Talk on nanotechnology applications to life sciences

She explained how Nanotechnology, the science of synthesizing and utilizing materials and structures with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometres (nm), would induce novel properties hitherto unseen in the bulk form.

“In life sciences, Nanotechnology will be of great help in designing new drugs cheaper and faster, with fewer side effects and greater efficacy at lower dosages”, Dr.Vedam explained. Similarly, in Bioimaging, the technology had the ability to produce high quality images of deeper tissues for longer periods of time without damaging the tissue. Dr.Vedam pointed out that Governments around the world have invested billions of dollars into this technology due to its ability to provide cutting edge solutions to all industry sectors. “However, the most significant challenge posed by the still-nebulous subject is the lack of concrete understanding of the impact of nanomaterials to human body, environment and eco system”, she cautioned and added that the technology demanded convergence of subjects like life sciences, engineering, law, business etc., which was hard to find in the conventional education system.

SVIMS Director B.Vengamma, Medical Superintendent T.Kannan, Registrar V.S.R. Anjaneyulu and faculty members took part in the programme.

SVU

The Academic Staff College of Sri Venkateswara University conducted a three-week refresher course in Operations Research and Quantitative Techniques (OR&QT) for college and university teachers recently, with an aim to provide the teachers with updated knowledge in the emerging areas of OR and QT through expert lectures, seminars, group discussions and laboratory experiences.

The course was inaugurated by UGC Member K. Ramamurthy Naidu, while principal of SVU College of Sciences, C.Subbarami Reddy, spoke on the need for continuous updating of knowledge by the teachers. 16 participants from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh from the Statistics and Mathematics streams took the course, while academics of Statistics, Mathematics, Econometrics and Engineering from SV University, Madurai Kamaraj University, University of Madras, Bangalore University and Nagarjuna University acted as resource persons.

P.Rajasekhara Reddy, head of Statistics department at SVU explained the importance OR & QT tools in various fields and R.Seshadri Naidu, Director, Academic Staff College spoke on the features of the programme. Event coordinator KVS Sarma, who was instrumental in designing the course contents, gave details about the project, while K. Venkata Reddy, Director (Finance), AP Southern Power Distribution Company Limited, in his valedictory address, explained the applications of quantitative techniques practised in various organizations.