Advitiy
Second Student Satellite, IIT Bombay
Advitiy is the second satellite under the Student Satellite Programme of IIT Bombay.
The name Advitiy means 'Unparalleled' or 'Unprecedented'.
And that's our vision for this satellite, to make it so robust and reliable that it becomes an example
for many other satellites to follow.
Advitiy's payload has been selected to have a massive social impact. It'll provide numerous
individual school and college going students their first exposure to satellite and space technology.
As mentioned in the "About the Project" section, this project is expected to introduce several school and college students to satellite and space technology. Also, it takes us a step closer towards our vision of converting IIT Bombay into a Centre of Excellence in Satellite and Space Technology.
As the Project Manager, I was reponsible for overseeing the operations of all the 5 subsystems of the project:
Payload, Electrical, Mechanical, Communications and Attitude Determination and Controls. I oversaw the payload selection
for Advitiy, selecting the best out of 30 proposed payload ideas, considering various parameters like feasibility, impact, capabilities, availability of resources etc.
I also devised the Quality Assurance plan for Advitiy, taking cues from the learnings from Pratham; making a comprehensive 'Learnings from Pratham' document
was the first task I led as the Project Manager of Advitiy. Finally, I ensured continuity by training new Project Managers, and leading the extensive 3 step recruitment
consisting of Written Test, Mini-project and Temporary Apprenticeship, aimed at testing the technical prowess, fit and the ability of the individuals to apply theory to practice. The recruitment
culminated in the selection of 25 students out of 200+ applicants.
Advitiy's TeamThe project is still on-going and will conclude with the launch and completion of the life-time of Advitiy. So far, we have already conducted a ground-station workshop, training 50+ students from 15+ colleges. Also, a Ham Radio club was established in IIT Bombay, in collaboration with Tech@IITB, to further the social goal of the project.
Leading the team through various paradigm shifts encountered while deciding the payload and the mission statement was a managerial challenge. It improved my communication and story-telling skills. During Pratham, the satellite and the project were synonymous. That had to change with Advitiy. Defining the vision and mission for the project and the satellite separately, such that the satellite's mission aligned with the project's, significantly added clarity to my thoughts and improved my perception of the project. Devising the Quality Assurance plan was like a humongous project in itself, involving a thorough literature survey of the practices employed in bodies like Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), understanding the limitations and constraints of a Student Satellite Project and listing down practices that could be followed by such a body and finally, devising a strategy for the effective execution of the plan, with a detailed description of the role of each person in the hierarchy order. This significantly improved my research and analysis skills. Finally, the constant efforts to convert the team into a family significantly improved my leadership skills, forcing me to move out of my comfort zone at times, for the good of the team.