Pressing Issues Of Higher Education In India – Thoughts By Dr. Uday Salunkhe

With so many management schools cropping up in India, Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool, stresses on a few issues faced in India in this regard. After the establishment of four premier IIMs between 1961 and 1984, the number of management schools rose phenomenally across the country and today the number is close to 2500.

This burgeoning number has made quality control a difficult task, says Dr Uday Salunkhe, with the result that the structure and content of these B-school curricula today face issues of relevance. The old style has to be shunned as many schools are not adequately equipped to solve the business needs of advanced organizations.

The traditional managerial approaches to address these challenges do not work. The solution to this problem is focusing on the art of design thinking. Design Thinking, one of the core subjects at Welingkars Institute, says Dr Uday Salunkhe, is a tried and tested instrument, and laterally and holistically innovative in its approach which equips the manager to overcome these hurdles and move closer to the solution.

The distinctive traits of design thinking are that it demands inquiry into accepted notions, multisensory perceptions, cross domain application and prototyping , which are important in today’s advanced organizations, says Dr uday Salunkhe. Welingkar Institute understands the importance of design thinking and puts special focus on this subject to help the aspirants to grasp the idea by illustrating scenarios with live examples.

By quoting Tim Brown who is the MD & CEO, IDEO, Dr Uday Salunkhe concludes “I believe that design thinking has much to offer a business world in which most management ideas and best practices are freely available to be copied and exploited. Leaders now look to innovate as a principal source of differenciation and competitive advantage.

Smart Cities Need Smart Education, Says Dr Uday Salunkhe

Director of WeSchool, Dr. Uday Salunkhe defined the role of educational institutions in the contribution towards National Agenda. He stressed on the importance of education in fulfilling the objectives of the agenda. ‘Smart education will lead to smart citizens leading to sustainable smart cities,’ added Dr. Uday Salunkhe.

Explore, Develop And Incubate Business And Design Ideas, Says Uday Salunkhe

Vidisha Chhajer is one of the many happy students of Welingkar’s Institute of Management to have secured placement in reputed firms. She recently received a job offer at Infosys, a well known IT giant. It is a dream come true for her. What does she attribute her success to?

‘I thank Welingkar’s Institute and Dr. Uday Salunkhe for my success’, she says. Dr. Uday Salunkhe is the Group Director of Welingkar’s Institute of Management. ‘My institute helped me immensely and the guidance of Dr. Uday Salunkhe has been influential on all students’.

There are many such success stories coming from Wellingkar’s Institute of Management, which is now commonly known as WeSchool. So what sets it apart from other institutes? One such quality is the location of the Institute. The institute is situated in Bengaluru’s Electronic City, and is flanked my Siemens, Infosys, and Wipro – three companies that are considered as giants of the industry.

Group Director Dr. Uday Salunkhe informed us that the institute organizes various programmes related to human resources, finance and marketing. Welingkar’s Institute is known for its innovation and design thinking. Under the leadership of the dean and Dr. Uday Salunkhe, the institute has soared to new heights.

Classroom programmes follow a hands-on approach to drive theoretical learning through live projects. Welingkar’s Institute has recently launched InnoWe, an innovative new lab. The objective of InnoWe, according to Dr. Uday Salunkhe, is to provide a platform for students to explore, develop and incubate business and design ideas.

Additionally, the institute has also developed a state-of-the-art, prototype lab where students can experiment freely. They can give real form to their concepts and test them in the prototype lab. The Welingkar staff actively encourages students to conceptualize ideas and experiment with them, says Dr. Uday Salunkhe, with a proud expression on his happy face.

Uday Salunkhe Expresses His Views On Biogas Initiative

Welingkar’s Institute of Management recently installed a biogas plant at their Mumbai campus as part of an initiative to convert waste into usable forms of energy. The biogas unit will use the wet waste generated in the cafeteria of the campus to produce clean energy that will provide a part of the institute’s energy needs.

Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director of Welingkar’s, informs us that the biogas unit was installed by the Swedish company called Cleantech that had participated in the India Sweden Energy Accelerator at WeSchool last year. Dr Salunkhe further stated that this environment friendly initiative will enable the institute to manage solid waste in a convenient and efficient manner.

The initiative will also lead to reduced usage of LPG cylinders. Renowned Indian energy companies like Sahara India Pariwar, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd, Tata Power, Ultratech etc attended the event seeking potential partnerships with Swedish counterparts like Opcon, S Solar, HiNation, FOV Biogas, Clean Motion etc in the form of joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions.

Our students helped the Swedish companies, informs Dr. Uday Salunkhe, in providing clean technology for energy generation, find business partners in India so that they may make their innovative technologies for renewable energy generation available to the masses in India.

The biogas unit at Welingkar Institute’s Mumbai campus will primarily take care of solid waste. Solid waste management has been a huge problem for a populated city like Mumbai, notes Dr. Uday Salunkhe. What the biogas initiative will do is eradicate the problem of accumulation of waste and convert the same into a clean form of usable energy.

With Swachh Bharat also aimed at waste management and a clean India, Welingkar’s Institute is moving in the right direction with the biogas initiative. Dr. Uday Salunkhe congratulated his team and expressed his pride and gratitude towards these intitiatives.

Dr. Uday Salunkhe Expresses His Thoughts on India’s Green Energy Sector

Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director of Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, spoke to The National Business on India’s green-energy sector and its development.

‘To boost renewable energy in India, newer technologies, research and international cooperation will have to be roped in,’ Dr. Uday Salunkhe said. He further added that the country will have to focus on skilled labor, effective project management and environmental clearances for success in newer technologies.

Growth in infrastructure should be encouraged by the state government. Solar in the west, wind in the south and hydro power in the north-east can be tapped in for effective development in the inaccessible regions.

When asked about the challenges, Uday Salunkhe quoted, “India is not self-sufficient as we still import solar panels. Cost is another factor.” He urges that the technology used in panels can be improvised for cost cutting. Added ambiguity in tariff policies is another issue he pointed out. To curb these challenges, he suggested the presence of a central authority.

Uday Salunkhe predicts that the costs involved in conventional power will soon rise. This will work in favor of renewable energy. The wind and solar sectors have all the potential to generate massive overseas investments for the future.

Dr. Uday Salunkhe Contributes His Ideas For Clean India At the 102nd Indian Science Congress

The 102nd Indian Science Congress 2015 was hosted by and in association with the University of Mumbai. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which is a flagship project of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi, became a core point of discussion.

RA Mashelkar, a veteran scientist has been appointed as the chairman of the technological expert panel for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. “The major issue is about using the toilets and not about building them. The themes of Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are related to science and through the Indian Science Congress; the technologically and socially sound models presented and suggested in the congress will encourage people to find more such solutions,” said RA Mashelkar.

Dr. Uday Salunkhe, director of Welingkar Institute presented his ideas and innovations on Clean India. Joining him in the session were Sudheendra Kulkarni of Observer Research Foundation, Rajeev Kher of 3S and Saraplast, Pradeep Lokhande of Rural Relations and Swapnil Chaturvedi of Samagra.

Mahatma Gandhi, a pioneer and inspiration for Swachh Bharat, gave an equal importance to sanitation over political independence. “It should be a government backed people movement,” said Sudheendra Kulkarni while citing the Mahatma’s example.

On concluding the session, Mashelkar expressed gratitude and promised to convey the session’s suggestions to the Prime Minister.

Dr. Uday Salunkhe’s views on Clean India came strongly in support of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. His opinions and ideas on the subject were highly appreciated by all attendees.

Transforming Nasik Into A Smart City – Thoughts By Dr. Uday Salunkhe

Welingkar students contributed in a collaborative effort in Kumhathon by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Boston), USA. Aligned with the national agenda of Digital India, Kumbhathon started as an initiative to find solutions for Kumbh Mela, Dr. Uday Salunkhe explained. However, now it has become a testing ground for projects to convert a city into a smart city. All shops on-line is one such project.