A two-week Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on Entrepreneurship was organized by Amrita Centre for Entrepreneurship (ACE) at Coimbatore Campus, the headquarters of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham from December 11-23, 2017. The free certificate course was supported by National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDI India), Ahmedabad.

Twenty-one faculty members from science and technology institutions attended the FDP, aimed at nurturing and mentoring entrepreneurship among students. These sessions were powered by 12 CEOs and Managing Directors, apart from senior mentors running entrepreneurship courses. In addition, the FDP participants also went out on three field visits for practical exposure. All this provided a platform for them to understand the nuances of entrepreneurship development and network with real-time entrepreneurs.

The participants included Principals, Professors and Assistant Professors from various institutions, including: G. V. Acharya Institute of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai; Annapoorna Engineering College, Salem; K.S.R. College of Engineering, Namakkal; M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur; Vels University, Chennai; Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam; Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Kannur and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri. The Coimbatore-based faculty members belonged to Inlife Institute of Vision Science Management, Nehru Institute of Technology, Government Arts and Science College, Sree Narayana Guru Polytechnic College and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

The FDP commenced with an invigorating inaugural talk by the chief guest, Mr. V. Sundaram, President, CODISSIA & CEO, Thunder Auto LLP. The illustrious line-up of resource persons from various organisations included: Mr. Pradeep Menon, Chief Officer, Lakshya Labs; Mr. S. Sathesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Branch MSME Development Institute; Ms. B. Swaroopa, Manager, SIDBI; Mr. P. N. Raghavan, Managing Partner, Amar Metering Pumps; Mr. Sivakumar Palaniappan, Founder and Chief Mentor, Mastering Mind Academy; Mr. Krishna, Founder Director, AskKrishna Centre for Mindfulness; Dr. LS Ganesh, Professor, IIT-Madras; Prof. R. Krishna Kumar, HOD – International Business & ED Cell In Charge, PSG College of Arts & Science; Dr. K. Sajjan Rao, HOD – Department of Training & Mr. Vignesh Dhanabalan, Scientific Officer, SITRA; Ms. J. Mohanasundari, MD, Sharp Electrodes; Dr. K. Suresh Kumar, Executive Director, PSG – STEP; Mr. N. Sridhar, Managing Partner, Innovatus Systems; Mr. V. S. Sukumaran, Sr. Visiting Faculty, EDI India; Mr. A.R. Muralidharan, Director – Warrior Management Services, Director – Gangotri Textiles & Principal, CapHelp LLP; Mr. V. Srinivasan, Finance & Management Consultant; Mr. Sankaran Iyer, CEO, Strategeez Business Consultants; Ms. Reni Auxiliya, CEO, Playworkz and CEO Centre for Hygiene Research & Development; Mr. Sundar M., MD, Superfan, Versa Drives; Ms. Sindhu Kalyanasundaram, Chief Mentor, Ignite Akademi; and Mr. R.P. Ramanathan, Chief – Legal, MetaYage IP Strategy Consulting.

Apart from external resource persons, speakers from Corporate & Industry Relations (CIR), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, included: Prof. C. Parameswaran, Director – CIR; Wg. Cdr. Dr. A. Balachandran, Sr. G.M. – Corporate Relations; Mr. N. R. Mohanan, Sr. G.M. – L&D; Dr. Madhu Menon, Head – L&D (PG); Ms. R. Sunitha Kumari, Dy. Manager – L&D and Mr. R. Krishnan, Head – ACE.

The FDP was a success as evident from the feedback of the participants, wherein 95% of the faculty members found the program me extremely useful, and the planning as well as the duration adequate. Specific feedback from participants on how they felt benefited from the FDP is given below:

“Encouraged me to guide my students in clear path to become an entrepreneur” – M. Ganesan, Assistant Professor, Amrita School of Engineering.

“Being a beginner in the field of entrepreneurship, it is very useful for me and also I could guide my students in future,” – Manu Sam, Junior Research Fellow, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore.

“Got good exposure and network as well,” – Swami Samarpan Anand, Yoga Instructor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

“Covered all aspects required to mentor students,” – P. Indra, Associate Professor, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.

“My philosophy in life is – ‘Success is being able to give back what you have gained’. Through this FDP programme, I’ve gained knowledge, confidence and faith in shaping the purpose of my life and how to make an impact. Amrita University as a venue with entire team of organizers were great role model who showed how they touched lives positively” – Pamela Suresh, Principal, Inlife Institute of Vision Science & Management.

“I feel very happy about this FDP on entrepreneurship for the reason that I can able to guide my students regarding entrepreneurship” – M. Vinoth, Assistant Professor, M. Kumarasamy College of Engineering.

“It has been of immense benefit. I’ll surely ask others to join in next year” – Dr. Dalia Vishnudasan, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biotechnology Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri.

“I have learnt lot of things from this FDP. It is very much useful to start the business. I learnt about how to start the small, micro, medium scale business, to bring the bank loan, to face challenges, to apply copyright, patent filing…everything. Thanks for giving this opportunity” – Dr. Tamilselvi P, Assistant Professor, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.

“I came here to get some knowledge on how to create EDC, incubation centre, TBI, etc. The programme was very much helpful. Even I am personally motivated to become an entrepreneur. Your hospitality was excellent” – C. Devasenapathi, Assistant Professor, Annapoorana Engineering College, Salem.

“My principal only told about this FDP and insisted me to attend. While I was coming on the first day, I came with a blank mind and some frustration because of my previous FDP experience. But this FDP was really very good and improved me a lot. I surely go back from here with some information and initiation to start an ED cell in AEC,” – L. Gnanaprakash, Assistant Professor, Annapoorana Engineering College, Salem.

“The 12 days programme is very much useful for me. The experts have all given very good information about entrepreneurship and also they have given the creativity and innovative ideas,” – N. Manimehala, Assistant Professor, Nehru Institute of Technology.

“In this FDP programme, they touched each and every part of Entrepreneurship – Values and Govt. role in entrepreneurship, Students – how to select the correct business, why start-ups fail and what are the reasons, etc.,”- Jayaraj Sheelan A., Assistant Professor, G.V. Acharya Institute of Engineering And Technology, Raigad, Maharashtra.

“Even though I am from Science background, I got plenty of information regarding entrepreneurship. I got enriched with plenty of ideas regarding values-based concepts, and lot of management strategies. I got a big idea in this FDP which is motivating, inspiring and informative. I request you to conduct it each and every semester to gain knowledge for students. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to fly in the entrepreneurship world,” – Poornima V., Assistant Professor, Vels University, Chennai.

“This is a short term programme. But this programme gives lots of ideas to promote entrepreneurship and real time problems. This programme gives & shares knowledge from different domains,” – K.Venkateshwaran, Assistant Professor, K.S.R. College of Engineering, Tiruchengode.

“I feel good about hospitality and communication. I have got strength to give motivation to my students to become good entrepreneurs,” – Arumugam K., Ph.D Research Scholar, Government Arts College, Coimbatore.

“This programme is an eye opener for me in this field. You have conducted this programme in nice manner with lot of information. It is a good experience,” – Dr. G. Glan Devadhas, Professor, Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Kannur.

“I gathered a lot of information from the training. Very much useful programme with a lot of positive energy,” – Anup K.K., System Administrator, Sree Narayana Guru Polytechnic College.

“Very accommodative. I learnt a lot from the programme,”- Dr. Ing. Keerthika B., Independent Consultant / Trainer.

“Excellent programme with awesome faculties,” – Suresh Babu Kunnath, Executive Director, Inlife Institute of Vision Science & Management.

“It was an eye opener for me into the Business & Entrepreneurship. It would be very helpful for me to take it forward in applying what I learnt in helping students explore entrepreneurship,” – Swapna Chandrasekar Shet, Faculty, Inlife Institute of Vision Science & Management.

“Well explained, structured. Learnt more on Financial & Marketing, Communication module,” – Vanishri K, Faculty, Inlife Institute of Vision Science & Management.