Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai hosts 2020 annual alumni meet

Chennai: Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai held a two-day Annual Alumni Meet on February 7-8 at the Manamai campus. The event witnessed a homecoming of around 400 alumni of the Institute’s full-time and executive programs from pan-India to network, meet the students, and catch up with friends and the faculty.

The event kicked off with a Gala Dinner and Student-Alumni interaction on the night of February 7th. The activities continued on the 8th with a cricket match between the students and alumni, which was won by the alumni team and a carnival.

At the inauguration ceremony, Dr Bala V Balachandran, Founder, Chairman and Dean Emeritus, Great Lakes Institute of Management, said, “It’s great to be here, addressing our alumni and welcoming them back to the campus. I am extremely excited for them to visit the campus, and experience our new incubation centre, the Atul Great Lakes Bala Incubation (AGBI) Centre, and get the opportunity to network with the students, and interact with our new Dean, Dr Suresh Ramanathan.”

Dr Suresh Ramanathan, Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management Chennai added, “This is my first Alumni Meet at Great Lakes and it’s such a delight to get to know Great Lakers. In furthering and bonding as a community, we have a number of plans to further involve our alumni in Great Lakes’ journey from “Good to Great” and I look forward to collaborating with them in a number of areas such as mentorships and continuous learning, besides supporting them in the coming years.”

The highlight of the event was the panel discussions on Alumni Relations, moderated by Dean Dr Suresh Ramananathan, with alumni panellists Malhar Lakdawala, Lakshmikanth PB, Nischal Ram and Siddharth Mehta. The panellists discussed strengthening the community and came up with suggestions on community bonding.

The event concluded with a masterclass on healthy living by the Dean, Dr Suresh Ramanathan based on his research in this area which has potential for Industry-Academia collaboration. Prof. Bala, in his concluding remarks, outlined Great Lakes’ commitment to entrepreneurship with the set-up of the Atul Great Lakes Bala Incubation (AGBI) Centre that is incubating more than 10 start-ups by Great Lakers which aim to foster disruptive innovation in the domains of Financial Technology, Educational Technology, Health Technology, Agricultural Technology and Energy/Ecology Technology. He also invited alumni to take advantage of the AGBI. The alumni then had the opportunity to tour the 10000 sq.ft. facility and get a first-hand experience.

The festivities concluded with a DJ performance followed by a networking dinner at a star hotel.