Gujarat Technological University

THE NEWSLETTER
Inspiring Future Engineers, Managers, Pharmacists & Technocrats

While the quality of a Learning System at any University is determined

largely by the Faculty Members and
the students jointly, the leadership
by senior professors and the Head of
Department,

supported

by

the

leadership of the Principal / Director, creates the environment for

the

Learning

Systems

to

become

excellent. GTU has been organizing an Annual Leadership Summit

for Deans, Principals/ Directors and Heads of Departments for the
last four years. The interview of George Blumenthal by EDU TECH
has brought out issues, which may be of interest to the entire GTU
community.

December 2014

Shri
Narendrabhai
Modi,
Honourable Prime Minister of
India,
has
inspired
the
Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan.
Members
of
the
GTU
family, spread out over different
Colleges / Institutes / Polytechnics and in all the offices
of GTU have worked in their
own
respective
Institutions and have taken an
oath of actively working for
a Clean India....

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal (Vice-Chancellor,GTU)

[Extracts from the interview on Page - 13 & 14]

In This Issue

CONGRATULATIONS to Ms. Bhagyashree Sheth, Ph.D Student of Gujarat

Technological University: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi awarding
Ms Bhagyashree Sheth, the winner of tag-line contest for Swachh Bharat Mission,
at Rajpath, in New Delhi on October 02, 2014. Ms. Sheths doctoral work is being
supervised by Dr Sandip Solanki.
1

31 Global Leaders
Fujitsu visited GTU

of

Virtual
Round
BAJA 2014

of

Boot
camp
mobile application

for

Training for trainers

Leadership
Excellence
Summit 2014

All sectors will experience transformation

within next 30 yrs: Krish Gopalkrishnan
Ahmedabad: Mr. Krish Gopalkrishnan, co-founder and ex-CEO of
Infosys gave thought-provoking speech in a national workshop
organised by AICTE, MHRD and Gujarat Technological University
(GTU). He said that we are going through disruptive (innovation)
phase in the history of technology. Your smartphone is more
powerful than computer we were using in 1977-78 in IIT-Madras,
which was second largest mainframe computer in Asia at that time.

He also said that the other University in India will have to follow
the work done by GTU in the Area of Engineering Student Start up.
Automotive, healthcare, education, e-commerce, utilities etc. will
get transformed over the next 30 years. And this will be just the
beginning of the transformation. Thats why this is the best period
to think about business. We need to encourage our youth to set up business. Agriculture is also going to transform.
Sensor networks and automated drip irrigation systems as well as all kinds of technologies will be helpful in this
transformation.
He further elaborated that as every sector is going to change, we need to create environment for entrepreneurship.
(Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a business. The entrepreneur develops a business model, acquires the
team and other required resources, and is fully responsible for its success or failure). Entrepreneurship can develop
better in a cultural milieu, which accept the failure. Gujarat is a state of business. Everybody wants to do business. To
foster entrepreneurship by design, we have to utilise our research and innovation.
Entrepreneurship has no age barriers. Even a student must be allowed to start business. To create such an environment, we must include business in school curriculum. For the purpose, we have to develop courses in two aspects:
We can include topics like venture funding, balance sheet, how to create team etc. Besides this we should include
role of CAs, lawyers etc. also. Second area requires to inculcate values including discipline, story-telling etc. We must
bring successful entrepreneurs in classrooms to motivate or inspire students to begin career in entrepreneurship. We
can take the help of group discussion on this, which can be also helpful to develop communication skills of students.

He recommended that we must involve community in this aspect. We need to convince parents. For a cluster of colleges an incubator to create an ecosystem can be started at very low initial investment. An example may be of establishing an incubator at each of the 25 centres of GTU. Another important point is 80-90 % start-ups fails. So we must
tell students that failure is an opportunity to learn. We need to create a culture so that students to try again and go
further. We must take some steps for faculties too. In USA faculties are allowed to start business and after a few
years again can come to teach students with his own experience. We also need to bring venture capitalists in the
class-rooms. Bangalore has 8, 00,000 software professionals, whose total salary is around Rs. 50,000 Crore. They are
the main force behind flourishing of retail sectors and real estate in Bangalore. Thus to develop entrepreneurship, we
must take support of local businesses and government. Local businesses must help students for incubator projects.
2

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

31 Global Leaders of Fujitsu visited GTU

31 Global Leaders of Fujitsu Business Units and Fujitsu University visited Gujarat Technological University under
the leadership of Dr. Terumi Chikama, President and Dr. Noboru Konno; Program Director of FUJITSU University
to discuss on various initiatives taken by GTU in the field of Innovation, Design Engineering, CPDP (Contributor
Personality Development Program) and Ethical Democratic Leadership.

Dr. Terumi Chikama had discussed about the Fujitsu University and highlighted the reasons of their visit to Gujarat which includes the academic contribution of universities to society & industry and to know how one can
develop right social responsibilities among future technocrats.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor of GTU had briefed about the work done by GTU in the said fields. GTU
had marked its presence in the academia through various unique initiatives and due to these extra ordinary
efforts GTU is appointed as Director of APEN (Asia Professional Education Network) for India. Dr. Aggarwal invited students of Fujitsu University to join the course on Gandhian Philosophy for Managing Business and Asian
Business at Gujarat Technology
University. GTU has proposed to
establish research laboratory with the
help of Fujitsu looking at their expertise
in the field of innovation.
Over all the meeting was very interactive with conversations with all the delegates & they were very impressed
about the GTUs Business Ethics as well
as CPDP program. They discussed about
various ways of collaborations between
GTU and Fujitsu.
3

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

CONCLAVE ON AFRO-ASIAN COUNTRIES

To provide the macro level information to the Faculties and Students about the business opportunities in Asian
and African Countries 2nd Conclave was organized on 19th July, 2014.
Mr. Shaida Mohd. Abdali Ambassador of Afghanistan to India shared that being a strategic partner of India
people of Afghanistan take immense pride in India's technological achievements. within the framework of India
- Afghanistan strategic partnership in higher education and technical assistance he requested to enrol more
Afghanistan students in technical courses like Engineering, Pharmacy, Management and Computer Science.
H. E. Mr. Rizali W. Indrakesuma, Ambassador of Indonesia to India stated that Indonesia is one of the very
few strategic partners of India. Strategic partnership is the umbrella that gives way to opportunities for cooperation in Political, Economical and Social fronts. He welcomed academic proposals between Gujarat and Indonesia. He proposed student exchange, scholar exchange and faculty exchange.
H.E. Mr. Ndubuisi V Amaku, High Commissioner of Nigeria to India said that the business relation between
India and Gujarat with Nigeria has been remarkable. He praised the Global MBA program of Gujarat Technological University and added that the vision behind this practise would help the entire business fraternity of the
world. He told to vice chancellor that "I salute your creativity, Innovation and Vision".
H. E. Dr. Lewis Mbilizi, Deputy High Commissioner of Malawi to India started his speech with "Namaskar". He
shared that Gujarat and Malawi has good business relations. He informed the audience that many Gujarat people are living in Malawi and doing business for many years. He proposed student exchange and faculty exchange program between the GTU and the universities of Malawi.

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor GTU briefed about the structure of Global Country Study Report (GCSR)
and shared that students of semester-Ill have to study STEEPLED factors and in the final semester they have to
carry out micro analysis with respect to any specific industry of the selected country. Focus of the GCSR is on
Afro - Asian countries and the neighbouring countries of India. GTU has started this particular study to improve
business relations and interactions with these countries.
Mr. N.K Goyal, President, CMAI, Mr. Sunil Modi, Board of Advisor, GCSR and Mr. K. H. Patel, former Ambassador of India also explained business opportunity in various countries of Africa as well as Asia. On behalf of Centre for Global Business Studies (CGBS) and GTU, Dr. Rajesh Khajuria, Director, CKSVIM, Baroda and Chairman
GCSR committee has proposed vote of thanks.
4

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

Summer 2014:194 students of GTU attend classes in Foreign Universities
On 18th June, 2014 GTU honored His Excellency
Mr. Steward Beck, High Commissioner of Canada
to India at the Canada Day, organized by the Canadian Trade Office at Ahmedabad. The High Commissioner was on his farewell visit to Ahmedabad.
GTU initiated its first International Experience Program(IEP) with University of Alberta, Canada in
the year 2011. Since 2011 most of the students
were granted visa to fly to Canada for IEP. GTU
honored High Commissioner of Canada to India
for his support and contribution towards the development of the International Experience Program of GTU.
Mr. Steward Beck, High Commissioner of Canada
On the occasion Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor of GTU said that His Excellency Mr. Steward Beck has always been very pro-active in contributing to the success of GTU IEP. First the Deputy High Commissioner visited GTU and interacted with the students, who wanted
to go to Canada. Then H.E. Mr. Steward Beck personally visited GTU. Dr Aggarwal said that GTU was thankful to
H.E. Mr. Steward Beck for his constant support in the development of GTU's IEP.
During the summer of 2014, 194 students of GTU were in foreign universities for 8 week education program. 98
Students have gone to Laurentian University in Canada, 44 students have gone to Wismar University, Germany
while 52 students are studying at Kansas State University in USA.
During the IEP students learn 2 of the subject and also appear in the exams of the subjects they study at the
foreign university. Students not
only attend the classes during
IEP but also go for industrial
visits. Exposure to the different
educational system and culture
provide a unique opportunity
for students to learn. In association with German, Canadian
and American Universities
GTU's IEP has turned out to be
India's largest International
Experience Program.

98 GTU Students gone to Laurentian University

5

GTU became first university in India to go live on Google Apps

Ahmedabad: Four CEOs of large companies were together at GTU for its first CEO in the Classroom program.
Dr. Janmejay Sinha began the discussion on Innovation led growth. If you learn to enjoy learning, everything will be easy for you in career ahead, said Mr. Vikas Khosla, president of Aditya Birla Insulators Ltd., a
power sector professional in CEOs in the Classroom programme of Gujarat Technological University[GTU].
GTUs PG Research
Centre for Governance
Systems initiated the

unique programme by
inviting CEOs with the
help of Global Talent
Track. Vice Chancellor
of the GTU Dr. Akshai
Aggarwal said that this
is first such programme
and GTU would like to
regularly organise such
events. He inaugurated Google app of the university. GTU became the first university in India to go live on

Google Apps. He said that learn to identify the problem and to think how to solve it. He gave some real life
examples about this.
Dr. Janmejay Sinha, Chairman of Asia-Pacific Operations of The Boston Consulting Group participating in
the discussion said continuous learning must be way of life. In the next few decades, the world in which we
live and work will be changed. Structure of opportunity is changing. So think about innovation, think about
consumer.
Dr. Ganesh Natrajan, Vice Chairman and CEO of Zensar Technologies elaborated about IT sector and advised students to be continues learner. Dr. Natrajan gave tips to use 3 Cs : Communication, Collaboration
and Community. He said during the next few decades, more population will be urbanised. It is necessary to

think about new ideas and adopt it. He expressed the hope that Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will
open up more opportunities for industrial development.
Dr. Uma Ganesh, CEO of Global Talent Track handled question-answer session. Dr. A.M. Prabhakar, Principal of VGEC, Chandkheda said that we have to convert idea into innovative product. China and India are having a big pool of talent and we have to learn to use it. Dr. G. P. Vadodaria, In charge-Registrar said that GTU
has formed steering committee including representatives from various trade and industry organisations like
GCCI, GICEA, GESIA etc. The committee will help in thesis work of students. Syllabus revision of Diploma
courses has been completed with the full participation of industries.
6

International Conference on Role of Financial Industry in Economic Growth

GTU organized an International Conference on
Role of Financial Industry in Accelerating Economic Growth.

The Conference was orga-

nized by Post Graduate Research Centre for

Financial Services of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) in association with reputed foreign institutes and universities like Laurentian
University (Canada), Ural Federal University
(Russia), De Montfort University (UK) and Indi-

an Institutes like Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Ahmedabad and S.P. Jain Insitute of Management & Research, Mumbai.
Mr. Milind Kulkarni, Director, Societe Generale(leading Bank of France) stated that farming and manufacturing
sector had developed less than service sector. In North-East only 6 to 7 % population is covered under banking.
Jan Dhan Yojana may be able to rectify the situation. Personal banking and micro financing are important for development.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal Vice Chancellor of GTU said that every management college should work to ensure that every
graduate is well-prepared for the markets of tomorrow. This can be achieved by improving communication skills in

students and by setting up the right mechanism to ensure a balance between work and study by increasing interaction with industries. He added that for the success of Make in India project, financial industry has to grow.
Mr. Kamlesh Gandhi, Managing Director of MAS Financial Services said that during the last 50 years economic
growth is phenomenal and financial Industry has a major role in it. Financial Industry have to create more opportunities. We need financial inclusions, financial literacy, optimal policy and regulatory framework. Such integrated
approach will lead to sustainable economic growth.
Ms. Michelle David, Senior Lecturer, Department of Accounting & Finance, Faculty of Business and Law, De
Montfort University, U.K. also addressed the conference. She said that I am quoting what Gandhiji said: Be the
change. Financial Industry will have a major role to play, but society as a whole have to think what I can do? Dr.

Chinnam Reddy also presented his views.

Dr. G. P. Vadodaria, Incharge Registrar of GTU said that around 173 authors from 12 states of India and from 2 foreign countries have participated in the conference. 52 quality papers were published in the proceeding after a
peer review. Top five papers received trophies, among them were Dr. Harsha Jariwala, Rashmi Banerjee and Riddhi Dave, Nirj Ramanuj and Chetna Parmar, Mrinal Joshi and Jayesh Desai, Dr Pallavi Modi.
Mr. M.V. Nair, Chairman, Credit Information Bureau, Mumbai emphasised on a robust financial sector, which may
help in improving the economic development of the nation. He also said that banks have an important role to play
in the social development of the society. He suggested that terms of CEOs of banks should be longer.
7

Student Start-up Support System (S4)

GTU launched PG
Diploma in IPR

Students showing Business Model Canvas

Program for empathization-ideation-prototype

building skill of students for developing Innovation
Date: 26th to 31st August 2014 Time: 17:30 pm to 20:30 pm
Venue: 126, GTU Student Startup Support System Co-Creation Center (S4C3), ACPC Building, L.D College of Engineering, Ahmedabad-15
Mr. Kaushik Akiwatkar explained to the students about the S4 activities taking place at GIC, giving a brief introduction on GTU INNOVATION COUNCIL
over snacks and high tea. Around 70 students took part in the workshop.
Next session was carried by Mr. Yash Saxena who was the brain behind this
effort. He briefed the students about the term ideation. Ideation is the process of idea generation in systematic way. The teams were provided with
the BMC (Business Model Canvas). The BMC canvas is an extension of the
ideation

canvas.

The students were now introduced to the final stage of Fuel-pad: The
Product Development Canvas. Here, the product development canvas is
used to develop the product to final stage. The final day began with the
presentation by the students on their respective product development canvases. Three minutes explanation on their week long process of Fuel-pad.
8

Ahmedabad: GTU has

launched Post Graduate
Diploma in IPR course .
Duration of this program is
of 12 months divided in to
24 sessions at weekends
every month. Student currently pursuing or completed Master/ PhD in
Pharmacy/Engineering/
Management /Science or
Faculty member from GTU
affiliated Pharmacy/ Engineering/ Management
colleges or any working
professional possessing
Basic science degree /
Technical degree can apply
for the admission in this
new course.
The course will include
Chinese Patent System
and ARIPO Patent System
in the syllabus which is
being offered 1st time by
any institute in India. Faculty from GTU, reputed
law firms, IPR cells of Industry, Patent Officers and
Foreign Experts will conduct the contact classes
for this course.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice
Chancellor of GTU said
that education in IPR and
understanding of patents
in the field in which students are working on their
projects, will increase innovation quotient of the
work that the student do.

www.gtuinnovationcouncil.ac.in

Largest ever Project Poster Exhibition At GTU

GTU students have participated in largest ever poster exhibition in our country. But it was organized within the
GTU system in a distributed manner. More than 6000 posters were displayed based on the final year projects/
IDP/UDP on May 2, 2014, though some of the Colleges were able to do it in April 2014. Hundreds of industry
mentors participated during this massive process to mentor and appreciate students. While most of the
engineering colleges have successfully attempted this, we have received full report of such efforts of the colleges. Student from more than 20 sectors participated during this process. GTU had asked every affiliated colleges to do this process systematically through GTU Innovation Club team members. This process is an integral
part of the academic process. Every college is required to publish the report of their efforts towards this at

their respective websites. Here we present small report of BVM Engineering College:
BVM Engineering College organized a Poster Fair on 10th October 2014. About 200 posters of nearly 680 final
year students were displayed. Vice Chancellor of GTU Dr. Akshai Aggarwal conveyed that the final year projects
are the capstone of engineering education, and that most universities in the world award an engineering degree to a student only when he/she prepares a final year project successfully. Principal Dr. F S Umarigar introduced the idea of Project Fair to the audience. Prof. S A Bakhru stressed on the importance of these activities
and the need to do such fair. Chief Guest Mr. Jagadishbhai, President VUIA, encouraged the students to take
up challenging projects.
At the Result Declaration phase three best projects from every department, and the names of the students
working on those projects, were announced. The judges and guests were requested to present their views on
the way the students had worked and on what could be done further. Mr. Shaswat Datta, Director, Radicon
PowerBuild, Dr. Vitthal Kamath Director, Energy Systems, Mr. Darshak Mehta, manager EITL, Mr. P A Patel HR
manager, Elecon and almost all the judges and guests unanimously conveyed their pleasure on the work done
by the students, and provided useful tips. Prof. J N Jain Convener IDP_UDP Cell, Co-Convener III Cell, invited
feedback from the students. Prof. J N Jain concluded the program with vote of thanks.
It is further hoped that by the time all participants meet again at the Project Expo BVM 2015, somewhere in
April-May 2015, all would have collectively taken together some further steps in the direction of our common
goals, through such platforms of Industry Institute Interaction.
9

SEMINAR ON SMART CITIES - QUO VADIS?

Centre for Governance Systems & Centre for Infrastructure, Transportation and Water Management together
organized for the first time in Gujarat this one day seminar on
SMART CITIES QUO VADIS? (Quo Vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?")
More than 350 participants comprising of
professors/principals/post-graduate students
from various colleges affiliated to GTU from
every corner of Gujarat, and other renowned
institutes/universities located in Ahmedabad
(CEPT University, PDPU, Nirma Univeristy,
Ahmedabad University, Gujarat University,
etc.) and the industry experts from various industries University, Ahmedabad, gave her speech on Smart
have actively participated in the Jam-packed event.

Cities: meanings, rhetoric and potential of a travelling

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, GTU motivated

the students of GTU to learn about such emerging
issues rigorously and prepare a practical framework
for implementation of smart cities in some town or
city in their neighbourhood. He said that if our cities
start becoming smarter we shall be able to utilize our

human wealth optimally.

concept in India. Dr. K N Sheth, Director Venus International Institute of Technology delivered his session on Clean Environmental Issues of Smart Cities.
Panel Discussions took place at the last under a Chairmanship of Prof. Saswat Bandopadhyaya, Professor at
the Faculty of Planning, CEPT University, and Ahmedabad. The List of 100 Smart Cities proposed by Finance

Minister Arun Jaitely in 2014-15 Budget includes Ah-

Chief guest of the event, Shri Sudhir Mankand, medabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, JunaChairman GIFT City, Gandhinagar explained various gadh and Gandhinagar of Gujarat.
aspects of smart city development such as Finance,
Environment safety, transportation, land acquisition,
international airport development, etc.

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Smart city is a concept at an early stage of development in INDIA. We should not have a rigid template

Lecturer in Planning & Civic Design in the Department for the development. Instead parameters and conof Geography & Planning at The University of Liver- straints should be outlined by Government of India.
pool, UK Dr. Ian Mell gave key note address. TECH- 2. It is recommended that new satellite towns of Mega
NICAL SESSION started with Shri Dilip Brahmbhatt Cities should be focused for Smart City development.
(Senior Manager- DMIC & Roads Sector) and Shri 3. Existing Medium size towns/city and towns with
unique features like Tourism, education complex or
Shardul Thakore (Sr Manager-SIR & Energy Sector).
heritage background to be taken up for Smart City
Prof. B V Buddhadev, Principal, S. S. Govt. Engineering Development.
College, Bhavnagar delivered his speech on Intelligent 4. Government should formulate financial model for
& ICT infrastructures for Smart City. Prof. Sejal Patel, funding the Development of such smart cities under
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Planning CEPT
planning.
Reference Please See:- Http://files.gtu.ac.in/circulars/14Nov/07112014_03.pdf
10

Faculty Development Program for Design Engineering

The program of training of trainers for building Training capacity of Faculty Members was organized and it was
based on the multiple insights from various national and international platforms including the Design Thinking
approach of Stanford University and the approach being used at IIT -Delhi. There were 41 participants from of
many colleges. The duration of the camp was seven days. The objective was to test the pedagogical approach
of learning Design Engineering using advanced modern tools and strategies, while using minimum of resources.
Four hundred four Faculty Members participated in FDP for Design Engineering .Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Honourable Vice-Chancellor, Dr. N.M. Bhatt and Dr. Rupesh Vasani (Members of the the Councils of Deans) met the
participants to discuss the pedagogies, being used by the Faculty Members for solving the problems. The cases/examples, which were attempted by the teams of Faculty Members during this FDP, can be referred
through

the

following

YouTube

link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnNDkCrMqsxkfUJ0ISzT0IXAlOu3-WO65
You can also go through the YouTube links of various projects in the YouTube channel of GTU Innovation Council. These projects were done in a few evenings only. These problems are the very first attempt made by the
teams. One can use these as a sample and one may be able to build his/ her design engineering problems,
which may be much better. If you succeed in making a better design problem, please send it to

Runs for Unity on National Unity Day

Marking the beginning of National Unity Day

The day was celebrated in the memory of Sardar

announced by Hon. PM Shri Narendra Modi, GTU

Vallabhbhai Patel, the architect of United India. On

Vice Chancellor Dr. Akshai Aggrwal and Mrs

his birth anniversary more than 150 people run from

Shakuntla Aggrwal flagged off a memorable event,

GTU Building to ONGC cross road at 8.30 am, includ-

st

Run for Unity early in the morning on 31 October,

ing Honble Vice Chancellor Dr. Akshai Aggrwal, Mrs

2014 at Gujarat Technological University,

Shakuntla Aggrwal, Shri J. C. Lilani, Shri R. H. Rajput

Chandkheda campus.

and GTU staff members taking an oath for unity.

11

Tie over Coffee with

TiE Global CEO
Mr. P K Agarwal

Leadership Excellence Summit

GTU-Centre for Business Ethics & CSR organizes leadership Excellence summit
every year since 2011. Leadership plays an important role in determining the outcomes in terms of growth of faculty members and transforming leadership qualities into the students. Top rated universities of the world have recognized the
need and invest in continuous training of academic administrators. In India GTU is
probably the only university which has been organizing the annual leadership
summit. 4th Annual leadership Excellence summit was organized on 6th September, 2014 at GTU, Chandkheda Campus, Ahmedabad. Around 120 members from
various GTU affiliated Institutes have participated in the seminar.
Mr R. Sunilkumar had started his session by giving examples of successful companies and their leaders such as Walter Elias Disney, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, Star Bugs, Amul, Bharti Airtel, Genpact, etc. He shared the example of Ford
Motors about thinking processes. He talked about real life instances in a humorous way. He quoted love what you do and do what you love.
Dr. Shailesh Thaker is an internationally recognized leadership expert, management thinker and Motivational trainer. He started with explaining about talent
which means unstoppable performance, only execution, producing result, creating
records and breaking records. Abha Maryada Banerjee, avers that the minds of an
educator must go beyond the call of duty, cut & paste leader process driven and
reality driven noun and verb of a leader. The components of a leader is vision,
team, organization, self - person and combination. In leadership ecosystems the
causator of effects are others/Team/Partners, organization, self, vision/goals/
results and optimum combination.
Dr. Akshai K. Aggarwal, Hon. Vice Chancellor, GTU, said GTU will become a
great institute because of the work of the departments and the institutions. Policies
do not create great institutions until they are implemented well then the institutions
become great and the implementation is totally in the hands of our leaders. The
job to transform every college, every classroom, every lab, every workshop into a
live places and all this depends on the teachers, HODs and principals and this
seminar is design for us to come together and think upon it. Lets keep thinking
about how we can improve and make ourselves better, how we can grow because
it is your growth will lead to the growth of your institutions and ultimately the
growth of GTU. On behalf of GTU-Centre for Business Ethics & CSR Dr. K.N.
Sheth, Dean of Gujarat Technological University formally thanked all the experts
and participants for participating and sparing their valuable time for the summit.
12

GTU Innovation Council organized

an expert talk by Mr. P K Agarwal,
the CEO of TiE Global. TiE is a Silicon Valley based non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship. The talk was on Next wave:
The future of technology and India. The participants were students, Deans, Directors/ Principals, Faculty Members, student
start-ups and other stakeholders
from various backgrounds.
Mr. P K Agarwal started his
presentation with a remark that
technological trends in India are
growing today at a much faster
rate, budding entrepreneurs are
coming up from among various
fields. India as a brand has turned
itself into something smart, savvy, intelligent, and global. The
first segment ended with the
question WHAT COMES NEXT?
And WHAT IS OUR ROLE IN IT?
India ranks 76 in global innovation, we are pacing at a greater
rate, but the question is the sustainability.
The second session saw the relation of Technology and Disruptions. The last segment of the talk
emphasized the importance of
entrepreneurs and innovations.
Mr. Agarwal described the five
major trends that might take over
the world, including- Big data,
Privacy and Security, Smart everything, Mobility and Globalization.
He also stressed on many fields
that are progressing at a greater
pace including Health, Government, Transport, and Education.

Extracts from an interview with George Blumenthal,

the Chancellor of University of California Santa Cruz
As reported in http://www.edu-leaders.com/print_article/edu/
interview/1000211/mastering-university-management?print=true

Q. You have been with the University (of California Santa Cruz) since
1972 and must have had a view of what it takes for an academic leader
to succeed over the years. What are the qualities required for a university leader today?
George Blumenthal: The issue of leadership in universities is very important and it requires a number of qualities to be able to succeed as a leader. But, three of these qualities stand out.
First of all it requires vision. You have to have a vision about the direction that your university should be taking
and the changes that need to happen. Secondly, as an individual you have to be able to generate trust, and
make people believe that you have integrity and honesty, so that they feel comfortable to walk along with you
on the path that you want the university to take. The third is a willingness to make some of the tough choices
and decisions that are needed at universities.
Q. You were a part of the working group to re-imagine the University and ensuring access while addressing
acute financial challenges. What would your advice be to universities embarking on such a mission?

George Blumenthal: The commission on the future of UCSC was an effort to think about how the university s
mission has changed over the years and how we may meet the challenges of those changes.
For those embarking on a similar mission, my first advice would be to keep your eye on the big picture and your
goals. Understand the mission of the university first because that sets the framework that can help you to think
about the future. Ask questions like: Whats the mission of the university? Is it a public university? Does it have
graduate or undergraduate education or both? Second dont be constrained by the past. We face new challenges all the time and so do universities. You have to be realistic and realise that you cant turn back the clock.
So come up with new and innovative ways of dealing with those challenges. So when we think about the future
we have to work around this challenge to meet our goals. Theres nothing wrong with doing things differently;

in fact sometimes this would mean doing things more efficiently. So when you embark on the mission of reimagining your university, you should take your fate in your own hands rather than let events dictate it. That
would mean constantly facing up to the challenges rather than pretending that they are going to go away if we
just wait long enough.
Q. You are also known to support diversity. What would your advice be to institutions that want to ensure
diversity on campus?
George Blumenthal: Success is an important message and you need to convey that message to parents as
well; since they are an important part of the decision making process. The key element is thus to make sure that
13

they succeed. Having a diverse student body means that their educational backgrounds will be different. It
doesnt mean that some are smarter than the others; it just means they havent got the same background. So
its particularly important that students have access to some kind of help in the first year to make sure that if
they are lacking some background in a particular field then there are resources available to help them come up
to speed. (Another) element is making them comfortable. ... You have to find ways that make people (from
different socio-economic background) feel that they are a part of the community.
Q. Why is internationalisation important? What kind of relationships do you have with Indian universities?
George Blumenthal: Universities have to be truly global and international because we live in a world thats
shrinking and to understand the world better we need to reach out to other places. I think our students at
UCSC benefit from having foreign students study at our campus because it exposes them to a wider range of
student body. Our faculty has been working on several collaborative projects across borders. However, till recently we havent done this in a systematic way.
I appointed an Indian Anu Luther Maitra as my special advisor on international initiatives and as a result it
was natural to come to India first. Eight of the 28 members on our foundation board are Indian Americans, who
have a strong desire to nurture connections with India. Hence our university has several strong connections
with India. We have for instance a long standing lecture series called the Maitra lectures where we have had
people like Vikram Seth, Amartya Sen and Shashi Tharoor speak. We also have a South Asia Studies Programme
where we do a lot of studies on economics and political realities of South Asia with particular emphasis on India. We are also the home of the Satyajit Ray film archives. One of our faculty members, Dilip Basu was instru-

mental in getting funding to revitalise many of the Ray films which were in a horrible state of decay. These films
have now been saved, preserved and digitised for future generations. Our relationship also extends in the arts
where we have endowed chairs in Indian classical music. India is also one of the international partners on the
30-metre-long ground-based telescope project that UCSC is building in collaboration with Cal Tech. The other
international partners include Canada, Japan and China.
Q. What do you look for when you seek out universities to partner with?
George Blumenthal: We do world class research and regard it as a key part of our educational mission, so the
number one attribute that we look for is quality. The second important aspect is that the relationship should
benefit both sides. We are as interested in having opportunities for our students to study in India as for them

to come to our campus.

In terms of the areas of partnership, though we are very strong in engineering, we do not want to limit ourselves to just this area. We are as focused on liberal arts as we are on engineering. Liberal arts teach people to
think independently. Theres too much of a tendency in the world to learn by rote rather than learning by critical thinking. To me the best students are ones who ask the uncomfortable and difficult questions and push
professors for answers. As a professor my most enjoyable moments were when some student pushed me for
answers and didnt accept my answers. .. In fact at our university we recently instituted a new requirement
that students in all majors have to take a course on how to communicate and write in their chosen major. So, if
you major in physics then you have to take a course on how to write in Physics.
14

Unique Platform For

Budding Engineers
Dr. Pawan Goenka, Executive
Director, Mahindra & Mahindra said,
BAJA SAEINDIA is dedicated towards
providing the budding engineers a
platform to showcase their knowledge
and skills before the leaders of automobile industry. Gujarat Technological
University, Ahmedabad is amongst the
well known and respected institutions
with world class infrastructure and
technological support required for an
event of this stature. We are delighted
to join hands with GTU and hope to
successfully conduct the virtual BAJA
SAEINDIA 2015.

An out-of-classroom-education system

BAJA SAEINDIA is an educational pursuit for the engineering

college students, where engineering students from all over India can participate as a team. It is student level competition in
which teams from universities plan, design, analyse, fabricate
and validate an all terrain car .

Virtual round of BAJA SAE INDIA 2015

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. promoted BAJA SAEINDIA,
a professional Society of Automotive Engineers, hosted the virtual round of the BAJA 2015 series from August 1 to August 2, 2014 at Gujarat Technological University (GTU), one of the leading technological university in the country. The inaugural ceremony took place
in the presence of dignitaries like Dr. Akshai AggarwalVice Chancellor, GTU, Dr. Vadodaria, Registrar- GTU,
Dr. Sudhir Gupte, Convener Virtual Baja, Mr. Shaan

Varma, Co-Convener Virtual Baja, Mr. Subodh

Morye, Convener Baja SAEINDIA 2015, Dr. Partha
Chattaraj, Jt. Convener Baja SAEINDIA 2015 and Dr.
K.

C.

Vora

Advisor

Baja

SAEINDIA.

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad said, BAJA SAEINDIA is
doing a commendable job of encouraging young engineering talent in the country by providing them a
platform. GTU wants every engineering college/polytechnic to participate in competition of these kinds as it
sharpens the designing skills of students and they learn how to work in team. Therefore we are happy to extend our support in conducting the first round of screening at our campus.
15

465 students interviewed by 18 Pharma Cos.

On Saturday, 12th July 2014 the 2nd Centralized Placement Fair
for Pharmacy organized by GTU I-TAP was inaugurated by Shri
Ketanbhai Patel, Managing Director, Troikaa Pharmaceuticals
Ltd. and Dr. G.P. Vadodaria , Registrar ( IC) , GTU.
In India, about 35% of the pharma industry is in Gujarat.
People from all over the India come to Gujarat in the hunt of a
job but we want a job in Gujarat only said Shri Ketanbhai Pa-

tel, Managing Director, Troikaa Pharmaceuticals Ltd. He shared that when we offer the job to local manpower for the company office out of Gujarat they hesitate in taking it. He advised all the students to widen their horizons and search options out of Gujarat for jobs with good remunerations and not to be biased for the initial pay packages. On the other hand Dr. G. P. Vadodaria, Registrar (IC) also advised all the
students to give best of their performance during the interviews as their performance may also affect the
students graduating next year. Shri Prabodhbhai Shah, President, GAAMA , Shri Padmin Buch, MD, GITCO,
Dr. A.K. Shukla, COO, Vovantis Healthcare and Dr. C. N. Patel, Dean , Faculty of Pharmacy, GTU also graced
the event.
16

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

Visit of delegation from HUST, China
Delegation from The Huazhong University of Science and
Technology (HUST), China has visited GTU on 13th August
2014. The delegation visited three renowned Universities
of India including GTU to explore the possibilities for academic collaborations with reputed Indian Universities.

The delegation was led by Ms. Annie Zhao, Vice Dean,

school of International Education and Mr. Ai Xiao, Head of
admission from HUST. Mr. Dhanajay Shah, founder CEO,
Moksh overseas education has accompanied the delegation and the visit was coordinated by Dr. Indrajit Patel,
BVM Engineering College, Vallabh Vidhyanagar.
After going through the presentation on HUST by Mr. Ai, Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Hon'ble Vice Chancellor GTU expressed appreciation. Dr. Aggarwal also shared the possibility of 1+1 programs in masters' courses between
GTU and HUST. He offered that GTU's Global MBA program is having few of the extra ordinary specializations
like Gandhian Philosophy, Asian Businesses, and Ethics in Businesses and students from HUST can join these
specializations for one semester at GTU. Recently, GTU has initiated the third joint research project, called Multi Location Collaborative Learning (MLCL) for studying the Democracies of the Word. It will be jointly conducted
with DHBW and other Universities of Canada and Africa. Dr. Aggarwal has shown the interest to start the Chinese Language course with help of HUST at GTU. At the end of the meeting both Universities agreed to prepare
a draft MoU for the collaborations in the area of IEP, 1+1 Programs in Master courses, student and faculty exchange, Summer Internship and starting Chinese language school at GTU.

17

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

Presentation of CASESTUDIES of BUSINESS INTERACTIONS
To celebrate the national days of MALAYSIA, UGANDA, MEXICO AND BRAZIL faculty members and students of L. J. Institute
of Management Studies, Ahmedabad
who are studying "Malaysia", Noble College of Engineering & Technology, Junagarh who are studying "Uganda", Smt.
Shantaben Haribhai Gajera MBA Mahila
College, Amreli who are studying
"Mexico" and Som Lalit Institute of Management who are studying "Brazil" participated in the event at GTU.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal (Vice Chancellor,
GTU) said, "India is dealing with almost all
the countries of the world so it becomes
important for our students to study the business relations with those countries and to interact with the industries. Make more efforts to be recognized in the market and distinguish yourself from other MBA students. "
Ms. Bhagyesh Soneji -CMD, Ameda Pharma, Ahmedabad & Chairperson- Gujarat Council ASSOCHAM asked the
audiences, "Do we work for knowledge or luxury?" Let's try to become 'Chanakaya' and work for knowledge.
Motivational Speaker Ms. Abha Maryada Banerjee asked the students to realize hidden potential which everybody is having. Mr. Sunil Modi, Advisor- GCSR presented information about four countries. Mr. Parth Kotecha,
Trustee of Noble group of Institutions, Junagarh also shared about his passion for education.

I-Scale Awards 2014

Innovative Students Co-Creation Award for Leadership and Excellence (i-SCALE)
Name of Initiative: GTUPedia

It works as a link between students, faculty, material available on net, projects, media and many more things the
unique feature about our initiative is that we provide every
relevant information of the needed at one place on one
go.. The system so developed would even be beneficial to
the students belonging to the remote areas where they
even find difficulty using internet there were present a user
friendly, directive ....a lot more to say and go on GTUPedia.
Team: Dhruv Saidava
18

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

GTUs international studies program UNIQUE for HIGHLY USEFUL says Ambassador(retd) K H Patel

On 21st September 2014, GTU celebrated the National Days of CHINA, GERMANY, MALTA AND CHILE. Faculty
members and students of Parul Institute of Management, Vadodara who are studying Germany, Chaudhary
Technical Institute, Gandhinagar who are studying - Malta, CK Shah Vijapurwala Institute of ManagementVadodara, who are studying China and Sunshine Institute of Management, Rajkot who are studying - Chile
participated in the event.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, GTU said that each one should carry out joint research projects in
business management & this is the unique way of studying international business. He informed faculty members of institutes to start publishing the articles on latest happing in the particular GCSR country. India requires
the teachers and students who study the foreign country in details.
Mr. S. Rajaram, Mr. S. Rajaram, CEO, Erhardt Leimer India Private Ltd., a German company shared cultural
difference between India and Germany, he added that the basic difference between India and Germany is that
"We Call India -Mother Land and they call - Father Land". He also explained the work pattern, socializing and
communication style of the German. He informed audience that Germen companies are highly target and result
oriented.
Dr. Shivendra Gupta, Independent Education Management Professional shared his experience with students
and faculties of the function. He explained cyclic steps of development that "Engage - Inform - Educate". He
motivated students by saying that "you should stop looking inside and outside but you should look to the goals
which are to be achieved, he told students that "Stand up and take charge of the situation."
Mr. K. H. Patel, Board of advisor of GCSR, GTU shared information about all four countries. Ms. Bhagyesh Soneji
-CMD, Ameda Pharma Pvt. Ltd, Ahmedabad & Chairperson- Gujarat Council ASSOCHAM said that study of
19

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

Study of COUNTRIES can lead to better Placement Opportunities says:- The Vice-Chancellor
During the academic year 2014-15 students of GTU MBA institutes are studying 113 countries. GTU has started the
unique activity of celebrating National/Independence Days of the countries, being studied under the GCSR program.
On 23rd August 2014, GTU celebrated the National Days of Uruguay, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Ukraine. Faculty
members and students of L. J. Institute of Management Studies who are studying Indonesia, Kalol Institute of management
who
are
studying
Afghanistan,
Sardar
Patel
college
of
Administration
and
Management who are studying Ukraine and Shayona Institute of Business Management who are studying
Uruguay participated in the event at GTU.
Dr. Akshai Aggarwal (Vice Chancellor, GTU) shared the objectives behind celebrating National Days and the efforts by
GTU to make the GCSR program effective. He said that it is always a pleasure to interact with
students and faculty members and talk about GTU's MBA Program.
Mr. K H Patel- Member, Board of Advisors for GCSR said that Afghanistan is a very vital country for India. With Indonesia we have had very nice relations and in spite of being an Islamic country lots of major Indian companies are established there and trend is blooming. He also talked about business relations of India with Uruguay and Ukraine.
Ms. Bhagyesh Soneji -CMD, Ameda Pharma Pvt. Ltd, Ahmedabad & Chairperson- Gujarat Council ASSOCHAM said
that You should have the respect for the feeling of my country, my language, my culture and my products. Afghanistan students also participated in the National day celebration and performed traditional dance of
Afghanistan during the program. They also discussed some cultural facts of the country. Dr. S.O. Junare
explained the students to put sincere efforts in doing all the practical projects which are part of MBA syllabus.

Crowd funding is simply the practice of funding a project or venture by raising capital in the form of small amounts of
money from a large number of people. Crowd Funding in-kind mode doesn't give a stake or profit-sharing to the people

who

contribute

money.

GTU organized the first ever Crowd Funding Initiator (CFI) program, with the support of Start51, in the month of Sep-

tember, 2014. This was Indias first-ever residential crowd funding boot camp, organized by any University in India.
Student-Desk, a book exchange portal by Karan Pujara raised Rs 1.44 lac through crowd funding. Sign-Speaks, an
interpreting application to communicate with differently abled individuals; the brainchild of Kinjal Chaudhari raised
over

Rs

1.56

lac

through

the

crowd

funding.

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor of GTU said that this proves that people are willing to support innovation and
willing to socially invest in these young ideas. If a student is passionate about his/ her project and if a university can
help the students develop their ideas systematically so that student can make a strong pitch, he/ she can succeed in
getting seed-funding required for moving from Final Year project to some sample products.

20

CENTRE FOR GLOBAL BUSINESS STUDIES

National Day Celebration : ZAMBIA, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRIA AND TURKEY
On 11th October 2014, GTU celebrated the National Days of ZAMBIA, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRIA AND TURKEY. To
celebrate the national days of ZAMBIA, SOUTH KOREA, AUSTRIA AND TURKEY faculty members and students of
R.B. Institute of Management Studies who are studying AUSTRIA, Patel group of Institutions- MBA Program who
are studying - TURKEY, CK Shah Vijapurwala Institute of Management- Vadodara, who are studying SOUTH KOREA and N.R. Vekaria, Junagarh who are studying - ZAMBIA participated in the event at GTU.

Dr. Akshai Aggarwal, Vice Chancellor, pointed out that GTU has the best syllabus of MBA and wanted to be the
best University but whether it is on the way to become the best university or not is answered every minute,
ever hour in the class rooms when faculties are taking lectures and students are attending the same.
Dr. Saurabh Mehta, Associate Professor and HOD, VIT, Mumbai shared his experience of South Korea with students and faculties of the institutes. He stayed in the South Korea for almost 8 years. He emphasized that if anyone who wants to learn anything new about the country then he should try to learn about the culture and language of that country. He told students to focus industries i.e. Indian Yoga, Ayurvedic Medicines, etc. He also
identify and explained certain similarities and differences between India and South Korea.

Dr. Rajesh Khajuria, Director CKSVIM and ChairmanGCSR Committee emphasised and informed that the
main motive of this course is to train students and faculties for International studies. Mr. Sunil Modi presented technical information on Afro -Asian countries. Dr.
G.P. Vadodaria, I/C Registrar, GTU welcomed all the
guests as well as faculties and students of all four institutes and added that under Global MBA programme
this is the innovative way of studying various countries
of the world.
21

With the support of Surksha Setu Karyakram of

Gujarat police, GTU has organized a one day
Self Defense Program for Women Dr. Kanan
Desai, ACP, Women Cell, Ahmedabad Police
was the chief guest and she delivered her expert lecture on Women rights. Aim of The selfdefence programme was to help the female
employee/girl students to keep themselves
protected from attacks and abuses. It was also

relevant, especially after a series of attacks

against women in the country today to build
confidence and empowerment of women.

22

Mumbai to Ahmedabad in one hour, 52 minutes by High Speed Train!

If everything goes according to plan, we can reach from Mumbai to Ahmedabad in one hour, 52 minutes by High Speed Railway(HSR). According to project report, the High Speed Railway
can be on horizon by the year 2021, said Mr. Gaurav Agarwal,
Director, Railway Board, Ministry of Railways.
The HSR will cover 176 km in Maharashtra, while 6 km in Dadra
-Nagar-Haveli, while it will cover 364 km in Gujarat. Thus total

546 Km will be covered by High Speed Train of MumbaiAhmedabad corridor. The route will have terminals at Mumbai
& Ahmedabad. It will have intermediate stations at Navi Mumbai, Surat & Vadodara and Depot in Ahmedabad (Geratpur). Expected operational speed of the trains may be 350
km/hr and expected commercial speed may be 286 km/hr. It is also mentioned in the proposal report that if speed
to be kept 300 Km/Hr then it will take 12 minutes more, but can save 27 % energy, Mr. Agarwal said.
He was speaking at a seminar on High Speed Rail in India - What, Why, When, Where, How ? organized by the Research Center for Infrastructure, Transportation & Water Management of Gujarat Technolocial University(GTU). This
Center organizes regular seminars on Affordable Housing, Solid Waste Management systems and recently on Smart
Cities. In the seminar the In-charge Registrar Dr. G.P.Vadodaria mentioned about governments plan to establish
Railway University. He also discussed about the need of industry-academia interaction and joint research projects
between GTU and Indian Railways. Mr. Agarwal welcomed the idea and informed participants about fellowship programmes offered by Indian Railway.
Mr. Agarwal discussed various issues such as Housing- Land use, Policies Financing & Smart Growth. He said India
has one of the largest rail networks but does not have any high-speed rail (HSR) lines capable of supporting speeds
of 200 km/h (124 mph) or more. Construction of the HSR corridor will cost Rs 45,000 Cr (per Km : Rs 80 Cr) and Rolling stock will cost Rs 5000 Cr. Ministry of Railway is considering options for funding of the mega project through
PPP : Public Private Partnership DBOT, Non-PPP : EPC (Engineering, Procurement and commission) as well as FDI
(Foreign Direct Investment).The trains will be aerodynamic and will have noise reduction systems. Seat Design of the

high speed trains will be comfortable and light weight. Brake system of the train will be Disc type, Magnetic and EP
Brake. The train will have emergency exit, passenger alarm system, draft and buffing gear and air conditioning, Mr.
Agarwal elaborated quoting the report.
He said that in the Report of Mckinsey Global Institute (MGI) projections, it is mentioned that by 2030, 40 % of Indias projected population will be urbanized. Thus there will be a growing demand of intercity transport between
Metro city and 2nd/3rd tier city. In the absence of HSR, traffic segment of airlines/cars is growing at 15-20% per
year. Indian Railway is the biggest railway network under a single employer, transports 2 crore passengers & 4 MT
freight every day a total of 9 semi-high speed trains are planned in 2014-15. The speed of the semi-high speed trains
will be 140 Km/hr (intermittent) to 160 KMPH (continuous).
23

Once the healthy establishment of the GTU International Students Cell (ISC), GTU has decided to undertake the
New Project of The Buddy and The Host Family to activate the smooth and comfortable Academic as well as social
founding of all International Students (IS) within the Indian Holly Culture. The Buddy and the Host Family Project is
all about to extend best of the facilities mystically and culturally through our rites & rituals, to the International
Students and continue the tradition of Atithi Devo Bhavah: . In this Project one Local Studious Student, within the
same Institute, is assigned as The Buddy (Close friend) for each International Student of GTU. This Buddy will support him/her as & when required to excel academically, culturally and socially. Beyond the Buddy, one local Family
is identified and allotted as The Host Family, for each International Student of GTU, who will take care of him / her
just like their family member.
In order to make sure their complete establishment academically as well as domestic setup take place smoothly

(1) International Students from Bangladesh

Mr. Kinsuk Sarker and Mr. Arittra Gosh (Sem II
B.Pharm Students) with their Host Family :
Dr. Indermeet Singh Anand, Mrs. Tujender
Anand,

and

their

kids

(2) International Students from Bangladesh

Mr. Apurbo Sarker (Sem II B. Pharm Student)
with his Host Family: Dr. Pankaj Prajapati &
their

Kids

(3) Pilana Gardiya Dinusha (Srilanka) with his

Host Family
Disclaimer: All information published in this newsletter is based on events and reports took place at Gujarat Technological
University. The Editor or Publisher do not take responsibility for content presented during the events. Errors, if any, are
purely unintentional and readers are requested to communicate such errors to gtunewsletter@gtu.edu.in
24