Earn while you Learn  

Now it's the turn for students to become entrepreneurs. Though this sounds strange, it is a global phenomenon which is yet to catch up in India. Forget new ventures, our students do not even want to join a start-up! Thankfully National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) has come into picture to provide the industry academic interaction which can foster some daring ventures.

NEN recently organised its annual National Entrepreneurship Week where colleges were judged for student and faculty involvement, quality and quantity of events organised, creative use of media and the campus environment and so on. Bangalore witnessed over 1,000 entrepreneurship events hosted by 15 colleges, engaging more than 20,000 students in the city.

Students of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology organised the "Bangalore on the run", where 18 people took part in a city version of MTV Roadie contest. They also created a software for mock stock trading; Members of Birla Institute of Technology, Jaipur organised Business plan contest; Students from St Joseph's, Bangalore launched an entrepreneurial awareness drive in all colleges named ‘Mission Jagriti'; while students of Mount Carmel College organised a fashion show.

Laura Parkin, Executive Director, NEN says, "When you look at western countries, every university campus is filled with young entrepreneurs and many who graduate are keen on start-ups. Unfortunately in India, it has not been so methodical. It was to fill up this gap that NEN was set up. We noticed that many successful start-ups were by average middle-class people who wanted something better than the jobs they were in."

Hopefully changing

Just as we wondered when will our beloved Public Sector Banks (PSBs) ever change, there has been a welcome change. Canara Bank, the Bangalore based bank announced a pleasant image makeover on the new year's eve. It has even ventured into sponsoring international events such as the Bangalore Open! Under the able leadership of M B N Rao, the bank has moved from being a slow century old elephant into a nimble cheetah oriented to attract the young consumer.

But mere brand image makeover with glitzy ad campaign does not bring in nimbleness in attitude. The pragmatic ideas of the top management have to be implemented earnestly by the staff who manage the front end. will this change happen? will customers feel the diff erence?

Bright ideas needed

Hope you would heard of the "How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?" kind of internet jokes. There are a series of such jokes, right from the number of blondes to the number of bureaucrats needed to change a bulb! But all of a sudden, changing a light bulb is really becoming a serious business world over.

While the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) was not good enough with its feeble light, things have changed drastically in the last decade. Now a CFL can deliver the as much power of light while giving immense energy savings. A typical light bulb uses only 5-10% of its power for emitting light and the rest 90% is wasted as heat.

But despite such wastage and its short life of a few months, we never bothered to change it for a better product. Why? Simple, we never really bothered about power wastage until one day electricity bill gave us a big jolt. But in India, we have another hurdle to cross. The high price of a CFL bulb makes it unaffordable for the masses. A normal bulb costs Rs.15-20 while a CFL bulb costs Rs.150-200. Why such a high price? CFL bulb producers easily defend their position that the economies of scale has brought down the price from the Rs.400-500 levels prevalent 10 years ago to the present. But they need to realise that a more efficient product with better pricing is about the enter the market. LEDs or the Light Emitting Diodes are now emitting a more dazzling amount of light than ever before and they are highly energy efficient and durable. Lets see if LEDs can lead the CFLs out of the limelight.

Cool ideas for blazing summer

Recently at the ACREX 2008 expo on refrigeration, HVAC and allied services, there was a strange machine named ‘Mycooler' displayed, which was attracting all the attention. It was jointly developed G V Rao, Navaneeth and P G David, who are engineers associated with the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE). It was given the Bry-Air Award for Excellence in HVAC & refrigeration presented annually for making outstanding contribution in innovative systems or product design.

Mycooler is a pedal powered refrigerator which can keep perishable products at a minimum of 80 C for short duration. At an ambient temperature of 350 C, the cycle needs pedalled at the speed of 16kmph for 20 minutes, the attached turbine of the refrigeration box begins to move bringing down the temperature. This temperature will stay for up to three hours after which one has to pedal again for three to five minutes.

The innovator G V Rao who is based in Mysore said, "This cycle powered Mycooler can prove to be useful for rural areas without proper electricity. The idea took wings at the meeting at Mysore in an Institute of Engineers' meeting. Mycooler was developed in three months' time and it is priced at Rs 11,000, which can be reduced once the sales picks up." While this seems to be a bright idea for energy starved India, it is doubtful that this idea can ever be commercially exploited. Earlier, Electrolux had experimented with its battery driven refrigerator ‘Bijlee', which never came into the market. If a large MNC has an issue with marketing an innovative product, can individuals dare...

Issue BG84 Mar 08

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