Technology and Design, IIT BOMBAY

Is s ue
No. A ugust
12 2017
Inside
MIT & IITB Tata Fellows meet up The young guns in the fold
A novel solution to treat grey water Welcoming new projects and PIs
New water bacteria sensing system Sensing heavy metals in water
Q & A with Prof. Kareenhalli Venkatesh TCTD funded projects for 2017-2018

MIT & IITB Tata Fellows meet up

The joint orienta�on of Tata Fellows from MIT and IIT Bombay was a busy day with a mixed bag of ac�vi�es

The Fellows from MIT-Tata Center and Tata Centre, IIT Bombay,
had a line-up of ac�vi�es in the joint orienta�on that was
planned on campus, in early August. The day had talks,
presenta�ons, lab visits, a simula�on game and a happy game of
cricket packed in good measure.

A�er the ini�al round of introduc�ons, the story of Khethworks

– a social enterprise formed by Tata Fellows from MIT-Tata
Center - was presented to the audience. Prof Chetan Solanki
from IITB then spoke about his project on reaching 1 million
Solar Urja Lamps (SoUL).

In the lab visits planned a�er that, the IITB Tata Fellows took
their counterparts around campus. Both ins�tutes’ Tata Fellows
were brought up to speed with their project work and each
other, through an interac�ve speed-da�ng game. Indoor cricket
followed and the four teams ensured that it was a win-win
game.

The MIT-Tata Center team, some fellows and two project

managers from TCTD, IITB, followed this ini�a�on with a
week-long trip to Karnataka, to learn more about social
innova�on.
- Gayathri Thakoor, Project Manager

1 | TURNING POINT August 2017

 A novel solu�on to treat grey water
The project team hopes to make the IITB residents aware of the quality of recycled grey-water WATER

The increasing awareness of water scarcity in India has led to the

idea of grey water recycling. Through the project -
Characteriza�on of Grey Water and Development of a Cost
Effec�ve System for Grey Water Recycling - Prof Suparna
Mukherji, Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering, and
her project team have been working on a novel low cost solu�on
to treat grey water which comes from kitchens, bathrooms and
not from toilets. This recycled water can be then used for toilet
flushing and gardening purposes.

The team is involved in the development of the novel ‘Rota�ng

biological contactors’ (RBC) – a technology-based reactor with a
non-woven fabric, with a volumetric capacity of 2.5 litres. The
project team is developing an RBC system which rotates at high
speed, aerates the system & has a non-woven fabric filter.
Biological treatment happens in the first two stages and collec�on
in the third stage, and between these two stages there is
non-woven fabric. The biofilm developing on this fabric improves Fabricated prototype of the novel RBC
the quality of grey-water. Since it does not have a disinfectant unit,
the removal efficiency of solids, turbidity & organic ma�er are the
parameters that are being worked upon.

The solu�on is being compared with the already exis�ng

`Sequencing batch reactor’ (SBR) plant installed (110 kilo-litre/-
day) at Hostel 10 in IIT Bombay. Prof Mukherji elaborates, “The
grey water is first sent to an equaliza�on tank, a�er which it
goes to a SBR where the biological treatment of grey-water is
done by the use of micro-organisms. Then it is followed by
filtra�on in the ac�vated carbon unit where most of the organic
salts are removed. Disinfec�on follows using UV or chlorina�on
part. This water is to be used for toilet flushing & gardening.”

Among the various solu�ons available, this project prototype has

the novel non-woven fabric which is key.

First signs of biofilm development on the rota�ng media

Sec�onal view of non - woven fabric Algal growth observed in reactor during early stages

2 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

 The plant in Hostel 10 is being studied for
various parameters of performance and
these results can be shown to IIT B
administra�on to take a note on the
func�oning of the plant. Apart from that,
the building residents are key stakeholders.
Making them aware of the quality of
grey-water is one big challenge.

The team has faced various opera�onal

challenges in monitoring the components
of the SBR plant as well as in the character-
Thick algal bacterial biofilm formed iza�on of grey-water inlet & recycled water
outlet in the SBR plant due to huge
varia�ons in inlet water. There are other
issues to tackle concerning input water
variability, development of serum due to
excessive biofilm etc. throughout the
development of this project. However, the
project team is looking forward to scaling
up the RBC prototype to cater to the
residen�al needs of grey-water recycling
with its current volumetric capacity of 2.5
litres & then aiming for technology transfer
opportuni�es in the future.

Algae nuisance reduced a�er covering the reactor - Vipul Ahuja, Tata Fellow 2016

New water bacteria sensing system

The sensing system can quickly indicate the presence or absence of bacteria in water WATER

With a vision of crea�ng the water quality One such grey water plant is already
map for India, Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, setup in Hostel 10 at IIT Bombay and this
Department of Biosciences and sensor system is being considered for
Bioengineering, and his team have deployment there, so that it will enable
developed a very inexpensive, quick monitoring and cer�fica�on of the
paper-based water bacteria sensing quality of treated water. Another
system that can be deployed on a wide possibility is the use of this sensor
scale. Through the Centre’s project - EIS system by water treatment companies
pla�orm for bacteriological monitoring of to determine the amount of chlorine
water – the team has developed a highly dosing needed, based on the quan�ty of
portable sensing system that can quickly bacteria in water. Once the sensi�vity of
indicate the presence or absence of the sensor is improved, it can be used
bacteria in water. for a wide variety of purposes that can
have a big impact in looking at the water
The PI and his team have u�lized a quality scenario of the country.
technique known as Electrical Impedance
Spectroscopy. The system employs a
paper-based sensor and a mobile phone
to generate and analyze the various
frequencies used to es�mate the water Handheld impedance spectroscopy device
quality. Such a setup ensures high for bacteria detec�on in water
portability and huge reduc�on in costs.
Currently, it is planned that the sensor will
be employed for recycled and treated grey - Jasleen Chhabra, Tata Fellow 2016
water monitoring in municipal plants and
private housing socie�es. Different configura�ons of gold
electrodes spu�ered on filter paper

3 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

Individualizing the Metabolic Model However, it is possible to prevent these
by just making lifestyle changes. Our aim
The model is specific to everyone’s needs and requires variability in was to use the model to capture the data
popula�on and building layers of gene�cs, diseased states and its effects well in advance and iden�fy which people
on metabolism HEALTHCARE were most prone to developing such
diseases, and if possible, advise them to
make healthy adjustments to their
lifestyles.

For children, there’s a double-faceted

problem of malnutri�on that needs to be
tackled. While those in ci�es suffer from
obesity due to improper diet, the
rela�vely obscure regions have
undernourished and underweight
children, thereby making them
suscep�ble to illness. We were mo�vated
to develop a model for children along
similar lines such that a scien�fic,
physiologically based model could be
developed – one that could be used by
Q & A with Prof. Kareenhalli Venkatesh, Department of Chemical Engineering, on parents, schools, doctors and NGOs and
the Tata Centre project - Digital Automated Wellness Management Pla�orm for could be used to improve children’s
Indian Infants and Children health.

Q1. What is the project about? Q3. Can you elaborate on the tools or
technologies used in your project?
A1. Our project started out with trying to develop a whole body metabolic model in
adults where we would model the metabolism in liver, muscle, adipose �ssue and A3. The model for children is adapted
through blood, connect all these organs. The key idea was to capture the individual’s from the one we developed for adults. It
lifestyle and see how the diet, physical ac�vity, stress levels, etc. acted as inputs to is unique in the sense that no such model
predict the metabolic state. Later on, it helped to predict how the body weight, fat currently exists anywhere in the world.
percentage and the muscle mass changes occur as a func�on of the lifestyle choices. The portal can be accessed by hospitals,
With this as the basis, we developed a model for children wherein the varia�on of schools or parents, and the data is
body weight and height was incorporated. uploaded to the cloud for further
processing. As data pours in, the model
For children, the model takes in inputs such as physical ac�vity and diet to predict the will keep refining itself using techniques
muscle mass, BMI, height, etc. An App and a web-based portal have been developed such as machine learning, ar�ficial
where NGOs dealing with malnutri�on can put individuals’ data and then try to learning, data reconcilia�on, regression
op�mize the diet so that the success rate improves. The model is designed to meet analysis etc. Moreover, since the data is
UNESCO standards for the acceptable percen�les of children in the healthy range. stored in the cloud, it can be used by the
child throughout life. The digital nature of
Q2. What mo�vated you to work for such a socially-oriented project? the project also offers the advantage of
being successfully demonstrated in a
A2. There has suddenly been an increased risk in lifestyle-related problems like heart small region and rapidly scaling-up a�er
a�acks and diabetes in India. It is predicted that by 2025, India will be leading the that. Once we gather sufficient data, the
numbers in terms of pa�ents with such diseases. model can be used to individualize so that
the variability between children can be
captured. Further, layers can be built on
the model to capture gene�cs, diseased
states and its effects on metabolism in a
popula�on.

Q4. Who is the target audience for your

project?

A4. Since obesity and undernourishment

affect children in both urban and rural
areas, we have to adopt a mul�pronged
approach. Ini�ally, we are targe�ng
hospitals; to engage with them and ask
them to start using our portal.

4 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

We also plan to target the health units of Q6. Are there any collabora�ons with other organiza�ons in the project?
schools to constantly monitor the
children’s health, and be in touch with A6. While we have obtained a lot of data from research studies being undertaken on
NGOs and government agencies that deal malnourishment especially by Prof. Narendra Shah, CTARA, IITB, we have tried to see
with malnourished children. Once we how the macro and micro nutrients are balanced to improve their health. We are also
have sufficient data and the model is collabora�ng with a local hospital for pilot tes�ng of our pla�orm for both obese and
improved further, we can process the data undernourished children. At this point, the focus is on collec�on of data to validate
and dra� a policy document for the our model. Once we achieve that robustness, we will release it to organiza�ons for
government that can be used for different specific projects.
strata of society- tribal, rural or urban.
That would be useful for the government Q7. Can you give an idea regarding the �meline of the project?
to look at specific areas that need
improvement and also monitor whether A7. The work on the adult model is being carried out for the past 7-8 years and for
their ac�ons are yielding the desired about two years for the children’s model. The model will be fine-tuned in the coming
results. Since the model is generic for months. With feedback from various organiza�ons, the plan is to generate a white
children, the pla�orm can be used to paper which will form our basis of approaching different government agencies.
address obesity among children, which is
also becoming an issue in our country. The Q8. What challenges did you face while execu�ng the project? Do you expect more
model can also be used by the food in the near future?
industry to develop healthier food
formula�ons and to predict its effect on a A8. The lack of data was a huge challenge. Most of the data that was available was for
popula�on. Caucasians, Europeans and Americans. We wanted to develop a model that was
specific to Indians. When we shi�ed to the children’s model, there was no reference
Q5. Have you carried out any field-tes�ng available anywhere in the world. So,the lack of data was, and is, a major challenge. In
un�l now? order for our model to be useful, it had to have a good predic�ve capability. That could
come only through parameters, which needed lots of data to be analyzed. We are s�ll
A5. While we have analyzed the data with on the lower end of data collec�on but six months down the line, we expect be�er
some children from Dharavi, a defini�ve data inflow from various agencies. It is necessary to ensure that a robust pla�orm is
success case has been the study of made specifically for Indians. Another challenge we face is sourcing the food and
children of daily workers in IITB. Their data nutri�onal database for indigenous food items. We are working towards developing
was taken and following it up, we were such a database which will help in sugges�ng local diet preferences to mi�gate obesity
able to achieve errors of less than 10%. and mal-nourishment.
That has been a great confidence booster.
- Jasleen Chhabra, Tata Fellow 2016

5 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

 The young guns in the fold
The Centre has awarded its Fellowships to the choicest of students, amidst tough compe��on

A�er a comprehensive selec�on process, 22 new aspirants were awarded the pres�gious The Shailesh J. Mehta School of
Tata Fellowship this academic year, by the Centre. There are 20 M Tech students and 2 Management (SJMSOM) will train the
PhD scholars from across various departments who have made it to this list. Tata Fellows in the Pro Seminar course.

The process of selec�on involved about 100 M Tech students from across IIT Bombay While the team at the Centre has
taking a wri�en test to par�cipate in the End to End Innova�on course – Pro Seminar - oriented the new Fellows to its
and to apply for Tata Fellowship. This year, the par�cipants for the test included research ac�vi�es, an outline of the involvement
staff from IIT Bombay. that is expected of them in the next two
years has been clearly defined.
These Tata Fellows are expected to work with the Centre on projects of social
innova�on to develop technologies for the needs of communi�es in India and other
developing na�ons. While the fellows get their basic degree in the respec�ve - Gayathri Thakoor, Project Manager
Departments, they work on the ongoing projects at the Centre as part of their
academic requirement.

6 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

 Welcoming new projects and PIs
The Centre oriented the new PIs and their projects to its ac�vi�es and working process

The Centre welcomed nine new projects

and the respec�ve supervisors to its
ac�vi�es in July. This was part of the
Centre’s ini�a�ve to work closely with the
various facul�es.

An introductory mee�ng was first

organised to welcome the faculty
supervisors (PIs) and Co PIs of the
new projects recently granted by the
Centre. The faculty members gave short
presenta�ons of their projects and
described the envisaged solu�on outcomes they were working on or were about to
start soon.

Prof. Sanjay Mahajani, the Professor-in-charge, detailed the group about the Centre’s
ability to assist in every possible func�on to get successful deliverables. He also
elaborated on the Solu�on Readiness Level process which is to plan project milestones,
to help move from seed to transla�on stage, for the TCTD-funded research projects.

In another session, the significance of the Stakeholders’ Analysis was emphasised upon
to the new PIs and their project teams. Prof Ar� Kalro from SJMSOM, explained the
relevance of involving the stakeholders, right from the ini�al stage in every project.
The theory was then effec�vely applied in Centre-specific case studies presented by
postdoctoral fellow, Dr Sonal Thengane and project manager, Chandrakala Sharma. - Gayathri Thakoor, Project Manager

Sensing heavy metals in water

The sensor µ-sense can be used to detect the presence of heavy metals in water WATER

India faces a widespread problem of water contamina�on by heavy metals. In order to

ensure that water quality is good enough for drinking and agricultural purposes, the
heavy metal levels in water must be below a certain threshold, or should ideally be zero.
Tes�ng the presence of such metals is a �me-consuming and costly process currently,
and thus cannot be carried out at frequent intervals, and at all loca�ons.

With this in mind, Prof. Soumyo Mukherji and his team have worked on the project,
“Heavy metal sensing in water using op�cal fiber sensors” to develop a water quality
sensor system. It leverages on the previously developed op�cal fiber sensor pla�orm
called µ-sense, and can be used for detec�ng the presence of mercury, lead and arsenic
in water. The system u�lizes an op�cal fiber coated with receptors sensi�ve to these
metals. The sensor is highly sensi�ve and can detect heavy metal levels as low as ppm Portable device for heavy metal
and ppb. sensing using op�cal fibre

The standout features of the sensor system are fast response �me, its portable nature
and low cost which is less than one-tenth of the instruments currently available in the
market. This implies that it can be used by local bodies such as the Gram Panchayats &
Municipal Corpora�ons at frequent intervals for water quality monitoring. The work is
also being funded by agencies other than Tata Centre.

- Jasleen Chhabra, Tata Fellow 2016

7 | TURNING POINT AUGUST 2017

 TCTD funded projects for 2017-2018

Project Name PIs Domain

"Development of Mul�sensory technique for interven�on

of developmental dyslexia: An electro-physiological and Prof. Azizuddin Khan Healthcare
behavioural approach"

VMOCSH: Voice based Mobile Crowd Sourced Helpline Prof. Kameshwari Chebrolu Educa�on

Financial analysis of agrarian families to iden�fy the crisis

Prof. Bakul Rao Agriculture & Food
in agrarian society

Rural and Urban employment genera�on to cater to Prof. Arindrajit Chowdhary Energy
poten�al e-cycle market opportunity in India

Assessment of acceptance levels of poten�al solu�ons

disseminated through par�cipatory and non-par�cipatory Prof. Anish Modi Agriculture & Food
approaches for rural development

Triboelectric generators (TEG) for wind energy harves�ng Prof. Dip� Gupta Energy

Experimental Study to Evaluate Emissions from

Cookstoves using Solid Fuels with a Focus on Prof. Virendra Sethi Energy
Reduc�on of Exposure (White paper)

Phone Based Remotely Excited Flexible Microwave

Resonator Patch Array (FMRPA) prototype development for Prof. Siddharth Du�agupta Healthcare
High Resolu�on Dielectric Contrast Mapping of Skin Tissue

Improved kitchen air quality in Mumbai's Dharavi slum Prof. Ronita Bardhan Housing

Editor : Gayathri Thakoor

Design Team : Mrunal Phansalkar, Umesh Jambure
Photo Credit : Romit Pa�l
Content Team : Vipul Ahuja, Jasleen Chhabra

Tata Centre Office, 2nd Floor, L2, Lecture Hall Complex (LHC),
Opp.KReSIT, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai - 400 076, India
www.tatacentre.iitb.ac.in

8 | TURNING POINT MAY 2017