The EAC was organized by Amrita Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE), Corporate and Industry Relations (CIR), with support from Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, and sponsored by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.

The camp began with a welcome note by Mr. R. Krishnan, Head – Entrepreneurship Development, ACE. He spoke about the vision of Director, Prof. C. Parameswaran that led to the establishment of ACE in June 2011, and the objectives of the eighth camp.

Mr. N. R. Mohanan, Advisor – Career Planning & Competency Development, CIR, spoke about disruption in the present age, the three types of entrepreneurship, channelizing one’s ideas and linking projects to the industry with a focus on the nine pillars of Industry 4.0.

This was followed by a briefing on general concepts of Entrepreneurship by Ms. Shrinithi Mohan & Ms. Swati Agarwal, Executive Directors, TiE, Coimbatore.  They shared their personal experiences as well as highlighted the key role played by TiE in mentoring and networking.

The next speaker was Prof. R. Krishna Kumar, Value Educationist & Former HOD, PSGCAS. He initially spoke about the historical background – Indian values vis-a-vis Entrepreneurship and the present scenario.  After the tea-break, he shared his wonderful insights on ‘How to Start an SSI unit’ and dealt with general concepts about the Government formalities, rules & regulation, location and different aspects of an industrial venture, through lucid, interesting examples.

The final speaker for the day was Ms. B. Kayalvizhi, Asst. Director, Branch MSME Development Institute. She elaborated on the support and financial assistance from Govt. agencies, banks, financial institutions, state financial corporations and others-securities demanded by financial institutions, banks, etc.

The second day began with a factory visit to Amar Metering Pumps located in Saravanampatti where the participants had an inspiring and delightful interaction and experience sharing session with the entrepreneur and Managing Partner, Mr. P.N. Raghavan, followed by a guided tour of his manufacturing facility.

The next session was on general concepts of technical and commercial aspects of an SSI unit. This was handled by Mr. Venkatesh Muthukrishnan, COO & Director, and Mr. Sai Srujan, CFO & Director, Abhi Repair Pvt. Ltd.

The last speaker on the second day of the camp was Dr. P. K. Krishnan Namboori, CEO, Biopharma Solutions. He spoke about the mechanism of product selection and technology-assistance from R&D labs and others on the choice of technology, etc. He also announced the internship opportunity available to interested students.

The final day of the camp began with a session on creativity and business – the person behind the venture – the behavioural scientist’s approach. This session was dealt with masterfully by Mr. Krishna, Founder Director, AskKrishna Centre for Mindfulness.

This was followed by a session on financial aspects of the SSI unit including salient features of a project report. The resource person was Mr. A. R. Muralidharan, Director, Atlaz Business Solutions and Principal, CapHelp.

Next, Ms. R. Sunitha Kumari, Dy. Manager, L&D, CIR, Amrita, addressed a session titled ‘Identification of opportunities for entrepreneurs’, where she highlighted the myriad opportunities available to budding entrepreneurs globally today.

The final session of the third day was on communication skills and interacting with people for better results. This was handled by Ms. Sindhu K, Founder, Ignite Akademi, who engaged the participants through an exciting, group-based activity.

In the end, the students shared their feedback and received their certificates in the valedictory session from Ms. Sindhu. The vote of thanks was delivered by Mr. R. Krishnan. This was followed by a group photograph.

We are thankful to all the enterprising ACE members who came forward to introduce various speakers as well as to take photographs during the sessions, and look forward to their greater participation in all future activities of ACE.

We are thankful to all the participants for sharing their valuable feedback for the various independent sessions as well as for the overall one for the camp.