The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun in association with Hindustan Aeronautics limited (HAl) recently organised the third Aerospace HR Round table at Dr VM Ghatage Convention Centre, HAl, Bengaluru. The first Indian to travel to space, retired wing commander Rakesh Sharma was the chief guest for the occasion.
According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) data, the Indian aerospace industry is one of the fastest growing aerospace markets in the world and has attracted major global aerospace companies to India.
As the country progresses towards its transformation from a regional power to a global power, the aerospace and defence sector is expected to play a critical role for which it has also been bolstered in major initiatives including the Make in India campaign.
During the day-long event industry leaders discussed various aspects including the need for technology and innovation management for securing strategic advantage, role of the academia, building high performance teams for excellence in aerospace sector while also stressing on the need for collaborative processes required to leverage aerospace business opportunities.
Expressing his views on the occasion, UPES chief executive officer and president, Utpal Ghosh said, “Aerospace sector in India is ready to take-off and requires a phenomenal amount of financial, technological and knowledge investment. However, human resource continues to be a pressing issue as there is zero scope for error at an altitude of 40,000 feet above the ground. To overcome this challenge the academia and industry need to collaborate to come up with out-of-the box solutions. At UPES we have been preparing industry-ready professionals targeted at the aerospace industry focusing on hard-technical as well as soft skills. To support that process we have taken multiple initiatives.”
The event also saw an hour long discussion on vital subjects like building of high performance teams for aerospace excellence.
The panel discussion was conducted by the additional general manager of HAl, Sandeep Patnaik, chief HR officer of Mahindra Aero Structures limited, Dayanand l Guddin and HR head of Airbus and Airbus Group, India, Suraj Chettri with the discussion being moderated by the former executive director (HR) of the HAl, T Sudhakar Rao.
The aspect of technology and innovation management for gaining strategic advantage was discussed by Subbarao CV, Principal Consultant of Aerospace Vertical, TCS ltd., S. Thenmozhi, General Manager of HAl and Shailendra Shrivastava, Head of l&T Technology Services ltd. The discussion was moderated by V. P. Mathur, Former General Manager (ARDC) of HAl.
The annual round table was attended by senior members of leading organizations like Boeing International Corp, NAl, TCS, l&T, Mahindra Aero Structures ltd, Airbus & Airbus Group, India, Bharat Electronics ltd and Safran. Utpal Ghosh, CEO & President, UPES and Alka Madan, Director, Corporate Relations, UPES were also among those present at the round table.