An Uphill Battle

Researchers, doctors and communities work together to manage a neglected disease   The first time Nagendra Kumar P started experiencing extreme pain was when he was a toddler. “He had severe headaches,” says his father, B Pandegowda. “We showed him to small hospitals nearby. He would become better for a few days, but the headaches […]

Soil Sleuths

Geotechnical engineers, who investigate soils and their properties, play an important and sometimes overlooked role in civil engineering   A vacation on a Spanish beach in the 1960s sparked a revolution in the construction industry. French engineer Henri Vidal was piling up sand to build a sand castle when he realised that no matter how […]

Making Learning Fun

How student and alumni-led initiatives are bringing science to young children   In 2016, when Suyog Mahulkar, Ashok B, Nilesh Potghan and a handful of other students at IISc decided to start an outreach initiative to teach science and maths at rural schools, they were gung-ho but also a bit “naive”, Suyog admits. Armed with […]

Making Things Work: 75 Years of Mechanical Engineering

Research and teaching aside, the Department has also contributed to the creation of many new programmes and centres on campus   Times were tough for IISc in the 1930s. It faced a serious cash crunch – income from both the Mysore Government and JN Tata’s Bombay properties had dwindled. World War II was looming on […]

Taking on TB

India is the world’s tuberculosis capital, accounting for 27 percent of the 10 million patients globally. Understanding how drug resistance emerges and improving vaccine efficacy are key to fighting this disease. Macrophage (red) engulfing tuberculosis bacteria (yellow), taken with ZEISS FE-SEM (Image courtesy: Volker Brinkmann)   In 1890, Robert Koch believed he was going to […]

Beating the Jam

Using technology to tackle India’s terrible traffic Last summer, the image of a software engineer riding a horse to protest against Bangalore’s notorious traffic jams went viral on social media. “Bengaluru is overcrowded and too many vehicles on the road lead to traffic jams every day,” he was quoted as saying. “In fact, I learnt […]