Interview by Pratyasha

Global Institute of Technology

Mr. Naman Kandoi is designated as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Global Institute of Technology. He has completed his studies (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management) from Purdue University and Imperial College respectively. Coming from an affluent Business family of Rajasthan, Mr. Kandoi has a keen interest in developing and innovating the education sector in India. 

In an exclusive interview with collegedunia.com, Mr. Naman shares his thoughts on the education industry and goals for Global Institute of Technology.

Experience in Education Industry

I am new to the education industry from the management side; however, my experience in the education industry as a keen and motivated student has been exceptional. I had the good fortune of studying at some of the most prestigious and forward-thinking educational institutions of our country and abroad. Every institute has contributed immensely to my knowledge and personality, and I would not change my journey for anything. 

My varied exposure and experience as a student have revealed that there is joy in learning, regardless of the place or time. This joy in learning is what has motivated me to become a part of GIT and impart the same sense of innocent wonder and curiosity to our students. It is this joy of learning, the power that good education beholds to transform lives, the immense potential to affect change, the social nature of the enterprise that makes it the best industry to work in.

Shared Vision & Team Harmony - Leadership Philosophy

I have worked very closely with my father ever since I completed my formal education. I will not hesitate to say that I have adopted his leadership style, which he has honed over 4 decades. At GIT, we like to work as a team at every level – working together and working towards common goals. 

We believe that it is more important to nurture the confidence to achieve in an employee than the technical skills. This can only be achieved with complete faith and trust in their ability to perform a task. It is also necessary to provide them support and assistance whenever required. This will allow them to grow with self-realized confidence and work in harmony, allowing us to motivate individuals without many superficial incentives. 

GIT curriculum practices

The curriculum of GIT has been crafted keeping our motive in sight – to create human resource assets for our society in the form of skilled and able engineers. This translates to a 4-step approach to engineering. 

  • We first build and re-establish the foundations of pure science as any technology has its origins in it. 
  • The next phase involves learning to use scientific knowledge to create meaningful solutions and technology. 
  • The third phase involves building high complexity systems that utilize one or more technologies and cultivates imagination. 
  • The final chapter is the culmination of all accrued knowledge and exposure to existing knowledge to showcase engineering ingenuity through projects. 

The main focus of our curriculum is to enable our students to perform and excel in unprecedented scenarios rather than the ability to perform one popular task with high efficiency. This requires a thorough understanding of key engineering concepts and develops strong analytical skills which underlie any successful endeavor.

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Changes noticed in the Education Industry

Talking specifically about the Engineering sector, I foresee current change as a calamity in the long run for the students. We, as a nation, have interpreted that our engineers need to be trained for industry-specific tasks only. This public sentiment has been carefully built by corporates which fail to entice good engineers with fair salaries or genuinely engineering-centric work. Thus, we must focus on creating ready to fit human resource for the benefit of a few companies which dictate the technology trends in our country.

Engineering students must have faith in their curriculum and in their ability to transform society and carry on the good work. They must not undermine the value of good engineering and go forward with changing the technological landscape rather than worrying about fitting into the existing one. Every engineering stream/branch can be fruitful and conducive to a successful career. We must let the students learn to build society and create new job vacancies rather than accept the existing ones which demoralize their talents. 

Mr. Kandoi’s open door policy to build healthy relation with students

I am always available for my students and make them my priority over everyone else. I like to interact with them very frequently and discuss important policy announcements personally. Over the last year, I believe that I have developed a bond with my students that no matter what policy changes I make, my intent is always in safeguarding their interests. This system has shown a remarkable shift in the growth outlook of our students over a very short period of time. 

The only way for GIT to establish a strong sense of community is to communicate with all stakeholders. For our students, there is no specific management hierarchy to go through to address their concerns. Students are free to meet with all upper management. I also try and interact with our residential students frequently by staying late in the evenings, having meals with them in the hostel dining hall, and coming in on weekends without any agenda to discuss policy matters and academic progress. Overall, GIT exists to serve the student community and I work as the principal servant and guardian of that community.

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Building strong engineering talent - Goals for the Institute

In the next few years, we are looking to establish a self-funded research center, a co-working hub for change seekers and also to challenge the status quo on academic excellence. The research center will promote the creation of intellectual property and seek to provide engineering consultancy to companies which struggle to develop technology on their own. The co-working hub will encourage students to take up challenges faced by the people and innovate in terms of technology, systems, and processes.

Academic excellence at GIT will be measured by the success of our research wing, the re-ignited curiosity of our students, the pursuit of higher education and the analytical approach of our students. We seek to establish academic excellence instead of placement numbers as a marker of a great institute.

Suggestions to the Millennials 

Over the years every student, weighed down by expectations of society and family, forgets why we study. I want to remind every aspiring student to remember why we study. We study to grow. We study for a better tomorrow. We study to understand nature better. We study it to understand the universe and everything in it so that armed with this knowledge we can make a sense of our purpose and our place. Students must always seek the why and the how. 

Asking questions is the right way of learning. I encourage every student to take a moment to get curious about their subjects. Students must find joy in their learning. Learning is not only a means to an end. Learning is a beautiful journey which can be fruitful even without a destination. I encourage students to read their books for learning, not to clear an examination. We tend to forget that an exam is merely an assessment designed to inform us that we may still be lacking in our understanding and need to study some more. We have started treating exams as an end to our endeavors, whereas, examinations are only checkpoints in our journey of self-discovery and growth. I urge all students to learn well and become better human beings along the way!