The Department
of Chemistry, St Xavier’s College,
Mapusa, continuously strives to provide ample opportunities for an all-round
academic growth of its students by organising various activities beyond their
classrooms that help them grow in knowledge and provide an exposure to the
world of chemistry. In continuation with this practice, a study tour was
organised by the department for its Third Year Chemistry students, wherein a
group of 49 students and six faculty members embarked on a five-day study tour
to Hyderabad. The faculty members who accompanied the students for this study
tour were Dr Teotone Vaz, Dr Tushar Anvekar, Flavia Travasso, Shivta Mhamal, Dr
Mira Parmekar and Dr Andrew D’Souza.
During this study
tour, a visit was organised to the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
(IICT), a national-level research centre located in Hyderabad. It was a golden
opportunity for the group to visit the institute that conducts research in
basic and applied chemistry, biochemistry, bioinformatics, chemical engineering
and provides science and technology inputs to the industrial and economic
development of the country. The research and development programmes of IICT are
related to the development of technologies for pesticides, drugs, organic
intermediates, fine chemicals, catalysts, polymers and value-added products
from vegetable oils. The IICT laboratories’ tour arranged for the group by Dr B
D Sanjay, Senior Technician, IICT, included BEES, Synthetic Aviation Pilot
Plant, SemioChemicals, X-Ray, Mass Spectrometry, NMR, National Mol Bank and a
few other laboratories. The group got to learn about the working of some
sophisticated instruments and an opportunity to interact with some of the
renowned scientists. Dr Sanjay also guided the students on the research avenues
available at IICT and encouraged them to take a step towards doing quality
research.
The group also
visited some famous tourist attractions of Hyderabad which included the Sudha
Cars Museum, Golconda Fort, NTR Gardens, Lumbini Park, Statue of Lord Buddha in
the middle of Hussain Sagar Lake, Charminar and Ramoji Film City
