The sixth Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp (EAC) was conducted by Amrita Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) from 15th to 17th of September 2017. The free-certificate course which had eighty participants was sponsored by National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), under Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, organized with support from Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad.
The first day of the camp began with an inaugural address by Prof. C. Parameswaran, Director - CIR, Amrita University. He highlighted how Amrita students get to choose between the three options – Placements, Higher studies and Entrepreneurship. Prof. Parameswaran spoke on the opportunities available to students in the realm of entrepreneurship.
The first session 'General Concepts of Entrepreneurship' was by Chief Guest, Mr. K. Muthukumar, Hon. Asst. Jt. Secretary - Entrepreneurship Development, CODISSIA. In his lucid talk, Mr. Muthukumar also shared the story of his entrepreneurial journey and his role as a Managing Director of Textek Electroniks and Great Men Retirement Residence; as a Promoter of Maadha Illam and Iniyaa Illam Women’s Hostels, and as a Founder of Dharsanchallo.com, an exclusive temple-tourism venture.
The second session by Wg. Cdr. A. Balachandran, Sr. Gen. Mgr. – Corporate Relations, CIR, Amrita University, was on the topic, 'Identification of Opportunities for Entrepreneurs and Mechanism of Product Selection.' The session was highly appreciated by the participants as Mr. Balachandran presented the ideas in a most engaging style.
The third speaker for the day was Mr. Prashant Goel, CEO & MD, Hulikkal Electro India – a company which manufactures electric vehicles. A mechanical engineering student of Amrita 2007-2011 batch, Mr. Prashant spoke about 'Technical and Commercial Aspects of SSI units'.
The fourth session on 'Communication skills for better results in business', was presented by Toastmaster Ms. Sindhu Kalyanasundaram, Founder, Ignite Akademi. Drawing upon her rich international corporate exposure, she highlighted the importance of communication for entrepreneurial ventures. She also explained the nuances of communication skills related to integrated marketing communication and advertising.
The second day began with an exposition on 'Schemes of Assistance and Govt. formalities, rules & regulations while starting an SSI unit' by Mr. S. Sathesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Branch MSME Development Institute. Mr. Sathesh who worked as a scientist in Naval Science & Technological Lab, DRDO, Vizag, before joining MSME in 2002, has received the Young Scientist award twice, and has trained more than 800 entrepreneurs (in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 50 cluster groups, and more than 300 entrepreneurs in the field of Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation and related areas.
The second session of the second day was on the topic, 'Creativity and Business—The Person Behind the Venture' by Mr. Krishna, Founder Director, Skate Inspired Learning. Mr. Krishna, a Mindfulness coach, elucidated creative thinking in business by blending ideas from Psychology, Mythology, Management, Leadership, etc., in his inimitable introspective and reflective style.
In the afternoon, the participants were taken for an ‘Industrial Visit and an Experience-sharing’ session with entrepreneur Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Managing Director, Nuova Fil Infotek Pvt. Ltd. The company is a 100% Export Oriented Unit, which manufactures and exports a wide range of products for fishing and technical textiles, including sports fishing and commercial lines, synthetic & braided ropes, fishing twines & nets, sewing threads, long line fishing gears & tackles, etc. Mr. Rakesh’s account of how he grew his venture was truly inspiring. The budding entrepreneurs could also interact with his son, Mr. Garvit Sahai, an alumnus of Amrita, and presently the Marketing Director at Nuova Fil.
The third day of the camp began with a session on 'Financial Aspects of a SSI Unit including Salient Features of a Project Report' by Toastmaster speaker and Executive Coach & CEO, Pinnacle Business Services, Mr. Sankaran Iyer. The session highlighted the major aspects of financial planning for start-ups and ended with the message “Cash is King!”
The next session was on 'Technology Assistance from Research & Development (R&D) labs, choice of Technology, etc.'. This was conducted by Prof. K. Visweswara Rao, Head – Technical Competency Development & Placement, CIR, Amrita University. Prof. Rao, a postgraduate in Electrical Engineering (Instrumentation) from IIT Kharagpur, has considerable experience working in power industry. He has worked in organizations such as NCC, BGR, Reliance, GVK, SOGEX, VSP, etc., in Engineering, Project management, EPC and Operation & Maintenance.
This was followed by a session titled, 'Historical Background - Indian values vis-a-vis Entrepreneurship and the present scenario' by Amrita alumnus, Mr. Pradeep Menon. A serial entrepreneur and cyber security specialist, Mr. Pradeep Menon is the Chief Officer of Lakshya Labs. He has been successful in building four organizations from the scratch, in the field of Information Security and related areas and merging them with global multinational firms.
The camp ended with participants’ feedback. It was followed by the valedictory session. Mr. R. Krishnan, Head – Entrepreneurship Development, ACE, CIR, Amrita University handed over the certificates to the participants. Overall feedback of the camp has been very encouraging with 97% participants rating the planning of the programme as good, very good or excellent. 94% of them cited an increase in confidence level as a result of attending the camp. One of the participants, Lohith Dathi commented, “The camp was wonderful and educative; it has cleared many myths about entrepreneurship. It has boosted my confidence…”. Another participant, A. Deepak Kumaar, stated the benefit thus, “…It has given me an opportunity to introduce myself to a lot of amazing people”. In his feedback, V. Sai Pranay said, “This camp has helped me to know about various aspects of entrepreneurship. The industrial visit was a great experience. It has covered all the major aspects of entrepreneurship”. B. Janavi, another participant, said, “Basically it was an excellent event: Life changing experience which CIR Department of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has given us. I feel immensely enthusiastic and motivated”.
