A lecture series on life skill management was organized from 22nd to 24th August 2016 in association with, Vidyarthi Kalyan Mandal - Savitribai Phule Pune University and Entrepreneurship Development Cell of the institution. Renowned speakers were invited to deliver their seminars on the personality development and life skill management for students. The seminars were scheduled as below.

First day of the series was organized with a thought of creating awareness amongst students about 'dreams'. Being a rational citizen of union of India, Mr Awachat beautifully elaborated the importance of dreaming in life. On the progressive path of career, he emphasized on the need of connectivity with every part of the society. While explaining the dreaming he also expressed his thoughts on socio-ecological balance in life. Along with these facts, students interestingly listened to his experiences about his life, at Muktangan - (a Pune based De-addiction centre). The talk was preceded by a small felicitation ceremony of the scholars, sportsmen and those who learn by working hard sincerely.

(Caption: Mr Anil Awachat on 'Aapali swapne aani aapan' and audience)

The second day of the series was a publication ceremony of the Karmanya - a yearly magazine of the institution. It was publicised in the precious hands of Mr Girish Kuber, Mr Shamakant Deshmukh and Dr Mrs Kalyani Joshi. Mr Kuber was very happy with the efforts taken by the students on the magazine. In his talk, he expressed that; rationalism must be given the highest priority in life if one wants to be a successful human being. He marked his observation that, there is a gap between the emerging technology, technocrats and the economists. "Every engineering student must have a good knowledge of economy without which it is very difficult to call someone as an engineer.

Clockwise from above: Publication of Karmanya and glimpses of the talk)

Engineers are the pioneers of our economy too”, he stated. He insisted to the students that, start expressing yourself by writing. "If you can write and express yourself, you'll win everything", he added. The session was remarkable because of the questionnaire. He excellently answered the questions, asked on the various issues in society, economy and engineering.

The last day of Vicharghan lecture series was delivered by great IT expert Mr. Achyut Godbole. He was asked to talk about the origin and history of IT, present situation of IT and the future of IT sector in India. Being engineers , many students have inclination for IT sectors and a passion to seek jobs in the same field. He beautifully emphasized the pros and cons and future effects, trends of IT. The session was followed by numbers of questions arose from students and effectively clarified by respected speaker.

Achyut Godbole talking on 'Information Technology - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Publication of departmental e-Newsletters

His talk was preceded by a small function of publication of departmental e-newsletters. All departments publish respective field's latest information and work in it. The e news letter is published twice in a year. All department's heads and coordinators worked hard for the same.

The concluding day ended with an eye opening future scope and present scope in IT sector.

In the last semester the students of E.D. cell conducted a survey in Kadepathar. Kadepathar is a village in which our N.S.S team is working. The objective was to find out the areas where we can provide service. After the survey it was observed that in the village:

The team observed that the condition is same in other villages too. So we did a seminar to show different career opportunities and a seminar which will make them aware about the safety issues of electricity. Students of ED cell also shared their personal experiences which helped students to get motivated. It was a great learning experience.

BooKDost (Kyonki books kabhi purane nahi hote......)

A startup designed by the students of PES's Modern College of Engineering to buy/sell used books, calculators, drafters at affordable prices. It connects juniors and seniors and creates a bridge between them which can be used for solving academic and other problems. It was started in August 2015. Till date they have sold more than 130 sets of books, 20+ drafter sets and more than 22 calculators.

Team BookDost is Pralhad Tarde, Sharda Pargaonkar, Tejas Talathi, Sandeep Bhavsar and Gaurav Dhakate all TE (second shift) Electrical Engineering Students. They now want to scale it up and organize more events in the future.

as a part of National Entrepreneurship week through NEN to develop entrepreneurial awareness was held on the 22nd of January, 2015.

Alumni Interaction Session was conducted on the 23rd of January, 2015 to develop entrepreneurial awareness among the students. Principal, Dr. Mrs. K.R. Joshi felicitated all the alumni members and addressed the students. The alumni members who made the event a grand success with their gracious presence were :

1) Mr. Vikramsinh Desai (Mechanical Engineering Alumnus)

He is a first generation entrepreneur and founder director of 3 companies namely:

He started by saying “Every technocrat should know something about everything”. His company’s tagline states- Improve your life with Vitamin-M. According to him the real issues concerning Entrepreneurship are fear of failure, competition, band-width of thinking and lack of willingness to change.

2) Mr. Hrutwij Maske (MBA Alumnus)

After working in a number of companies, he is setting up his own venture Hribiscus Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is an outsourcing company which has following service lines Data Entry and Data Operations, Whitepaper Syndication, Event Promotion, US IT Recruitment.

Doing MBA in MCOE gave him skills which guided him towards success. He shed some light on Outsourcing and its challenges, how he acquired knowledge about it and shared some of his experience with the students. Every business starts with a smart idea. So never stop dreaming and every idea is a potential business waiting to become a reality.

3) Mr. Shounak Diwakar Sharangpani (E & TC Engineering Alumnus)

His business venture is Twintech Control Systems Pvt. Ltd and is currently Director of Research and Development / Renewable Energy Division. He is a 2nd generation entrepreneur. His desire to become an entrepreneur superseded his willingness to continue his job in a well reputed company. His never to give up attitude has always kept him and his employees on their toes and make a mark in this fiercely competitive world. His message to the students was "Never lose your fighting spirit".

4) Mr. Yusuf Shaikh ( IT Engineering Alumnus)

His business venture is Trendzsoft (Automation in Mechanical field). He is currently working with WIFI-SOFT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. in Product development department and at the post of Technical HR. He is a person who is constantly thinking on the immense opportunities available which can be grabbed. His main principle is "You tell me what to do; I know how to do it". He said that one should think about the ways a work can be accomplished economically and commercially with least efforts and maximum output.

Pranjal Hanmante, Sayali Deshmukh and Ashwini Raut, students from the E & TC set up a stall during the college annual techno-management fest 'M-Pulse-2015' on 13th and 14th Feb, 2015 and did a roaring business of selling 3-D printed key chains.

SAMPLES OF THE KEYCHAINS

They also went on to win the best Start up Prize under Distinction Entrepreneurial Award by Switch Idea at the 5th National Level Project Competition & Exhibition Convene 2K15 held at Smt. Kashibai Navale College of Engineering, Pune on 28th March 2015. There were 218 participating groups amongst which 152 were selected.

BEST START UP PRIZE UNDER DISTINCTION ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARD

Webinar on "The Art of Story Telling" for emphasizing the need to be a great story teller to get the attention of customers and potential investors was conducted on Mar 4, 2015. A good business story can do wonders which no amount of Data analysis will be able to achieve. With the internet and social media penetration story telling gains greater importance. The story has to be consistent across multiple communication platform and channels that are available today.

The speaker Mr. Meghashyam Karanam, an industry professional with over 22 years of work experience was with Microsoft for 11 years handling various marketing roles. Right now he is an entrepreneur and is part of a startup, along with two of his long time friends and colleagues from Microsoft. He also runs an NGO - Siddhi Foundation along with his wife Padma, which focuses on building language skills among Govt. High school students, through Workshops in Story Reading & Writing in local languages.

Students team of Electrical Engineering & Mechanical Engineering Dept. consisting of Kamesh Mathkari, Atul Walke, Narayan Ghuge, Sachin Ukharde, Mangesh Salunkhe and Shankar Hade took part in the competition I2I organized by Bhau Institute at COEP. They worked in the village Velhe and provided the students studying in 8th to 12th std. with advice on career guidance and motivated them to work hard to achieve their goal. They also won the 3rd prize in the competition. This team will take their role of being responsible citizens forward with many more activities in the coming year.

STUDENTS TEAM AT VELHE

VELHE SCHOOL

THE TEAM IN ACTION

THE PROUD TEAM

PESMCOE TEAM 3RD PRIZE WINNERS AT COEP

Training is being provided to students of MBA for fundamental certification in 6Sigma & SCRUM to enhance their skills.

It is also proposed to conduct various certified skill based courses for the Engineering, MCA & MBA students in collaboration with industry in the next academic year.