FIFTH POST GRADUATION COURSE ON SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
R.K.Gupta, Course Director
S. Ramdass, Course Coordinator
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Introduction |
The fifth postgraduate Course on Satellite Communications of CSSTEAP, commenced on the August 1, 2005 at the New SAC Campus, Bopal, of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad. The course was inaugurated on August 12, 2005 by Padmashree. Dr. K.N. Shankara, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore and Mr. N. Pant, Member Space Commission was the guest of honour.. Dr. K.N. Shankara in his inaugural address gave a presentation on the developments in the area of satellite communications and stressed upon the need for satellite communications in the developing countries. Mr. Pant in his address enlightened the audience with the sequence of developments in the field of telecommunications and Satellite communications in a chronological order and stressed upon the importance of Satellite communications in the developing countries. Dr. R.R. Navalgund, Director SAC formally welcomed the Chief Guest and all the participants' of the SATCOM V course. Mr. S.K. Sharma, Officiating Director CSSTEAP gave a brief introduction of CSSTEAP, its activities and its achievements. Mr. S.K. Sharma also gave a brief about the facilities and the arrangements at the New SAC Campus, Bopal. Mr. R.K. Gupta, Course Director gave the details of the SATCOM V course such as the course structure and various other aspects including the Study tours etc.
Fifteen participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal and Uzbekistan were selected to participate in this course. However, due to personal reasons the candidates from Bhutan and Kazakhstan could not join the course. 12 participants reaped the benefit of the SATCOM V course.
A detailed syllabus on the basis of Grenada and Frascati documents of UN-OOSA along with the recommendations of the BOS committee of the SATCOM IV course was adopted for the SATCOM V course. The course curriculum was divided into ten modules covering different aspects of Satellite Communications and Pilot project. In order to familiarize the participants an orientation course (Module #0) was also included. Where in the participants were given a brief introduction on the geography, social customs, and the festivals of India. The participants were also introduced to some commonly spoken Hindi words and their usage. A three-day workshop on Communication skills was also organized as a part of the orientation course. Participants were also required to make presentations periodically on topics given this exercise was carried out to improve their presentation skills.
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Faculty |
Faculty for the SATCOM V course was selected mainly from engineers working at different centres of Indian Space Research Organisation. Invited lectures were also delivered by faculty members from different academic institutions of India, experts from Indian SATCOM industries, Departments of Govt. of India and Non-Government organizations. The Lectures on Satellite sub-systems were specially arranged in ISAC, Bangalore where most of the design & developments of Satellite sub systems are carried out. Prof. Laurent Castanet, Propagation expert from ONERA France contributed to the course by sharing his valuable experience with the participants of the course.
Lecture notes and reading materials were distributed to the participants in advance to help them come prepared for the lecture. Library facilities of SAC, computers and Internet facilities were made available to the participants. Laboratories and Earth station facilities of SAC were used extensively for hands on experience, to develop proper understanding and working with different.
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Communication systems |
Special English language classes were also conducted in the evenings for three months for those participants who needed assistance in improving their skills in English language.
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Technical visits |
A number of Study tours to different part of the country were organized as a part of the course, to give the participants a chance of visiting different SATCOM establishments. The places visited include:
- Satish Dhawan Space Centre Shri Hari Kota
- ISRO Satellite Centre Bangalore
- ISTRAC Bangalore
- Master Control Facility Hassan
- Mr. Abdul Nazir Sab State Institute of Development, Mysore
- Delhi Earth Station/SAC New Delhi
- DoT's NOCC New Delhi
- Essel Shyam New Delhi
- IIRS-Dehradun
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Tests and Evaluations |
Examinations were held at periodic intervals to evaluate the participants to get the feedback about the effectiveness of the course. The engineers involved in the experiments and demonstrators for different modules did evaluations of the practical abilities. Tutorials were also held for different modules to assess the problem solving abilities.
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Pilot Projects |
The topics for the one year project were identified after several sessions of discussions with the participants. The field of interest of the participants, the needs of the sponsoring agencies and the facilities available in countries of participants for supporting the project work were taken into account while deciding about the projects. Project guides from SAC were identified for providing technical guidance. As a part of the Pilot project each of the participants submitted the Pilot project report on the selected topic of the project along with a synopsis of the One-year project.
It has been possible to conduct the fourth postgraduate course on Satellite Communications at Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, due to sincere efforts put in by a large number of dedicated staff at SAC. We would particularly thank all faculty members, Focal points and Project guides who in spite of their busy schedules delivered lectures, organized practical sessions, conducted examinations and tutorials and also provided guidance to their project related activities. We also express our sincere gratitude to UN-ESCAP for sponsoring the travel of selected candidates. We thank Director, SAC for his guidance and support in organizing this course satisfactorily fulfilling the commitments of SAC in conducting the course on SATCOM on behalf of CSSTEAP. We sincerely thank Director, CSSTEAP for his keen interest, guidance and support from time to time in making this course a great success.
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Course Modules and Focal
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Organization wise break up of Faculty for Class Room Lectures |
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SATCOM V Course Curriculum |
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