The Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CSIE) at IIT-Madras and Tagore Engineering College jointly conducted a Student Development Programme on “Developing life skills for a winning edge” on August 22 at IIT Madras. Entrepreneurs gathered at the campus for the initiative, aimed at inculcating creativity and a growth mindset.
Dr P Priyadharshini, HOD, Management Studies, Tagore Engineering College, welcomed the participants. Mr James Rajanayagam, Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT Madras addressed the gathering with opening remarks. Dr MA Paneerselvam, Dean - Engineering, Tagore Engineering College pointed out the need for a right perspective towards engineering and entrepreneurship.
Mr Shiva Subramaniam, life skills trainer at IIT, led the participants in the session on creativity. His three mantras were: Compassion, empathy and imagination. These attributes, he said, are all deep-rooted in every student’s heart, and endow them with the ability to perceive the world in new ways.
After lunch, Dr V Vijayalakshmi, Professor, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras, differentiated between learning and unlearning. The different outcomes that arise from having a growth mindset vis-à-vis a fixed mindset were clearly spelt out. She also spoke on the need for unlearning as part of developing a growth mindsets.
The Valedictory address was delivered by Prof R Nagarajan, Dean–International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras. All the participants received a participation certificate. A special Certification of Merit was also given to the students. The vote of thanks was proposed by Ms Kerinab Beenu (Associate Professor, Tagore Engineering College).
The Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CSIE) was founded in August 2010 with a focus on teaching and research related to social enterprise in India.
Its mission is to build an environment conducive to students to learn about social enterprise and assist them to become social entrepreneurs. Towards this objective, CSIE has been reaching out to students through these kinds of programmes since 2014.