Tawde pledges state help for CoEP's second satellite

Pune: State education minister Vinod Tawde on Friday said the higher and technical education department would contribute Rs 50 lakh for College of Engineering Pune's second satellite project.
Tawde was in the college to felicitate students involved in the Swayam satellite project.
College officials said that the estimated cost of the second satellite is Rs 35 lakh.About Rs 20 lakh would be contributed by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).
"What CoEP has achieved with Swayam is something we all are proud of. They told me that they have already started work on their second satellite project, which is about solar sails. The next project will get funds from the higher and technical education department, because we believe that research should not stop because of want of funds," Tawde said, adding that while only 0.75% of the funds from the department are used for research, he would want it to be at least 10%.
Tawde also said that he would talk to the chief minister about CoEP's long pending demand to get a deemed university status.
The Swayam satellite, which is the first pico satellite to be launched by students into the orbit by Isro, is the product of hard work by 176 students for the past eight years. While many students of the Swayam team were present on Friday at the college, parents of students too had come to celebrate the occasion.
"We are the fourth generation of CoEPians. I think support from the college made this project a success," said Deepak Bawiskar, father of Abhishek Bawiskar, who passed out in 2010 and was one of the first few students to come up with the idea of a satellite in 2008.
Nishchay Mhatre, one of the first students who came up with the idea of Swayam and who is now a faculty member at CoEP said, "My fingers are crossed. We will heave a sigh of relief only when the passive attitude control system stabilizes the satellite in about 10 days and then the first HAM radio connection is done."
Skywalk demand
CoEP director B B Ahuja said that their proposal to the Pune Municipal Corporation to make a skywalk for students from the CoEP hostel to the college has been accepted by the civic body.