IITians make creativity ‘glide’

AHMEDABAD: Abhishek Ranjan an electrical engineering student and Prashant Shekhar from chemical engineering course in IIT-Gandhinagar, utilized their winter break studying aero-modelling or the science of making small-sized objects fly.
The students approached their faculty, studied YouTube videos and RC Forums to design their very own, powered remote controlled glider, inspired by the popular ‘Moss glider’.
“With three motors to propel it forward and manage the upward, downward, left and right directions, the glider can stay airborne for 8 minutes. It has a very powerful motor and needs a windless climate to fly at its best,” said Ranjan, 20, from Ranchi.
The aero-model has been funded by the student tech activities committee in IIT-Gn. Nithin V George, assistant professor, faculty of electrical engineering, said, “We encourage students to learn and develop new skills other than academics. The ‘Moss glider’ by the two students can inspire others so we urged them to organize a workshop.”
About 50 students will now be divided into seven teams and learn how to create a glider by Ranjan and Shekhar over the weekend.
The aero-modelling behind a ‘powered remote controlled glider’ created by two BTech students was appreciated so much by the faculty that it announced a workshop for students on the subject.