the goan I network
PANAJI
Dr Vithal Tilvi, an astronomer at Texas A and M University, engaged with students from Goa Engineering College (GEC) recently. Around 100 students, most of whom were from GEC, and some of whom were from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Goa, were present for the talk. Dr Tilvi, who hails from Mashel, Ponda, made headlines in 2013 when he, and two other scientists, discovered the furthest known galaxy in the Universe, estimated to be 13 billion light years away from the Earth.
At the lecture, Dr Tilvi encouraged students to go beyond astronomy as a hobby, and get themselves technically trained in Astronomy. He explained that the next 20 years were set to be the ‘Golden Period of Astronomy’ for India. However, even though the nation is on the cusp of making big strides in Astronomy, there is a shortage of Indian astronomer, Dr Tilvi said. Thus, he encouraged students to develop an interest and passion in the field.
The nation will be launching the space missions Chandrayaan 2, Mangalyaan 2, Astrosat 2 and Gaganyaan, the nation’s first human spaceflight programme, all in the next four years. Besides, projects like Thirty Meter Telescope, a joint project of India, US, China and Japan, where the world’s biggest telescope is set to be built, will require a large strength of astronomers from India.
However, due to lack of awareness and exposure to Astronomy amongst young students, it is not the first choice of most students who opt for Physics. Dr Tilvi, himself an MSc in Physics from Goa University, motivated students to pursue their Masters in Astronomy, which is an option in other cities in India. The field has a lot of scope of engineering graduates as well. Moreover, Dr Tilvi made students aware of Astronomy projects they could undertake alongside doing their engineering, to get some experience in the field.
At the lecture GEC Principal Dr Vinayak N Shet, and Mechanical Engineering HoD Dr Vinay Shirodkar were also present.
The lecture was an initiative of The GEC Astronomy Club and the Mechanical Engineering Students Association. Though the Club has not yet been made official, Fourth Year Mechanical Engineering student Devansh Cholera and Computer Engineering student Rudra Sawant, under the guidance of faculty advisor Dr Raghvendra Naik have been carrying out a couple of activities to get students interested in the field of Astronomy.
