Anurag Jain's Blog on Bangalore Events, Travel, IIM Bangalore, IIM, IIMB, Management

Friday, July 11, 2003

Posted 8:54 AM by Anurag

Alumni Inititaitive

These days, I am trying to network with my engg college alumni. Established in 1921, my alma mater Harcourt Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) is one of the oldest engineering institutes in the country. In fact, IIT Kanpur used to operate out of our campus when they started in late 60s. HBTI has always been very famous for its oldest offerings, i.e., Chemical Engg and Chemical Technology. I know of people who didn't take IIT comp science to join HBTI. However, with the advent of UDCT, IITs, BITS and others, somewhere down the road, HBTI has not been able to maintain its reputation. Government interference is also a big problem.

To get HBTI back on track, we have started a mega initiative with an objective to connect with all alumni, across batches and across branches. We made an announcement on radiocity last saturday regarding this. Also, an egroup has been started where senior alumni are providing basis for having a fruitful discussion. An alumnus one year junior to me even announced scholarships yesterday.

My understanding of alumni networking issues:

- Return of the native. Who are instt alumni really? We need to reach out to all who have ever been associated with HBTI, viz:
* Faculty alumni (currently in other instt/industry). (Guys like Prof.TK Ghosh, known as father of biotech in India).
* student alumni

- Aid/help from Alumni is not just about money. It can be in various forms:
* Creating awareness: Professional updation/Higher studies(MBA/MS/PhD etc)
* Organizing industry visits
* Placements
* Organizing conferences/seminars/talks/symposiums
* Curriculum review.
* Contribution to the general DYNAMISM/ENTHUSIASM/PROUD-FEELING on campus.

If you are an HBTI alumni, please get in touch with me asap. Anyone else, if you've been associated with any alumni initiatives of your alma mater, please make suggestions/recommendations on best practices in alumni netowrking.

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