ED Cell – Seedling lending hands to new ideas
In a country like India, where there is still a huge potential for new businesses to flourish, thanks to the heterogeneous nature of its society, culture, economy and demography, becoming an entrepreneur should be a natural choice for any young Graduate/ Post-Graduate fresher. The current Prime Minister of India, Sh. Narendra Modi has also provided impetus to the entrepreneurial activity in the country through launching of the ‘Startup India’ scheme which provides a host of benefits and removes a lot of entry barriers for a fresh startup. Due to the emerging scenario of Entrepreneurs, Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology (PIET) launched its Entrepreneurship Development (ED) cell named “Seedling” after having taken numerous initiatives in this direction over the past years. The Cell was inaugurated by Sh. Chander Shekhar Khare – IAS, Deputy Commissioner Panipat, Haryana and Sh. Tirlok Gupta, Assistant Director, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) on 9th June 2016 in the Institute premises.
Starting of new ventures by young entrepreneurs is the best strategy to combat the economic slowdown being currently faced by the entire world. Keeping this in mind, the Chairman of ED Cell, Dr Saurabh Garg , initiated numerous activities to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst its students, over the past year. Some of the Initiatives by PIET towards Entrepreneurial world:
- Being an Entrepreneur is not always easy and there are so many challenges to overcome, from funding to right business idea. In this context a Seminar and Panel discussion on “Funding challenges and opportunities for MSMEs in Haryana” was organised by the Department of Management Studies and Entrepreneurship Development (ED) Cell of Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology (PIET) on 05.03.2020. The event was attended by more than 200 students and faculties. The key areas of discussion was to create awareness in MSMEs and academia about the various sources of Finance available to MSMEs, Documentation and other statutory requirements towards availing funding opportunities, preparation tips of Project report and funding proposal for Start-Ups and to build a platform for Industry-Financial Institution – Academic connect and collaboration to facilitate successful launching of new projects in the MSME sector and driving existing MSME businesses towards high growth trajectory. Speakers of the event were Mr. Suraj Kumar HDFC Bank Circle Head Business Banking Group, Chief Guest Mr. Vinod Khandelwal Chairman of Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chapter Panipat, Panelist:- Mr Girish Kumar Assistant General Manager SBI Special Commercial Branch, Panipat, Mr Kaushal Kumar Representative SIDBI Branch Kundli, Mr Gautam Garg Venture Capitalist Chandigarh, Mr D.K.Tyagi Assistant Director MSME DI Karnal, Professor Suresh Bedi Chief Academic Mentor PIET.
- As we know Intellectual property Rights (IPR) is a category of property which includes intangible creations of the human intelligence. In this context a workshop on Intellectual property was organised by Entrepreneurship Development (ED) Cell of Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology (PIET) on February 22, 2020. The event was attended by more than 150 faculties. In the event expert talk was delivered by Dr. Parmod Malik (Co-ordinator, Centre for IPR studies Department of Laws, BPS Women University, Sonepat, Haryana) .Initially the participants got to understand the Intellectual Property process. Later they were equipped with the knowledge about copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets and how this contributes to our economy where consumers use IP to ensure they are purchasing safe and guaranteed products.
- As we know that creating a new stable venture is a challenging and complex task. The risk of starting a new business is high. In this context a workshop on Entrepreneurship, start-ups and IPR was organized by Entrepreneurship Development (ED) Cell of Panipat Institute of Engineering and Technology (PIET) on October 23, 2019. The event was attended by more than 400 students and faculties from different streams such as Pharmacy, Management, and Engineering. In the event expert talk was delivered by Dr Parmod Malik (Co-ordinator, Centre for IPR studies Department of Laws, BPS Women University Sonepat Haryana) and Mr Sandesh Agarwal (Manager IPCurate – Verispire Inc. Noida) on the basics of Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property Rights, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright. This was followed by the presentations by students of PIET who discussed about entrepreneurship with special reference to social, rural, and women entrepreneurship. Initially the participants got to understand the process, risks and rewards of starting up a new venture. Later they were equiped with the knowledge, skills, and tools required to start up thier own business in such a high competitive market. Most importantly they were informed about the precautions they need to take while running any business.
- A one week Faculty Development Programmewas organized by Department of Management Studies on “Entrepreneurship And Innovation” from 8th to 13th July, 2019,. Faculties of various Institutes and from various departments enthusiastically participated in the sessions. Objective of the FDP was to expose the participating members to the comprehensive entrepreneurship development and equip them with the requisite skills, knowledge and competencies fro effective initiation of goal oriented activities in their respective institutions. The inaugural session was delivered by the Chief Guest of the programme, Prof. (Dr.) S.K. Dhamija , Dean Academics and international affairs, HOD- EDIC, Chairman, Academic Cell, NITTTR, Chandigarh, on the topic “Blue Ocean Strategies For Entrepreneurship Development”. Prof. (Dr.) Shakti Kumar, Director- PIET addressed the audience and enriched the session by sharing his knowledge on “Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship”. Prof. (Dr.) S. K. Bedi, Chief Academic Mentor- PIET, Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev Mittal, Professor – Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University Delhi., Mr. Subhash Chand Kwatra General Manager- Punjab and Sind Bank New Delhi along with Mr. Ashish Seth- Chartered accountant, Delhi, delivered their sessions on “Key issues in entrepreneurial finance” and “Government Schemes to support entrepreneurs and their initiatives”. (Dr.) Mridula Mishra, HOD- HR, Mittal School of Business, Lovely Professional university, being one of the key spokes persons of the FDP, delivered her session on “Strategic leadership for entrepreneurship”. Mr. T.K. Ruby a renowned industrialist shared his personal life experiences and explained how he turned to be a winner from every situation that led to hurdles in his business. Mr. Ramesh Bajaj, a renowned industrialist and District Governor- Elect, Rotary shared his valuable experiences that filled faculty with zeal and they applauded loud. Suresh Tayal, Member-Secretary, Board of Governors, PIET enriched the participants by sharing his experiences and journey from scratch to the success.
Prof. (Dr.) Meenakshi Gandhi , from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, beautifully delivered a session on Entrepreneurship and innovation by quoting a large number of Indian budding entrepreneurs and making it a very interactive session.
Prof. (Dr.) Shakti Kumar, Director-PIET shared his experience on “How technology enhancement will be a collaborative effort from entrepreneurs and technicians” and on “How to be an effective leader” - “Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more Pliable.” The importance of Data Analysis and Statistical interpretation has increased manifold over the past few years with the application and adoption of Data Science in various domains. Keeping up with its practice of keeping faculty up to date with latest management tools, a stupendous One-day workshop on Statistical Analysis was organized in MBA Department by Neeraj Kaushik (HoD, Department of Business Administration, NIT, Kurukshetra) on 12th January 2019. He gave valuable insights into the modern usage of statistical tools in Management Education..
- Seedling organized a seminar on Entrepreneurship and a lecture was given by Prof. Dr. Sanjiv Mittal, Dean, USMS, GGSIP University on the topic “Entrepreneurship-Business plan and project report preparation on 28.11.2018. The lecture helped the students not only to formulate their business idea but also prepare a detailed business plan including its availability, market potential, marketing strategy, revenue model, funding alternatives, technical requirements and patent/copyrights (if any).
- Ms. Archana Girodia gave the lecture in Seminar on Entrepreneurship Opportunities and challenges on 30th August 2018 for students and faculty of Department of Management Studies & Faculty of Business Studies.Session was started after felicitation & introduction of Ms. Archana in the presence of respected dignitaries, faculty members and students. She shared her knowledge with the participants during the lecture and explained thoroughly about different kinds of aspects related to Entrepreneurship. She also put light upon various problems that an Entrepreneur faces during day to day transactions, the impact of these problems on our businesses and how it ultimately affects overall health of the industry was the topic of discussion in initial phase of the lecture. Further evaluation of existing startup ecosystem took place and all the possible solutions were also discussed that have been raised over a period of time. In this way the speaker of the day shared valuable knowledge and open up for question answer session. All the participants were benefitted while putting query on specific issues related to transformation of taxation system. All the participants thanked the speaker for enlightening session.
- Applied Science and Humanities Department (PIET) successfully organized Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp from 16th to 18th August 2018 along ABESEC Startups Lab Ghaziabad. The programme was funded by National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), under DST-NIMAT project of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The camp was formally inaugurated by Dr. Shakti Kumar, Director PIET on 16th August 2018. Resource persons Dr. Akhilesh Mishra, Mrs.PriyankaSehgal, (HOD, MBA), Mr. Mahender (ABES, Ghaziabad) were welcomed by Ms. VinodKumari, AP, ASH, PIET. Vinay Khatri (HOD, ASH) were also present during the Inaugural function. The main objective of this Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp (EAC) is to create awareness among students of Engineering and Science courses about various facets of entrepreneurship as an alternative career option. The idea of organizing this workshop is to inculcate the fundamentals, key concepts of Entrepreneurship in the Science and Technology among students. The Three-day camp concluded with a valedictory session and a humble vote of thanks. The main attractions of the camp were as follows: Successful Entrepreneurs were invited for expert lecture. Practicing entrepreneur’s success stories – common problems faced by entrepreneurs was discussed. Grant, funding and loaning from banks, agencies was discussed. Improving communication skills (interacting with people) for better results was discussed. Approximately about 80 students from Department of Applied Science and Humanities Department successfully participated in the camp and each participant was awarded with a certificate. The camp was successfully coordinated by Ms. Vinod Kumari, Assistant Professor, PIET.
- Three days Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp was organized by Applied Science and Humanities Department, PIET in collaboration with ABES, Ghaziabad (from 18-01-2018 to 20-01-2018). The Camp was inaugurated by Sh. Suresh Tayal, Member, BOG, PIET Campus). Sixty (60) students of different streams attended this entrepreneurship awareness camp. Dr. Yoginder Kataria, HOD, BBA, delivered lecture on Camp Objective and Business Opportunities Identification. Several other dignitaries delivered their lectures on different topics related to Entrepreneurship. The main objective of the Camp was to get aware the students about the different areas of skills where they can establish themselves as Entrepreneur and create the job for others.
- The ED Cell organized a Business Plan Workshop on 15thSeptember, 2017 amongst PIETians. Team entries were invited for the competition and were presented with the task of preparing a plan for marketing of the upcoming start-up. Marketing of their product or service offerings in an appropriate and cost-effective way to their potential clientele is a major challenge faced by young entrepreneurs who are strapped for funds in the initial phase of their venture when there is limited cash flow, due to which they can’t afford any expenditure which does not bear immediate results. Hence, this event was organized to give the students a feel of that challenge and understand means to withstand and overcome it.
- Two weeks Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on Entrepreneurship was organized in-association with ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad from 19 June to 1 July, 2017. The program was sponsored by National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The Program was organized with an aim to equip the faculty to develop vision, strategy and structure for Entrepreneurship development in the educational institution, further who can inculcate entrepreneurial values among the students, to organize entrepreneurship awareness camps and other entrepreneurship related orientation programs. Various expert lectures were delivered during the program to develop entrepreneurial competencies, business environment scanning, and business opportunity identification and on market survey tools and techniques. Around 22 faculty members from various departments got the benefit by this programe and learned techniques & enterprise management skills.
- Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp: In order to sensitize students about Entrepreneurship (an alternative career option),3 Days Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp was organized in PIET, which was sponsored by NSTEDB, Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India in collaboration with Center for Applied Research & Entrepreneurship (CARE) of ABES Engineering College, Ghaziabad from 11-13 January 2017. During the camp 80 students from different streams were exposed to the concept of entrepreneurship, its pros and cons as a career and how it differs from the usual job culture. During the camp, a one-day industrial visit to Handloom industry Panipat was organized where students got exposure of different techniques of Export and import industry and new methodologies required for being an entrepreneur. B K Sahu, Dy Manager, NRDC, New Delhi delivered a lecture on the Role of IPR for the growth and development of sustainable development .Sh. Mahendra Kumar Gupta, Manager-CARE, ABES-EC conducted sessions on Concepts and basics of Entrepreneurship, Selection of right Business Idea & B-Plan Preparation, Business Idea Selection & Preparation of launch and about Financial Management for Start-ups.
- The ED Cell along with department of Management Studies organized a short-term course on ‘Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation using Blue Ocean Strategies’ sponsored by NITTTR, Chandigarh on 7th-11th November, 2016. The Blue Ocean Strategy workshop is centered on learning the tools and principles to help you differentiate your products and services radically, as well as on generating valuable insights and value proposition prototypes ready to be tested or/and solving a specific challenge for your company. Through a combination of inspiring examples, theory and interactive exercises, the participants in this workshop followed the Blue Ocean Strategy training agenda (formulation process and tools) and will be able to apply them to launch a Blue Ocean Strategy initiative, such as product or service innovation, business model innovation, reinventing customer experience or almost any challenge their organization faces.
- Seminar on Entrepreneurship is given by Mr. Parvesh Chandel to students of Management studies department on 07.09.2016. In his lecture he meticulously explained the concept. More specifically, it was designed to help the students in acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to perform Entrepreneurship role more effectively. He also introduced many exclusive examples and challenges that may arise in the economy at large with reference to different mythologies. He shared a case as to how and why Western corporations can no longer just rely on the old formula that sustained innovation and growth for decades. Now is the time of having a mix of both and the same is highly acceptable for getting world class development. The lecture ended with huge round of applauds by the participants.
- Ed Cell organized a “Seminar on support for Entrepreneurial and managerial development of SMEs through Incubators” on 11th February 2016 in the Institute premises. The program was conducted by Mr. Trilok Gupta (Astt. Director, MSME-DI Karnal. The major objectives of the programe are to promote emerging technological and knowledge based innovative ventures that seek the nurturing of ideas from professionals.
and to promote and support untapped creativity of individual innovators and also to assist Individual innovators to become technology-based entrepreneurs. Further the event emphasized how to promote networking and forging of linkages with other constituents of the innovation chain for commercialization of their developments. Through various scheme shows Government of India is providing opportunity to the innovators in developing and nurturing their new innovative ideas for the production of new innovative products which can be sent in to the market for commercialization. - A marketing plan workshop was organized at Inter-department level on 15th Sept 2015. Team entries were invited for the competition and were presented with the task of preparing a plan for their start-up. Marketing of their product or service offerings in an appropriate and cost-effective way to their potential clientele is a major challenge faced by young entrepreneurs who are strapped for funds in the initial phase of their venture when there is limited cash flow, due to which they can’t afford any expenditure which does not bear immediate results. Hence, this event was organized to give the students a feel of that challenge and understand means to withstand and overcome it.
After the start of “Seedling”, the activities of the Cell on this front have further gathered steam which has resulted in a number of activities/initiatives which are in pipeline over the coming year. Some of these include:
- Guest Lectures: The ED cell plans to increase the frequency of guest lectures from successful entrepreneurs in the college so that students get a hands-on account of the challenges faced by an entrepreneur and means to overcome them.
- Alumni Jab:The Cell plans to organize an ‘Alumni Jab’ where alumni of the institute who have already turned entrepreneurs would be invited to share their knowledge and experience with the current students.
- Start-up Fair:The ED cell will organize a ‘Start-up Fair’ at the college premises where budding student entrepreneurs of the college and nearby colleges will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with industry experts, researchers, mentors and entrepreneurs.
- Entrepreneurship Wakefulness Drive (EWD):The members of the ED cell will conduct an EWD within all departments of the institute so as to make the students aware on the importance and immense benefits which can be reaped by starting their own venture and the various efforts and initiatives undertaken by the Government of India to promote start-ups. They will also be encouraged to form inter-disciplinary teams so that their varied skill-sets can play a complimentary role in staring a new business venture.
- Knowledge Camp:The ED cell will open a knowledge camp within the institute where books, articles, research papers, CDs, presentations, videos, e-journals and expert advice would be made available to the students who look towards entrepreneurship as a career choice after completing their studies.
- The ED cell would lend hands to innovative ideas through:
- Funding:It would arrange for provision of seed capital and bank loans to promising projects by tying up Venture Capitalist (VC) firms and leading banks.
- Mentoring:The cell would provide mentoring from industry experts, bankers, officials from MSME and successful entrepreneurs to budding start-ups.
- Organizing competitions on innovation and creativity:Considering the fact that new business ventures that run on fresh ideas and an innovative approach have a greater likelihood for success, such competitions would do a lot to develop out-of-the-box thinking among the students.
Dr. Saurabh Garg
Chairman – ED Cell (Seedling),
Department of Management Studies (MBA), PIET