Encouraging Excellence and Innovative Thinking in Engineering Students: A Road Map to Entrepreneurship

Abstract

It is observed that students seeking admission in engineering institutions have a dream of their own. Besides a large number, which go in for paid jobs, few have an urge to set up their own enterprise or run family business or diversify into creative ventures to generate income for the self and strengthen few other technical hands for self-sustenance. Initiative of such enterprising youth, with apt inputs plays an important role in shaping their career and moulds socio-economic scenarios. Transformation of dreams into reality requires planning and drawing astute flow-chart of activities, collation of information or management skills and a desire for creativity as basic starters. Innovation and creative business skills acquired through institutional learning have played a greater role to spur out-of-box thinking. In this process premier institutions like IITs encourage the meritorious and hard working to get into the inquisitive path of entrepreneurship. Institutional support and excellent training-teaching-technique tuple has its articulates, nevertheless receptiveness of mind and creativity of the self. It enables to develop human faculties into magnificent gadgets of inspired skills and ventures, innovativeness and self-enterprise. Course design and its implementation are complementary in fostering technical knowledge and inquisitiveness in young minds. Innovative thinking and research had to become an intrinsic part of the academic curriculum. The system is strengthened to encourage collaborative work with industries, R&D organizations and the society in general to promote barrier free learning and enterprise. Solutions are sought for basic and applied research problems which are industry specific, adding to the knowledge basket of a student, an engineer in the making. In order to encourage original thinking and to stimulate entrepreneurial passion among students, institutions need to orient them both in theory and practice. Ideas be discussed to set up own start-up companies. Industrialists and successful alumnus be invited to motivate the budding entrepreneurs by telling their success stories. Initial support, technical and logistic help is given while ushering into setting up of ventures. This will help the productive job-givers to influence the increasing number of job seekers in our society. It is observed that institutions like IITs have started giving undergraduate research grant to the students for innovative industry relevant projects. The objective is to prepare the basics for further incubation or development so as to finally facilitate a seamless transition of a technocrat into an entrepreneur with a proven sellable technology in hand. The process of moving the scheme forward in a formal real life industry atmosphere with adequate financial support has been worked out and is in place. The role of Science & Technology Entrepreneurs Park (STEP) and Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy (SRIC) Cell in promoting entrepreneurial activities at IIT Kharagpur will be described. Case analysis of success stories of student entrepreneurs and the support system will be discussed in this paper.