A first of its kind cleanroom certification program  was held at YMCA, Mumbai Central from March 5 to 8 by ISHRAE Institute of  Excellence, Mumbai. The course material for Module 1, the first of two modules  planned, was developed for IIE by a group of five domain experts, having  between them a combined experience of over 150 years. They were also the  instructors for the program.

R. Vijayakumar, Ph.D. is  founder and head of Aerfil, a consulting company devoted to providing technical  and business solutions and services for the filtration and contamination  control industry as well as educational support for the industry, with over 30  years’ experience.
    Sheesh Gulati, an engineering  graduate from Poona University, also holds a post-graduate degree in industrial  engineering and management from Loughborough University of Technology, UK with  over  40 years of industry experience. He  is CEO of MeasureTest Corporation, Mumbai.
    Prashant Desai is a 1981  graduate mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur with 32 years’ experience in  companies like Voltas, Blue Star, Johnson Controls and Suvidha Engineers, and  is now setting up his own company. He has designed and executed various pharma  and cleanroom projects.
    Sasidharan Menon is a 1978 batch  electrical engineer from Calicut University, with post graduate proficiency  certificate for boilers and steam engines. With 30 years’ experience, he  co-founded Filtra Technopak Cleanroom Systems. He is now a consultant for  pharma, biotech and healthcare sectors.
    B. Gautham Baliga is director at  Opal HVAC Engineers, specialising in design-build of pharma, healthcare and  industrial HVAC systems. He is on the Editorial Board of AC&R Journal of  ISHRAE and an IIE Trustee. He had an 8 year stint in Voltas after graduating in  mechanical engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1979.

The course material was given to the delegates a week  before the commencement of the program. There were 22 hours of instruction, 4  hours of hands-on demonstration of use of instruments and finally a 2 hour  examination for certification. The course content comprised of:

 
• An introduction to the module  and the basic elements of cleanroom
 
• An overview of cleanroom  construction
 
• Applications of cleanrooms and  uses
 
• Cleanroom specifications
 
• Cleanroom protocol and gowning
 
• Cleanroom cleaning and  disinfection
 
• Hands-on experience
 
• Hepa filter testing

                                                                           

R. Vijayakumar explains particle mechanics	Sheesh Gulati explains the finer points of particle counting
Delegates learn to use a photometer for filter testing	Certification test in progress
A total of 33 delegates attended from nine cities across the country and across six user groups (see pie charts). Twenty nine delegates were successful in the certification test.
Distribution of delegates across cities	Distribution of delegates across user groups
The interactive sessions in which delegates – some of them eminent in their own right – contributed their knowledge, made a real difference. These were truly enriching experience for both the instructors as well as the delegates.