Open House at CIPET throws light on plastic engineering, technology

Mysore:  A two-day Open House organised by Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology -Centre for Skilling Technical Support (CIPET-CSTS), Mysuru in association with Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, began in city yesterday. The event was open for public to showcase how plastic is used in various walks of our lives at every single stage.

The Open House had displays of several plastic moulds, plastic products, and mould manufacturing techniques and provided an insight into the courses offered at the Institute in various disciplines of Plastic Engineering and Technology.

Many uses of plastic: The products manufactured were designed for electrical, satellite, aeronautical, medical, agricultural and missile purposes and were made up of plastic, aluminium, titanium and steel. They ranged from hinge pins to gear forks and levers. They had also displayed plastic peddles, assembling components, Teflon sheets, water sprinklers, road reflectors, trophy bases, etc.

The visitors were taken on a walk around the campus and were also taken to the major departments like CAD-CAM (Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided Manufacturing), Processing, Tool Room and Testing that function under a single Umbrella of CIPET Mysore. The students use CAD-CAM lab uses various software to design the mould and analyse it.

The processing department has various moulding machinery like injection moulding, blow moulding etc. Here pipes, wires, cables and films are manufactured with guidance from the faculty. The tool room focused on precision component manufacturing, mould manufacturing using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling, CNC electrical lathe discharge machining and CNC lathe. In the testing room, the quality check of the products is ensured. They check the load and the temperature conditions that the finished product can withstand.

From plastic to fuel: There was a display of a lab project of how plastic waste can be converted to fuel. This lab project had a flask where in the plastic waste material was heated to 300 to 400 degree Celsius under some optimal requirements. It was then condensed and it used to become oil. The behaviour of the oil was similar to the properties of petrol.

Speaking to Star of Mysore L. Sivasubramanian, Senior Technical Officer, CIPET said, “This converted oil acted as fuel and it had an efficiency of almost 90%. This was a lab test and we will be making further strides in the coming future.”

Diploma in plastic technology: Sivasubramanian added, “Here in the institute, we offer a one-and-a-half year Post Graduate Diploma in Plastics Processing and Testing (PGD-PPT) course for those who have completed their graduation in B.Sc. with chemistry as their majors and two more three-year duration courses for those who have passed X std. with Science, English and Mathematics as their subjects- Diploma in Plastics Mould Technology (DPMT) and Diploma in Plastics Technology (DPT).”

“We also offer campus placements and we aim to provide the right support and education to budding youngsters to pursue their career in this field. Public needs to get awareness about what we do here in the institute and hope their careers can be shaped. The course focuses on skilled based learning and we focus on practical approach that makes our students ready to join the industry,” he said.

Waste recycling: The expo also displayed how plastic waste was recycled and used to make bars, square road or footpath blocks etc. They get waste plastic from the Mysore Municipal Corporation. This is then recycled and is made into bars and rods with a slight mixing of sand along with it. They had displayed benches and chairs that can be made out of those bars which can be used in public places and parks. The footpath blocks and road blocks were made by mixing cement and sand along with recycled plastic. This is cost-effective and also the weight of the block is comparatively less to the original cement block.

R.T. Nagaralli, Director and Head, CIPET Mysore brought light on how the focus of the problem was plastic management and not the plastic itself and said, “There is a huge misconception in the minds of people about plastic. They have the concept that plastic should be banned. But it is because of the littering culture of people. The ultimate blame is put on plastic. In India only 10 kg per capita plastic is consumed but in    USA 50 kg per capita of plastic is consumed.”

Plastic a key element: “Plastic is a key element of day to day life right from the morning brush to the door knobs, electrical switches etc. Every single car has about 150 Kg of plastic components. Plastic is a useful component but the people due to their littering habits, have forced plastic to sound negative. It is expected that by 2030, 20 kg/capita of plastic will be consumed in India. If the demand for plastic increases, then there will be more technology, more employment opportunities and eventually growth of the society,” he added.

“Along with the regular course, we also offer short-term skill-oriented courses for 10th standard dropouts or failed students. Our focus is giving them the right education in the plastic manufacturing industry. We have a practical approach in the campus which gives the students a hands-on experience of the manufacturing process,” he said.

Water conservation : Students had also built sprinklers and water conserving setup in the college garden. The pipes, sprinklers and the additional water that had to be drained all were designed by the students at the campus.

Vivek Mishra, a second year, DPT student said, “This institute has offered us practical training and given us the luxury of the right technology, machinery along with theory. I came to know about the various uses of plastic and the concept behind designing the shape and then getting the required finished product in the end.”

Expo concludes today: The expo, which concludes today at 7 pm is a great opportunity for visitors and passionate youngsters or students to gain an insight into plastic manufacturing industry. The visit could probably kindle your interest and lead you to pave a career in that industry.

The date of submission for JEE online applications is open and the last date for submission is June 30. The date for CIPET JEE is July 7 and the course will commence from Aug. 1, 2019.

For more information regarding the admission process and the institute contact 18004251455/ 9632688884 or visit www.cipet.gov.in