PSG Tech shapes some of the best engineers in the world and houses best facilities for engineering minds in India.
I am among the millennium batch and the course I had chosen is sandwich electrical and electronics engineering. The course is unique in India and it combines the best of practicals and theory
Again in my life, I am tired as it was more about getting the best numbers when it comes to exams. But it's the race that everybody need to be in PSG tech and then show your other talents through the ecosystem of great clubs and special interest groups. But mark matters if there is an idea of getting hired by a big company and if going for higher studies
I decided during first year that I want to be an entrepreneur and I aminspired by the relation between the top billionaires in the world and their education track record (Think Steve, Gates, Premji, Branson). But I can't afford to be a college dropout but I am damn sure about marks making any no impact in my pprofessional life. So last bench is my favorite place, I'll be among the last bunch to submit assignments but just I made sure that I hit 10s in the subject that I liked.
But I always had a guilty feeling of not making anything out of my college life. I don't have any interest in arts or in academic affairs. Technology is all I am interested in. It was very surprising to me that there was no formal or informal organization of geeks in the college and they operated in silos. The flash happened when I met few of my seniors. There are hardcore geeks in the group and first time I heard people talking about hacking, phreaking, building stuff etc. I was exposed to IEEE by a guy who is the chairman for PSG IEEE at that time and I had quickly taken it for myself in my batch. I had did that just because it's about science and tech. After all I got to take something for myself as I am an average performer in my class
But IEEE was viewed as a boring organization in college and people directly relates it to paper presentations, a springboard for higher studies etc. It was no cool and there are very few members. People viewed it as just another cost and the potential that IEEE can bring in to their career was not understood by almost all
It was year 2004 and I was elected as the secretary for IEEE-PSG Tech. The role as a secretary comes with responsibilities and some power to run the org as you wish. The funding was proportional to the number of members that the college has and only if there is enough funds, IEEE can be made cool again. So my immediate agenda was to ramp up the members in college. It's pretty obvious that I can preach to my batch, co-batch or juniors to take membership. So the immediate strategy was to recruit freshers to college. The strategy worked well that from few tens, we ramped up above a hundred and immediately we are among top IEEE partner colleges when it comes to memberships. I had partnered with my friend Guru to make IEEE cool again and deliver a message that it's a must for engineers.
We decided to host an event (Technovita - He he sounds funny now) for all India colleges participation which not only focussed on usual paper presentation but an event for technology. We decided to host a technology show and pull in the best from industry. Sony, Skoda, Microsoft, Mindtree, TCS, L&T etc agreed to participate. We had decided for a pavilion to demonstrate robotics and latest gizmos & gadgets. We quickly organised a team of smarties to work for the show. I had worked with Guru to raise funds, event design and all the talking with sponsors, guests and judges.
With funds started flowing on one side, we got a huge response for event participation. Technology show sponsors turned in as promised and the organising team had done a great job. The show was a smash hit and the IEEE event was a head turner in college that day
The legacy was carried on next year and now their flagship event was called Srishti. IEEE PSG Tech, a world famous branch for numerous awards has become a live example for making IEEE cool too.
I shared a leadership award with Guru from IEEE, US president and it was great fun to make IEEE cool in PSG..
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