Engineering students must​focus on smart thinking and create innovative business models:​ Senior industry stalwarts

Mumbai: Not merely relying on rote learning, students from different engineering streams should focus on smart thinking and creating innovative business models, was the united assertion of technical experts and industry stalwarts gathered at the CII Tech Connect initiative organized by Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology (VESIT). The event, whose core theme was CONNECT-COLLABORATE-CO CREATE, was organized in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The International Society of Automation (ISA).

Senior industry leaders Mr. Sunil Khanna – President & MD – Emerson Network Power, Mr. Vithal Magar – President - International Society of Automation Maharashtra Section, Mr. Neeraj Agarwal – Associate Director – Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Mr. K. Srinivasan – Chief Manager – Siemens Ltd. India guided engineered students who had gathered at the event with their valued thoughts and suggestions. The august assemblage of industry greats were unanimous in stating that in order to persevere in today’s highly competitive environment and stride ahead, students need to inculcate a smart thinking approach through technical inventions and stress on innovation. Students need to become job creators rather than being mere job seekers.

The event laid credence to the ‘Make in India’ campaign which seeks to foster an entrepreneurial eco-system in the country through skilled-based training and development. The occasion was marked by participation of students in high end technical quizzes and generating ideas through team building activities. There were presentations on varied technical topics like cloud storage, fiber internet, social networking and digitization.

“Companies need to train the new engineers for the first 3-6 months once they are appointed. If corporates provide expose students to practical issues, they can better equip them to face emerging job challenges and help increase their learnings and save on critical overheads,” said Mr. Sunil Khanna, President and Managing Director, Emerson Network Power India.

Lauding the organization of the initiative, Mr Mahesh Tejwani, President, VES, said, “Such skill development initiatives would prepare the students for challenging future tasks. Besides, this would also boost the morale of the future engineers who form a crucial link in contributing to the success of ‘Make in India’. Technology is changing fast and mere institutional learning would not suffice. Such industry-initiated programs can help bridge gaps between student aspirations and technical complexities in the corporate world.”