North Eastern Space Applications Center, Umiam

CG cutoff

Last year -7.54

Last to Last year -5.7. Expect CG cutoff to increase.

How to Reach:

● Umiam is around 90 kms from Guwahati. There are regular taxi services from Guwahati to
Umiam. Ola Outstation will also get you there for as low as 1699 for a 4 seater car (Alto).
● Another alternative is to take a flight to Shillong and take a cab from Shillong to Umiam. This is a
1-2 hour drive for 20 kms because the highway almost always has high traffic.
● Shared cabs from Shillong and Guwahati are also available easily. Pickup point in Guwahati is
Paltan Bazaar and for Shillong is Police Bazar

Accommodation:

● The accommodation provided was decent at very less cost.

● The only problem was of water supply but it was taken care of midway through the internship
by constructing some rainwater harvesting tank.
● The good part is you have a whole bungalow (Old Director’s Bungalow) to yourself. There was
ample space and bathrooms/toilets for 13 of us.
● There is a tiny market that is a short walk away from the accommodation, where most residents
buy their daily requirements, you will get most things here.
● A post office is also located next to the market. All parcels and letters directed to you will be
delivered to the security office of NESAC.
● The location of accommodation is serene. Umiam Lake is at walkable distance from
accommodation. Many of us went for a morning jog to the lake itself.
● Since it rains A LOT, drying off clothes was a pain. The security guard’s quarter adjacent to the
accommodation helps here.
● There are frequent power cuts of short durations, and many, many insects.
● A hostel was under construction for interns last summer. If completed by now, it’ll be great.
It’s very close to the guest house, shopping complex, football field and office itself.

Work:

Being a research station, NESAC provided decent topics and had a substantial amount of work. The
topics we worked on are as follows:
1. Real-time object detection for safe navigation of UAVs
2. Identification of open-cast mines in the North East region using Remote Sensing techniques.
3. Water level in dams using Internet of Things
4. Geographical information sensing

Skills acquired- Basics of Remote Sensing, Google Earth Engine, Basic JavaScript coding, Image
processing techniques, Classification Algorithms, Web Development, Machine learning, Raspberry Pi
modelling, MATLAB

Our mentors were very helpful and approachable. A senior also got a paper published under a mentor
(in the summer of 2017). One of the teams got the chance to view the social impact of their work by
going on a (sponsored!) field trip across Meghalaya. Most of us are in regular touch with our mentors.

Travel:

This has to be the best part about your PS experience here. Since we didn’t have our laptops with us on
weekends, we went on many, many trips. Meghalaya is beautiful at that time of the year and you can go
on many treks, road trips, camping trips if you want to. Here are some of the places we visited:
Cherrapunji, Double Decker root bridge (two day trip), Krangshuri waterfall (great for camping), and a
road trip across Shillong (we rented bikes). We also had a pool party at a resort near Umiam. Again, try
and never spend a weekend at home – there’s a lot to see and do. You can also visit Tawang, but will
need inland permits for the same. A part of our group went on a sponsored field trip with our mentor
for two days and ended up camping at Krangshuri.

Apart from trips, there is a football field outside the office, where we spent many evenings playing. The
badminton court at the Guest House is also fun and we participated in an all-NESAC tournament (and
also won!). During the World Cup, we managed to arrange for a big screen at office to watch football
together.

Office:

It’s a five day work week. You’ll hear many rumours about phones/laptops being confiscated. Since
NESAC is an ISRO division, security is of utmost importance to them. There will be strict security checks
(body checks + metal detector) every time you enter or leave office. They provide you with personal ID
cards for easy entry about 2-3 days after you join them (never lose your ID card, you are liable for police
action if you do). You won’t be allowed to take your phone inside office. Any electronic device you bring
inside campus has to be approved of by the Director (you’ll fill a form on your first day there), and you
can only take them out at the end of your internship period. Laptops, pen-drives, any devices that store
information cannot be freely carried inside or outside office. Once you take your laptops inside office,
they will be checked for pirated software and that will be deleted. Using campus internet is difficult,
since they provide unique credentials (you’ll have to provide MAC address) for every device that
registers on their network. They also have an active team monitoring network usage for suspicious
activity. YouTube and several sites are blocked until 5 PM.

Food:

Umiam is a village and the only landmark there is NESAC. It’s basically a dwelling centered around
NESAC. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks will be served in the Institute Canteen. Dinner will be served in
Guest House (which also has a badminton court, a gym, a table tennis court, a coffee shop, a general
store, and a laundry store). For all the meals you need to buy coupons from the canteen during office-
specified hours. Coupon prices are (approx.): breakfast – Rs.25, lunch – Rs. 35, dinner – Rs. 40, snacks –
Rs. 10. Along with lunch, you can get extras (paneer or chicken for Rs. 10). You also get coupons for tea
(Rs. 5). Food quality is decent, but you’ll get a huge amount of rice in all your meals. Rotis are difficult to
come by.

Now, coming to the other meal options:

1. Army Canteen (30 minute walk)

May be the best option to have a tasty food at cheap rates. Army canteen has a super market
(almost everything you want is available here), fruit and vegetable shops, medicine shops,
halwai (make sure to have samosa and hot desi tea there) and couple of small restaurants-
Punjabi, South Indian, etc. A taxi takes around Rs. 100 to go there and can take 4 people. You
can always hitchhike and get on a tempo headed there. (also deliver to your accommodation)

2. Coffee Shop (Guest House)

You get good tea/coffee here along with pakodas, rolls, momos, noodles, Maggi at decent
prices.

3. The Royal Orchid Restaurant (10 minute walk)

This is located next to the lake. The food is at par with any decent restaurant, however, it is slightly
overpriced.

4. Shillong (1-2 hours via cab)

You have all your standard brands here (Domino’s, Subway, Pizza Hut, Dylan’s café etc.). The
more adventurous of us also tried local food here. Explore this city on your own, you’ll find
many hidden gems. (Do visit City Hut Dhaba).

You can also cook for yourself (there is a tiny kitchen in the accommodation provided) and most of the
materials can be bought from the market.