JNTU launches PG course in Nuclear Engineering

[sajiv]

It is the first university to provide such a course in the State
Students will be exposed to training in premier scientific establishments

Kakinada: JNTU, Kakinada, has become the first university in Andhra Pradesh to introduce a PG course in nuclear engineering with renowned scientist J.S. Rao as programme adviser.Dr. Rao is the Chief Science Officer of Bangalore-based Altair Engineering and a member of the Board of Directors of GMR Energy Group.He is a pioneer in designing of Tritium fuel breeding modules for 500 MW fusion reactors. The new course (Master of Engineering) is scheduled to commence next month under his guidance.

Collaboration: Announcing the introduction of the programme for which BE qualified students were eligible, JNTU Vice-Chancellor Allam Appa Rao said the new course was the starting point of the collaboration of JNTU with Altair India, which specialises in innovative product designing, advanced engineering software and grid computing technologies.Dr. Rao, who is also president of the Vibration Institute of India, would lend his expertise in the areas of mechanical engineering, maintenance of atomic power plants, geostationary launch vehicles, high-speed cryogenics, turbo machine blade vibrations, space sciences and designing of fusion reactors.

Training: Prof. Appa Rao said JNTU and Altair would set up a Centre of Excellence for designing aerospace and energy systems, and Altair had agreed to train faculty, engineers and students in advanced technological processes.It (Altair) would also select master's and doctoral degree students to carry out projects in JNTU, Kakinada, and Altair's own laboratories at Bangalore.Prof. Appa Rao told mediapersons that introduction of the ME course in nuclear engineering was part of his futuristic view to catapult the newly-formed institution to greater heights.

Perfect timing: The new course would have four semesters. Students would be exposed to training in premier scientific establishments in the last one.Dr. Rao said the future belongs to fusion method of generating nuclear energy and the new course being offered by the JNTU would meet the already burgeoning requirement of nuclear scientists.He described the timing of introducing the course as the right juncture when fusion (of atoms) was preferred as a safe mode of producing energy compared to the risky business of dabbling with fissile material.JNTU Registrar V. Ravindra, engineering college principal E.V. Prasad and vice-principal B. Prabhakar Rao were among those present.