The UVCEianVoice of the UVCE Community | Bi-monthly Newsletter

Volume 1, No 3 August, 2014

Our Country has an abundance of talent, creativity and a great potential. In an

ideal situation India could have been the world leader in technology, research and

development and even manufacturing, but the reality is far from this. For many

years, lack of infrastructure, governance issues and inadequate opportunities

ensured the drain of our skilled human resources to the Western world. Rewind to 30

years ago and all that we heard was about skilled and highly knowledgeable

workforce moving to the West to make it big. They made it big indeed and we can

proudly look up to so many Indians who have been trendsetters in the West. Even

today, we see thousands of students and professionals eagerly move to foreign

shores in pursuit of better opportunities, but not as much as it was in the 80’s or 90’s.

From an “India perspective”, things have changed for better over the last decade.

There has been a reversal in this trend to some extent. A heterogeneous

India or West???

CONTENTSSTUDENTS

Twigs of a tree

SAE Club Updates

Students' Creative Corner- Art and Architecture

FACULTYChalk & Talk A delightful column by Prof. Krishna Vinayak Sharma that talks about a variety of interesting topics . Kshama

Quiz-tron

THEME OF THE MONTH INDIA OR WEST- THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY

Theme Note- The UVCEian

Ab ki Baar India Ka Darbar

India or West- the land of Opportunity

Start-Ups-A long Way to Go

Career Corner

ATTENTION UVCE STUDENTS:

APPLY FOR UVCE FOUNDATION

SCHOLARSHIPS for 2014-15!

2 The UVCEian | Voice of the UVCE Community | August 2014

combination of factors contributes to this change – global economic slowdown, new avenues

of development in India, values in living or simply home-coming! Engineers, Doctors, Scientists

and professionals from diverse backgrounds are returning to India to influence a new change

with their skills and experience. The magnitude of India’s population and its diversity presents a

great opportunity for innovation and experimentation of new ideas.

The startup wave is an evident result of this reverse brain drain phenomenon. Although there

are challenges, this option is emerging as the new high on the economic horizon. Many of our

UVCE alumni have initiated or have been part of startups, creating numerous opportunities in

India.

This month’s UVCEian features our theme on the eternal debate ,“India or West???” as also a

glimpse into the startup scene in India. It would be very inspiring to receive our readers’ inputs,

their success stories; challenges and experiences of a startup. “Twigs of a tree” is a light and

interesting article from a student on life in UVCE. Precious memories that each one of us can

relate to! Nothing much has changed, has it?!! “Good Old UVCE” is an interesting “readers’

contributions” column with a difference. Our readers have shared nuggets from the UVCE

history! “Art and Architechture” a column for creative expressions from students and alumni.

“Through the lens” features the award winning entries of Prathima Kharvi, UVCE Alumnus in the

NDTV – “Keep the Hills Alive”, Image-of-the-day Contest. 

We announce the flagship UVCE Foundation Scholarship Program, with a call for applications

from needy students for the 2014-15 award.

It has been a great experience for us to put this edition together. Do keep writing to us. Your

suggestions and comments, and most important, your valuable participation in the UVCEIan

are most welcome!

Editors, The UVCEian

The magnitude of

India’s population

and its diversity

presents a great

opportunity for

innovation and

experimentation

of new ideas.

WE WOULD LOVE TO FEATURE YOU IN The UVCEian.

We welcome articles and photographs of alumni, current students, current and former faculty. Anything UVCE! Do share your slice of nostalgia and help us feature it online and in print. Write to us at newsletter@uvcefoundation.org

Editorial Board of The UVCEianDr. Alice Abraham ( 1991 E&E)Ms. Ragini H S (1991 E&C) Ms. Kshama Jayanth (1991 E&E) Mr. Suresh Chivukula (2002, E&C) Ms. Chinmayee Nagaraju ( 2008, IS)Ms Gayathri S (2008, IS)Mr. Veeresh K (2014, Mech)

Advisors

Dr. B R Niranjan, Dr. Vinayak Sharma Professor, Dept. Civil Engg. Professor, Dept. of Mech Engg.Dr. Narendra Kumar G Dr. E G Shivakumar Professor. Department of E&C Professor, Department of EE Prof. Dilip

Professor, Department of Computer Science

Cover painting by Varsha Kempaiah, V Semester, BArch

3 The UVCEian | Voice of the UVCE Community | August 2014

Twigs of a TreeM o n d a y b l u e s a r e

something that can be

terrifying to almost every

s i n g l e w o r k i n g c l a s s

person or kid going to a

school or college. But, things

work a little different at UVCE. UVCE

definitely fits the bill for a place where

studies and fun coexist. It all begins

on bright sunny mornings (except in

the winters, they are the worst!) when

people head out from all over the

city to reach its heart where the

college building stands strong. Where

everything is so close to where you

are. Including the traffic – we share

no love with it!!!

Life is a rat race; few can afford to

step out. But here, we have the

opportunity to pause and reflect on

life and create memories forever. My

FRO

M T

HE

CA

MPU

S

fellow Mechanical Engineering classmates would definitely agree when I state that

it is pure joy reaching college every day. Moments relished in the Rock garden

during lunch, “hi-byes” to friends from different branches in the quadrangle, sitting

under the ageing-yet-young rain tree are some things that money can definitely

not buy.

But when it comes to commitment, we mean business. Days during examinations

are the quietest that you can witness around K.R. Circle. The library desks are

crowded with students preparing as much as they can. On a similar note fests are

hosted with the utmost fervor with no stone left unturned. Time and resources are

limited, but fun – unlimited! It is a reason for other colleges’ envy, after all we do

have four fests in a single academic year. Only UVCE.

The college gives us a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, but we also earn a

Master’s in life management. It is perhaps imaginary, but it is there for sure! Look no

further for proof than the UVCE hostel. They always accommodate their day

scholar peers and help the rest experience fun events like the “Hostel Day”. They

always prove to be the back-bone of the college, standing tall when in need and

always being there for their fellow day scholars. Academics would be nothing

without their photocopies, last minute combined studies in hostel rooms or in the

Lecture Complex with handwritten notes and question paper sets.

Rainy days are one of the best experiences that we have here. The quadrangle

soaked after a fresh spell of monsoon rains and the sight after is something that

every UVCEian holds close to the heart. The occasional water trickling through the

branches of the trees above, and seeping through the old roof only dampens our

books, not the spirit.

Cracking jokes with friends, sitting in the last bench completely oblivious to the

lecture, sharing lunch out of a single tiffin box... The list goes on and memories are

aplenty. It feels good to be going through the golden phase of life knowing that

there is nowhere else I’d rather be.

Twigs of a Tree:  An account of everyday life in UVCE

Varun Chakrapani, 7th Semester, Mechanical Engg

ART & ARCHITECTURE

Varsha Kempaiah

3rd Semester

BArch

=  SAEINDIA

eMpower UVCE, the official go-kart team powered

by the UVCE Foundation participated in the Pre-final round

for the National Go Karting Championship 2014 (NGKC) on the 8th of June and has secured the All India 7th position. We are proud to have the first ever team from UVCE to

undertake a project of this scale and represent the institution in the national level. The team is grateful to our mentors from the UVCE foundation, faculty and

peers for their support and encouragement.

The orientation meeting for newly registered students was held on the 14th of May to discuss the prospects of being a member of SAEINDIA UVCE and the list of activities we will be engaged in. Enthusiasm went

through the roof when members were informed that they will be working on live projects shortly. Industrial visits, technical workshops and seminars are being planned for the members to help keep their interests

SAEINDIA  UVCE  UPDATESUVCE  Founda,on  is  proud  to  announce  that  the  GO-­‐Kar,ng  team  of  SAE-­‐UVCE  has  been  shortlisted  for  final  round,  having  secured  7th  place  in  the  pre-­‐  final  round.  

The proposed design for the go-kart and the static load testing on the chassis

high.

The club received a big boost when

UVCE Foundation s p o n s o r e d t h e registration fee for eMpower UVCE to participate in the

G o - K a r t i n g Championship. The faculty was mighty pleased, with the Chairman of the

D e p a r t m e n t o f M e c h a n i c a l Engineering asking students to make the best use of opportunities made available to them through SAEINDIA UVCE. We are grateful to the teaching staff to provide us with

their encouragements and support.

The current Executive Committee will be handing over the charge to a group of fresh and enthusiastic team who will be selected shortly after suitable interviews. Rotation of roles within the club promises to keep the spirit of leadership high

and give an opportunity to students to take up any challenge.

We hope to achieve greater heights in the upcoming years with more students joining the fray.

FRO

M T

HE

CA

MPU

S

The Oldest UVCEian Living Today- Aged 99!

Sri H V Ramaswamy Iyengar passed out from UVCE in 1939 in Civil

Engineering, called the C-39 batch. He was a second generation Engineer. Born on Jan 9th, 1915 to Venkata Varadachar and Raagamma. He was was the eldest son. His mother passed away a few

days after his birth. His father Venkata Varadachar was also an Engineer who had passed out from Pune Engineering College. After his initial studies in Holavanahalli and Tumkur he came to Bangalore and studied at UVCE. IN those days, it used to be called UCE.He joined the Karnataka Public Works Department (PWD) in 1939 and

served for 31 years, retiring in 1970. He worked in different part of Karnataka building dams, bridges and roads. His ideal and role model is Sir M Visvesvaraya. Even to this day he remembers him everyday. Having been part of the freedom movement he took up to Khadi at an early age and has been using only Khadi clothes since pre-independance. He embodies the spirit of "Simple Living, High

Thinking".

Dr.N.Lakshmana Swamy, Chairman, Mechanical Engg. and Prof.K.V.Sharma

presenting the sponsorship cheque to the treasurer of SAEINDIA UVCE

Good Old

UVCE !

Chalk & Talk

The passing away of Khushwant Singh brings to an end one

of the most well-read columns written by a journalist.

Khushwantji was born in an extremely wealthy family. His

father Sir Sujjan Singh is known to have owned parts of

Connaught Circus in Delhi and was a contractor for the

British and was instrumental in building portions of what is

now Lutyens Delhi. Khushwantji’s articles were very readable

and covered a vast range of topics. He wasn’t afraid of

making fun of himself and that says a lot about his self-

assurance. He has to his credit the largest circulation for a

magazine based on cricket. This was when he was the Editor

of The Illustrated Weekly of India. I think the issue on the 1973

victory by Ajit Wadekar’s team touched a circulation of

nearly 3 lakhs. In my opinion, a large portion of credit for this

phenomenal issue should go to its hardworking Assistant

Editor; Raju Bharatan.Khushwantji is survived by his son Rahul

who was, for a long time, the Editor of the Indian Edition of

Readers Digest and a daughter, Maya. RIP, Sardarji. We will

miss you.

Have you seen a movie in 3D? Not cartoons. I mean full

length serious movies with their phenomenal budgets. I have

no idea why they should take a perfectly good movie,

make you wear those humongous glasses that

would have a braille school asking you to enrol to

their courses, take 100 bucks from you as a caution

deposit and then show you the movie where the

actors are reduced to tiny Barbie doll variants, and

everything else turns out to be like Chinese toys.

What I mean is who would want to see an Angelina

Jolie reduced to the size of a finger. Not my idea of

watching a movie. Speaking of movies…the best

movie I have watched for along long time was

Gravity. If nothing else, the movie introduces us to

the unforgiving environment that is Space.

Chalk and Talk

Prof. Krishna Vinayak Sharma

Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, UVCE

By the time you read this, the

shenanigans of the Indian Pathetic

League would be hopefully over. I had been a fan of

cricket once, but don’t see any point in being one when

the game has mutated to the point where it is difficult to

say if it is a friendly contest, with too many protective gears

and clothing or if it is a game of cricket. It reminds me of

the 1984 commercial from Wendy’s, “Where is the beef”? I

do realise that the game as much as everything else in life

is not static and tends to move on and change. But this?

One would have hoped that the basic skill sets which had

made the game so entertaining and adult would be left

untouched. Skill and eyesight and the ability to read the

ball, preferably just before it left the bowler’s hand were

required. This was because bowlers were allowed to bowl

as many bouncers as possible, pitches left uncovered

overnight and batsmen had to play without a helmet. It

was just your eye sight and technique that mattered. Not

easy when there was no limitation on the bowlers to

constrain their run up and umpires (especially the

Australian umps) suddenly lost their voice when they had

to call a no ball of one of their own bowlers, thereby giving

an advantage of 3 feet to the bowler. Imagine, in the late

70’s and then in the 80’s, having to face the full battery of

Ian Chappels team, with the octopus squad consisting of

Ian at first slip, his brother Greg in 2nd slip, Dougie Walters in

third, Ian Redpath in 4th and with Ashley Mallet in gulley

with their colourful (purple, being the colour!) contribution

to the Australian prose directed at the batsmen!!It was a

test of a batsmen’s character. The bowlers at the other

end were Dennis Keith Lillie, Jefferson Thompson, Max

Walker, and Gary Gilmour (who, I hear passed away).

Playing bowlers of this calibre would make the batsmen

spiritual very fast and become extremely competent to

give a discourse on the Impermanence of Life and other

Existential questions. The only batsman that faced this

team with panache, disdain and attitude was Isaac Vivian

Alexander Richards from the fishing village of Antigua.

FRO

M T

HE

CA

MPU

S

6 The UVCEian | Voice of the UVCE Community | August 2014

Quix

1. What is the science of funds management or the allocation of assets and liabilities known as?2. What kind od unusual fear are you suffering from if you have Nomophobia?3. Which most often used word is an abbreviation of the term "orl korrekt"?4. Which international magazine prepares and publishes the list of the world’s wealthiest people every year?5. Which country would you be in if you were at the Suzuka Grand Prix?6. Which company produces the "Inspiron" range of laptops?7. St. Peters Cricket Club is the official cricket club of which organization?8. Which famous messaging application was acquired by Facebook early this year?9. Which character is listed in The Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires and stays at 10880 Malibu

Point, Malibu, California, 90265?10. The Geneva Seal or the Geneva Hallmark is a quality certification standard for what kind of products?

Answers1. Finance 2. Fear of no Mobile network 3. OK 4. Forbes 5. Suzuka 6. Dell 7. Vatican 8. Whatsapp 9. Iron Man 10. Watches

QUIZ-TRON Rohit Nair Alum 2009 CSE

Co-founder, Quizworks

I remember reading a book sometime back in

1985.It made an impression on me and I thought I

should share it with you. Carlos Arana Castaneda

was a Peruvian-American author with a Ph.D.

in anthropology from UCLA. He wrote a series of

books starting with “The Teachings of Don Juan” in

1968. Castaneda’s books speak of his experiences

during a series of spiritual exercises he undertook

under the tutelage of a Yaqui Indian in Mexico’s

Sonora desert. These practices are followed in

Shamanism, a religion followed by the ethnic

people, ranging from the Far East to the Americas.

The books which are narrated in the first person

recount his experiences under the tutelage of

a Yaqui “Man of Knowledge" (Enlightened?) native

Indian whose name was Don Juan Matus.He has

written about 11 books and these have sold more

than 28 million copies in 17 languages.You can

read more of him and the titles of his book. The

Wiki link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Carlos_Castaneda. Don’t be fooled by the serious

nature of the topic. The books are extremely well

written and easy to read. At the end of it all, you

are left asking yourself “heegu unte”!!!? The books

are controversial for a variety of reasons, but I am

sure some of you will like it. To believe it or not is

your choice, right?

History TV 18 is currently airing first season of an

epic seriel.Set sometime in the 7th century AD it tells

the story of Rathner Lothbrok and his family.Rathner is a Viking

from Scandinavia and in the serial he finds a way to navigate to

Northumbria in England. That starts of the era of the Vikings who

plundered and pillaged vast tracts of land in Asia and Europe.

Their boats are interesting because they could sail in seas and as

well as in rivers and extremely manoeuvrable. What makes the

serial compelling to view, is that its settings are very authentic.

That could be because Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s is powering the

finances of this serial. The scenes are violent but then the Vikings

favourite method to say hello to their enemies was to crack their

skulls with a battle axe.

Enough now, already. Don’t want to bore considering that you

guys would have finished your exams and deserve a break.

Speaking of breaks….I don’t mean to preach here, but guys why

don’t you strap on your helmets when riding a bike. I mean, the

helmet is on, the straps are there just clinch the straps. Dying of an

accident is a tragic thing but have you thought of living in an

immobile posture (Practically a vegetable) for the rest of your lives

the mind being lucid and active. You would need assistance to

eat (if you can do that), poo and pee and pretty much

everything else. So do your loved ones and yourself a big favour

and strap on your helmet, firmly and tightly.

Thank ye,all.

(The views expressed in this work are the personal views of the author. They do not represent the views of UVCE or Bangalore University or any other organization.)

ThemeNote

The UVCEIan theme Note

INDIA or WEST- Land of Opportunity

Suresh ChivukulaBatch of 2002, EC, IBM Singapore

Sunder Pichai, Shantanu

Narayen and Preeth Bharara –

What unites them? They are all

achievers in their fields. Not just achievers but

they have excelled at what they do and are

considered leaders in what they do. The

intellectual prowess of India has long been

known to us. For hundreds of years through

history it has put us on the map, with the first

university being built in India, with urban

planning being a centuries old concept and

with our forefathers leading path-breaking

discoveries in medicine, mathematics and

science.

It was this intellectual prowess that made us

an economic powerhouse for many years.

And it is this intellectual prowess that we have

now come to regard with scant respect in

India, a commodity in a country that gave the

world some of its best thinkers. It is this

intellectual power that the world is now

leveraging in no small measures to reap immense benefits. Not all these

benefits are meant for the improvement of society, India’s specifically.

Brain drain has been a topic that has been discussed a decade ago. What

has changed in this decade? Something very significant. From being a

contributor to the development of larger ideas, products and services, we

have now seen a vertical and lateral shift towards owning these ideas,

conceptualizing them and leading them to both applicable and monetary

ends. A brain drain of this nature impacts us at the more grassroots level. An

environment that promotes innovation and provides the infrastructure for

such intellectual capacities to flourish would have made a strong difference

to society. Ideas would have translated to action that could have with some

direction, impacted the large population that still has no access to basic

services like hygiene, primary healthcare or basic infrastructure.

As engineers we should be at the forefront of stemming this brain drain, by

working with the right agencies where possible, and independently where

there is little support in creating the basics to build on. Each step in this

direction could not only stem the brain drain, but be a catalyst to reverse it.

A new challenge calls out for the best in each of us and provides satisfaction

beyond more financial results.

Introspect!

Through The Lens Prathima Karvi. Batch of 2008, ISEAward  winning  entries    in  the  NDTV  –  “Keep  the  Hills  Alive”,  Image-­‐of-­‐the-­‐day  Contest.  

GIri

I graduated in the year 1984 with a BE degree in

Mechanical Engineering from UVCE. I grew up believing like

many others that America was the land of opportunities and that if I studied well, got admitted into one of the American Universities, was lucky enough to get a Student visa and enter America to do my

Masters, I would be fairly well set in Life. Only way to get to US those days was on a student visa. I also knew that I would be going down a path, which would be very hard for the first few years and hoping that it

would get better eventually.

Lets rewind back to 1984, 30 years ago to be precise when I graduated and take a look at how things were then.

-­‐ It would take 10 years to get a

telephone landline!!!! Forget about mobile phones

-­‐ Roads were fairly empty and the cycle stand in UVCE would be packed. Yes, there were some lucky folks who would

come by scooters and motorcycles-­‐ Color TV’s were just coming in and there

were only 2 Doordarshan channels to watch during the evenings

-­‐ Only cars available in the market were

Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Maruti was making an entry.

-­‐ I had never seen a computer and had only heard about them

-­‐ We had a Fortran 4 programming

language theory course as part of our Engineering curriculum

-­‐ There was no internet, Facebook, WhatsApp …….-­‐ There were no companies coming to the college for placements.

Only companies that were hiring in large numbers were the public

sector companies like ITI, BEL, HAL ….-­‐ There were no malls to hang out. Janatha Bazaar in Majestic was as

close as it got

I completed my Masters degree, got myself a job, got married, had kids,

worked there for several years and finally relocated back to India in 2000 and I have been working in India ever since.

Now if I fast forward to the year 2014 and ask myself a question on whether I would do the same I did 30 years ago, my response would be Yes and a No.

It would be a Yes to go and do a Masters in US and I believe that graduate

studies in US are still very good. Unfortunately there are only a few good institutions in India and not many of them are research oriented and getting in to one of these is very tough. It would

definitely be a No from an economic, social and work perspective.

Few countries have improved their economic prospects so

dramatically as India has in the last 20 years. Largely thanks to market reforms in the 90’s, India has begun transitioning from low-paid outsourcing jobs into a sophisticated service economy. The

nation’s world-class software developers are moving from low paid support / debugging jobs into high-margin consulting. Our folks are

handling financial analysis for Wall Street firms. India’s drug makers, previously held in contempt by the developed world for patent piracy, are being sought after by the same global giants whose

medicines they were copying. There is nothing really available in the West that is not available in India. What India desperately

needed was a stable, non coalition government run by a single party focusing on growth and hopefully we have that now.

In short, India has become a place where talented, intelligent and

hard-working people can get ahead. Why look west?

India or West - the Land of Opportunity

Giri TirumaleBatch of 1984, Mechanical

VP, Exilant Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Sagar

Ab Ki Baar - India Ka Darbar

Sagar MoudgalBatch of 2008, Mechanical

MD, Tetrad India Solutions Pvt Ltd

“By 2030 India is going to the 3rd most

powerful economy in the world” reads an

eye-catching masthead in Deccan

Herald, 6th July 2014. The origins of the

heading are based on studies from audit

and consulting big 4, PwC’s London

office. Should this make us proud and

happy? Very well yes. We wear our pride

so much more on our sleeve in recent

times. All one needs to do is to notice it

and acknowledge it.

One of the more viral stories on Facebook

recently is of Indians like Satya Nadella

and Indra Nooyi making it to the helm of

a Fortune 500 company. Fortune 500?

These may very well be Fortune 10

c o m p a n i e s . A s o f t - q u o t e d ( a n d

sometimes not based on any census) go,

about 30% of NASA is Indian. Easy to

argue that to a great extent we run some

critical programs for NASA.

Hypothetically speaking what would

happen if all these splendid brains

worked in India and for India. PwC’s 2030

vision would become reality by 2020.

Recently two top universities of the world

met Smriti Irani, Minister for HRD, of the

newly elected Modi government. Top of

the agenda of these universities was to

set up satellite campuses in India, all a

clear indication that the world is looking

at us. In recent decades one of our main

scourges has been the brain drain. While

reasons for this are many, the evident

ones are personal financial gains, local

infrastructure as a bane, and the lack of government will

and policy in the right direction.

The situation is now changing and rapidly so. Global sector

leaders are increasingly looking at India to both grow their

business topline and leverage our immense depth in

intellectual capacity as a source of fundamental and

applied research. This could be the first wave of a serious

reverse brain drain setting in. The world might have realized

that if a handful of Indians have done so much outside

India what would our collective will and enterprise leave as

an impact.

We are the ones who gave the world the concept of a ‘0’,

the most fundamental element of science, arguably and

by putting digits before that we can make it 1,00,0,00,0.

India is here - Indians where are you?! Kyun ki “AB KI BAAR

INDIA KA DARBAAR”.

Good Old UVCE!Those were the days , my friend

Kshama Jayanth, Batch of ’91

Sartups the government. For instance, it takes

around 27 days to start a company in india, while it usually takes 1-2 days to start

companies in the United States. It gets even worse when entrepreneurs have to wind up their startups to launch another one. It typically takes years and a lot of paperwork for the process to complete.

Lack of investment: It is difficult to raise local investment to expand their business, due to which startups end up having limited resources to hire and retain employees in their companies.

Early adopters: Finding early adopters through which startups can experiment and validate their idea is still a struggle in India. Converting them into paid customers is even more difficult.

On the other hand, western countries provide a more startup-friendly ecosystem for entrepreneurs. This includes faster and simplified government procedures to setup a company, better infrastructure like faster

Internet speeds, higher smartphone proliferation, and higher credit card penetration.

Western countries also provide better opportunities for companies to raise growth

investments and the conversion ratio of free customers to paid customers are also higher.

That being said, there are some growing indications of an improving startup scenario

in the country. Several accelerators and incubators have popped up over the last few years, which incentivizes more entrepreneurs to explore their ideas. These accelerators also provide access to

mentors, investors and potential clients. Several foreign investors are also now looking at indian

companies for potential investments opportunities.

Furthermore, it’s worth noting that India is still a developing market and is among the fastest growing

consumer bases purely due to the sheer size of Indian population and it’s similarities with the Western cities. This provides a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs

to build more innovative startups unlike in the more developed western countries.

With declining technology costs and improving infrastructure,

Indian entrepreneurs are also now slowly getting into a position where they can compete with their global counterparts while staying in India itself.

On the government front as well,

there are some indications of the

processes and regulations being

simplified for Startups. A new

entrepreneurship ministry has also

b e e n s e t u p b y t h e n e w

government, indicating how

s e r i o u s i t i s a b o u t

entrepreneurship. Apart from

this, several state governments

are also setting up incubators

and angel funds to invest in

Indian companies

STARTUPS IN INDIA - MILES TO GO!

Vikas S N

Batch of 2008, ISE

Once you plan to launch a startup, one of the

biggest dilemmas you would

probably have is whether you should do your startup in India or launch it in western countries like the United States.

A startup’s location is important since

that determines a lot of things like the infrastructure availability, government policies and presence of a startup ecosystem to support them among others.

These factors can have a direct impact on the company’s business and its future growth and the right location can either make or break your startup.

Western countries have been the preferred choice over India for starting a company for a long time, since India is probably the toughest country to do business in. Here are

some reasons why:

Nascent ecosystem: India’s startup ecosystem is still nascent and improving. While there has been a few successful companies like redBus,

Flipkart and JustDial, there are still not enough role models to look up to, unlike in the US where there are several role models like Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg and

Jack Dorsey among others.Too much bureaucracy: Startups are still burdened by lot of unnecessary processes and over-regulation from

Career CornerCareer Counselor Ram Vasantharam

(Batch of ’69)Former Director, Intel-India

CareerQ: I finish my B.Arch in the next semester and very

keen to study abroad. Can you please guide on

some of the options available?

Rupa Gohil

Ram: There are several good architecture colleges

in US. Some of the top ones like MIT are difficult to

get into, especially for graduates from foreign

countries. If you do have excellent grades it is

worth applying for few of these colleges. One

notch lower colleges are somewhat easier get into

with good grades. I recommend colleges in Texas

(or Midwestern states) such as Rice, UT Austin. They

are excellent, provide financial aid for good

students and cheaper to live than coastal states in

US.

Besides US, there are good architectural colleges in

England, Singapore that are probably cheaper and

worth doing homework on. You need to have a

local US degree to get a job in US.

Q: I finish my B.Arch in the next semester and I want

to set up my own design studio. Some of my friends

say that it is too soon and that I need to get some

experience of work with some seniors for a while.

Please guide.

Joseph Ebenezer T

Ram: Yes, I agree with your friends. You need to get

solid 4-5 years of experience in a good architectural

firm or a design studio before starting your own.

Working experience helps you to learn customer

relations skills, planning skills, project execution,

executing within budget, cost control working

effectively with co-workers, management, sub-

ordinates. Besides it helps you to learn managing

through problems, failures, cost overruns. With the

right job you will be able to learn managing

finances, working with Income tax and other office

management functions. These are all necessary skills

to run your own business in any field.

Q: I am pursuing Civil Engineering and will graduate in

2015. I want to join any Company which works on

research especially in the Environment. Where can I

look for opportunities?

Rajesh Nair

Ram: Environmental engineering is one of the

upcoming fields with lot of growth opportunities. It is a

fairly hot field here in US because of concerns with

global warming and the impact industries have on

global warming. Government is trying to regulate

pollutions produced by industries, automobiles,

aircrafts, gasoline producers, refineries, power plants

etc. Both industry and the government need experts

in the field to help manage it.

Even though it has not become such a big issue in

India yet, it will be in next few years. With international

pressure and government concerns with pollution,

industries will have to regulate pollutants getting into

the environment through water, air and land. Any

large corporation in manufactur ing such as

automobi le , text i le , I T ( s i l icon assembly o r

manufacturing), chemical plants, drug industries, power

plants should all be (or will be in the near future) ramping

up in hiring environmental engineers. I believe you are in

the right field at the right time.

UVCE FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Giving Back to Make a Difference for the Next Generation

ScholarUVCE Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2002 by UVCE alumni in USA and India, is devoted to the enhancement and strengthening of UVCE through engagement with its widespread alumni.

As a part of our initiatives to give back to UVCE, we have established the UVCE Foundation Scholarship Program, supported by UVCE alumni across the world, to help needy students in bearing their educational expenses. The Foundation's mission is achieved

through a Scholarship Program that enables awardees to overcome financial hardships in their studentship and become useful members of the local and global community.

We invite applications from UVCE students with economic need for the 2014-15 scholarships award.

UVCE Scholarships and Need-Based Assistance

2014-15

Applications Due by September 10th, 2014FIRST . SECOND . THIRD Year Students at UVCE

APPLY TODAY!

Eligibility Criteria

1. The primary focus will be Full-time BE students of I/II/III years for 2014-15.2. Students with a gross family income of upto Rs. 1, 20,000 per year may apply. 3.Applicants must provide information of any other

assistance from Government / or other organizations by way of scholarships/ fee reductions or waivers etc.

Need based -Merit ScholarshipsThe criteria for awarding these scholarships will include family income, education, occupation of parents and family living conditions of the candidate; it is desirable that the candidate should also have a meritorious academic record.

Need based-Talent Scholarships*These awards are based on a student’s artistic, athletic or other abilities, and will factor in an applicant's extracurricular activities. If you have any achievements in the field of arts, sports or community service, and you are in need of financial support.

DOWNLOAD FORM ONLINE APPLICATION

To apply offline, please download the application form and send by ordinary post to UVCE Foundation, #17, 2nd Main, Basaveswara Layout, 2nd Stage, Chandra Layout, Bengaluru 560040, India.

Click the link above to apply online. All the supporting documents will be collected by the scholarship team for verification after initial scrutiny of application.

* For more information write to info@uvcefoundation.org or call +91 9886253147 or visit www.uvcefoundation.org

UVCE Foundation In  US;  UVCE  Founda0on  US,  PO  Box  0455,  Cuper0no,  California  –  95014,  USA,  Ph:  +1  408  996  1022  |In  India:  UVCE  Founda0on,#17,  2nd  Main,  Basaveswara  Layout,      2nd  Stage,  Chandra  Layout,  Bengaluru  560040,    India  |  Ph:  0091  94482  70489.    Like our page on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/UVCEAlumni

UVCE Foundation US is a 501 (C) organization in USA. In India, UVCE Foundation is 80G certified. Registered in 2002.