Comments on: India’s Innovation Front Lines, Part 2: Of Industry-Targeted Degrees, Water, and Spinoffs http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/12/08/india%e2%80%99s-innovation-front-lines-part-2-of-industry-targeted-degrees-water-and-spinoffs/ Business + Technology in the Exponential Economy Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:14:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: ameh http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/12/08/india%e2%80%99s-innovation-front-lines-part-2-of-industry-targeted-degrees-water-and-spinoffs/comment-page-1/#comment-100915 ameh Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:07:09 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/?p=6715#comment-100915 Chandigarh has a really good quality of life, and has the potential to thrive as an innovation centre. Its got great public parks - something I really miss in Whitefield, Bangalore. Talking about parks and a quality of life - Gurgaon, compared to Chandigarh is a dust bowl of an urban disaster! I graduated from PEC in 1996. We had great quality of students there but the education was sub-standard. We need higher standards of education - better quality of education and a richer educational experience with a higher bar for graduating students. More participation from the private sector in terms of funding programs young engineers can work on - much like the US, can also help a lot. For example, USHA can source a program at PEC for resolving some of the technical challenges they face in the mobile handsets market. Connecting Philips Labs to PEC is a great idea! On a side note - I also heard about Sameer Bhatia's vision for a Nanocity close to Chandigarh (http://nanocity.in/index.html) - I wonder whats the status of that project. Chandigarh has a really good quality of life, and has the potential to thrive as an innovation centre. Its got great public parks – something I really miss in Whitefield, Bangalore. Talking about parks and a quality of life – Gurgaon, compared to Chandigarh is a dust bowl of an urban disaster!
I graduated from PEC in 1996. We had great quality of students there but the education was sub-standard.
We need higher standards of education – better quality of education and a richer educational experience with a higher bar for graduating students. More participation from the private sector in terms of funding programs young engineers can work on – much like the US, can also help a lot.
For example, USHA can source a program at PEC for resolving some of the technical challenges they face in the mobile handsets market. Connecting Philips Labs to PEC is a great idea!
On a side note – I also heard about Sameer Bhatia’s vision for a Nanocity close to Chandigarh (http://nanocity.in/index.html) – I wonder whats the status of that project.

]]> By: Shreshta http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/12/08/india%e2%80%99s-innovation-front-lines-part-2-of-industry-targeted-degrees-water-and-spinoffs/comment-page-1/#comment-42460 Shreshta Wed, 10 Dec 2008 07:57:12 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/?p=6715#comment-42460 One sure way for India to become the next Innovation Superpower! Breaking the Hand-Mind-Market barrier! “If India is the IT capital of the world, why was YouTube not invented in India?” Or, for that matter “Why are the richest Indian corporations not taking the risks to set the nation on path to top of the value chain?” What’s holding us back - despite the fact that country has a rich tradition of path-breaking scientific achievements, from Aryabhatta’s discoveries in astronomy, use of rocket-fire by Tipu Sultan’s forces to the invention of carbon-steel originally by Indian scientists? According to the author the reason is the hand-mind barrier in India, probably a legacy of the Indian caste system, which divided the population into distinct categories. People who work with hands do not have the education, and those that have education do not work with hands. This dichotomy is not conducive to innovation, as innovation happens when theory is translated into practical application (Think of a dentist creating a new tooth-material, or a surgeon attempting a new surgical technique!). The book attempts to guide the Indian scientific community on the path of major next-generation innovations – with real-life examples from how stage was set by Thomas Newcomen and others for James Watt’s steam engine, or Dr. P.K. Sethi’s collaboration with the sculptor Ram Chandra Sharma to produce the revolutionary prosthetic Jaipur-foot. Additionally, the book covers the entire history of innovations starting from Newton, Edison and Einstein, and finally going on to today’s areas like healthcare, energy, automotive sector, water management and lighting and appliances that will drive the innovations of future! On the whole, the book describes individual and organizational approaches to developing a strategy and a culture tuned to innovation - including processes to manage innovation with case studies for creating an idea-rich environment, besides a model covering three aspects of individual innovation - create with freedom, nurture with passion, and transcend with detachment. While the approaches described in the book are general, the special focus is on creating a century of Indian Innovation. Gopichand Katragadda, Ph.D., is the General Manager – India Engineering Operations for GE Energy Infrastructure comprising 1600 engineers in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The team produces next-generation designs for higher efficiency and environment-friendly energy solutions. Previously as the Operations Manager for GE Global Research Bangalore (GEGR-B), Gopi worked with the GEGR-B technology team of 400 researchers to deliver growth through innovation. The team filed over 225 US patents in just three years. Gopi is a certified GE Six-Sigma Master Black Belt. S.M.A.S.H Innovation: Smashing the Hand-Mind-Market Barrier Gopichand Katragadda Wiley India 978-81-265-1906-4 INR 299/- One sure way for India to become the next Innovation Superpower!
Breaking the Hand-Mind-Market barrier!

“If India is the IT capital of the world, why was YouTube not invented
in India?” Or, for that matter “Why are the richest Indian corporations not taking the risks to set the nation on path to top of the value chain?”

What’s holding us back – despite the fact that country has a rich tradition of path-breaking scientific achievements, from Aryabhatta’s discoveries in astronomy, use of rocket-fire by Tipu Sultan’s forces to the invention of carbon-steel originally by Indian scientists?

According to the author the reason is the hand-mind barrier in India, probably a legacy of the Indian caste system, which divided the population into distinct categories. People who work with hands do not have the education, and those that have education do not work with hands. This dichotomy is not conducive to innovation, as innovation happens when theory is translated into practical application (Think of a dentist creating a new tooth-material, or a surgeon attempting a new surgical technique!).

The book attempts to guide the Indian scientific community on the path of major next-generation innovations – with real-life examples from how stage was set by Thomas Newcomen and others for James Watt’s steam engine, or Dr. P.K. Sethi’s collaboration with the sculptor Ram Chandra Sharma to produce the revolutionary prosthetic Jaipur-foot. Additionally, the book covers the entire history of innovations starting from Newton, Edison and Einstein, and finally going on to today’s areas like healthcare, energy, automotive sector, water management and lighting and appliances that will drive the innovations of future!

On the whole, the book describes individual and organizational approaches to developing a strategy and a culture tuned to innovation – including processes to manage innovation with case studies for creating an idea-rich environment, besides a model covering three aspects of individual innovation – create with freedom, nurture with passion, and transcend with detachment.

While the approaches described in the book are general, the special focus is on creating a century of Indian Innovation.

Gopichand Katragadda, Ph.D., is the General Manager – India Engineering Operations for GE Energy Infrastructure comprising 1600 engineers in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. The team produces next-generation designs for higher efficiency and environment-friendly energy solutions. Previously as the Operations Manager for GE Global Research Bangalore (GEGR-B), Gopi worked with the GEGR-B technology team of 400 researchers to deliver growth through innovation. The team filed over 225 US patents in just three years. Gopi is a certified GE Six-Sigma Master Black Belt.

S.M.A.S.H
Innovation: Smashing the Hand-Mind-Market Barrier
Gopichand Katragadda
Wiley India
978-81-265-1906-4
INR 299/-

]]> By: Vikram Chalana http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/12/08/india%e2%80%99s-innovation-front-lines-part-2-of-industry-targeted-degrees-water-and-spinoffs/comment-page-1/#comment-42441 Vikram Chalana Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:23:10 +0000 http://www.xconomy.com/?p=6715#comment-42441 Chandigarh also has a small, but growing IT community. We are a Seattle-based company, but our entire software development team located in the IT park in Chandigarh. We are able to attract and retain software talent here and hope to invest lot more in Chandigarh in the near future. Chandigarh also has a small, but growing IT community. We are a Seattle-based company, but our entire software development team located in the IT park in Chandigarh. We are able to attract and retain software talent here and hope to invest lot more in Chandigarh in the near future.

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