Academicians deliberate on “Strategies for Promoting Innovation and Campus Entrepreneurship” on Birth Anniversary of Late Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam at Amity University

Amity Innovation & Design Centre (AIDC) in collaboration with Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC), Ministry of Education organized an ‘Innovation Week-2021’ to celebrate the ‘Birth Anniversary of Late Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Bharat Ratna, Former President of India. During the program, a panel discussion on the topic “Strategies for Promoting Innovation and Campus Entrepreneurship” was conducted in which several vice chancellors of higher education institutions shared their views on the subject.
Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Uttar Pradesh, Amity University Uttar Pradesh said “The Prime Minister of our country has given a call to make a self-reliant India, so we have to consider how the higher educational institutions should cooperate in this direction”. At Amity, we encourage students for research and innovation based on the needs of society and industry and create an environment of research innovation in the institute. Instead of getting employment, students have to be motivated and supported to become entrepreneurs and provide employment .
Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M.D. Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education referring to the new education policy said several policies and schemes are being run by the government to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among students. Higher education should invest time and resources to encourage students' ideas and innovations to achieve goals towards self-reliance. Not only students but also teachers should be motivated for innovation and entrepreneurship. Dr. Venkatesh further added that no idea is small and a healthy conversation between teachers and students will provide an opportunity to understand their ideas. Apart from the incubator, we have to make efforts to provide guidance to the students towards availability of venture capital facility, and financial assistance from government averred Dr. Venkatesh. He also called upon universities to have Central Research facilities available to all disciplines where experiential learning is the key driver of innovation.
Prof. (Dr.) S. Gowri, Vice Chancellor, University of Madras said that in a competitive world today we should keep running to perform continuously by way of development and research. Universities should encourage their students to apply mind and strategies to develop their ideas and tap the available resources. Universities should also conduct training programs, motivational programs and provide guidance to students.
Prof. (Dr.) Shalini Bharat, Vice Chancellor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences said, presently India is moving fast towards becoming self-reliant and Atam Nirbahar Bharat, therefore innovate ideate and find solutions are the key mantras for innovation. In higher education institutions we also need to look at entrepreneurship from a different angle and promote social entrepreneurship, which means we need to identify social problems and then find solutions for these problems.
Prof.  (Dr.) Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences said in the new education policy, by promoting multidisciplinary teaching and research in higher education through the Incubator Center, the results generated should be used to solve the problems of the common man. He said that we should create an environment based on research, innovation and entrepreneurship, so that the students can not only do research but also develop prototypes. Students should be provided with training opportunities and encouraged to fulfill their dreams, said Dr. Sharma.