The most exciting visit for the IEEE members of Brac University Student Branch for this year has been the visit at the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) which was on 20th of July 2019. The visit consisted of having a close look up at the radar station and control tower of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The tour was organized by IEEE Brac University Student Branch with the generous co-operation of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.
The main idea of this visit was to show the student members how air traffic controllers keep up with the task of controlling the entire incoming and out coming flights through a single runway and how air traffic system works on Bangladesh.
Initially the journey started at 8 am from Brac University premises with 37 IEEE student members and 1 faculty member from Electrical & Electronics Engineering Department, Brac University and 2 faculty members from School of Engineering & Computer Science, Brac University. After a fifty minute bus journey the bus reached at the destination which was the highly restricted Control Operation Area. After going through all the formal checking for the security purpose, students were given a small description about the entire tour.
For convenience student members were divided into two groups each group having at least one faculty member for supervision. One group went to the radar station while other visited the control room. At the radar station students were given detailed information on how the radar station works, at that place they learned about how the transmitter and receiver units work in order to produce Bangladesh’s entire air space. Moreover students were given the opportunity to have a live demonstration of the transmitter and receiver responsible for collecting data. Students also got to see the primary and secondary transmitter, learnt about the working process and also had an idea of the cost of the devices. In addition students got the chance to see the antenna which was on top of the radar station. Due to security purpose they had to observe the antenna from ground.
After the visit at the radar station students were taken to the control tower through bus which was through the runway and taxiway where pupil got the actual experience of aircrafts taxiing. After the end of that visit one group came to the Control tower while other set off for Radar Station visit. On the control tower and ground station students were taken at the set of the control tower where radar data is received. Furthermore at the control tower all the air trafficking was being controlled and every landing and taking off was being handled. It was an experience to cherish forever as an undergrad student, since students were only few feet away from the plane. Under the control room there was a room where there were monitoring devices which was filled with all the airplanes’ position which was currently over Bangladesh. One monitor had all the information for local aircrafts schedule and other monitor had all the information of the international aircrafts over Bangladesh.
On the spot the guide gave a lot of information about the necessity of vast knowledge on mathematics and physics for air transport. And he even encouraged students to pursue higher degree on aviation if they have interest in this field. The tour ended at 12:30 pm by taking a group photo as a token of remembrance. While the members were de- boarding the bus remarked what a joyful, relaxing, novice, inspirational & realistic experience it was to visit the radar station and control room of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
