Mysuru: Just within a very short period of five years, the plastic recovery has increased from 6.2 million tonnes to 17.9 million tonnes and the environmentalists can feel a sigh of relief, said Karisiddappa, Vice Chancellor, Visvesvaraya Technological University.
Speaking after inaugurating the two-day seventh national conference on “Novel Polymeric Materials”-Polycon 2017, organised by the Department of Polymer Science and Technology, SJCE in association with Indian Rubber Institute, Karnataka branch at SJCE premise here on September 14, he said, “It is very difficult to do away with polymer products in our life today. They have become integral part of each and everyone. I think synthetic polymers not only improved the usage and acceptance in the society but also bettered the lifestyle of citizens. The consumption is on a rising trend and when we go for newer materials definitely there will be some environmental issues. The best way to address the impact is to have solutions to usage of these kinds of polymers, recycle and reuse them. If plastics were not available, people would have been put to difficulties. Apart from this, plastic can save energy and is environment friendly. A lot of agricultural equipment can be made by quality polymer products which will also reduce the burden of cutting the trees. Whenever we think about a product, we should also think about a common man’s convenience.”
He also mentioned that the usage of plastics had increased worldwide. “Manufacturing of plastics has increased from 1.5 million tonnes in 1950 to 322 million tonnes in 2015. This encourages the recycling of plastics. In Europe, nine countries have managed to reuse 95 percent of their used plastics. “This is a highly interdisciplinary field and therefore it needs integration with several branches of science and technology which will help in developing useful products”, said Karisiddappa who also called upon the researchers to come out with research which would be more beneficial to common people and also address the problem of the country.
VTU to introduce innovative undergraduate project programme
“Though the innovative undergraduate project programme, we are going to fund final year project in all engineering colleges. Apart from this, VTU is also set to introduce regular research programmes at all VTU regional centres”, he added.
Revision of curriculum
To meet the present demand, especially the industrial demand, VTU is also set to revise its curriculum. “The first four semester students can relax a bit but during the last four semesters, they should go all out in their effort. The holidays after four semesters should be learning holidays besides the curriculum. The holidays must be innovative in learning technology”, added Karisiddappa.
‘For higher education only 0.2 percent of total GDP being spent’
S A Kori, Executive Director, Karnataka State Higher Education Council who also spoke on the occasion said, “America which is not having too much of population spends 4 percent of its total GDP while we in India spend just 0.2 percent. Russia is No 1 in the world in occassionalisation training; 68 percent of students are skill trainers while in India just 3 percent of our students are skill trainers. We should compare with other advanced countries and then only we can address other issues.”
Skill University from next academic year?
“Already government has formed a committee for setting up the Skill University in Bengaluru. Here skill will be imparted even for those who have not passed SSLC. In India, 30 percent of people in the age group of 15 to 29 years are not employed or not in school or do not have any skill. Once the university becomes a reality, this will not only help such people but also industries who are facing shortage of quality hands”, added Kori.
G M Shashidara, Chairman of the conference mentioned that during the two-day conference, 7 plenary sessions, 10 technical sessions and 114 papers will be presented by various speakers who have not only come from across the country but also from different countries.
R Mukhopadhyay, Director (R and D), J K Tyre and Industries; Ashok Menon, Global Technology Leader, SABIC, Bengaluru; T N Nagabhushan, Principal, SJCE; B G Sangameshwara; Vice Chancellor, JSS Science and Technology University and Siddaramaiah, Organising Secretary were also present.
