REPORT ON ONLINE INTERACTIVE SESSION WITH MR. VIJAY VENKATACHALAM , FOUNDER OF OMEGA ANALYTICS.
“WE CANNOT SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS WITH THE SAME THINKING WE USED TO CREATE THEM” ~ALBERT EINSTEIN
On the 13th of June, we the students of class 11 of Mushtifund Aryaan Higher Secondary School (MAHSS) had the great privilege and opportunity to have an interactive online session with one of the wingmates and a close friend of our director, Mr. Vyankatesh Prabhudesai and a batch mate of our ex CM late Mr. Manohar Parrikar. A man who has over a decade’s experience in business and engineering analytics, he is none other than Mr. VijayVenkatachalam.
Sir Vijay Venkatachalam was an alumnus of IIT Bombay( B.Tech) and IIM Bangalore( PGDM Finance). Doing his M.Sc(finance) in the University Of Glasgow,UK; he worked as an investment analyst. In 2000, he joined I-Flex at Bangalore which is now known as Oracle Financial Banking and Financial Services. He also had a work experience at Tata Steel Jamshedpur. After spending several years in financial services and IT Industries in both Indian and overseas he thought of coming up with his own company. In 2006, along with some IITians he founded a company named ‘OMEGA ANALYTICS’. “Every risk is worth taking as long as it’s for a good cause, and contributed to a good life”
Sir V. Vijay along with his team developed a software called Geographic Information System ( GIS) which is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse and manage all types of geographical data. He shared the difficulties they faced to commercially sell their product to the marketing world. But was quite lucky to have a big breakthrough to work with L&T Bangalore for the construction of Bangalore Airport in 2009. He explained us how GIS helped one to know about commercial areas, permissible lands and also land pricing. It put forward the importance of getting all sorts of maps on a single platform to get a clear data representation. Mr. V Vijay further went to explain his work fields, some of which were a) Highway routes, b) Railway lines, c) Pipe lines, d) Irrigation canals, e) Bridges. In 2009-10 he approached the Indian Railways to know the functioning and infrastructure for Railways like Railway line, Bridges, electrical lines and signals. It was a challenging job which he accepted willingly overcoming the challenges on the way.
The session turned interesting when he explained a case study of doubling of existing railway line between Castle rock to Kulem(Goa). The problems which the railways faced were variations in sharp curves( on which the railway department has been working for the past 10 years), reducing the lengths of the tunnels and maintain the forest ecology of Mollem Wild Life Sanctuary. But they came up with a solution by creating a Digital elevation model(3D models) of project area designed 35km using spatial optimization techniques, Reduced the tunnel length to 2.2km, tunneling in forest area to reduce earth work and ecological damage. He continued, Omega Analytics used satellite images, advanced digital terrain models and mathematical programming techniques to design the alignments. He was proud to say that his company had completed working on almost 3000km of railway track across the country.
He also shared his screen with graphical representation to show his line of work in transportation sector(highways, railways) ; water resources( to lay irrigation canals) where basic mapping of irrigation areas had to be done. Using Grey Modelling, one can cover large areas quickly,with visual data and search options. Google images showing river network were also shown using terrain networks.
He further explained us how data can also be collected via drones and satellites to capture data from ground which requires aeronautics too. He also explained the work covered in Tawang areas in Arunachal Pradesh for building bridges; Road project at the China Border and how he optimized bus transport in Bangalore with the help of a young IITian.
Mr. V. Vijay also suggested that we should be quick in our field, studying new technology, since technology moves very fast. “Best solutions always do not come from the people in the same domain” he said. Lastly he answered all the queries raised by our Sir VPD and some of the students and gave satisfactory answers to all questions. He said, ” Foundation years are 11th and 12th and knowledge gained is useful for the future. Having a good mathematical and physics base helped me a lot”. He also stated regarding the economic crisis amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic. He continued by saying that many of the small sector industries are going through tough times whereas a company having a strong financial background can survive. COVID-19 is one of the most severe problem in the last 10 years. Cash in hand is mandatory during such pandemic situations.
It was truly a knowledge packed and indeed an inspiring session for all of us. We are thankful to our Sir.Vyankatesh Prabhudesai for inviting Mr. Vijay Venkatachalam whose inspirational words raised our determination.
Written by: Eeshani N. Pai Kane
Class 11- MAHSS