Mr. Samir Kumar Visits Kakatiya Sandbox, Nizamabad

On 29th October 2014, Mr. Samir Kumar (Managing Director of Inventus India, VC of Acer Technology Ventures, and Governing Body of TiE Bangalore) visited Kakatiya Sandbox in Nizamabad. He was received and felicitated by Mr. Ram Reddy and Mr. Amrut Patil (Program Manager, KS). The event was a great opportunity for LEAD students of Nizamabad to interact with, and learn from, such a notable entrepreneur.

The students asked him questions about managing his career and being an entrepreneur. To begin with, Satya asked “what are the things that an organisation is aiming for when recruiting a fresher?” Samir replied: “soft skills, communication skills, subject knowledge to a little extent, and discipline.”

Next, Sharon asked “what's the criteria that the investors are bounded up while investing in someone?” Samir replied, "the abilities of the team members, their coordination, innovation and the concept beyond their startup.”

                                          

Leader Nikhitha asked, “what factors should be considered when our organization is collaborating with another organization?” “Make sure that the partner with whom you venture is going to collaborate. Prefer for the person who are familiar with the venture, and get proper information about the partners”, Samir responded.

Archana noted that she want to become a software engineer and to have her own startup like Software Solutions. She asked, “what's your advice for future planning?”, to which Samir answered: “she's on the right path. All she needs to do is go ahead with proper planning and commitment.”

Srujan asked, “how do you make a team for a new start up, and how to move ahead if your startup idea is stolen by someone else?” Mr. Samir answered: “always we need to have a hard working, smart, and like-minded team members. Also, have alternatives to face any sought of situations.”

Saketh said, “I'm a techno-interested guy, pursuing commerce degree. How do I go ahead?” Samir replied to Saketh: “Complete your education first, and then to go for some technical courses from the institutes if you are interested.”

Anvesh asked whether to choose web technologies or networking as a career. Samir replied: “both are the best fields in our current situation. It is better to choose the field which you are most interested in.”

Rajesh asked, A good leader, a good follower. Who is the best among?” "Actually, every person can't be a leader. If so, then who will they lead? So, being a good follower is not bad. So, up to me, both are best”, said Samir.

Then Akhil questioned what Mr. Samir aimed for when he was a graduate. Did he accomplished it? And what else did he want to have? With a smile, Samir replied: “I was a aimless fellow initially, but later with the pioneering of my father, I chose my career and am satisfied with it.” Samir also noted that he has a dream to have a corruption free India, for which he is ready to contribute his services if needed.

Mr. Ram Reddy also shared examples from his life and inspired students before the session came to a close and Samir wished the LEaders all the best for their futures.

Nizamabad LEaders Raise Awareness on World Food Day and helped 50+ people.

Satya Phanindra and her team members Akhil and Suman (VREC, SSR) were very concerned about the amount of food being wasted, and simultaneously the degree of malnutrition present amoung children, in Nizamabad. They noticed that two of the main places that all of this food was being wasted was in party halls and restaurants. These LEaders decided to stand idle, but instead do something about it. They approached the owners and managers of various restaurants and party halls in Nizamabad and encouraged them to stop wasting all the food that they do. In addition, they suggested NGOs that they could donate their leftovers to, and even offered to act as an interface between them and the suggested organizations. Additionally, they left posters around these establishments educating people about malnutrition and the importance of not wasting food but instead giving it to those in need. The people they spoke with were grateful for the efforts of the LEaders and decided to follow the recommendations. These LEaders impacted 50+ people in a very positive way.

 

LEader Shubam Creates a Wind-Powered Portable Charger

LEader Shubam (VREC, Nizamabad) faced a big problem on a long journey of his: he needed to make an important phone call to his dad, but his mobile had low battery so he was unable to make the call. Inspired by this, he came up with the idea to make a portable mobile charger that can be used anywhere.

During long journeys in trains and buses, we are unable to charge our mobiles and can face a communication crisis if we need to make an urgent call. Therefor, Shubam created a portable charger that can bring us out of such crisis. Here’s how it works: it converts the kinetic energy produced by the exhaust fan (in reverse motor action) into electric energy, which can be used to charge the mobile. All you need is wind!

The device consists of a exhaust fan (which generates the AC current), a rectifier (bridge wave rectifier) to convert this AC to DC current. This current is then filtered through a capacitor and supplied to a voltage regulator, which give constant output voltage. This is further connected to a USB port, through which we can connect our mobile’s charger cable.

The fan, when kept in the wind, will give output voltage which we can use to charge our mobiles. We can fix the fan to the bars of windows of buses,trains and in the bikes, etc., to make charging easy and efficient.

Design Thinking Workshop for 26 students of Nizamabad

Students of Nizamabad were excited and interested for the Design Thinking workshop as it was the first time to experience the workshop.

Mr Aditya CEO of Innovation 101 was the key person to make the students, design their own thinking in a unique way. He introduced about himself about his growth and the challenges he faced during his career which was then followed by showing them the video on Innovation through which the students were inspired and motivated. Mr.Aditya spoke a bit on the video due to which the students felt the actual necessities of innovation in our Nation.

26 students were divided into groups of two members each, and then were asked to know each other well and also understand the issues or problems that the students face in their day to day life. The facilitator then made it more interesting by asking each one of them to find the solution for the problems of the other person and then asked to note the feedback about the solution. The activity made the students to enter in to the procedural pattern of Design thinking and innovation.

Leaders were again divided back into several groups of 5 members in each group. The next task was to visit the NGO in nearby cities. The students went to their respective fields and came with various aspects which they observed and noticed there. Groups were then asked to present the observations made by them on which the students got the necessary feedback and addressed the queries.     

               

Mr Aditya then continued interacting with the students discussing more deeply into the aspects like observations made by the students, problems that occurred and the solutions to the problems and he also gave the complete idea about Crisp statements and few relevant examples.  The Leaders were asked to do the documentation of the observations made by them and the thoughts they had. The students were excited to know the next outcome of it and were ready to take up the documentation details and come prepared the next day.

The second day students were present with full of excitement and zeal to know the next step in design thinking. Initially the facilitator explained the students how to work on a procedural way of excel sheets comprising some aspects like observation, problem specification, and how to bring the outcome, in order to make the common person understand easily which may also help the innovator to solve all these documented things even after few days or a long gap.

Students then witnessed a Skype session with bio medical engineer Mr. Manish Arora from Bangalore. Manish spoke about various trends that are emerging in technological field like Arduino and 3D printing to give clarification on student’s queries.

The day then continued with the session by Mr Aditya to validate the observations and the problems which they had seen. The ratings or validation process for observations was done in a procedural manner by evaluating team’s interest, social impact, technical feasibility and business viability. The observation that got more ratings would be considered as a prototype and then will be worked on solutions for the same. Mr Aditya conducted team building activities for the students, to make them regain their energy. 

At the end of the day, the facilitator had taken up brain storming session, in which he had taken a problem and asked students to give solutions in their own way, this made students to think and lots of ideas got generated by students with a short time span. The students were amazed to know their own potential and strengths.  The facilitator then asked the students to stay focused on the problems that they have identified and find the solutions to them which would help them to think further at the same time contribute to the nation.

Recognising the Unrecognised: LEaders care for seniors on World Elders’ Day

World Elders’ Day is celebrated annually to show respect of and gratitude for, the elders of India’s society. Satya Phanindra Saibewar and his colleagues Vikas, Kalyan and Akhil (Vrec, Gscet, SSR) noticed that these celebrations usually happen in the home and, while they are great and important, many disadvantaged people get left out. They noticed that many elders did not have anyone to care for them: they were homeless, begging, and suffering from various diseases. Additionally, the temperature in Nizamabad can drop down to 12 degrees celsius, which proves very problematic for elders living on the street. All these seniors are suffering, to different degrees, and some have faced death. Satya and his team empathized with these people, and wanted to find a way to make their lives even slightly better. They fundraised 2,300 rupees and used this money to purchase 16 high-quality blankets, and fruits, which they distributed to homeless elders. They also sent an official request to the District Revenue Officer, requesting that temporary shelters be put up in the city in order for these people to survive in the cold months. These LEaders have found a great deal of satisfaction in knowing they helped care for 20 people who would have otherwise gone uncared for. 

67,100+ people took oath against violence on International Non-Violence Day 2014

October 2nd marked Mahatma Ghandi’s birthday and subsequently, International Non-Violence Day. On this occasion, students of LEAD (LEaders Accelerating Development) of Deshpande Foundation were proud to celebrate the International Non-Violence Day in a very unique way under the theme "I am Against Violence.". They facilitated an anti-violence oath in their respective regions.

"I am Against Violence” is an approach to support women of our society who is facing the harassment every day, thus the LEaders visited the public places as well as schools and colleges in order to gather people to take the Oath to stand up, with women, against violence.

LEaders from all over the region engaged with this initiative in their own unique way. LEader Pallavi Malagar (Jain College, Belgaum) introduced an online Oath taking initiative, which reached approximately 500+ people through social media & the mobile application. LEader K. Akhil (Sri Sai Raghavendra) facilitated a communal Non-Violence Oath in his own classroom in Nizamabad for over 11 students.

 

 

Similarly, Ch. Nagavadhini and his team members Ravali and Sneha (VREC) went to an orphanage in Subhash Nagara & Pulong to share with the children the kind of violence that people, and women, are still facing today. They lead the 25 people in taking an oath against this violence, stating that they will not participate in such, and will stand up for the victims. 

Meanwhile, LEader Harish Gadagin (K H kabbur Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dharwad) decided to make the pledge with 680 staff and students of JK Education Society’s DK Public School Santosh Nagar, Hubli.

As such, in each location these student LEaders have divided themselves into teams of 5 to 10 and have visited public places , Schools & Colleges in order to take Oath, in effort to instill social consciousness in youth so they will respect women.

Raibag LEaders took initiative to celebrate International Non violence day by making 17000+ public taken oath at a time in Raibag. The High Court Judge A S Pachhapure, Shri Siddeshwar Swamiji and public of Raibag were amazed to see the confidence of
Leaders,social concern and appreciated the LEAD students, also LEAD Deshpande Foundation for encouraging the Youths in rural area. Leader Sandesh, Pramod and were in core team to appreciate their efforts.

Through this initiative, 67,000+ people took the Oath across LEAD locations in three states. Approximately 150+ students have taken up the initiative in their respective locations.