XV Annual Convocation ceremony at NITIE

On 13^th February 2010, the lush green campus of National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) came alive with celebrations, as the institute honoured the graduating class of students at the XV Annual Convocation ceremony.

The event was graced by Chief Guest Padma Vibhushan Dr. Anil Kakodkar – Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Government of India.

This year, a total of 214 students from the four post graduate batches of Industrial Engineering, Industrial Management, Industrial Safety & Environmental Management and Information Technology Management received their diplomas in the esteemed presence of the Chief Guest and other eminent dignitaries including Shri Adi Godrej – Chairman of the NITIE Board of Governors, Dr. Subhash D. Awale – Director of NITIE and other Board members along with the institute’s illustrious alumni.

Addressing the congregation, the Director Dr. Subhash D. Awale spoke of NITIE’s students as its real assets, with the teachers being the main pillars behind their success. He said “We consciously imbibe in their minds our commitment to the society. We want our students not only to be job seekers but to become potential job providers.” Consistently ranked among the top ten B Schools in the country, NITIE received the Outstanding Management Institute Award from the Bombay Management Association for the year 2008 – 2009. This institute also has the distinction of twice winning the Indira Gandhi Official Language Award First Prize, for excellent implementation of Hindi.

In his convocation address, Dr. Anil Kakodkar congratulated the graduating students and wished them best of luck for their professional careers. He mentioned that through proper education, our youth can make India one of the most powerful nations of the world. We can build global technologies out of the knowledge pool available within our country and need not remain dependent upon the West. He stressed upon the necessity of empowering the youth and the role played by institutions of higher learning in this regard. He elaborated upon this by adding that our education system should ideally provide an environment conducive to bridge the gap between research work and application of technology. Concluding his speech, Dr. Kakodkar expressed hope that each student, while climbing the ladder of success, would contribute to the society and to the country.

The Chairman’s Medals for Best Student in the streams of PGDIE, PGDIM, PGDISEM and PGDITM were awarded to Mr. Vaibhav Singh, Mr. Arun S. Jayaraman, Mr. Guruvugari Anup and Mr. Ashish Awasthi respectively. The Appejay Trust Award for Best All Rounder was awarded to Ms. Richika Ambastha.

As the day came to an end, NITIE bid adieu to yet another batch of brilliant minds. Riding high on the confidence instilled in them by the institute, these super achievers will now spread their wings into the real world and make the country proud with their accomplishments.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/education/India-capable-to-build-global-technology-Kakodkar/articleshow/5569987.cms

http://www.coolavenues.com/bschools/160210/nitie-annual-convocation.php

Winter School in Financial Markets Practice

Winter school in Financial Markets Practice

Winter School in Financial Markets Practice is an innovative programme jointly designed by FTKMC and NITIE to provide students of management and finance and other professionals with first-hand experience of working with the financial markets and learning from the professionals managing these markets. The genesis of Winter School in Financial Markets Practice is to develop a talent pool for meeting the growing demand for professionals with inter-disciplinary understanding of financial markets. Winter School is designed in extensive consultation with market professionals and practitioners to provide a wide range of perspectives on financial markets practice. It covers Financial Markets at Work, Process Flows and Emerging Technologies, Building Business and Designing Products, Working with Regulation and Compliance, Interacting with Investors, Forging Global Relationships, Emerging Trends in Financial Markets, Spreading Awareness and Financial Literacy, Professional Opportunities in Financial Markets, Orientation and Exposure Tour among other things. The duration of Winter School is two weeks and would be conducted during the period February 15 to 28, 2010. The Registration Form and more information on the programme are also available at www.ftkmc.com and www.nitie.edu.

Workshop by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt

Workshop by Dr. E. Goldratt

NITIE will be an event partner to a workshop series run under the aegis of the guru of Supply Chain Management and the originator of “Theory of Constraints”, Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt. Dr. Goldratt, the strategist, thinker, management guru & author of the popular book ‘The Goal’ would be in Mumbai between Feb 15th to 17th 2010 to present a program titled ‘Now and Into the Future’ (NIF). NIF events are a series of international workshops that have been recently conducted in UK, Japan & in the America’s & have been highly appreciated for its contents & coverage. Dr. Goldratt’s visit to India and his presentation has contextual relevance to the current business issues on stability & future growth. The session aims to serve as an effective platform to improve the quality of decision-making and formulating strategies during a downturn.

Dr. Goldratt is a global thought leader in the area of Supply Chain Management. He is the founder and chairman of the Goldratt group incorporating Goldratt Consulting, Goldratt Schools and Goldratt Marketing. He is the author of several books and research papers including “The Goal” which till date remains a global business bestseller twenty years after it was first published.

Panel Discussion on “Indian Banking – An Evolving Landscape”

After the collapse of some of the biggest banking and financial companies worldwide, Team Samiksha tried to find out how the RBI regulated Indian Banking has been evolving steadfastly hand in hand with the growth of Indian economy. To hear from the horses’ mouth, the top-notch Banking honchos were invited to discuss on the theme “Indian Banking – An Evolving Landscape” on 5th February 2010.

The distinguished panelists who graced the occasion were
• Mr. Pramod Kasat, Director – Credit Suisse
• Mr. Abhijit Biswas, Director – Equirus Capital
• Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, DGM – Global Risk Management – ICICI Bank
• Mr. Aspy Engineer, Senior VP – Retail Banking – Axis Bank

The discussion was moderated by Mr. Akash Joshi, Deputy Editor, Financial Express.

The panelists captivated a packed NITIE auditorium providing insight on the nitty-gritty of their respective fields. They shared their experiences & viewpoints on the topic in their introductory notes. Mr.Kasat focused on the realm of Investment Banking on the basis of product and sector. He also provided valuable insights on the deliverables and experiences of an Investment Banker. Mr. Sanjay Agarwal spoke of the macro economic factors involving the economy and also delved into subtle details of Retail banking. Mr. Aspy Engineer elucidated on how the technology integration is changing the Banking industry and also emphasized the need to delight customers and provide valued add on services. Mr. Abhijeet Biswas clearly demarcated how the Indian banking scenario is different as compared to the American and European banking space and also the future growth and evolution of Indian Banking on lines of international norms and regulations.

The introduction was followed by a moderated discussion amongst the panelists on various topics like the future opportunities for the Indian Banking to fuel the growth of a rapidly growing and evolving economy, possible career paths in Investment banking, the new trends and norms arising out of alignment with global practices & other relevant topics. Students grabbed the opportunity to interact & asked some really insightful questions to the panelists.

The event was concluded with Team Samiksha expressing gratitude to the panelists for gracing the occasion & handing over mementos to commemorate the event. Team Samiksha will continue to foster closer ties with the industry keeping its motto in line,”Deliberations on Matters that Matter ”.

Unique features of NITIE

Management education is best realized outside the classroom, by seeking and nurturing contacts with the real business world. In keeping with this philosophy, the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) offers industry internship programme, comprising of 2 months summer project and 4 months winter internship. Also, NITIE has implemented experiential method of teaching through its unique programmes – Hamara Dhanda and Mandi.

The strength of an academic program is best judged by the fine balance between theory and practical application. NITIE is a pioneering institution in the country upholding this belief, through its extended internships of 6 months and its experiential method of teaching. The objective of the internship programme is to provide the students an opportunity to integrate their classroom knowledge with practical aspects of business. Armed with the management theories taught by their professors, students are encouraged to go beyond the confines of the classroom and learn from their own experiences. Hamara Dhanda and Mandi are two such initiatives taken by the faculty at NITIE.

Mandi, which literally translates to ‘street market’, is a unique event wherein the students of NITIE take to the streets of Mumbai, selling educational toys for a socially responsible cause. All proceeds from the selling are donated to an NGO – Navnirmiti, which works for the upliftment of economically backward children. By giving the students a hands-on experience in selling, Mandi teaches them the basic principles of market strategy and consumer behaviour while instilling in them the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility. Mandi was conferred the Innovative Pedagogy GOLD Award by Dr Deeepak Jain, The Dean – Kellog School, at All India Management Schools (AIMS) Meet 2009 held at ISB Hyderabd.

Hamara Dhanda is NITIE’s exercise in entrepreneurship, where all first year students of the management course are encouraged to launch their own start up firms. Even though the institute can boast of one of the best placement records, NITIE guides its students to become job generators and not mere job seekers. Conceptualized in 2007 as part of the curriculum, Hamara Dhanda helps cultivate the concept of entrepreneurship as a way to understand business through self development. The students are mentored by the institute faculty as the professors offer full support in terms of practical ideas and industry contacts.

In an effort to make the future business leaders look beyond profit making and serve towards the holistic growth of society, NITIE leaves no stone unturned to instil the importance of CSR in its students. The budding managers, while managing a hectic curriculum, voluntarily take out time for the various student driven activities. NITIE has an operational Rotaract Club where the students regularly arrange blood donation camps, eye and health check-up camps, donation of school uniforms to the students of nearby schools etc. NITIE students have even started their own NGO called Muskaan, through which they work towards the betterment of HIV infected children, orphans and the aged. As part of other CSR activities, the students have volunteered to teach at a local Municipal School as part of the Teach India Campaign and work for the Mid Day Meal project with ISKCON food relief foundation. NITIE also has a SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) chapter where students work with an NGO in Mahim and Dharavi to come up with an employment scheme for the slum dwellers.

No wonder NITIE was ranked as 7th best business school by Wall street Journal!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125497110490372585.html

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/business/b-for-bottleneck

Annual Alumni Meet – Sansmaran 2009

“To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, and to render it more fit for looking forward.”

While life teaches us to continually look forward, it is important that we take some time out from our busy schedules to cherish our fond memories of yesterday and relive those moments that made us what we are today. Echoing this sentiment, the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) is organizing their Annual Alumni Meet Sansmaran, on 28th November, 2009.

Sansmaran is an occasion in the course of which the alumni of NITIE retrace their steps back to their beloved alma mater and indulge in fond reminiscences of the golden days spent here. It is also an opportunity for students and faculty to interact with alumni who are working in various industries adding strength to the association with industries NITIE has built over the years.

The eventful day will feature a tour of the beloved campus which will help to rekindle nostalgic memories. A cultural programme of befitting proportions will add to the grandeur of the gala concourse. This occasion will also be marked by the felicitation of the 12th batch of PGDIE (Post Graduate Diploma in Industrial Engineering) passed out in the year 1984, who will be celebrating their silver jubilee.

The eminent conclave will include the Who’s Who of Corporate India such as Dr Ganesh Natarajan – Former Chairman, NASSCOM and currently Vice Chairman & CEO, Zensar Technologies, Mr Akhilesh Tuteja – Director, KPMG, Mr Rahaju Pal – Director (Enterprise Risk Services), Deloitte, Mr Dev Bhattacharya – Group Executive President, Aditya Birla Group, Mr R Suresh – MD, Stanton Chase International, Mr K G Mohan – VP (IT), Hindustan Unilever, Mr Vivek Sarabhai – VP (Operations), Cadbury, Mr K Subramanian – MD, AFCONS, Mr B. Ravi – Partner, PWC, Mr Ashwin Rangan – Former CIO, Walmart, Mr Rakesh Gupta – VP(HR), Daimler Hero and Mr Rakesh Sinha – COO, Godrej Industies among others.

With just a few days left to the 28th of November, NITIE is gearing up to welcome the veritable galaxy of achievers who have made the institute proud with their accomplishments.

Visit the NITIE alumni site at http://www.nitiealumni.org/

Annual International Conference GLOGIFT ‘09

The National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai will be organizing the 9th Annual International Conference GLOGIFT ’09 of The Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management from November 12 to 14, 2009. In addition to NITIE, the event will also be co-hosted by University of Texas at Dallas, USA, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and National Insurance Academy, Pune. In order that the event be a truly global affair it is held at a different location each year. GLOGIFT ’08 was hosted at Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, USA.

The conference aims to provide a global forum to explore various frameworks in business excellence for flexible, dynamic and sustainable organizations to meet requirements of emerging knowledge economy.

According to the schedule, November 12 – 14 will mainly involve presentation of the papers selected by a panel of experts over a period of around 3 months. Topics for the presentation will touch upon a range of areas like Enterprise Flexibility, Global Competitiveness, Financial Flexibility and Risk Management and Information Systems Flexibility to name a few. In all, 150 papers from leading institutes in India e.g. IITs, IIMs and NITIE as well as foreign universities from USA, Canada, Japan, Italy etc. will be presented.

Prominent speakers during the conference will include Prof. Ludo F Gelders, KUL, Leuven, Belgium; Dr. SS Mantha, Chairman, AICTE; Dr. SD Awale, Director, NITIE; Dr. Rajan Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, NMIMS; Dr. Pradeep Oburai, Director, National Insurance Academy; Dr. N Sambandam, Dean (R&D), NITIE; Mr. Kalyanraman, Consultant, Singapore; Prof. Vinay Sheel Gautam, IIT Delhi; Prof. Michael A Haughton, Canada; Prof. Ruth Harris, Canada; Prof. Eri Aoki and Prof Mineo Tominaga, JMAS, Japan.

On November 13, in addition to the paper presentations, there will be panel discussion on “Mergers & Acquisitions – Issues and Opportunities in Asia Pacific”, with participation from accomplished industry captains from various fields.

For registration details kindly visit http://www.nitie.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=899&Itemid=417

Prerana 2009 – NITIE’s annual business extravaganza

The best brains from India’s premier business schools were in Mumbai from 5th to 7^th November, as NITIE played host to Prerana 2009, the annual management festival of the institute. The 3 day extravaganza, aimed at promoting business excellence, was a grand success. Here are the glimpses of some of the events:

Prerana Business Meet

With Prerana Business Meet 2009, NITIE continued its tradition of providing the students with a platform to meet and interact with luminaries from the Indian corporate sector. This highly awaited elite business conclave was a resounding success, with the stalwarts like Mr. Gurcharan Das, former MD of Procter & Gamble Worldwide and a leading columnist; Ms. Meera Sanyal, Country Executive, Royal Bank Scotland India; Mr. Narayan Ramachandran, Country Head, Morgan Stanley India and Dr. H.B.Joshipura, Chairman & Managing Director, Glaxo SmithKline, deliberating on the topic:

“Demystifying the Reforms enigma: The How, Why and Why Not of Laissez Faire”.

Summer Project Contest

SPC is the first and foremost event of its kind in India. It provides a platform for the students to benchmark their summer projects against the best in the country. It gives them an opportunity to not only have their work reviewed by eminent industrialists, but also rub shoulders with the best talent that the country has to offer in their area of specialization. This year, the Summer Project Contest had received over 500 entries and garnered participation from around 25 corporates from companies like HDFC, Standard Chartered, Marico and many others. The contest has five modules for Marketing, Finance, IT, HR and SCM thus covering all aspects of management. It is one of the most respected events on the Prerana schedule and is actively sought after by B School students from top colleges like the IIMs, XLRI, MDI, FMS, JBIMS etc.

Decibelz

There is always a well deserved party after a lot of hard work. The evening of 6^th November 2009 saw the serene NITIE lawns spring alive to the sound of rock as the students of NITIE let their hair down with Decibelz, the rock show of their annual business fest Prerana 2009. Well known Indian rock bands Talaash and Parikrama set the stage afire with their electrifying performance.

Launchpad

Launchpad, the marketing case study competition, was about innovative thinking in brand management. Sponsored by BPCL, the event presented the participants with an opportunity to create a business model that focuses on untapped potential markets like SDCV (Short Distance Commercial Vehicles), by giving due consideration to the unique characteristics of the target customers. Launchpad 2009 received an overwhelming 72 entries and was a great success.

Strategem

The SCM strategy contest Strategem, is an attempt to measure the talent among B School students in drawing up strategies to sustain competitive advantage in the industry. This year Reckitt Benckiser sponsored this event and provided the students with a live case to work on. The winning team and first runners up were awarded a cash prize of Rs 30000 and Rs 15000 respectively along with a Pre Placement Interview from RB.

The Last Samurai

The Last Samurai was a unique single person management event testing the business acumen of management students. With participants from XLRI, SP Jain, NITIE and other colleges, this event included Case study competitions, B Plan submissions, CSR activities as well as informal games, all spanned across the three days of Prerana.

Prerana Business Quiz

Prerana Business Quiz, or PBQ, is a corporate v/s student quiz competition with participation from the highest level corporate managers across India and students from the top Business Schools in the country.

This year, around 85 teams were present for the written elimination round. Battling it out for prizes worth Rs 50000 in the finals were the corporate teams from Accenture/Questsoft, Sun Microsystems, Deutsche Bank/ICICI, and student teams from ITM, S P Jain, NITIE. The charismatic Radhakrishnan Srinivasan, the face of NEO cricket, upheld the mantle of quizmaster and entertained the crowd with his witty comments. The brilliant questions, researched by Quizmonks, were appreciated by all quiz enthusiasts present there. The teams from Accenture/Questsoft and Deutsche Bank/ICICI took away the prizes for the first and second positions respectively. The Prerana Business Quiz was indeed a fitting finale to Prerana 2009.

http://www.prerana.nitie.net/orig2009_index.htm

Consultancy –The Challenges, The Opportunities

The keenly anticipated NITIE event, Samiksha at NITIE brought together some of the leading luminaries from the Consulting industry, one of the most sought after functions in contemporary B-schools. Team Samiksha believes in taking the quest for knowledge beyond the confines of the classroom and help students stay abreast of the latest developments in the industry.

Panel discussion on Consultancy –The Challenges, The Opportunities

The consultancy sector has been hit hard by the global recession, as companies across the globe, look to curtail their expenses. Businesses have slowed down. Eminent personalities from the consultancy sector deliberated on the challenges that face the consultancy firms as well as the opportunities that lie ahead. The esteemed panelists included

• Mr. Anish Tripathi, Partner- Grant Thorton India
• Mr. Luca Ferro, Managing Partner-Value Partners
• Mr. Siddharth Kumar, Partner-Gallup India
• Mr. Sunil Bhave, Director-Fujitsu Consulting

Taking forward the Samiksha tradition, this edition of Samiksha not only proved its mettle of being a highly thought provoking session but also provided valuable insights on the consultancy sector.

Hamara Dhanda

The National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), one of the most sought after B Schools in India, shows us why it consistently features within the top ten rankings year after year. Even though this institute boasts of one of the best placement records, NITIE guides its students to become job generators and not mere job seekers. Through a unique exercise in entrepreneurship, aptly called “Hamara Dhandha“, all first year students of the management course are encouraged to launch their own start up firms.

This year, on 20th September, NITIE saw 53 student enterprises being registered. The enthusiasm and sheer joy evident on the faces of all these students, as they signed the legal documents at the Dhandha Office, was a breathtaking sight. Who knows, the next Narayana Murthy could be amidst this crowd. Soumojit Basu, first year student and proud owner of “Just Jashn” – a start up firm organizing theme parties, says “I never thought I’d be owning company at such a young age, I am absolutely thrilled about it”. Rahul Shah, his classmate and the founder of “Bolt” – a courier company, adds “This is wonderful opportunity for students like us to experience and learn entrepreneurship.”
Most of the students at NITIE, thanks to their strong technical fundamentals, seem to be going the web site way. A large majority of the new companies are online portals, which are easy to setup and maintain as opposed to traditional brick and mortar businesses. On the other side of the spectrum there are apparel designing firms and event management groups too.

Hamara Dhandha is the brainchild of Dr T Prasad, faculty at NITIE, who conceptualized this in 2007 as part of the curriculum. The business plans are carefully scrutinized by the professors and they offer full support to the students in terms of practical ideas and industry contacts. Here, the concept of entrepreneurship is cultivated in the students as a way to understand business through self development. This is echoed in Dr Prasad’s words “All students should be self reliant; the money spent for tuition and living expenses at NITIE should be recovered via Hamara Dhandha.”

Some of the companies are already making big business. KRAAAG, a venture specializing in designing customized t-shirts, has already made sales over Rs 1 lakh. When asked about their formula for success, Ashish Meshram, one of the founding members, confidently replies “When you have the right plan and vision backed by dedication and good ground work, nothing can stop your walk to success”. Gaurav Singh, another of its founder, chips in with a smile “Our dream is to have a KRAAAG product on everyone’s back.”

NITIE always has been a pathbreaker in action learning pedagogy. Hamara Dhandha is another manifestation of this very fact. By taking business education to another dimension, the objective of this exercise is to open students to the range of options that lie outside a pure academic life. This is perhaps most relevant in the present economic scenario, where job creators are needed much more than job seekers.

More can be found at http://www.nitie.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=782&Itemid=423