Ministry of Human Resource Development has established ‘MHRD’s Innovation Cell’ with the mandate to work closely with our Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to encourage the creative energy of our student population to work on new ideas and innovation and promote them to create start-ups and entrepreneurial ventures. As part of these activities, Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) of University of Hyderabad celebrated Birthday of former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (15th October, 2019) by organizing a Innovation Day Lecture entitled “Entrepreneurship and Academia: A match made in heaven” by Dr. Uday Saxena. The function was chaired by Prof. Arun Agarwal, Pro- Vice Chancellor and President of the IIC.
Convener of the Institution Innovation Council and Director of Technology Industrial Liaison and Entrepreneurship Unit (TIE-U) Prof. G.S. Prasad welcomed the audience to the program and explained about the Institution Innovation Council and its programs in creating innovation ecosystem in the university. He has explained to the students about the proposed activities of the IIC, and encouraged them to apply for the Preincubation facility being created for the students.
In his opening remarks Prof. Arun Agarwal Pro Vice Chancellor-1 recollected the contributions of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to the country, He was India’s 11th President, who served from 2002 to 2007, and was widely referred to as the people’s President besides being credited for India’s civilian space programme and military missile systems. He invoked two important quotes of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalamto mark the occassion:
“Ignited Minds are the most powerful resource on Earth, above Earth & under Earth.” and
“Innovation is born out of the cultural excellence. This excellence is a process when an individual or a nation contrives to fulfil the dream with calculated risks”.
He further mentioned that Innovation in its modern meaning is “a new idea”, whereas entrepreneurship is about making these new idea into a business opportunity.
In his Innovation day talk, Dr. Uday Saxena explained to the audience about his experience as a researcher vs entrepreneur, and what are different stages and types of entrepreneurship. He has touched upon the various support schemes of Govt. to support the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country. He has advised the students that entrepreneurship is an alternative career, and this is the right time to become an entrepreneur using various opportunities given by Government under Startup India, Make in India etc.
The lecture was attended by faculty and enthusiastic students who interacted with the speaker to learn about his experiences on startups and entrepreneurship.