Nihar Pandit

I am Nihar Pandit, B.Tech 2012 batch of U. V. Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University. Presently, I am  working  as a Product Evangelist at Manipal Global Education Services. My core responsibility is to come up with innovative solutions in the learning/ skilling and assessment space.

Prior to this,  I worked  with TCS iON, the products unit of TCS, with the following key responsibilities:

• Leading the International Strategy team: I operationalized 2 geographies for TCS iON – Japan and LATAM
• Product Head for a hand-held device, which was awarded the best innovation across the TATA  group of companies, at the TATA Innovista event.

This experience is post completing my MBA from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai.

I am also an enthusiast in the Social Work & Social Entrepreneurship space, having spearheaded a lot of initiatives around the Education and Vocation space.

Let me go in a bit of flashback and talk about the years that transformed my life and shaped my personality. It was the year 2008, the HSC results were out. My grades were not the best, and I was hoping for a magical merit-list that would get me a seat in a leading institute. The miracle did happen and my daily journey from Ahmedabad – Kherva started. The primary goal was to prove to myself that I still have the academic brilliance and emerge victorious at the end of the 4 years cycle. This task could not have been achieved alone.

The entire GUNI (Ganpat University) family came together to change me for the better:

1. The best-in-class faculty pool: This mattered the most! Every faculty possessed the technical brilliance to decode the most complex of problems into simple concepts. Their unique pedagogy helped in shaping the Critical Thinking aspect, which is a necessary skill to grow at the workplace. Each faculty treated the batch as their responsibility – to shape the teenagers into responsible innovators. I do not remember a day when I did not visit the staff room, post the college hours. The faculty members were so approachable that they would ask me to pull a chair and explained to me the concepts till the point my face displayed that confidence.
2. The curriculum: Our batch was at the interface of the technology shift. The industry was taking a drastic turn, and we had to be prepared for it. The faculty embers  and the academic team were agile in bringing the futuristic courses to the classroom. Every lecture had 3 parts:
   1. where we learnt the textbook concepts & theories,
   2. where we practically applied those concepts,
   3. where the faculty went out of the way to explain the future trends.
3. The extra-curricular activities: Domain expertise can open the corporate doors for you, but to scale  the corporate ladder ladder, you need soft-skills. The university ensures that they shape leaders by encouraging them to take up the charge of several initiatives. During the 4 years, I led the Technical Fest – “Convergence 2010 & 2011”, Cultural Fest - 2010, the First Youth Fest - 2010, started EC Club, etc. The university has the reputation to put these events at a national stage, attracting the best crowd. The lessons I learnt through these initiatives shall continue to help me navigate through the challenges that I encounter in the professional world.
4. The quality of peers: You learn from your tribe – yes, I was surrounded by some brilliant batch mates, who brought in the “healthy competition” required to push the limits. The institute also played a huge role in inculcating the spirit of social learning.
5. The infrastructure: Everyday, as we stepped into the campus, the trees, the vibrant buildings, the amphitheatre, the sports complex welcomed us for a holistic day. Visit the place to see for yourself – you will find students all around the campus.

I landed up with  a job at TATA Consultancy Services through the campus placement process. The job took me to places: from Hyderabad to Bangalore to Switzerland, and I am thankful to the Placement Team at UVPCE for providing us with the best career opportunities.

Before joining TCS, I saw a very satisfying event unfold – Ganpat VolunTeacher Movement. I was a core part of a movement going on around Gujarat, All India Rural Empowerment Program (AIREP). AIREP focuses around empowering the villages by focusing on Education, Vocation and Healthcare. We approached Ganpat University to adopt the pedagogy and they promptly adopted the model of University Social Responsibility (USR, along  the lines of CSR). This is one of the historic steps that the university has taken, and I feel a lot of pride in being instrumental to it.

With the AIREP Team for the inception of Ganpat VolunTeacher Movement

Connecting the dots to how I started this note: I have won several awards, scholarship and appreciation basis the learnings I earned over the 4 years at Ganpat University:

• “Best Innovator” at TATA Innovista 2019
• "Overall outstanding contribution to the institution" during post-graduation
• "Best Student" during graduation
• "Best All-rounder" during schooling
• "Best Scout" for Ahmedabad district

Details about my social work is captured at: http://volunteacher.in/

I can be reached at: linkedin.com/in/nihar-pandit OR pandit.nihar@gmail.com