Introduction

 

Cynosure 2011, a  national conference  on communication,  antenna  and signal processing  (CASP),  was jointly  organized  by Department of Electronics and Telecommunication at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere and  Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Navi Mumbai during 23rd and  24th  of December, 2011.

The main objective of the conference was to provide a platform for discussion regarding the development of the systems  which  are  interdisciplinary  with  respect  to  Communication,  Antenna  and  Signal  processing.   The first Cynosure was organized in 2004, the Concept and Name of which was developed by Prof. S. V. Khobragade. 

 

Preparations 

 

The preparations for Cynosure 2011 began well within advance. Various committees were formed under the guidance of convener  of  the  conference  Prof.  S.  V.  Khobragade.   The plan of action was drafted by  Prof.  Amit  Naik,  the  faculty coordinator  of the  conference, keeping  in  mind  the  available time  and  deadline for  preparations.  As the conference was organized  in  association  with  IETE,  invitations  were  sent  to  members  of  IETE  all  over  the  India.  The invitations were accompanied by The Call for Papers. Publicity  plays  a  vital  role  in  making  any  event  successful, so  a  team  of  event coordinators  was  sent to  various colleges in Maharashtra  and  calls  were  made to  the  institutes  outside  Maharashtra.  5th October 2011 was the deadline for submission of abstracts. We received huge response and a screening committee was set to review the abstracts and select the papers for the conference.  Of  all  the  abstracts,  120 papers  were  chosen  fit  for  the participation  and  confirmations  were  sent  accordingly.  Response to both, paper as well  as  poster  presentation  was overwhelming.  From home university as well students  participated  in  large  number.  Accordingly the acceptance notifications were sent before 30th October. The deadline for submission of full length paper was 30th November.

The crucial  task  was to  make  schedule for  the two  days.  So  it  was  decided to  make  a  minute  to  minute schedule  of the event.  A  team  comprising  of  the  student  coordinators  of  the  event  Ms.  Pranali  Janabandhu,  Mr.  Nitish  Pathode,  Mr. Sanchit  Goel  and  Ms.  Aarti  Mohite  drafted  the  minute-to-minute  schedule.  The next  big  task  was  to  contact  all  the participants coming from different places and make arrangement for their accommodation and stay. The university guest house was chosen as the venue for accommodation of delegates and participants.

 

Main Plenary 

 

Dr. Raju Mankar Inaugurate the conference. He bless the conference with his inauguration speech. He congratulates Dr. S L  Nalbalwar  and  Prof.  S  V  Khobragade  for  successfully  organizing  and  managing  the  activities  for  the  national conference.  

Prof. Dr. K.T.V. Reddy, council member IETE Delhi, principal, Terana Engineering College, Nerul, Navi Mumbai and an eminent personality in the field of antenna design spoke on new trends in the microstrip antenna. He also emphasized on the importance of analytical quality of results in the field of communication. He also gives the informative speech on the IETE. He focused and highlights the quality maintain by the Department for the National conference specially proceeding. 

Prof. V. N. Pawar delivered presidential address. He spoke of the association of IETE and the university and encouraged us  to  organize  more  such  events.      He  also  stated  that  such  conferences  help  researchers  in  India  to  present  their  work before larger audience of national engineering community. He focused on the activities of IETE Navi Mumbai center. He also focused on the future relationship of department and IETE center. 

The conference  finally  at  the  peak  by informative  and  amusing  keynote  address  by Prof.  Dr. S.  R.  Bhonsle.  He  was supportive of increasing importance and interdependence of antenna and signal processing, saying it offered new horizons for the development of communication field. He added that today the difference between various branches of engineering is vanishing rapidly and it is the high time to undertake the development of systems which are all encompassing and the widespread of which will result in the betterment of living standards. Dr. Bhonsle also speaks on the issue that why and how India can be a superpower. 

The inauguration speech by Prof. S. V. Khobragade emphasized on the efforts that went into making this event successful. It  was  an  account  of  all  the  preparations  as  well  as  the  schedule  for  next  two  days.  Moreover the  objectives  behind organizing this event were made clear.  The two days event was organized in six sessions. Two paper presentation and one poster presentation session each day. Each session was conducted in three different halls, Conference Hall, EDUSAT Hall and LH-23.  The poster presentation was organized near LH-23.

At the end of day 1, a beautiful program of folk music and songs was organized prior to dinner. Group of singer and artist under  Mr.  Milind  More  performs  in  the  University  campus. The  guests  were  mesmerized  by  the scintillating performances. Day 1is ended with the musical note.

Day  2  started  with some  of  very  good  presentations on  signal  processing  and speech  recognition. The judges  especially admired the research work of Prof. Sanghmitra Arora and Prof. Hanumante.  The poster presentation session on day 2 was divided in pre-lunch and post- lunch sessions. Due to very large number of participants, the session was conducted in two parts. 

The  conference  is  sponsored  by  State  Bank  of  India  Mangaon  Branch.  Shri.  Gedam  Sir  and  his  Team  delivered presentation in the session related with the different products. The conference was co-sponsored by ANSYS technologies, a  firm  which  develops  simulation  software  for  microwave  simulations.  Mr.  Unni  from  ANSYS  made  a  presentation  on HFSS antenna design with his colleague Mr. Khare.  The valedictory function was organized to felicitate the participants who won the best paper award. At this function Prof. Dr.  S. L.  Nalbalwar,  HOD,  Department  of  electronics  and  telecommunication congratulated  all  the  organizers  for successful completion of the event and encouraged everyone to come forward and organize more such events.    

Finally everybody shares and discussed various ideas and new prospects in the last session of high tea, where    everybody interacted  with  each  other. Prof.  V  N  Pawar  assured  to  give  the  International  conference  in  December  2012  seeing  the well manage, discipline work of the Departmental team for the National conference. 

Final words

The conference witnessed extraordinary response. 72 papers were presented with 30 poster presentations. The conference provided  a  platform  for  discussion  on  advanced  trends  in  antenna  and  signal  processing. Prof.  Sanjay  Khobragade  take special  effort to  make  the  entire conference into  reality  and  successful. The entire  team  under  Prof.  Amit Naik,  with M Tech  Students  Jayesh  Ruikar,  Shailesh  Sakpal  and  Mahesh  Kumbhar  also  Pranali  Janbandhu,  Aarti  Mohite,  Nitish Pathode,  Sanchit  Goal,  Umesh  Hajare,  Mayur  Shriwardhankar.  Prof.  V  N  Pawar  assured  us  to  give  International conference also in next academic year. It is a great successful program overall.