Manipal University: Life lessons in entrepreneurship education
dubai — School of Business, Manipal University Dubai Campus hosted its first Annual International Entrepreneurship conference in February. ‘Entrepreneurship’ being the central theme of the conference witnessed a total of 24 presentations from international delegates, faculty from local universities and Manipal Global Education Group and students from the UAE.
The Manipal University Dubai Entrepreneurship Research Conference is modelled on the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference and the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange conferences.
Dr Norris Krueger, an eminent academician and entrepreneur from USA, the key note speaker of the conference addressed the students on “Are we moving the needle in entrepreneurship education? How would we know?” Sharing his thoughts with aspiring students he stressed on the importance of engaging in more project-based learning; networking in different intellectual forums and concluded that one needs to — “Change how you see yourself ”.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr Jason Fitzsimmons, chairperson, School of Business commented that “With the strong focus on entrepreneurship — universities in the UAE have a responsibility to encourage entrepreneurial activities in the region, The Entrepreneurship conference aims to bring together academics and industry participants to provide a forum to share the latest ideas and developments in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship research.”
International Delegates from Singapore, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria were also actively involved in the conference. Mory Sumaworo, an International Delegate from Malaysia exclaimed that she learnt a lot from the conference and benefited from the networking sessions.
Dr Sameena Khan and Dr Ganga Bhavani, conference organisers, School of Business further went on discussing the importance of Education on “Entrepreneurship” and that education being a powerful tool teaches students to learn from mistakes and move ahead. They emphasised that “though the conference is a platform for academicians and industry experts to showcase their research, our motive is to transfer these benefits to the students”.
Participating students also leveraged the opportunity of partaking in such a highly intellectual conference. It was a gratifying experience for all to witness industry experts share their knowledge and experience.
Arjun Gopakumar, student participant, School of Business, expressed his views on the conference stating — “Entrepreneurship in the current era has rapidly increased. The conference was a great opportunity to know about new techniques and strategies in entrepreneurship which would potentially help me in the long run as I aspire to be a successful entrepreneur.”
Jaskaran Singh, student participant, School of Business. described that Manipal International conference on Entrepreneurship was a pool of extensive knowledge and stated that “Anytime is a good time to start business, all that is needed is an idea and the dedication towards its implementation”.
The conference has enlightened my spirit of learning ‘Entreneurship’ and I look forward to many such informative sessions, said Aalia Fathima, student participant, School of Business.