June2016-GeM-Edition

" From the meetings I had with our Customers,
since taking up this role in Jan,
the primary emphasis has been on the Quality
of deliverables and the value additions
expected from us. I am sure that we as a
team are not just measured on our performance
by the deliveries alone. The expectations on our contributions to
improve product and process has increased significantly. Any items on
improving our productivity and reducing the defects top the list. I am
sure all of us agree that these are the key differentiators which keep us
ahead of our competition. Let us focus on deliveries which just does not
stop at satisfying our customers, but make them delighted. "
Feedback @: GMPT GEM Group

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Global CAE Meet
The second week of April, 2016 saw the GM Global Engine CAE Managers’ Meet at TCS – GM, Bangalore.
MANAGEMENT
The TCS – GM, Bangalore facility was visited by Dr. Oliver Scherf, Manager Engine Analysis GM Germany, Mr. Radu Theyyunni,
Director, Engineering Propulsion Systems GM North America and Mr. Edson L Duque, Engineering Group Manager, GM Sao Paulo.
This was the first time Mr. Edson L Duque was visiting the TCS facility. The meet was for 3 days in the week and also involved the
Tech Excellence Awards, annually held in TCS – GM.
The first day of the meet started with an Overview of the CAE and Design capabilities of the TCS – GM Team to Edson and Oliver.
Oliver, then proceeded, with one on one meetings with the analysts working for GM Germany.
The second day started with a group overview, in which group managers from various groups in TCS – GM gave a brief overview
about their teams and its capabilities. This was followed by a brief presentation about the various Capability Improvement Initiatives
taken up by TCS. The second day also was a host to the CAE Global Workshop. This was the first time TCS – GM was hosting the
event in its Bangalore facility. Thus being quite an important event for TCS – GM.
The third day unfolded with presentations on Value Addition Initiatives taken up by TCS, followed by Project Presentations from
the Thermal Management, Modeling and Automation Group. The GM – TCS Technical Excellence Competition was the highlight of
the third day. Out of the 32 project entries for the competition, 5 were selected for the final round, through various levels of scrutiny.
The final round was judged by Dr. Oliver Scherf and Mr. Radu Theyyunni. The judges were fascinated with the complex projects and
the creative solutions and had a tough time to pull out the results. After a very close competition Deepak Kurandwad was declared as
the winner and Santhosh Km as the runners up.
Following the Tech Excellence Competition, Oliver, Radu and Edson addressed the team, appreciating the efforts put in by the
participants. They also appreciated how TCS has been an integral part of their engine development programs. The day ended with an
enlightening presentation by Radu about the new developments in the Engine Development Programs and also a farewell of Mr.
Raghavendar Garudadri and Mr. Mandar Kulkarni.
Overall the visit was a good one, with mutual exchange of knowledge. It was a great experience for the GM Managers to be part
of their extended team at TCS as well as for everyone at TCS – GM.

ES and SF Group Client Visit at Bangalore
MANAGEMENT
In the month of May 2016, TCS – GM hosted an important client visit by Technical Specialists from GM North America. It
was held on the 10 th , 12 th and the 13 th of May 2016 at TCS – GM, Bangalore. The guests were Mr. David J. Freiman, EGM – Engine
Subsystems, Sealing and Fastening Analysis, Dr. Turgay Bengisu, Technical Fellow Technical Specialist – Engine Subsystems,
and Mr. Michael A Karram – Global Technical Specialist, Sealing & Fastening / Structures.
Day one of the visit started with Mr. Janarthanam Ponnuswamy addressing the GM officials and giving them an overview
of the CAE group, followed by Mr. Indrajit Ghosh with the ES team overview and Mr. Bonala Sastry with that of the SF team. The
GM officials then took over and gave important Procedural Updates to the teams. Later on, Mike, Dave and Turgay met the analysts
at their desks. A highlight of this day was the Automation update provided by Mr. Bhaskar Dongare.
The second day of the program started with an introduction to the meet’s agenda by Sastry and Indrajit. Thereafter, Turgay,
who is the NVH group technical specialist, proceeded to have brief discussions with the team, while Dave and Mike attended
a discussion with the Sealing and Fastening subgroup hosted by Sastry. Both the teams consequently assembled for an ES and
SF Update by Dave regarding the general updates in the ES and SF group. Following this, the GM officials interacted one on one
with the analysts to better understand their work and their challenges. A few notable projects were Water Pump Analysis and 3D
Gasket Stability Analysis, among others.
The third day began with the briefing of the day’s agenda to the GM officials by Jana. The day moved forward with Procedural
Updates by Turgay followed by a discussion regarding the analysis updates and general queries from the team. This provided
a platform for an enhanced learning experience for the analysts about the capabilities and resources of the group. The day
also comprised of a meeting between the senior team members of ES and SF and the dignitaries from GM. Later that day Mike
and Dave interacted with Sastry about the workings of the SF team, while Turgay had the same with Indrajit.
As this was the last day of the 3-day visit, an All People Meet was conducted where Turgay, Dave and Mike addressed all
the analysts and shared their learnings and experiences with the majority. They also took queries from the analysts and signified
the importance of the GM – TCS relationship. Jana gave the Vote of Thanks and appreciated the efforts made by Mike, Dave and
Turgay to boost the morale of the team.
All in all, the visit was a successful one. It gave the analysts a chance to interact with the Technical Experts in the field. The
mutual exchange of knowledge has been beneficial to all.

T
he Wards Best Engines is an annual list of the 10 best
engines available in the US market. Each engine
undergoes rigorous tests, taking into account how
the engine performs at low end torques [i.e. low
speeds in the top gear] and wide open throttle at
the third gear. Noise and Vibration is also a major
factor deciding the engine’s fate.’
The judges, comprising mostly of car critics, were given a
plethora of options to decide the best of the lot. This year’s winner
includes the latest Cadillac ATS/Chevy Camaro’s 3.6l LGX.
The previous Camaro had a monstrous 6.2L V8 engine which
spits 460 BHP. The judges tested both the previous and the latest
model of the Camaro, which made them wonder the type of the engine
under each of the car’s hoods. Some of them even had to check
Monroney to see if both the cars had the same engine. They were baffled
to see the latest model, having a V6, triggers as much as adrenaline
as its outdated counterpart.
With a longer stroke and slightly wider bore size, the new V-6 is
10 kgs heavier than its predecessor. A new variable-displacement 2-
stage oil pump saves energy by reducing the pressure and flow of oil
within the engine and increasing it only when high speeds and high
loads require it. The LGX is GM’s first overhead-cam engine with cylinder
deactivation.
Clearly, GM engineers have learned a lot from this engine’s predecessor,
the LFX engine, in terms of meeting the emission norms without compromising
on the fun.
In a nutshell, General Motors has given us an engine what I call as the
“New Testament of the V6s”. Hoping to see the reformed Bumble Bee in action
with this masterpiece.
The two-time consecutive winner, GM’s own 6.2l V8 LT1 had its hat
trick blown away by this masterpiece. Comparing with all the naturally
aspirated V6s, the LGX is the only engine with an Active Fuel
Management and Direct fuel injection. Running on regular fuel, the
engine now has four full phasers, enabling continuously variable cam
phasing to help the engine breathe better in all operating modes. The
fuel figures shows its efficiency on the road even with such a massive
engine.
GM uses the “mid park” cam-phasers which sets the camshaft at
the optimal position every time the engine shuts off so that it restarts
within a split second sans vibrations.
With all the tech in this V6, one could enjoy the phenomenal output
and profound soundtrack of the exhaust you get from a V8 engine
for the price of a V6.

We did not arrange any bus facilities, however few of our
team members volunteered to bring their vehicles for pick-up
from places near their homes. The planning and coordination
(though a last moment one) went perfectly well! We started
from our homes at around 4:45 am and reached Sinhagad
around 6 am. The pleasant sunrise during the journey, cool
breeze and panoramic view of Khadakwasla dam helped us to
wake up and get busy with photographs and selfies! The scenic,
zigzag Sinhagad Ghat route provided an amazing but challenging
driving experience.
One of the most popular tourist destinations for Puneites,
Sinhagad fort to the southwest of Pune is a historical fort with
numerous battles written in its long history and is most notably
the battle to recapture Sinhagad. King Shivaji's words after
hearing about the demise of Tanaji were “Gad ala pan Sinha
gela” ("The fort was captured, but the lion was dead"). The fort thus
got its name ‘Sinhagad’ ’which means ‘The Lion’s Fort’
Team Outing Sinhagad
As the saying goes, “Coming together is a beginning;
keeping together is progress and working together is success”, team
bonding is essential to enhance better professional relationships
and ultimately to increase productivity. Team outings are
a great way to facilitate bonding with your team members,
reduce employee stress, and give them the chance to get
to know one another outside of the office. Having this is mind,
the Pune GM offshore team was all set to take a break, relax
and strengthen the camaraderie among us. So, off we went
on a trip to Sinhagad, followed by a movie on 22 nd April and
this indeed turned out to be one very memorable and exciting
experience.
known for the battle of Sinhagad in 1671. Sinhagad can be
reached either by trekking their way up or driving all the way
up to the fort parking base. We insisted on driving to parking
area and then trekking up to the fort. The cold breeze at the
parking lot turned out to be the best time for a cup of hot tea
served by the local tea shops.
We then continued our journey uphill. The fort stands
perched on a hill, at an altitude of approximately 1380 m above
sea level. We did make a lot of stops on the way for many photo
sessions. On the top of the hill the view was amazing. Our
manager, Sujit, having visited the place several times gave us
an interesting overview of the place and its history. Sinhagad
was once known as “Kondhana”. As per the legends, the brave
Maratha warrior Tanaji Malusare gave up his life fighting in
At the top, there are few food stalls that serve yummy
bhakri and pitla, a Maharashtrian dish along with yoghurt. Personally
I enjoyed the yoghurt that was served in a small clay
pot along with sugar and powdered cumin seeds.
After the scrumptious breakfast we left the fort and hurried
to the parking lot, to move on to our next destination Abhiruchi
mall on Sinhagad road to watch the recently released
movie in 3D ‘The Jungle Book’!! The Disney movie, based on
Rudyard Kipling’s classic story collection, was a two hour
package of fun, fantasy and adventure. And as the movie came
to an end, so did our day of fun. Needless to state the obvious,
this trip summed up to be an unforgettable one for us and we
returned back home with loads of memorable moments and
with the hope to enjoy many more events like this in future

CAE Process Automation Team
I
magine life without the evolution of technology.
Technology has been a part of our
life and it is one of the key ingredients for
the survival of mankind to living in a fastphase
environment. With all the things
around us getting digitalized and automated, to do something
different to improve the quality and productivity of the
work was a challenge. When we voluntarily took up some
CFD process automation work and demonstrated to GM Executives,
they were very impressed and supportive, thus it
led to the formation of TCS-GM CAE process Automation
group.
The team is led by Mr.Bhaskar Dongare it comprises of
nine associates working on various projects. The team has
been branched out to help the structures and CFD groups to
automate their tedious and time consuming processes. Automated
processes require less human intervention and human
time to deliver the results.
CFD process automation group has excellent expertise
in programming languages like Java, Python, Perl and
UNIX scripting. The team has done a remarkable job by developing
tools to automate the complete procedure of CFD
analysis which is executed on StarCCM+ software. Initially,
they worked with AC team to automate their procedures
whereas now they have extended their help to 1D thermal
management team as well. Recently, Aruna D B and Samuel
successfully delivered a Bearing Coefficient tool that provides
a solution by intuitive visualization of plots enabling
users to take decisions quickly. This has fetched the team a
lot of appreciation from the customer.
projects. The team members are proficient in many programming
languages such as TCL/Tk which is used to develop
tools that run on HypeMesh and SimLab, Excel VBA
to develop tools that can customize Excel, C, C++ and Java.
The tools developed for groups like Head Block Exhaust,
Sealing & Fastening and NVH have received customer appreciations
and have also helped analysts increase their
productivity by reducing time, human efforts and error.
In addition to CAE process automation, Rakesh Sharma,
from the structures automation group, has developed an
Online Quality Checklist tool which is a web application
that enables the associates to execute and monitor the quality
process from the beginning to end. This tool also tells
about all ongoing current projects and its status.
Automation team, with its diverse interdisciplinary experience,
has always shown uniqueness in its approach to
the problem statements given to it. The logical attitude,
sound technical knowledge and the determination of the
team members has helped the project with rewarding automation
tools.
I hope the team continues to do the great work !
Why do we talk in our sleep ???
“Almost all of us have at some point been told that we were talking in our sleep the night before”
W
hen we are sleeping, there is a brain mechanism that stops the neural activity associated
with dreaming from triggering speech or body movements. But this system isn’t
perfect, and sometimes signals can get through. This can lead to mumbling and groaning
and sometimes even proper speech (and sleep walking). The content of sleep talking
can be complex and is usually grammatically incorrect. It may be influenced by recent
events in the sleeper’s life, but cab be strange and nonsensical. Sleep talking is usually benign, although
stress and other psychological problems can increase the likelihood of it occurring.
Solution:
1.Stop coffee before going to bed
2.Keep your bed away from electronic gadgets
3.Read good books before bed and educate good bedtime stories for your kids
4.Consult doctor if problem persists
On the structures side, a lot of automation work has
been done on the preprocessing software and Excel related

Before race day: It was definitely not easy
preparing for the run. Structured practice for almost
two and half months was what really helped me
achieve this timing. I was training with the Striders
group (TCS partnered group as part of Fit4life activity)
for 2 months, 4 days in a week which included
interval training, strengthening and speed training.
Overall, it worked out well for me. I would
like to take this opportunity to encourage others to
take up running or any other fitness related activity
and make it part of your life. It helps our overall
personality and more importantly keeps our body/
mind fit and healthy.
T
he race day: We reached Kanteerava Indoor Stadium
by 5:00 am, about 45 minutes prior to the race, and assembled
at our respective sections inside the stadium
for a warm up sessions. The atmosphere was electrifying
with thousands of runners, early in the morning, and warming
up with the intense music played in the stadium. This was
my 4 th TCS 10k run, and I was determined to finish the run under
60mins. My previous best being 64:24 (mm: sec) in 2015.
There were 7 others from GM team running 10K along with me,
i.e. Raghavender Garudadri, Sirish M, PK Bhat, Mujeeb
Killedar, Purushothama S, Sanyam Aggarwal & Mohan Krishna.
After the warm up, I didn’t even hear the starter go off,
but suddenly the crowd was moving forwards and after a couple
of hundred of meters the walk turns into a slow jog. When
crossing the start line the big timer showed 3 minutes 30 seconds
already. At this point I turned on my personal timer. The
race had begun. People cheering, drums, the beats, provided just
the perfect atmosphere to boost your energy.
At 3k mark: After the initial slow start due to the huge crowd, I
was clocking around 17:20 at the 3k mark. With the crowd settling
down on the wide roads in and around MG Road, most of
the runners got into a rhythm and started to improvise on the
slow start.
At 8k mark: An unexciting 3 kms stretch brought us to the 8k
mark. The crowd support seems to thicken here with drums, whistles
and some noisy stuff. My knee started to show some fatigue, but I
made a conscious effort not to concentrate much on the knee and proceeded
ahead after having 2 slices of orange and a sip of enerzal. The
crowd pumped us up, it was really encouraging. Especially with the
slogans like, Pain is temporary, pride is forever and so on. I had
clocked 45:52 at the end of 8k mark and was desperate to finish under
60 minutes.
At 10k mark: When you cross the finish line of a marathon, no
matter what part of your body is aching, you are proud of the achievement,
beaming and glowing and feeling like a champ. That’s what exactly
I was feeling, especially when I came to know that I have completed
the 10k run in 58:32, my best timing for a 10k run. I collected
my medal, went to the TCS pavilion to catch with everyone and have a
chat, take few snaps/selfie etc… It was really good to know that everyone
from GM team had completed 10k within 70 minutes. Best timing
in GM team was from Sanyam, which is 57:25. I was happy for having
achieved what I desired and more than just happy in contributing for a
useful cause to the society.

Emerging Lightweight Composite Materials
Today’s environmental issues related to global climate change and greenhouse
gas emissions pose a paramount task before the automotive manufactures
to the development of lightweight and fuel efficient vehicles. In order to accomplish
this, there is a demand for stringent fuel efficiency standards for automobiles
which have forced the global OEMs to further reduce their vehicles weight.
Light weighting could be one major component to achieve these standards by
which reduce the fuel consumption as much as possible.
Traditionally, a car is made up of a variety of materials ranging from glass
and metals to plastic composites as depicted in Figure 1.
advantage of using composites in automotives is the weight reduction up to 35 %
lighter than aluminum and 60% lighter than steel and the overall vehicle weight
reduction of up to 10%. Further tooling investments can be reduced up to 50 % -
70 %.
Lightweight design of automotive materials has become of paramount importance
to not only reduce the carbon footprint of their final products but also to
conserve valuable and depleting natural resources. The numerous research activities
have been undertaken in this front and developed new lightweight materials.
having 50% ratio of carbon fibre reinforcement gives optimum flexural properties
and substituting the carbon/glass lay-up arrangement ensures best compressive
strength. Currently, research institutes and other stake holders are actively
working on the main three research areas
Advanced/alternate production techniques to produce low-cost carbon fibre
from traditional feedstock
Exploring low cost and renewable pre-cursors to synthesis carbon fibres
Recycling of carbon fibre in large volumes
2. Cellulose – Enabled Hybrid Lightweight Engineered Composites
Center for Biocomposites and Biomaterials processing (CBBP) has demonstrated
an economically and technically feasible innovative Microfiber Technology
(MF Technology) to manufacture cellulose microfiber – enabled composite
materials from a variety of biomass feed stocks. Due to the poor impact performance
of the composites, MF developed Micro Fiber Direct long fiber Thermoplastic
technology which caters the micro and carbon fiber reinforced hybrid
composites for automotive under the hood applications.
As evident from data, metals make a significant portion of whole vehicle
weight; therefore, research efforts are underway to develop new advanced high
strength steels (AHSS) to reduce the vehicle weight. As a metal, there is a limit in
achieving the weight reduction by using these new steels. On the other hand, aluminum,
magnesium alloys have been also emerging as an alternative to steel for
light weighting, but their high cost and environmental impact offset the usage.
There exists an urgent need to explore non-metallic but equally functional set of
materials to achieve stricter fuel saving targets.
Recent developments in polymers and novel composites have enabled
these materials to be at the forefront of lightweight technologies. Since advance
composites are of high strength and their rigidity also helps to maintain same or
higher level of safety as provided by conventionally used materials. The primary
Figure 2. Global trend and forecast of lightweight materials demand
The proceeding sections elaborate the couple of new emerging materials
and their applications.
1. Carbon Fiber reinforced Hybrid composites
Carbon fibre, being twice as strong and 30% lighter compared to glass fibre
has been used in automotives for a while. However, due to very high cost,
these materials usability’s are only limited to high end products like sports or
luxury vehicles. Recent technology developments in Hybrid design of carbon and
glass fibre reinforced composites are produced some encouraging results to more
usage. These composite structures have been developed using varying ratio of
glass and carbon woven fabric in epoxy matrices. Hybrid composite laminates
Microfibre enabled composites have several unique advantages over the
conventional glass filled thermoplastic structures; being 15-30% light weight that
in turn leads to about 14 % fuel economy. The key applications of hybrid composites
are given in the below Table

Continued ….
Recent technological advances in the usage of cellulose and carbon fibre-enabled composites have led to revolutionize the design of not only standard but also
luxury vehicles. The usage of these composites has already passed the proof-of-concept phase and are currently under further validation studies before going to commercial
production.

1. Winner of which motorsport competition is awarded the Borg-Warner Trophy?
a) Formula One
b) Le Mans 24h
c) Indianapolis 500
d) Moto GP
7. How many exhaust and intake valves are in a Bugattii Veyron engine?
a) 32
b) 64
c) 96
d) 128
2. Who is the Father of Corvette ?
a) Harley Earl
b) Dave McLellan
c) Ed Cole
d) Zora Arkus-Duntov
3. These are some strange car names. Which isn't real ?
a) Dodge Swinger
b) Toyota Deliboy
c) Mazda Startpros
d) Ford Probe
4. Which is the most sold car in India in 2015?
a) Maruti Suzuki Alto
b) Hyundai Elitei20
c) Maruti Suzuki Swift
d) Maruti Suzuki Dzire
5. Which former Formula One driver won the laureus lifetime achievement award for 2016?
a) Mario Andretti
b) Michael Schumacher
c) Lewis Hamilton
d) Niki Lauda
8. Who is the winner of Moto GP 2015?
a) Valentino Rossi
b) Jorge Lorenzo
c) Dani Pedrosa
d) Marc Márquez
9. Name the dashing board warning light
a) ABS Failure
b) Dash Board Failure
c) Parking break ON
d) Low Tyre pressure
10 . Which car company has the following logo?
a) Tesla Motors
b) Lincoln Motor Company
c) Pagani Automobili
d) Geely Automotive manufacturer
6. Which of the following is not a GM subsidiary?
a) Vauxhall c) Holden
b) Wuling motors d) Hino