“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

A question we’ve been asked all our lives. For some of us, the answer has evolved or changed completely over the years. For some others, the answer has been determined from the start. Either way, the one thing we all have in common is inspiration. We have all come across people who have motivated us to work towards our dream. We decided to look beyond college life and engineering and take a look at those who are making it in the real world. In this blog series, AVCOE rounds up renowned names in business who, as the youth says, started from the bottom.

This month, we shine the spotlight on Richa Kar, better known as the Founder of Zivame. She started this online women’s lingerie store as a possible solution to the lingerie shopping issue, many women feel in India, to this day. Although we have come a long way in the way we think, there is still a little prevailing taboo left to banish from our society.

By launching an online platform where women can shop for lingerie without feeling uncomfortable, Richa Kar took a step towards countering this issue. But as one can guess, her start wasn’t an easy one. Ashamed and afraid of the stigma mentioned earlier, both her parents refused to have any part in helping her launch her business. So, the engineering graduate (like many of our readers aspire to be!), took matters into her own hands and pooled in all her savings and borrowed money from friends and started Zivame. She had a strong professional background in retail after working in Spencers’ and SAP and had conducted a thorough case study of Victoria’s Secret’s online sales. She quickly realised that there wasn’t a platform like that for women in India and decided to start her own.

Today, she may have stepped down as CEO, but her company is up and running. She stays on the board of directors and her dream continues to have the potential to reach new bounds. From having to mask her profession to proudly owning it, Richa Kar has come a long way and stays on top of our inspiration list. As Steve Harvey once said, “Failure is a great teacher.” This month’s entrepreneur story teaches us a little about failure and a lot about successfully overcoming societal stigma.


For more informative and inspirational blogs, stay updated with Amrutvahini College of Engineering at https://avcoe.blogspot.com/

Scientists all over the world are going gaga over graphene, a material that has also been dubbed as a ‘supermaterial’. It is made from elemental carbon and is just one-atom thick layer of graphite. Thanks to its structure and arrangement, this very first two-dimensional material to be discovered, has great tensile strength (100 times more than steel), conducts electricity (250 times faster than Silicon at room temperature) and heat (10 times better than Copper), is transparent and ultra-thin!

Considering the properties of graphene, it’s not rocket science to see that it is to have tonnes of applications in the things we use every day and is soon going to be an integral part of our lives. Let us explore some of these possible applications that may become a reality soon!

Revolutionalizing the smartphone world: This wonder material is super flexible and could lead us to bendable smartphones. The use of graphene in batteries could also help us charge them in time as less as seven seconds! A news article by cnet says that this technology is not a faraway dream, but something that could happen in the next two years!

Graphene in the concrete: Exploiting graphene’s ability to conduct electricity, it can be used as concrete so as to eliminate the need for copper wires being tunneled in our houses for the supply of electricity. A study also states the graphene cement is also two times stronger then the one we use, four times more water resistant, and far more elastic. Read more about it here.

Flying with graphene: Graphene’s super-light and strong structure is expected to be used to its maximum in the aviation industry! With light-weight planes, we will be able to reduce the amount of fuel required, leading towards more cost-efficient and environment-friendly airborne travel. 

Seeing with graphene: The flexible, conducive and biocompatible nature of graphene can make it possible for us to cure blindness with it. It can be used to recreate an artificial and functional optic nerve, paving a path for a brighter future in the retinal world. Read more about it here.

Graphene to purify water: Graphene allows for a chemical-free, one-step process for purifying water. This process is considered to be cost-effective and compatible with large urban wastewater treatment plants. Curious about how it’s done? Read about the same here.

Graphene has many other real-world potential applications and considering the hype and amount of research being done on this material, they could all be a reality soon! AVCOE is excited to enter the world of graphene, are you? For more such informative blogs, keep following us!

Amrutvahini College of Engineering has always believed in providing its students with top-notch facilities - be it in the class, labs or the hostels. With an inbuilt hostel campus, AVCOE’s hostel is home to hundreds of students that enjoy the benefits of many facilities. 

The environment
There are three independent blocks for male students and a separate block for female students. All the hostels encompass beautiful gardens, with each hostel having a resident rector to monitor and maintain discipline. Hostel rooms are airy, clean and well furnished.

Water facilities
The students are provided with safe R.O drinking water, with 10.27 Liter of water reserved for each student everyday.

• 22.26 Liter of hot water is also available for each student everyday. 
• On an average, the normal usable water per student is approximately 75 Lit. per day.

Health facilities
At AVCOE, we make sure that our students receive proper medical care when needed. Which is why we have a First Aid and Medical Dispensary with a MBBS doctor present at the campus everyday. A vehicle for medical emergency is also available.

Food
Healthy diet is necessary for students. Which is why AVCOE tries to give its students the most nutritious and tastiest food. For the very same reason, the campus has 5 mess and a canteen.

Safety
Understanding that the safety of the students is our responsibility, AVCOE campus is under 24x7 CCTV surveillance. Fire Extinguishers are also installed in all hostels and security is available in each hostel. A complaint register is also placed in the campus so that the students can write about the complaints that they have, which will be solved within two days. Biometric attendance is also available in the girls hostel.

Other facilities

• The AVCOE hostel has a 24 hour power supply with a 63 KVA generator backup.
• The students also enjoy Wi-Fi and Television facility in the hostel premises.
• Hostel also provides 5 newspapers everyday, 2 of which are English.
• Fitness center for boys and girls.
• Guest house for parents in hostel campus.
• Xerox, laundry, book stall, general stores & beauty parlor for girls.

Personal
AVCOE also provides guest houses for parents whose children live in the hostel campus.

All these world class facilities are meant to make the students living at the AVCOE hostels more comfortable and happier. We want to make sure that the students here don’t miss their homes and provide them with an environment that makes them feel at ease.

Know more - avcoe.org/hostel.php

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Amrutvahini College of Engineering.

#AVCOE, Sangamner.

www.avcoe.org