IISc A humble alumni view

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IISc A humble alumni view

• A presentation made to Mr. Kasturirangan,
  Chairman, IISc council by
• C S Murali, M P Ravindra and D N Prahlad

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First of all

• We, the Bangalore chapter of IISc alumni state
  that
• We are here since we love this place that has
  given us so much without asking anything in
  return.
• We are grateful for what it has given us and want
  to work for its success selflessly
• We need direction and encouragement to contribute
• If we highlight any negatives, it is with a view
  to improve and is always issue based and never
  personality based

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The future 100 years Some questions

• What will the institute look like?
• None of us may be around for the next centenary.
  Legacy to be left behind???
• There is a vision statement from the founding
  father
• What is IIScs contribution? Is it in line with
• IIScs expectations?
• Founding Fathers vision?
• Governments expectations

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Let us look around us MIT

• Massachussets institute of technology
• MIT's Influence On The World
• MIT is a school with a long and productive
  history of innovation, and the goal of many MIT
  students and faculty is to use technology and
  knowledge to improve the human condition.MIT was
  recently honored by Washington Monthly magazine
  for its success in "performing as an engine of
  social mobility... fostering scientific and
  humanistic research, and... promoting an ethic
  of service to country." The Washington Monthly
  guide aims to identify colleges which "do well by
  doing good," an aim which fits well with MIT's
  own mission. Students are frequently encouraged
  to unite engineering excellence and public
  service through class projects.

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Let us look around us MIT

• 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes) is a
  required senior capstone design course for
  mechanical engineering majors. For the past
  several years, the professor-designated theme for
  the student projects has centered on making the
  world a better place through engineering. In
  2004, students designed projects using
  alternative forms of energy projects included a
  solar-powered water pump, a human-powered battery
  charger for a film projector used to educate
  women in Mali, a vaccine-cooling backpack which
  keeps vaccines from spoiling on long journeys to
  remote locations, and a extruder which makes a
  charcoal-like product from sugar cane waste in
  Haiti. In 2005, the class focused on machines
  which could be used for sustainable agriculture
  projects included a lentil sorter, a manioc
  grater, a tree mover, and a mechanical banana
  harvester. Entrepreneurship by MIT alumni and
  faculty

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Let us look around us MIT

• MIT is well known for its entrepreneurship, and a
  1997 study entitled MIT The Impact of Innovation
  by the BankBoston Economics Department quantified
  that entrepreneurial spirit
• If MIT graduates formed their own country, it
  would have the 24th-largest economy in the world.
  
• MIT graduates have formed over 4,000 companies,
  and that number increases by about 150 each year.
  
• Over 1.1 million people owe their jobs to a
  company founded by an MIT grad.
• MIT companies make over 232 billion dollars each
  year.
• Some of the 4,000 companies founded by MIT
  alumni
• McDonnell Douglas, Campbell Soup, 3COM, Bose,
  Analog Devices, MathWorks, Gillette, Texas
  Instruments, Akamai, International Data Group
  (IDG), Teradyne, Raytheon, Genentech
• MIT undergraduates are free to take courses in
  any department, and are also generally free to
  take graduate-level courses, so engineering and
  science majors can learn principles of
  entrepreneurship at MIT's top-notch Sloan School
  of Management.

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Let us look around us NUS

• National University of Singapore
• Started in 1980
• Achieved a world ranking of 33 in 2007
• 28,000 students from 80 countries
• Colleges in other countries (including one at
  IISc in Bangalore)
• We are nowhere near 33, let alone top 5

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IISc Contribution to society

• Number of highly qualified, highly trained
  graduates to promote Arts, Industry and Science
  (taken from the founding fathers statement)
• Facts that stick out like a sore thumb
• Scale 20 ME students per year, the number in
  1970s.
• Lack of Internationalization Need for faculty
  and students from other countries on long term.
  We need to be in other countries
• World ranking We are low by any measurement
• A 100 year brand not being leveraged
• Lacking in interdisciplinary approach?
• Lack of solutions to local communities for
  scientific, economic and social development. For
  example, civic and traffic problems in Bangalore
• IISc alumni have not contributed as much as MIT
  alumni to their alma mater or society at large

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NUS is addressing the following

• Fear of Failure and Disappointment
• Crisis of Arrogance
• Complacency
• Mindless Bureaucracy

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Are IIScs problems insurmountable?

• No, we do not believe so. IISc has gone through
  worse times. It seems as though unless there is
  trouble there is reluctance to change

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Solving it then some thoughts

• Strategy and action plan
• Institute a process for reviewing vision
• Strategize and plan Hire from outside
• Commit to change management
• Complexity by size
• IISc will get bigger and more complex. Needs a
  full time Chief Operations officer equivalent
• Complexity by randomness
• Liaise better with Government of India
• Perhaps quite satisfactory at the moment with
  alumni in GOI
• Backward integration
• Need for restarting a strong undergraduate
  program

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Solving it then some thoughts .

• Funding
• New sources must be identified and tapped
• Alumni
• Companies
• Active management of funds
• Retain old sources
• Government
• Approach Tata
• Attracting top class faculty and students
• Devise new ways to do this

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Solving it then some thoughts .

• Promote interdisciplinary approach
• Change management to address this
• There is more in it for all
• Research quality
• Publicise research output
• Industry interaction
• Branding
• Make IISc an aspirational Lifestyle product
• That is what it is
• Bose, Apple, Reebok are examples

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What alumni have done till now

• Promoted cohesiveness amongst alumni
• Formed web and governance structures for long
  term existence
• Strategy and vision
• Met McKinsey
• Initiated talks with U. Mich.
• Some alumni have created chairs

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What we can do

• Can
• Promote change management by interviewing and
  addressing faculty
• Form a cell to promote This month in IISc
  whereby press is briefed every month on research
  from IISc
• Execute any projects where our industry expertise
  may be of help

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Thank You