Nirman 2010 – B-model Competition

Great Lakes announces launch of Nirman 2010.

Entrepreneurship is more than a fad; it is the need of the hour. With India poised for rapid growth, we are at the cusp of a major upheaval. The amount of innovation from India has increased tremendously with major companies considering India as their strategic innovation hub. But we are still a long way from creating the next Google or 3M out of India.

Nirman 2010 aims to give wings to the ideas that will fire India’s engine of growth. Are you game for it?

For more details, visit:

http://www.greatlakes.edu.in/nirman2010.php

Great Lakers win accolades!

The conundrum of success and failure is never ending one. You don’t succeed if you don’t try. But when you try, failure is at a knocking distance. But try, you must!

For starters a B School event is nothing like a normal event. Add a heap of a Quiz or two, 1 teaspoon of B Plan contest, one trading simulation game, two crates of white paper contests, for appetizer a Debate contest, as a garnish add a Rock music performance, Eureka you have a B School event.

Present batch of Great Lakes, Patriots, are there all across B Schools these days. These festivals are an amazing place to showcase talent but more importantly it’s a vindication of all your learnings both in the class rooms and out of them.

Every now and then news of a new conquest comes trickling. The quietness of East Coast Road, with an occasional car zooming towards Pondicherry, is in stark contrast to the hectic preparations for the latest event being done inside the Great Lakes campus. May be this very unique mix of ethereal beauty and best management education makes us who we are.

The ongoing ‘Footie’ – Great Lakes football championship is the icing on the cake.

Check out the latest news on Great Lakes Student achievements @:

http://www.greatlakes.edu.in/studentAchievements.php

“Challenge the status quo” – Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

From L to R: Professor Krisna Ram, Ms. Radhika Sarathkumar Creative Director, Radaan Mediaworks (I) Limited, Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Dr. Ms. Kiran Majumdar Shaw CMD, Biocon Limited, Professor Sriram
 
 August 26, 2009: The fifth edition of SWIM – Successful Women in Management was held in the sprawling campus of Great Lakes today. The theme of the event was “Make your own rules by breaking the glass ceiling”. 
The event was attended by an illustrious list of glass ceiling breakers, the likes of Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD of Biocon, Ms. Radhika Sarathkumar Creative Director, Radaan Mediaworks (I) Limited, Ms. Anita Gupta, Senior Vice President and Managing Partner JWT, Ms. Renuka Krishna Vice President HR, KPIT Cummins.
 
 
The chief guest of the event, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD of Biocon, ignited the entrepreneurial zeal through the glimpse of her own journey of grit & determination. In the coming moments Ms Shaw took through her journey from her graduation days in Ballarat University, Australia to being visionary leader of one of the most innovative companies of our times. Even though license raj has been bane of India of the 1980s, she reminded us that lack of information was the biggest hurdle. Describing her entrepreneurial journey as a chance incident, she urged the class of 2010 to take full advantage of the new opportunities that today’s India is showering upon us. In her words “Entrepreneurship is all about building credibility and standing for your principles”. She advised to the budding entrepreneurs in the class to never be fixated about something just because one had started it, and added, one should challenge the business model at every single time.
 

 India: Let a billion entrepreneurs shine
India has suffered from the image of an imitator but things are looking up now. Affordable innovation is what India needs now. And Biocon with novel drugs, first oral insulin, antibodies for cancer is moving in the right direction. About failures she said, entrepreneurs are not quitters, failures are temporary, giving up is permanent. To be a successful entrepreneur one should challenge the status quo and learn from mistakes. In response to one of the questions by a student, she said that maintaining a revenue stream at the early stage of a venture is pivotal. “I never took a salary for 3 years after launch of Biocon”.

Ms. Radhika opened her speech with an innocuous confession, “This is my first time at a B-school”. She shared with us, anecdotes from childhood, and her experiences from the film industry. “You have to evolve every passing day, reinvent yourself” said she. She spoke about the Film Industry’s apparatus-the mistreatment of female actors. “I was asked to play Rajnikanth’s mother, the same actor I had acted along with as a heroine”. She deplored the society’s pitiable state, for women are ill treated.  She advised students to embrace solitude when faced with indecisive situations. “I have always believed in what I did” she continued “except on my house walls, I signed on everything”. And, concluded with the most precious of all “I never complained, I enjoy my days”.

Ms. Anita in her speech with anecdotal overtones referred to the Kailash trip as “the most amazing and life changing experience”. In praise of her company that had won 3 awards at the prestigious Cannes festival, she said “We chose a category, worked for it and won for the country in 75 years”. In response to one of the student’s query, she said “be very clear about your strengths, position in the company, focus on what you wish to be, and remember that there are no shortcuts to success”.  Speaking about the event, she said “there are obstacles, both hidden and obvious. But, people treat you the way you allow them to treat you.

Ms. Renuka began by admitting “it’s a daunting task to come after eminent speakers such as Ms. Shaw, Ms. Radhika and Ms. Anita, I’m a mere IT professional in the midst of recession”.  She embarked on a journey to confront the very definition of success. “If you don’t have a good night’s sleep, be a good spouse and a parent, you are not successful” she said. She defined success at work as a mere subset of the monolithic entity “success” as referred to in today’s world. “Most successful women are mothers. All these mothers have brought up successful men. I do not see unsuccessful women at all”, she concluded thus “Ultimately, it is about being happy”.

As the event came to an end, we were proud to salute the spirit of these women. The hand that rocks the cradle truly rules the world.

Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research inks MOU on Energy Management with Great Lakes

Dignitaries: Dr. Baldev Raj, Dr. Sai Baba and Dr. Prabhat Kumar

Dr. Baldev Raj, Director, IGCAR and Dr. Bala V. Balachandran, Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management signed a MOU today pledging co-operation in the study of Energy Management

Energy scenario

In his characteristic and insightful speech Padma Shri Dr. Baldev talked about the importance of energy and the pivotal role it plays in nation building. “Coal is still the king, but we need science & technology to find out newer ways to make country energy secure”. He sympathized and said “Common person is concerned about availability of energy”. In another 25 years energy industry will become a trillion dollar industry. According to him, this is an apt time for the younger generation to take initiative and develop multi parameter thinking. India is known for frugal engineering and it should be put to use in the energy sector.

Dr. Baldev also felt that there is an urgent need for a think tank on energy. Though India is a global leader in Fast Breeder Reactors, the country needs to come up with long term strategies to harness the renewable sources of energies like the Solar, Wind and Tidal energies. He emphasized that Science and Technology alone cannot accomplish this herculean task – razor sharp management minds and in-depth Financial Risk Management of such large scale projects are required to successfully execute them.

MOU

The association of Great Lakes with Department of Atomic Energy goes a long way. Dr. Baldev Raj also taught as a visiting faculty at Great Lakes. The MOU will develop the idea based collaboration at Great Lakes with the energy management insight of IGCAR. Great Lakes, in collaboration with Baur College of Business, University of Houston, is in advanced stages of finalizing an Executive Programme on Energy Management.

Great Lakes has also partnered with IGCAR to make a difference to the neighboring areas of Kalpakkam, situated at around 65 Km from Chennai. Karma Yoga, an initiative where all the 260 students of Great Lakes visit assigned villages and work for the upliftment in terms of health care, sanitation, communication, micro finance among others.

About IGCAR

IGCAR was established in the year 1971, under the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. The centre is engaged in broad based multidisciplinary programme of scientific research and advanced engineering directed towards the development of Fast Breeder Reactor technology.

Fast Breeder Test Reactor based on unique mixed Plutonium Uranium Carbide fuel, First of its kind in the world and KAMINI Reactor, the only operating Reactor in the World using U233 fuel are successfully operated.

The design of 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor is completed and the construction is in progress.

URL: http://www.igcar.ernet.in/

Campus Dedication Ceremony

Great Lakes is fresh out of the inauguration of facilities on the campus: Bajaj Piazza, Bajaj Bistro, India Cements Amphitheater. The swanky Piazza houses Table Tennis, Gym, carom, student activity center. Talking of Table Tennis, Ramya Ramesh of Class of 2010 is a national level Table Tennis player, and I must tell you, guys are scared of playing against her.

Its midnight and the glittering water fountains are such a wonderful sight that it feels like spending the whole night looking at them, but gosh! Need to complete that Empirical Research submission.

Got to rush to my room, but before I forget we have yet another dazzling ceremony ahead of us. Honorable Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru M.K. Stalin is visiting our campus. We are eagerly awaiting to listen to the words of this charismatic leader.