Mysuru:  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 expo is being held at CIPET campus in Hebbal where the students are displaying their expertise in Plastic Engineering.

The Open House, which has on display plastic moulds, plastic products, and mould manufacturing techniques, provides an insight into the courses offered at the Institute in various disciplines of Plastic Engineering and Technology. Components like hinge pins, plastic peddles, assembling components, bolts, brackets, Teflon sheets, plugs, clamp plate, grippers, water sprinklers, road reflectors, trophy bases, gear shifters, gear forks, levers etc., were also showcased.

Several components were designed for aeronautical and missile purposes. These components were made of titanium, steel, aluminium, plastic etc. Components were categorised on the basis of their area of usage in aeronautical and defence, general purpose, agricultural equipment, electrical applications, medical applications etc.

The Open House takes the visitor on a practical tour of major departments like CAD-CAM (Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided Manufacturing), Processing, Tool Room and Testing. The component is designed and a mould analysis is done using the software in CAD-CAM department.

In the processing department, the students show how the plastic materials are processed to get the finished look using injection moulding, blow moulding, and how pipes, wires and films are manufactured.

In tool room, the focus is on Precision component manufacturing, mould manufacturing, using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling, CNC lathe and CNC Electrical discharge machining.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, L. Sivasubramanian, Senior Technical Officer, CIPET, said, “The aim of this Open House is to show the public about what we do here, how we make the plastic products and other materials and how they are given the required shape, processed and manufactured for a particular usage. People will get an idea about the proficient skilled courses that we offer. We offer both long-term as well as short-term course that are skill-oriented. Plastic manufacturing is a major technical aspect seen in various fields. Plastic is a major component in the area of product manufacturing. We are also creating awareness amongst the public of how plastic can be recycled. As we manufacture components for BEML, HAL and other confidential companies, we have prohibited the public from taking photographs of components during this expo.”

The expo, which concludes today at 7 pm, is a one time opportunity for visitors to get adequate information about how plastic components are designed, moulded, processed, tested and their area of usage.

Speaking to SOM, K.R. Prasad, Store Keeper, CIPET, said: “In our testing department, we also get components and products of other private manufacturing companies. We have the responsibility of testing their components for quality check and later we certify them. Only after our certification, they get to market their products. The expo throws light on the hands-on experience that the students receive here and how several departments along with various types of sophisticated machinery mould the students for industries and make them employable once they graduate from here. Many students are recruited directly as the course deals with skilled learning and hands-on experience. We have a one-and-a-half year course for those who have completed their course in B.Sc with Chemistry as their majors and a three-year course for those who have cleared their SSLC exams. The public need to get awareness about the technology and education we provide here along with the type of companies that we are tied up and how we manufacture different components for different purposes.”