sYMPOSIUM

The department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), School of Technology, organized a one day symposium on Advancements in Electronics and Communication Technology: Issues and Challenges 2014 at its Azara campus on 8th November.

There was a galaxy of eminent speakers from Universities and IITs, as well as some 100 participants from various organizations of Guwahati.

Head, Dept. of EEE, IIT Guwahati Prof. Ratnajit Bhattacharjee speaking on “Potential biological and environmental impacts of EM radiation from wireless cellular telephone systems” stated with statistics and video illustrations that EM waves and living cells interact with each other which may lead to health problems. He also said that not only human organs like eyes and brain can be affected by EM radiation, but also birds and bees are affected.

Prof. Samarendra Dandapat, of the Dept. of EEE, IIT Guwahati spoke on “Cardiac information from ECG signal”. He talked about the electric signals that carry information in our body, particularly the heart. Some recent research issues in ECG were also discussed and gave insight into analysis and synthesis of spatial information of electrocardiogram.

 Dr. Kandarpa Kumar Sarma, Associate Professor, Dept. of ECT, GauhatiUniversity addressed the issue of “Environment and Health Hazards of Electronics and Communication Technology” by focussing on the developmental benefits in communication.  He also stressed on three basic hazards namely RF generation and e-waste disposal, various health issues caused due to electronic gadgets. He emphasized on the cycle of three R’s (reuse, recycle and recover), and prospects of future use of green computing.

 Issues on “E waste issues and challenges” were discussed by Dr. Navajit Saikia, Asstant Professor, Dept. of E&TE, and AssamEngineeringCollege. He warned that, globally 50 million tons of e-wastes are produced each year  with an average growth rate of 8.8% and that mobile phones’ waste will increase by 7% to 10 % till 2020.

Prof. Manoranjan Kalita, Director, ADBU School of Technology facilitated a panel discussion on the symposium theme with Dr. Kandarpa Kumar Sarma, Associate Professor, Gauhati University, Dr. Navajit Saikia, Associate Professor, AEC, Dr. Sunandan Baruah, Convener, HOD, Dept. of ECE, ADBU.

The panellists stressed the need to curb the unnecessary use of e-gadgets to reduce e-waste.