Sunday 23 December 2018

The Business of Civil Engineering: Spotlight on Innovation and Entrepreneurship


The Business of Civil Engineering: Spotlight on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
BCE (Hons.) ( Jadavpur ), MTech ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), PhD ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), Cert.MTERM ( AIT Bangkok ), CEng(I), FIE, FACCE(I), FISH, FIWRS, FIPHE, FIAH, FAE, MIGS, MIGS – Kolkata Chapter, MIGS – Chennai Chapter, MISTE, MAHI, MISCA, MIAHS, MISTAM, MNSFMFP, MIIBE, MICI, MIEES, MCITP, MISRS, MISRMTT, MAGGS, MCSI, MIAENG, MMBSI, MBMSM
Chairman and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra Consultants,
23, Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani,
Kolkata – 700029, West Bengal, INDIA.
Vice President (East),
Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India).
E-mail: dramartyakumar@gmail.com
Website: www.multispectraconsultants.com

India's housing market is at the crossroads. The sale price of any housing product is much more than the cost of its construction. The buyers do not even know that they are paying much more than the cost of construction. In this scenario, I am building and selling housing at price points a fraction above the actual cost of construction keeping my profit to a minimum. Naturally, there is intense demand. Now my competitors have only two options: either to lower their prices so as to compete with me or to leave me with an open field in the market for housing.

What I am doing is clearly innovation and entrepreneurship. But what are the sources of innovation? What are entrepreneurial strategies? Let us look at them in a systematic way. We start by looking at the sources of innovation.

A. Source: The Unexpected.
1. The Unexpected Success;
2. The Unexpected Failure;
3. The Unexpected Outside Event.

B. Source: Incongruities.
1. Incongruous Economic Realities;
2. The Incongruity between Reality and the Assumptions about It;
3. The Incongruity between Perceived and Actual Customer Values and Expectations.

C. Source: Process Need.
Successful Innovations based on Process Needs require five basic criteria:
- A self-contained process;
- One 'weak' or 'missing' link;
- A clear definition of the objective;
- A clear specification for the solution;
- Widespread realisation that 'there ought to be a better way', that is, high receptivity.

D. Source: Industry and Market Structures.
1. Changes in the Industry Structure.

E. Source: Demographics.
1. Changes in Demographics

F. Source: Changes in Perception.

G. Source: New Knowledge.
The Primary Characteristic of Knowledge-Based Innovation is that it has the Longest Lead Time of All Innovations. Knowledge-Based Innovation Requires
1. Careful Analysis of All the Necessary Factors;
2. Clear Focus on the Strategic Position;
3. Need to Practice Entrepreneurial Management.

Certainly
1. Innovation is Work;
2. To Succeed, Innovators must Build on their Strengths;
3. Innovation has an Effect on Economy and Society.

The New Venture needs to have
1. Market Focus;
2. Financial Foresight;
3. A Clear Answer to the Question: 'Where can I Contribute?'

There are Four Specifically Entrepreneurial Strategies:
1. Being 'Fustest with the Mostest' to quote a general in America's Civil War;
2. 'Hitting Them Where They Ain't' to quote another general in America's Civil War;
3. Finding and Occupying a Specialised 'Ecological Niche';
4. Changing the Economic Characteristics of a Product, a Market or an Industry.

Finally, Strategy is an Innovation when it creates a Customer by
1. Creating Utility;
2. Pricing;
3. Adaptation to the Customer's Social and Economic Reality;
4. Delivering What Represents True Value to the Customer.

© MultiSpectra Consultants, 2018.

Wednesday 12 December 2018

Message to the National Conference on Recent Advances in Civil Engineering (RACE-2019), Mysore, Karnataka, India

Message to the National Conference on Recent Advances in Civil Engineering (RACE-2019), Mysore, Karnataka, India

Recent Advances in Civil Engineering

Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
BCE (Hons.) ( Jadavpur ), MTech ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), PhD ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), Cert.MTERM ( AIT Bangkok ), CEng(I), FIE, FACCE(I), FISH, FIWRS, FIPHE, FIAH, FAE, MIGS, MIGS – Kolkata Chapter, MIGS – Chennai Chapter, MISTE, MAHI, MISCA, MIAHS, MISTAM, MNSFMFP, MIIBE, MICI, MIEES, MCITP, MISRS, MISRMTT, MAGGS, MCSI, MIAENG, MMBSI, MBMSM
Chairman and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra Consultants,
23, Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani,
Kolkata – 700029, West Bengal, INDIA.
Vice President (East),
Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India).
E-mail: dramartyakumar@gmail.com
Website: www.multispectraconsultants.com

Recent advances in Civil Engineering are quite a few; however, it is equally true that much of the current research in Civil Engineering is exceedingly pedantic with very questionable practical utility. Too much attention is often focussed on issues that are of peripheral importance to the profession of Civil Engineering leaving pressing matters unattended. This is precisely what is impeding the development of the technology and the business of Civil Engineering at a pace similar to that which we see, for example, in Computer Science and Engineering .

That said, it is indubitably true that Civil Engineering has developed and advanced in quite a few areas. Let us zoom in on one such area, Water Engineering. Water Engineering includes Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulics, Hydrology, Water Resources Engineering, Wastewater Engineering, Groundwater Quantity and Quality-related Issues and Water Management. A huge amount of research has been done and thus a huge number of publications have been made in the field of Water Engineering recently.

Among the research problems that have been addressed in Water Engineering in recent times, the following are worth mentioning.
  • Flow in meandering open channels.
  • Flow in straight channels of compound cross-section.
  • Flow in meandering channels of compound cross-section.
  • Localised land subsidence due to groundwater depletion in the zone of influence of an individual well or a combination of wells for both linear ( Darcian ) and non-linear ( Forscheimer ) groundwater flow.
  • Land subsidence due to groundwater depletion below cities.
  • Groundwater flow modelling for non-linear ( Forscheimer ) flow.
  • Modelling of saline water intrusion in coastal aquifers.
  • Study of saline water intrusion in different geographies and mathematical modelling of the same.
  • Developing an innovative method for fresh water extraction in coastal areas using a shallow level crossed-well cum vertical riser system with complete mathematical design of the same.
  • Desalination of saline water.
  • Study of arsenic contamination of water and its remediation.
  • Disposal of arsenic sludge by fixing it in non-structural concrete.
  • Groundwater movement in weakly and strongly randomly-heterogeneous flow fields.
  • Earthquake hydo-geotechniques for both weak and strong earthquakes.
  • Study of fluoride contamination of water and its remediation.
  • Rainwater harvesting including rooftop rainwater harvesting.
  • Development of software related to the water sector.
  • Application of water-related software to solve complex water-related problems.

Continuing our focus on Water Engineering, making available drinking water, of adequate quantity and of acceptable quality, to the population is a major issue that must be addressed by the Civil Engineering profession. It is a fact that the piezometric level of groundwater is decreasing, sometimes at an alarming rate, under most, if not all, major cities. In large cities built on coastal alluvial soil, like Kolkata and Bangkok, this is causing soil consolidation and land subsidence which in turn is resulting, in some cases, to distress in superstructures. Sometimes, the quality of the water being supplied to the residents of a city is in the spotlight. Saline water intrusion plagues coastal areas and is a major problem in cities like Chennai. In certain other cases, presence of arsenic or fluoride or both in the water source necessitate extensive treatment of the water before it can be supplied to the residents of a city.

Let us now take a look at two unsolved problems of current research. First, the issue of earthquake hydo-geotechniques for strong earthquakes has been addressed only qualitatively as a quantitative analysis still eludes the Civil Engineering profession. Second, no attempt has been made to determine exactly or even approximately the total soil consolidation due to the combined effect of groundwater depletion and superstructure loading. For the first problem, I have arrived at an approximate solution. For the second problem, I have proposed that, to begin with, a linear addition of the soil consolidation due to the two phenomena be done as a first approximation to the actual soil consolidation.

The Civil Engineering profession must aim at sustainable development. Sustainable development implies development in a manner that is well thought-out, that does not harm the environment, that can be sustained without the need to radically alter the development strategy due to insufficient thought-input during the process of formulating the development strategy and that is marked by wisdom in chalking out all steps of the development process. For cities, having green zones in a city, harvesting rainwater to augment water supply and using solar panels to generate electricity are all good practices that should be embedded in any city-planning plan.

Design and construction practices are, metaphorically speaking, the two pillars on which any constructed structure, and the summation of such constructed structures, the total built environment, must stand. Both must be equally sound.

In this context, the theme of this conference - National Conference on Recent Advances in Civil Engineering (RACE-2019) - is apt.

I wish the National Conference on Recent Advances in Civil Engineering (RACE-2019) all success.

Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
Chairman and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra Consultants
Vice President (East),

Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India)

Tuesday 4 December 2018

Simplifying Defluoridation

Simplifying Defluoridation


Dr. Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
BCE (Hons.) ( Jadavpur ), MTech ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), PhD ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), Cert.MTERM ( AIT Bangkok ), CEng(I), FIE, FACCE(I), FISH, FIWRS, FIPHE, FIAH, FAE, MIGS, MIGS – Kolkata Chapter, MIGS – Chennai Chapter, MISTE, MAHI, MISCA, MIAHS, MISTAM, MNSFMFP, MIIBE, MICI, MIEES, MCITP, MISRS, MISRMTT, MAGGS, MCSI, MIAENG, MMBSI, MBMSM
Chairman and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra Consultants,
23, Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani,
Kolkata – 700029, West Bengal, INDIA.
E-mail: dramartyakumar@gmail.com

Er. Martijn Nitzsche
Managing Director,
Aqua-Aero Watersystems BV,
Oude Delft 128
2611 CG Delft
THE NETHERLANDS.
E-mail: nitzsche@aaws.nl


Estimates suggest that about 10 million Indians are affected by fluorosis, a sickness associated with the consumption of increased concentrations of fluoride, mostly through water. Bones get weakened due to excessive accumulation of fluoride in them which results in increased hip and wrist fractures. Dental enamel gets eroded. The fluoride toxicity can also affect the kidneys and suppress the functioning of the thyroid. In children, neurodevelopmental disorders are noticed. In India, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have reported a high incidence of fluoride contamination with 50-100 percent of the population affected.
A lot has been done to tackle the issue but fluoride contamination continues to be a problem. In the early 1970s, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in Nagpur developed the Nalgonda process to precipitate fluoride out of the water using a combination of aluminium and lime. The Nalgonda process brings the concentration of fluoride down to 0.5 – 1 ml/L, which, according to WHO, is the norm for safe drinking water. Many other options to tackle the problem are available but they have turned out to be high maintenance with a steady requirement for well-trained operators and a good understanding of the process. This is not feasible in rural locations where the problem is more severe.


A new, improved water purifying system


Realising this situation, the Dutch company Smart Water Solutions Pvt Ltd. or SWS invented a fully automatic system to remove fluoride from drinking water. Called The SuperFloc, the system boasts of an “improved” Nalgonda process. Increased efficiency of the process and fully automated operation system which is solar powered are some of the highlights of the new system. What more? It can deliver up to 6000 litres of purified water per day. The system can be operated online which makes it possible to monitor the purification process from a central location.
A nominal price for purified water is demanded to make the system financially sustainable.
SWS says “It took many months to search and select suppliers to meet our specific requirements. But now that we have found them and incorporated their solutions in The SuperFloc, I can say defluoridation has become simpler. There is very little maintenance required and it is easy to train local operators to execute the job. This will make a difference, especially in rural locations where technical skills are sparsely available.” About the process, it says that it is 100 percent automated and can be tracked online. “The advantage of this online connection is obvious. In case of a breakdown in one of our systems in a far-off village, we will immediately notice it happening and can send the operator or technician to solve the problem,” it adds.
The Super Floc technology has already been demonstrated in 15 villages in Orissa and is running smoothly at a campus in Uttarakhand for more than a year. Millions of litres of fresh drinking water have been produced so far. Recently, a demonstration was held in Gadhada, a village in northern Gujarat suffering badly from fluoride contamination. Hansaben Dineshbhai Zala, a villager from Gadhada says “Fluoride in the water is a big problem for my family and the people in the village. My mother suffered from stiff bones which the doctor explained as due to the consumption of high concentrations of fluoride. I often feel weak, my children have teeth problems and my husband broke his arm recently because fluoride affects bones.”


Making the system financially viable


The SuperFloc system purifies the water from a central location in the village termed watershop. People can tap the water anytime from that watershop. A nominal price of about 80 paise-Re 1/litre of purified water is demanded just so the system is financially sustainable. SWS says “We see that people are willing to contribute in cash for the water treatment because they notice that being sick has far greater financial consequences.”
But who will pay for the installation of the system? SWS has the answer. “The SuperFloc is appealing to companies having a water-related CSR policy as well as governments and local villages seriously affected by fluoride contamination. Once The SuperFloc is installed and running, it can be operated sustainably from the income generated through water sales,” it says.
Zala says she is willing to pay that amount for purified water. “Imagine how much money we have paid already to doctors and for medicines. One tiny cup of chai costs Rs 10. I can buy about 15 litres of clean water, sufficient for the entire family, with that money.”
The system not only takes care of fluoride but also removes iron, arsenic, viruses and bacteria from water. SWS says “The SuperFloc shows that fluoride and arsenic problems can be solved even in remote places in India. We realise that there is better awareness among people on this issue and that people are willing to contribute to the solution. People take their destiny in their own hands and knock on our doors for help. And we respond by providing a financially sustainable solution.”



© MultiSpectra Consultants, 2018.