Kansas University students in Kerala to learn about emerging economies

TechnoparkToday.com (Jan, 2014) :  A group of 25 students and faculty members from the Kansas University (KU) in Unites States of America are in the city on an 18-day visit as part of their exchange programme with the Asian School of Business to understand Kerala and learn how to do business with emerging economies such as India.

The team, led by Prof Kissan Joseph from the KU School of Business and Prof Michael Detamore  from the Kansas University School of Engineering, have visited several key establishments in around the state capital including the R&D Centre at the Sree Chithra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences, Toonz Animation at Technopark and the facilities of medical equipment manufacturer Terumo Penpol .

One of the highlights of the exchange programme this time was the visit of the students to Attingal Municipality to understand the functioning of local administrative bodies and see the solid waste management initiatives in the area.

The KU students have also been attending special lecture sessions at ASB on a variety of subjects including emerging markets &  consumers; finding great ideas and building  brands in emerging markets ; emerging market recovery; historical innovation in India; innovation challenges  faced by  the Indian software industry; skill development; supply chain management; theory of competitive  advantage and India as an investment destination.

The first session was handled by Mr. G. Vijaya Raghavan , Member, Kerala State Planning Board and Member Secretary, Board of Governors, Asian School of Business. The Thiruvananthapuram-based National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) conducted a special session on transportation planning for the visitors.

This is the fifth group of Kansas University students to visit Kerala under the exchange programme with ASB. The team is now in Bangalore to visit the offices of IT corporate including SABRE and Google to learn more about advertising and brand in India .

The KU team is expected to return to Kerala on January 12 and call on Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy. They will also pay a visit to the NGO Mitraniketan, the Vizhinjam Port  and the HLL Lifecare R&D centre at Akkulam before leaving for the US on January 16.