ChEA BLOGS
Bhavina Gajghate | DRDO
Hi, I am Bhavina Rajesh Gajghate, a third-year undergraduate student in the Chemical Engineering Department. I am an upcoming process engineering intern in liquified natural gas and cryogenics at Shellfor my third-year summers and was a research intern in my second-year summers at the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL),Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
About the Internship
The internship lasted for roughly two months, starting from 11-05-2023 to 15-07-2023. The office was located in Sutharwadi, Pune. The work culture was excellent, the people were kind, helpful, humble, respectful, and always made me feel at home. Everyone had a very collaborative spirit.
Defence Research and Development Organisation or DRDO is a prestigious Indian government organization that serves as the sole research and development wing of the Indian Armed Forces. There are several laboratories under DRDO, I was working in the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL)in the division of Solid Rocket Propellant (SRP). The domain was purely core and applied sciences.
I had a general inclination towards either something in Chemical Engineering or Machine Learning and I am currently pursuing honors in Chemical Engineering.
My Sophomore Year
I was the web secretary at ChEA and coordinator at Techfest in my second year. I had also done a software developer intern in my second year winters, and my experience in the coding domain was absolutely terrible. I realized it’s not for me and I do not see my future in it. Apart from that, courses in my fourth semester were really enjoyable and I developed my interest in Chemical Engineering through the exclusive core curriculum I was exposed to in my second year.
Apping Process
So when it comes to apping, sending mails is the only way to go about it, at least when we talk about research/university internships. I mailed the human resource department of various laboratories under DRDO. Preparing a database of laboratories under DRDO in my case waas very useful, at least you should keep a letter of reference, a no objection certificate/bonafide certificate, your transcript, and a cover letter handy when applying for research internships. Another way to apply and grab opportunities is through professors, having a good bond with professors has given way in the past to many such great opportunities in the core domain. Having a good rapport with a professor whose classes you enjoy helps you learn in that course, and also makes it easier to obtain a letter of recommendation from them. Also for apping, it is very important to streamline or eliminate the domains you do not wish to delve into.
The work at DRDOSo my work was in the Solid Rocket Propellant division. I worked on binders in propellants, which comprised HTPB as one of its main components. I researched whether anionic HTPB could be feasible to be utilized in the making of propellants as a binder instead of the conventional free radical HTPB. I used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and swelling studies to analyze the HTPB variants.
Logistics
I live in Pune so I lived at my home and I traveled by carpooling with an employee who stayed near my home. I didn't have many issues when it came to the logistics of accommodation and commuting. However, we were not permitted to carry phones, laptops, or any electronic devices due to confidentiality and secrecy reasons, so that could lead to issues in communicating at home.
Takeaways from the Internship
The internship played a very pivotal role in determining my career path. I learned very important lessons about what I like and why I like it. I liked the exposure I got to research. I thoroughly enjoyed this domain, and I ardently wished to pursue it in the future. Hence, no wonder I streamlined my options to the core domain while pursuing third-year summer interns, I was signing IAFs only for core chemical companies and trying out for University internships and that was because of my outstanding experience during my second-year summers as a research intern.