FIELD TRIP REPORT-TEAM 5
Recently, on 27th April 2023, we the participants of Bangalore Science Forum Summer School went on a field trip to two places, namely – Institute of Wood Science & Technology and Hindustan Machine Tools Museum to expand our knowledge on Botany and the history of Indian watches, Automobile parts and much more.
Thursday morning – There was a bus arranged for us and we boarded it at National College and left for the Institute of Wood Sciences & Technology (IWST) at around 9:15 a.m. Astonishingly, we arrived earlier than expected at around 9:45 a.m. We got down the bus and entered the institute.
Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST)
Soon after taking a group photo, we were escorted into the institute to the lecture hall. A renowned professor of Wood sciences, Shivam Dhubey was invited to give a speech. A lecture on how wood is processed, on how to extend the life of wood, on how to season and preserve the wood, on how to convert wood to charcoal, on how plywood is made, and on how to identify the type of wood. They would only use the wood from the trees grown by them and not from the forests which is a punishable offense. Lastly, he told us the contribution of IWST. IWST would receive wood samples from the police or the CBI for identifying the type of wood. This would be very useful to find out smuggled wood or any cheating in furniture businesses. Soon after the lecture, we were shown a documentary on IWST, on how it was founded, what was its aim, the courses offered, government recognition and much more. We were led to a warehouse after the documentary, where we were explained the working of different machines related to wood processing. First wood is cut from trees which are initially called logs. After removing the bark, the logs are cut into thick planks. These planks are kept in bundles of a specific arrangement in a container called The Kiln. The wood is air dried removing all the moisture. The wood is then cut to small pieces and put into a machine which converts it to fine dust. This dust is used to make various wood materials like pen stands and pots. Special chemicals can also be used to change the color of the wood. Then, we were given an interesting lecture about sandalwood. It belongs to the genus Sandalum. The true sandalwood is heavy, yellow, and fine-grained. Unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain fragrance for decades. The true sandalwood species is Sandalum album. It is a protected species and is in high demand. This has led to a spurt of spurious timbers in the market that apparently resemble Sandalwood. The fragrance of sandalwood originates in the middle hard wood and not the outer soft wood. Some of them are the West Indian sandalwood (Amyris balsamifera) and bastard sandalwood (Osyris tenuifolia) also learnt about an endangered species of tree called the Red Sanders. It is only grown in some parts of Andhra Pradesh an is forbidden to cut it.
Soon after the lecture, we were taken to a warehouse. There were masterpieces of wood cutting including baskets, chairs, dragonflies, antlers and much more. All of it was done by the students studying in the institute, which was truly marvelous. We were also allowed to see and use some tools used in wood cutting and shaping. Then, we were taken to the Wood Museum. There were so many wood masterpieces. They had recovered the wood from a tree which was around 780 years old. There were also displays of insects that feed on the wood of the trees, eventually destroying. They had also recovered the branches of a tree (Albizzia odoratissima) which was killed by the attack of a beetle (Xystrocera globosa). There were also wood samples from several endangered trees including the red sanders. There were seeds of almost every type of tree that exists on earth. They had recovered a tree (Delonix regia) with a hollow trunk. It depicts the extent of wood deterioration in trees. The wood of the tree was eaten by the combined activity of different fungi and termites over a considerable period of time. The tree was found standing on the roadside in Malleswaram, Bangalore for many decades. After the museum visit, we were taken to a nursery. There were several species of plants. We were given a lecture on how the plants were grown and also got a few seeds for ourselves. There was also a sandal plant that gave a tiny fruit called sandal fruit. Finally, we ate our lunch, packed our bags, hopped onto the bus and left for HMT museum at around 1:45 p.m.
HMT Heritage Museum
After we reached the museum that is in Jalahalli we went near the cafeteria, put our bags down and we entered a video and audio hall where we saw a small video about the once most popular company ‘Hindustan Machine Tools’. Later we got into groups of 10 and started to explore the museum.
The HMT Museum is also known as Heritage Museum and Research Centre. It is dedicated to preserve the history and heritage of the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) company, which was once a leading manufacturer of machine tools and watches in India. The HMT Museum was established in 1953, with the aim of showcasing the evolution of technology and engineering in India, particularly in the context of HMT. We were shown how old vehicles, tractors and many other instruments were used in the olden times. The museum exhibits a large collection of artifacts, documents, photographs that showcase the history of HMT.
One of the highlights of the museum is the collection of vintage HMT watches, which includes rare and limited edition timepieces that were once produced by the company. The museum also has a display of various machine tools and equipment that were manufactured by HMT, such as tractors, milling machines, and grinders. After inspecting the museum and the collection part of the heritage site, we were given a tractor ride around the site along with some refreshments. After all of this, we boarded our bus and headed straight back to National College.
Thank You.
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