Gold medal to MSU engineering student

A National level gold medal has been awarded to M.E. Student Mirza Fouzia Mohd. Musa, under the guidance of Dr. Aadhar Mandot, Department of Textile Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Engineering by National Design and Research Forum, The Institute of Engineers (India) for his design of Composite with the help of Banana fiber as reinforcement. The award ceremony was held on 29/10/2017 at Goa.

National Design and Research Forum (NDRF) established by the Institution of Engineers (India), promotes Research, Design, Development, Productization, and Innovation through collaborative effort since 1969. NDRF is anchoring interdisciplinary technological research in many engineering discipline including for societal applications, and plays a major role in deploying engineering and technology services, systems and solutions for nation building.

NDRF has emerged as a forum for exploring and disseminating new and emerging design and research concepts. NDRF continues the tradition of identifying and recognizing outstanding contribution to engineering design through the National Design Awards since its inception.

The main purpose of this work is to manufacture a cost effective, eco friendly composite product from Agro waste and to study its structural and mechanical properties. Banana fibers were used for this purpose, which were processed to make fibers thinner and these raw as well as processed fibers were used for preparation of different composite panels and compared. The work focuses on preparation of door & window panels, temporary shelters, decorative wall panels, etc.

In the present work, banana fiber reinforced composites using polyester resin were prepared and the mechanical properties of these composites are evaluated. The fibers from the natural source provide advantages over synthetic reinforcement materials in terms of low cost, low density, non-toxicity, comparable strength, and waste disposal problem. Today the concern for the environmental pollution and the prevention of non-renewable resources has attracted researchers seeking to develop new eco-friendly materials and products.