Happy New Year – 2023

Our very best wishes to each of you and everyone in your families for a healthy and joyful New Year – 2023.

I am a bit behind posting this New Year greetings since I was away on travel most of Dec. and in the first week of January. This travel gave me a chance to visit Dharamsala at the foot hills of Himalayas. An amazing and serene experience to this peaceful Buddhist and Hindu sanctuary, where every house seems to be built on hill side and every road is a  narrow lane built on a steep slope! The food was amazing. Our host was the most delightful blessing for us in our life!

I had the opportunity during this trip to India to meet and speak with so many in various walks of life – from the adviser (industry) to GOI, Faculty and Director at IIT – Madras, Industry leaders and professionals as well as relatives and friends from urban as well as rural India. Our R&D Center – which I have been associated as an adviser at IIT – Madras https://amtdc.org/ is evolving into a model for research and innovation, worthy of emulation by others. This relationship opened the window for some very fruitful discussions.

Great opportunity to visit IIT – M center for History of Innovation and Innovators.
Innovation team at AMTDC https://amtdc.org/
Committed long terms alliance across Academics, Industry leaders, Professional Society and STIMS leadership – corner stone for any successful Industry focused innovation center.
A decade and more of collaboration!
Building industry alliance to foster System Thinking and Transformational Skills.
Learning by doing: STIMS System Document Certification training for every new machine tool shipped.
RV – Camper built on Mahindra pickup van to meet Indian Travel needs; Innovation at
IIT – M

Few common themes emerge as a result:

— Learning has to be by doing: Engage in “practice or application oriented hands on learning”. There is plenty of all that we need to know already available in the internet, available at the tip of your fingers through a Google Search. The new knowledge is what you bring to the table and how useful it is!

— There is plenty of scam to offer all kinds of education and degrees, but without any usable knowledge; Beware of it. As an example, a poor rural Indian student was admitted to a course in Marine Engineering with a promising career in the merchant marine. He did not step foot in a ship during his four years of degree course! A student graduated in mechanical engineering, manufacturing focus without ever touching a machine tool in his UG study! Do not sink good money after such bad education!

— Companies have to recruit and train their own employees. Yes, they can poach or steal good employees from other companies (which happens through constant jumping of the ship by the employees). But, this is reaching its limits, usefulness and saturation? In the end industries merely rely on “Copy and paste” work from their collaborators from abroad!

— Creating a stream of “New Solutions” is the only way you survive and succeed in the current “Knowledge Economy”. This is a global need. This requires System Thinking and Transformational Skills for the employees as well as employers.

— Few who practice ST and TS and are also visible through their business success. They are acknowledged as “Entrepreneurs”. But the success rate of entrepreneurs is very small. It is NOT for everyone, especially for those at the lower rung of economic order where putting food on the table is priority number one! They can ill afford the financial risk required of entrepreneurs.

— BUT, New Solutions and making them happen as a natural part of anyone’s job and career is the need for EVERYONE – all employees as well as employers. ST and TS is the basic necessity for this outcome for everyone.

We shall be pursuing these themes in the coming New Year! Best wishes to all and let the journey continue!!