Theoretical knowledge is not enough for making a good professional career. With the vision of inculcating an appreciation for Science & Technology in future citizens and to inspire them to contribute to the society they live in, Department of Chemistry, School of Basic Sciences & Research (SBSR) organized visits to some national laboratories and chemical industries in the present semester. The purpose of this exercise was to give graduate and post graduate students an insight of – modern characterization tools, enhance practical stimulation and to provide an overview of R&D in the present times.
Students in different batches were taken to University Science and Instrumentation Centre (USIC), Delhi University; Instrumentation Centre, Department of Chemistry, IIT Delhi; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and British Paints India Ltd (Berger Paints Division). The visits were held at different intervals in the semester.
Industrial visits to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Greater Noida and Berger Paints India Ltd, Sikandrabad were organized on 13th and 20th January respectively. This gave an opportunity to the students to learn practically through interaction, working methods and employment practices. Teva Pharmaceutical a global company specializes in the development, production and marketing of generic and proprietary branded drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The students got an exposure to the learning process of research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. They visited different labs where they were acquainted with experimental procedures and instrument – R&D, NMR, HPLC, SEM, X-Ray Diffraction, DSC, DTA, distillation assemblies, pressure generators and techniques for characterization of drugs.
Berger Paints India Limited is engaged in manufacturing decorative paints, performance coatings and speciality chemicals. The visit included the glance of various divisions of the company including the manufacture of different types of primer, decorative and metallic paints, resins used in paint manufacturing, R & D of the plant and Quality control department etc. where the role of chemists was imperative. A formal presentation regarding the company’s procedure and protocol was also given by the Deputy General Manager of R & D Mr. Rohit Raj.
USIC, Delhi University comprises of all the advanced high quality and sensitive instruments, e.g. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Powder X-Ray Diffractometer (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infra-Red Spectrometer (FTIR), Liquid Chromatography- Mass Spectrometer (LCMS), Thermogravimetric Analyser (TGA), Differential Thermal Analyser (DTA), Impedence Analyser and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (NMR). During the visit on 22nd March, students interacted with the technical staff and were familiarized with the basic principle, working, sampling and data generated through different instruments and their applications in different research areas. The practical approach of these instruments is a part of their curriculum at Sharda University.
During instrumentation lab visit to IIT Delhi on 23rd March, students were appraised of the various characterization techniques such as DSC, UV, IR, GC MS, CHNS Analyser, NMR, Confocal Microscope etc. Hands-on experience with use of Mass and (for ESI) and NMR spectrophotometers were given. Technical staff gave deep insight of the dos and the don’ts while handling the instruments. This helped students to understand basic fundamentals about these techniques quickly.
Bridging the gap between the lassroom and real world these visits helped gather information about academic lessons, which cannot be visualized in classrooms.
