The ‘golden batch’ is back in action. The 1993 batch of College of Engineering Trivandrum, who enrolled in the college in its golden jubilee year [therefore the golden batch], is all set to celebrate 25 years of their togetherness in a special way. They are launching ‘C-of-EnnovaTion’, a platform to leverage their expertise, experience and knowledge for their alma mater. On July 28, the batch will officially launch the initiative at their silver jubilee get-together in the capital city. The venture is being implemented through the college’s Innovation Centre, which comes under CET-Centre for Interdisciplinary Research. “The Centre has been supporting young, innovators. They have been getting financial support from various quarters. But this is a unique idea as an alumni batch is coming forward to hand-hold select projects,” says Jiji C.V., Principal, CET. According to members of the alumni, the idea was to think beyond giving funds. “It is common for alumni groups to give financial support for student projects. But we wanted a structural and sustainable approach. The programme envisages sponsoring projects not just through funding but also by providing consultancy and guidance. This model has been successful in many top universities around the world where innovation centres are doing well on account of the participation and contribution of the strong alumni groups in collaboration with faculty members and students. Many world class companies fund these centres. The prototypes of many commercial products were borne out of these innovation centres,” says Sreeji Gopinathan, CIO of Reckitt Banckiser-Africa, Middle East, South Asia. The Gurgaon-based Sreeji was a student of Applied Electronics and Instrumentation of CET. Experience counts The batch has over 500 of them who studied in different streams. “Three hundred fifty former students of our batch are still in touch over social media. Of that, 40 to 50 of us are actively behind this initiative,” says Venkatesh Thyagarajan, Director and CEO of Cabot Technology Solutions, Infopark, a former student of mechanical engineering. “That’s quite a lot of experience. We have members who are in high-profile positions in technical fields. Then there are entrepreneurs who can sell the idea in the market. All of them are coming together to take this initiative forward,” Sreeji adds. In 2013, the batch had celebrated the 20th year of their graduation with the formation of ‘CET Golden Batch Alumni Trust’ to reach out to those members in need of financial support. “Many members of the batch are working abroad and this is the time when they all have their vacation or break. We didn’t want our silver jubilee get-together to pass off as a normal affair. There were discussions to do something socially relevant. Most of us are working on cutting edge technology in world class firms and institutes across the globe. So we thought about leveraging that experience for the benefit of our college,” says Meera Siddharthan. She was a student of Computer Science and is now working with TCS in Delhi. Selection process There was an idea pitching campaign on the campus and students were asked to submit their projects. Those shortlisted will be presented at the launch. The final selection will be based on different parameters such as technical feasibility, innovation aspect, social relevance and economic viability. Under the current scheme of things, once they identify potential startup ideas or projects, the members can give guidance on “technical, business, inclusive or entrepreneurial aspects”, besides supporting with funds. In the long run, they will also identify mentors in various areas and create a database and launch a portal to connect students and faculty members with the alumni group. Plans include creating alliances with government bodies, companies or foreign universities. “When we go for hiring, often we notice that there is a huge gap between the academia and the industry. We hope to bridge that gap through this. We can always pitch in money, but giving our time and experience is something else,” says Venkatesh. Sreeji adds, “Resistance will always be there. But I am sure if the faculty members, students and alumni come together it will be a force to reckon with and in the end it will give all of us a lot of satisfaction.” The event is at The Leela Kovalam on July 28, from 10 am.

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