Aerospace bigwigs congregate for HR Roundtable by UPES

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) in association with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) recently organized 3^rd Aerospace HR Roundtable at Dr. V.M. Ghatage Convention Centre, HAL, Bangalore. Retd. Wing Commander Shri Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel in space, was the chief guest of the event. The annual roundtable was attended by senior members of leading organizations like Boeing International Corp, NAL, TCS, L&T, Mahindra Aero Structures Ltd, Airbus & Airbus Group, India, Bharat Electronics Ltd and Safran. Mr. Utpal Ghosh, CEO & President, UPES and Ms. Alka Madan, Director, Corporate Relations, UPES were also present at the roundtable.

According to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Indian aerospace industry is one of the fastest growing aerospace markets in the world and has attracted major global aerospace companies to India. As the country progresses to transform itself from a regional to global power, the aerospace and defence sector will play a critical role and has been given tremendous emphasis in major initiatives like ‘Make in India’.

During the day-long event industry leaders discussed the need for technology and innovation management for strategic advantage, role of academia, building high performance teams for aerospace excellence and emphasized on collaborative processes required to leverage aerospace business opportunities.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Utpal Ghosh, CEO & President, UPES, said, “Aerospace sector in India is ready to take-off and requires a phenomenal amount of financial, technological and knowledge investment. However, human resource continues to be a pressing issue as there is zero scope for error at 40,000 ft. To overcome this challenge academia and industry needs to collaborate to come up with out-of-the box solutions. At UPES we have been preparing industry-ready professionals targeted at the aerospace industry focusing on hard-technical as well as soft skills. To support that process we have taken multiple initiatives and we are proud of our faculty immersion program in the industry to build necessary skills and be able to impart appropriate training to our students.”

There was an hour long discussion on building high performance teams for Aerospace excellence. The panel discussion was conducted by Sandeep Patnaik, Additional General Manager of HAL, Dayanand L. Guddin, Chief HR Officer of Mahindra Aero Structures Ltd and Suraj Chettri, Head HR of Airbus & Airbus Group, India. The discussion was moderated by T. Sudhakar Rao, Former Executive Director (HR) of HAL.

 The aspect of technology and innovation management for gaining strategic advantage was discussed by Subbarao C.V., Principal Consultant of Aerospace Vertical, TCS Ltd., S. Thenmozhi, General Manager of HAL and Shailendra Shrivastava, Head of L&T Technology Services Ltd. The discussion was moderated by V. P. Mathur, Former General Manager (ARDC) of HAL.

About UPES:

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) was established in the year 2003 through UPES Act, 2003 of the State Legislature of Uttarakhand. UPES is recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC) under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956 and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).UPES offers 87 graduate and post graduate courses in the high-growth sectors like oil and gas, power, infrastructure, information technology, transportation, electronics, high technology, design, business, planning and architecture, public policy, legal studies and more. BBA, MBA, B Tech, M Tech, B Des, M Des, LLB, LLM, B Plan, M Plan, MA and many more are offered under these schools and colleges. Because of its multi disciplinary courses, UPES graduates are a preferred choice for the companies. UPES has maintained a consistent placement track record of 85% placements year on year. This demonstrates UPES’ commitment, quality of students, and the holistic approach of its dedicated faculty.