uses public transport.’

The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Prof. Deepa A. K (Staff Advisor, PES Student Branch Chapter and Secretary, WIE Kerala Section) concluding the inaugural ceremony.

The Keynote address was delivered by Dr T Elangovan (Executive Director, Kerala Road Safety Authority). He introduced the concept of “Smart Mobility” and discussed the plans for implementing Smart Mobility in Trivandrum city which included the provision of high-class bus stops with facilities like drinking water and toilets, Intelligent Transport Solutions, Mobility Planning, and last mile connectivity. He said the focus should be on moving people rather than movement of vehicles. He also urged the implementation of various traffic management measures like carpooling/ride sharing, bus priority scheme e.t.c.

Dr Suraj Soman (Scientist, CSTD, CSIR-NIIST, TVM ) provided insights on “Self-Powered Smart Cities” and its current situation in India. He said we need to make it smart and sustained. He went through the evolution of connected devices, industrial revolution and IoTs. He also pointed to the fact that dumping the old batteries will inturn increase the carbon footprint. He urged the use of DSCs (Dye-sensitized Solar Cell) in a lot of scenarios even as window replacements. CSIR is indigenously developing a DSC PV Module.

Dr Sreedevi B.G (Chief Scientist, NATPAC, Trivandrum) explained the Kerala State E-Vehicles policy and its current progress. She explained the three pillars of sustainability, virtuous cycle, Govt. of India’s Initiatives, EV Policies in other states. She explained the Vision as creating more opportunities around Power Electronics and Key Policy Drivers in Kerala’s EV drive. She also talked about managing the e-Grid, upgrading bus transport fleets and Industrial Growths.

Dr Chandrashekar, from C-DAC, Trivandrum spoke on “Electric Vehicles- Charging Infrastructure”, its need and the issues related to its implementation in Kerala. Experts form Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd presented on the current progress of the Smart City Project.

Prof. Bijuna Kunju K, and Research Scholars from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam discussed their research on Electric vehicles. Prof. Prakash. U spoke on “Hybrid vehicles” and conversion of existing IC Engine Vehicles to E-Vehicles. Prof. Chitrakumar V.K led a small discussion on different perspectives of “Transformation to E-Vehicles”.

The valedictory function was held, marking the end of the workshop. Er. M Sivashankar IAS, Secretary to the Govt. (IT) and OSD to Chief Minister, was the Guest of Honor. Prof. V.K Damodaran delivered the Welcome speech, followed by the valedictory address by the Guest of Honor, where he shared about his passion on E-Mobility and Electric Vehicles. The IEEE PES Awards for Excellence from HQ were distributed to the award winners. Er. K. R. Venugopal received the Outstanding Engineer Award. Prof K. Biju and Prof Prabin James could not be present to receive the awards. The Presidential Address was delivered by Prof. Prabhakaran Nair.

Er. A. Suhair then addressed the gathering. The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Prof. Reshmi Krishnan S.

The participants found the workshop very informative regarding the goals and progress towards achieving E-Mobility.