Silicon changed life-style on this planet

We all read in our high-school social studies subject that industrial revolution that took place in Great Britain had a big impact on social life of man on this planet. Similarly another breakthrough occurred with the advent and emergence of semiconductors, especially silicon during 20^th century. TV, mobile telephony, smart phones, Video, e-books, computers, internet etc have made a huge impact on the way we communicate with the world.

All this began with the first transistor that was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Brattain while working in Bell Laboratories. They were working with the semiconductor, silicon, to evaluate its properties. When they observed that controlling the current on  the  ‘base’  connector,  would  control  the  flow  of  electrons  between  the  other connectors, emitter  and  collector. This had a great impact on electronics, leading to more reliable transistor to replace the vacuum tube. This resulted in progeny of a number of ‘transistorized’ products.

Today, we have 64 bit microprocessors of which each one has 55000000 transistors performing millions of computing tasks each second.

SM Shashidhara in KRVP Program

SM Shashidhara, Hospet was given a memento during KRVP (Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishad) function by Bellary VSKU Vice Chancellor Dr.Manjappa Hosamane

His invention helped change the world!

Nikola Tesla  Born Jul 10 1856 - Died Jan 7 1943  Electro-Magnetic Motor (Alternating Current) Patent Number(s) 381,968 Nikola Tesla invented the induction motor with rotating magnetic field that made unit drives for machines feasible. In 1887 and 1888 Tesla had an experimental shop at 89 Liberty Street, New York, and there he invented the induction motor. He sold the invention to  Westinghouse in July 1888 and spent a year in Pittsburgh instructing Westinghouse engineers. Invention Impact Alternating current (AC) became the premier form of electrical energy after it overcame objections by Thomas Edison who designed direct current (DC).  Tesla also showcased his invention at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair where he and Westinghouse won the bid to illuminate the International Exhibition.  Alternating current captivated the public with its efficient lighting and lessened heat.  AC has an electric current whose direction reverses cyclically rather than staying in a constant direction like DC.  The waveform of AC is also more efficient than the DC.  AC is the form in which electricity is carried to homes and businesses. Inventor Profile Born in Smiljan Lika, Croatia, the son of a Serbian Orthodox clergyman, Tesla attended Joanneum, a polytechnic school in Graz and the University of Prague for two years. He started work in the engineering department of the Austrian telegraph system then became an electrical engineer at an electric power company in Budapest and later at another in Strasbourg. While in technical school, Tesla became convinced that commutators were unnecessary on motors; and while with the power company he built a crude motor which demonstrated the truth of his theory. In 1884, Tesla came to the United States and joined the Edison Machine Works as a dynamo designer. Telsa obtained more than 100 patents in his lifetime. Despite his 700 inventions Tesla was not wealthy. For many years he worked in his room at the Hotel New Yorker, where he died.

Quantum leap through Motors

"Everybody recognizes that if you can make very efficient electric motors, you can make a quantum leap forward."

-James Dyson 

Check List for a Squirrel Cage Induction Motor Maintenance

Induction Motor

Courtesy: http://www.ece.umn.edu/users/riaz/animations/listanimations.html
and  www.technologyuk.net -

Book published by VTU

Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) published books in Kannada to take the knowledge of Technology to the common man. This programme was called as "Popular Technology Education Series." One book authored by SM Shashidhara titled "How to save domestic Electricity" was published under this series.