The COVID 19 pandemic has created a formidable challenge for businesses. The webinar invited industry experts to explore – how corporate entities are tackling the COVID 19 pandemic situation and the sorts of changes that could become an enduring business model for that particular industry. The five sessions in this series of webinars focused on: Insurance and IT logistic, advertising, FMCG and IT Sales, financial services and financial market. The speakers included: Abhishek Mukherjee, Digital Practice Head, Wipro; Rohit Srivastava, Dispatch Manager, Oracle India; Bodh Deb, Vice-President and Nishanth Anantharam, Creative Director of Autumn Grey; Gaurav Pundlik, Branch Head ITC; Santosh Banerjee, Account Executive Sales, Dell; C S Sudheer, Managing Director IndianMoney .com; Shreyas Kumar M, Director, and CFO Carl Zeiss India; A Benil, Head-Market Research Our Business ladder and Karthick S, Co-founder Knowise Learning Academy. The weekly webinar series was organised by the Department of Management Studies every Saturday from July 18, 2020, to August 18, 2020.

Students, chefs and faculty across the country got an opportunity to listen to Atul Kochhar on what it takes to be a Michelin Star chef. He is one of the first two Indian chefs to receive a Michelin star, awarded in London in 2001 whilst at Tamarind. Talking about the future of the industry and the important qualities for success, he observed that consistency is the key to deliver unmatched value in the food business. The webinar was held on Zoom platform on July 28, 2020.

Amul India hosts talented chefs to present unique native cuisine on its social media sites. Prof Sivaram was invited by Amul India to demonstrate the recipe of a native cuisine. He rustled up a Chettinadu dessert called Kavuni Rice Halwa, black rice pudding, a Chettinadu delicacy for Amul’s global audience. Encouraged by the response to the show, Amul expressed interest in hosting more culinary shows curated by the department of the university. Prof. Sivaram R is an Asst. Professor in the department of BBA-Hospitality and Event Management. The session was held on June 15, 2020 on Amul Facebook Live for #SimpleHomemadeRecipes series garnering over 125 K views.

Understanding consumer satisfaction, consumer and service recovery and service recovery paradox are key to success in the hospitality industry. Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up new challenges in this area. Prof. Ashish Parthasarathy conducted an online session on understanding guest satisfaction and handling guests' complaints. He addressed the students of School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, Faculty of Social Sciences Leisure Management, Taylor’s University, Malaysia. The session concluded with a comparison of Covid-19 impact on both the countries. The interaction was part of PES University’s international collaboration with Taylor's University, Malaysia. The interaction was hosted on Zoom video platform on June 9, 2020.

Job opportunities in the post pandemic times stand disrupted. Mr. Kallol Saha, alumnus of 2006 batch and Director of Human Resource Radisson Blu Dwarka shared his views on evolution of opportunities and scope of work of support staff in the hospitality industry in areas of housekeeping and maintenance. He underlined the importance of up-skilling to make the most of the opportunities in sales and marketing. The webinar was organised by the department of hospitality and event management on May 27, 2020.

Students got hands-on experience in setting an E-Commerce website. The workshop made the students aware of the right skills to become online commerce entrepreneurs in a short duration. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Shivam Bansal, Trainer at Indian Institute of Digital Education is India’s Premier School For Digital Marketing established in 2016. The online workshop organised by the department of hospitality and event management was held on Zoom video communication platform on May 7, 2020.

As the global tourism and travel industry is passing through an unprecedented crisis a look at the various dimensions of the Indian context gave a realistic picture of the industry to the students. The veterans of the industry shared their insights about the future of tourism, trends in sales and marketing and the career opportunities for the students. The speakers included Mr. Anurag Gupta-Secretary-SKAL Bengaluru, Chief Architect-Indian International Travel Exhibition, Mr. Raj Andrade- Chief Commercial Officer-Air India, SATS Airport Services, Mr. Saravanan Dhanabalu- Group General Manager-ITC Fortune Hotels, Mr.Niranjan Bhargava-Managing Director-Traveler’s & Choice & Hon.Secretary ofTravel Agents Association of India and Mr. Mithun R Krishnan-Head-Asia Market-Windows DMC, Vietnam and PES alumnus of 2008-2012 batch. The speakers shared their views about the present situation with a focus on safety, security and hygiene in the hospitality industry, data analysis for travel prediction, acceptability prediction of travel and revenue management after the pandemic is overcome. Dr J Surya Prasad was the guest of honour for the webinar. Prof V Jayakumar welcomed the attendees and Dr Vijay Kumar offered the opening remarks. The webinar organised by the department of hospitality and event management was held on April 16, 2020.

In a recent industry trend, many retail companies are showing a preference for hospitality graduates. Mr. Vivek Jothiani, Business Head – Operations, SPAR India, a PES alumnus of 2008 batch of hospitality program, explained how such students are groomed and their attitude is tuned to fit well with the opportunities in the retail sector. The guest lecture delivered online on PES University’s video platform on April 10, 2020 was accessed by the students of BHEM program from their homes.

The world wildlife day was celebrated with informed conversations with experienced and committed wildlife enthusiasts. Prakash Matada, wildlife photographer, Dheeraj, marine photographer and Sujan Bernard wildlife conservationist shared insights about wildlife in urban settings and steps that can be taken by us to reduce global warming. The session created awareness about snakes in Bengaluru, causes of snake bite, first aid and its management. The event organised by students of the department of management studies was held on March 3, 2020. 

International Women's Day was celebrated by the department of management studies with a panel discussion on equality and empowerment of women in the industry titled Praudhangana. Successful women professionals Sarah Fazal, RJ with radio Mirchi; Janice Joseph, Surgeon and baker, Nikita Das, Sr cluster head Marriot Hotels shared their experiences. The celebrations organised by students of the department of management studies was held on March 10, 2020.

The first edition of the conference on Empowering Sustainability in hospitality, event and tourism brought together academicians, policy makers, students and practitioners to deliberate and discuss contemporary issues and opportunities for future sustainable development. Mr.Rohit Hangal, founder and Director of Sphere Travelmedia Exhibitions delivered the keynote address. Faculty Best paper was won by Dr. D P Sudagar and Students Best Paper was won by Adithya Jayprakash and Akhil Ajjar. Participants got an opportunity to write and present research papers, understand the impact of travel and tourism in the event industry. The conference conducted by Department of Hospitality and Event Management held on March 13, 2020.

The department of hospitality and event management secured fourth position from among 32 colleges at WGSHA Quest. Dhanyajeeth and Gaghan Lokesh won silver medal in the WoW at Every Moment event. WGSHA Quest is Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration’s annual collegiate hospitality competition. It is a platform for young professionals across the country to showcase their fineness in hospitality-related skills. The event was held on Feb 28-29 at Manipal University, Udupi.

Students of hospitality and event management program got an opportunity to know more about managing funds and investment approach for a successful future. Mr. Dipak Shodhan, an alumnus of PES and founder of Achievers Academy shared his insights about achieving financial success through proper investments at the right time. The event organised by Department of Hospitality and Event Management was held on Feb 28, 2020.

Times B-School Survey 2020 ranked PES University at 26th place in India, 1st in Karnataka and 3rd in South India. The survey results are the outcome of methodical analysis covering desk research, factual survey and perceptual rating.

PES University is committed to developing highly skilled human resources with the ability to adapt to an intellectually and technologically changing environment with the participative efforts of the management, staff, students and parents.

The Students of Hospitality and Event Management won multiple prizes at Outlook 2020 organised by Oriental School of Hotel Management, Waynad. Ghagan was declared best manager, Pooviah won first prize in flower arrangement, Sandeep and Pooviah won second place in vegetable carving, Krithi and Dhruva won second place product marketing, and Vijaylakshmi, Keerthana, Sandeep, Gynanesh and Dhruva won second place in culturals.

Dr. Jessy Nair, Associate Professor, MBA Department received the award for Best Paper in Pedagogical Innovations for the paper titled Co-creation for continuous learning at MARKCON2020, Marketing Ecosystems and Innovations. The nomination was submitted in three parts: nomination details, innovation statement and annexures. The final round involved quizzing by the jury of Dr. Moutusy Maity, Professor-Marketing, IIM-Lucknow and Dr. Tapan Sarker, Griffith University, Australia. The International conference, open for faculty in marketing domain was held from 9-11 January, 2020 at IBA, Bangalore.

ARIVU 2020 – a 5K run, Cancer Conquered? Almost! drew enthusiastic participation of students and staff. The running event aims to create awareness about cancer. The total registration amount was donated to an NGO in Bengaluru committed to preventing cancer. The second edition of the event was organised by the Department of Management Studies on February 14, 2020.

Students got an opportunity to know more about types of licenses, excise rules and regulations, fee structure for various business formats in the alcohol industry and rules related to starting a lounge hotel. Mr. Suresh shared practical insights with the students of hospitality and event management in the program on January 16, 2020.

National Tourism Day is observed on 25 January to highlight the importance of tourism for the economy of the country. Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Meenakshi Gupta believed that tourism in India has amazing potential it is the responsibility of hospitality and event management professionals to build it up to generate revenue. The celebrations at PES University were dedicated towards the 17 Sustainable development goals set by the UN. Vindu 2.0 – a Travelogue was launched in the event. The poster, painting and photography competitions which saw active participation was judged by Mr. Abhishek Dev Kumar an alumnus of 2014 batch. The winners were awarded prizes. The event was held on 24th January 2020.

Students of hospitality and event management program got an opportunity to know more about the role and functions of sales in hotels, increasing influence of digital marketing and the importance of interpersonal skills to succeed in services sector. Rohan Bagal, Sales Executive, Ibis City Centre, and alumnus of PESU, shared practical insights about the challenge faced by marketers to sell or communicate services to a customer and how the challenges are overcome.

The three day workshop for the faculty focused on techniques for case writing and research writing for thesis and publishing. Dr.Madhavi, Research Head -Jain University, Dr.Srikantaswamy, Former Additional Director, Centre for Research –Christ University and NAAC Advisor, and Dr. Bharti Gopal, Dr. V.Jaykumar, Dr. Jessey Nair of PES University conducted the sessions. The workshop was organised by the Department of Hospitality and Event Management from 2-4 January, 2020.

Veda Earth Lounge Spa and Store was awarded the prestigious Emerging Concept of the Year 2019 by the Indian Salon and Wellness Award. The enterprise is run by Ms. Divya Dinesh of the 2011-14 batch of BA-IHA program.

Students got an opportunity to learn about the practical aspects of safety and security in hotels. Ms. Premalatha C, Loss & Prevention Manager at Aloft Hotel interacted with the students on the importance of security measures and consequences of not following safety procedures in hotels today. The talk for students of BBA HEM program was held on November 28, 2019.

The students of BBA HEM program interacted with the university alumni to know the practical aspects of the industry. The interaction helped the students in getting an overview of the opportunities for internships, employment and higher education. The website for the university alumni of the university’s hospitality program was launched on the occasion. Catalyst Club of department of Hospitality and Event Management organised the event on Dec 7, 2019.

The students displayed a range of native and indigenous recipes to promote local food and traditional cooking as an alternative to fast food on the University Slow Food Day. Based on the theme of Gandhi and Gastronomy the event aimed to help preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encouraging farming of plants, seeds, and livestock characteristics of the local ecosystem. The Department of Hospitality and Event Management conducted the fourth annual University Slow Food Day with a theme of Gandhi and Gastronomy to commemorate 150 years of Mahatma on Nov 13, 2019.

The 2019 Nobel Prize itself has specially been gratifying. One of the winners was born in India. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of MIT and Michael Kremer of Harvard won the coveted prize for their distinctive contribution in the use of experimental methods to learn about the effectiveness of small-scale policy interventions aimed at helping improve the lives of some of the world’s poorest citizens. The experimental method applied by the three winners is called a Randomized Controlled Trial, or RCT. The Nobel Prize appropriately recognizes both the winners’ use of a powerful research technique and their application of that technique to some of the world’s most pressing policy problems. The Welcome Address was given by Dr. Vijay Kumar, Dean, Department of Management Studies, PES University Bangalore. Eminent speakers from esteemed organizations presented their views on the theme. The gist of the talks is mentioned below: Ritwik Banerjee, UC Berkeley Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Scholar, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore initiated on Randomized Controlled Trial: The New Standard in Development Economics. He mentioned the need for RCT in developmental economics. He explained about the causal determinates, causal association and causal relations. He further helped in understanding the mechanics of RCTs with examples such as the Deworming experiment by Mighel and Kremer and the Immunization experiment by Banerjee, Duflo, Glennester and Kothari. He also touched upon the limitations of RCTs and how the external validity plays a role in its drawback. R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai addressed the topic of What ails Randomized Controlled Trial? He laid emphasis on how RCT contradicts its own definition of randomness. He also called the Randomized Controlled Trail a problematic and ahistoric as it disregards the pre-scientific baggage with which the experiments are conducted. He questioned “Is being random equivalent to being unbiased?” He also questioned RCT being regarded as the gold standard of developmental economics. He further suggested that the introduction of stratification will help in making RCT a right choice but the rule book of RCT considers prior information as lethal. Sowmya Dhanaraj, Associate Professor, Madras School of Economics, Chennai elaborated on Running Randomized Evaluations: An Indian Experience. She spoke about the Indian Experience of the RCT implementation. She explained how the experimental study is classified. She mentioned that RCT holds good for evidence based policies and also explained cycle of evidence in understanding policy making. She also talked about the friction between the policy makers and the reaction of the other sections affected by the policy. Surbhi Kesar, Research Fellow, Azim Premji University Bangalore highlighted the aspect of Randomized Controlled Trials: Implications for the field of Development Economics. She talked about the problematic pain points of RCT. She mentioned that there’s a trade-off between precision and unbiased in the design of the experiment in RCT. She also spoke about the normative issue and the desirability of an intervention. She added that RCT is a borrowed technique from life sciences. V. Sridhar, Associate Editor, Frontline explained the topic of Randomized Controlled Trial: Understanding and Misunderstanding. He said that RCT has clouded out other ways to address developmental economics. Also, RCT has become more of a fashion for students to have in their CV to further their doctoral ambitions. He emphasized that RCT works in averages while a country like India which is highly stratified, the data between the averages will suffer from a lot of variations. He mentioned that RCT being a flavor of the day is a serious problem. The audience comprised of industry professionals, academicians and students. They well appreciated the overall concept, theme and presentations done by all the esteemed speakers.

The intense quizzing competition conducted by quiz master Meghavi Manjunath saw students of BBA and BCom programs from all campuses of PES University compete in three-rounds with options, buzzer and audio-visual cues. The contestants showcased their brilliance by rapidly answering the questions. Though some of the questions were very tricky, the teams answered them with confidence. The questions put forth to the teams were intriguing, exciting and impressed the audience and had them clapping loudly when the teams answered correctly. 22 teams from Hanumanthanagar campus, 4 teams from Electronic city campus and 39 teams from RR campus participated in the quiz. The winners were from RR campus and runners up from Hanumanthanagar campus got attractive purchase vouchers and certificates. Bizquiz-2019 for was organized by Department of BBA on October 31, 2019.

Students got an opportunity to understanding different types of glassware, cutlery, crockery, and new trends in equipment used in the hotels and catering business. Students of BBA HEM program visited Bharat Glass & Crockeries on Oct 23, 2019.

Reeth Abraham shared insights about opportunities, protocol, challenges and mitigation approach essential for the success of sports events with students of BBA HEM program. Reeth Abraham is currently the world and Asian Champion in the Triple Jump and winner of Rajyotsava and Arjuna Awards. The session was held on Oct 9, 2019.

Inspired by Plogging, volunteers from PES and the event partner hotel covered the area around 2.5 km of a busy roadway in the city and collected close to 150 kg of dry plastic waste. The participants also created awareness about the proposed ban on single use plastics. The Plogathon near Marthahalli was organised by HEM department in partnership with ACCOR, Ibis-Novotel, Bengaluru.

Students of BBA HEM program got an opportunity to interact with Ms.Bhavana Alvares, Executive Housekeeper, Taj Bangalore and understand the business aspect of the housekeeping trade. The participants interacted visited three Taj hotels over three days, Oct 21-23, 2019.

Students got an opportunity to know from Mr Mr. Shivanth, an experienced executive about career opportunities and roles and responsibilities that go with the positions in the hotel industry. Mr. Manjunath shared different styles of making mixing cocktails.

Students got an opportunity to curate the unique event with the assistance of Team REdbull Sports. The event saw the indigenous sport of Lagori drawing the interest of corporates and student community. The event showed the immense business potential of an age old game. Chris Croning of RedBull Sports and Dr. Vijaykumar, Dean of Management Studies spoke on the occasion.

Students of hospitality program got an opportunity to get a first hand experience of wine making procedures, grape varietals and pairing cheese with wines. Final Year F and B Service Specialization Students of BBA HEM visited Big Banyan Winery on Sep 11, 2019.

Finance Domain of MBA, PES University, successfully conducted a one day symposium “STOCKATHON - Way to create Wealth” on August 16. Dr. Vijaykumar, Dean – Management studies presided over the function. Eminent speakers from Capital Markets industry shared their experience and insights of current trend. Mr. Ronak Moondra, Consultant Trainer – NSE & Founder CEO of Trading Campus, Mumbai, addressed on the “Overview of Capital Markets” and present state and future prospects of Algorithmic Trading. Mr. Anish Kumar, Business Head-South & East, Canara Robeco Asset Management & Mr. Sanjay. K.S, AVP, Anandrathi shared their knowledge and Industry experience in the area of “Mutual Funds”. Mr. Rajesh Shanbag, AVP, Way2 wealth Advisory, Mumbai provided insights on “Derivatives”. Dr. Sivashanmugam, Professor & Finance Domain Head – Management studies proposed vote of thanks. The entire event was co-ordinated by Dr. Sivashanmugam, Prof G. Srinivas and Prof. Krishna Kumar S.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by newly admitted students and their parents. Speaking on the occasion Justice Vishwanath Shetty observed that there will always be many opportunities for students in a democratic system. He felt that neither the place of origin nor any other hurdle will come in the way of students who put up hard work and focus on achieving. He said that in our country even a young person hailing from a rural background can rise to the highest position like that of a President, Prime Minister or Lokayukta. He reiterated that all students who have secured admission in PES University are lucky since the university is known for excellence in education. Mr. Ravishankar Rao, Senior Manager, Strategic and Planning, CISCO, a distinguished alumnus of PES University addressed the students on the occasion and suggested that students should be technically sound, develop good communication skills and understand the corporate culture. According to him the industry is growing rapidly and demands by industry will be widely varying and therefore students should be responsive to the new technologies and changes. He felt that excellence in quality and being amenable to changes is the need of the hour and students therefore must be ready for this to shine and better their career. He wished the best to students entering higher education and congratulated them for getting admitted to PES University, renowned for quality education and placements. Prof. D Jawahar, Pro Chancellor, delivered the orientation lecture and outlined SPIRIT a unique process framework put into practice successfully by PES University that enables the students to realise their potential. The inauguration of First year BBA, BBA-HEM, B.Com and Law (Integrated Honors Programs – BBA, LLB, BA,LLB and B.Com, LLB) was held on Aug 4, 2019 on the campus was attended by over 2,200 students and parents.

Swathi Suresh and Apeksha Rai interned with Walt Disney Florida and won the appreciation of the organisation for their performance and display of knowledge, skills and attitude in making a difference and helping Walt Disney create an unforgettable experience. Swathi was commended for her dedication in resolving issues, showing true concern for guests in various interactions. The officials were all praise for her teaching of Snake Charm, help during alpha call at Pirates and making sure a guest who was scared of fireworks was comfortable. Both the internees are students of BBA-HEM program.

Students of hospitality program contributed to the success of 48th Skal Asia Congress, Bengaluru 2019 aimed at promoting global tourism and friendship. Student volunteers handled logistic work and took part in flag parade. Ashish Parthasarathy, a faculty member, handled the digital marketing through their Instagram handle for the event.

Wine tourism promises to be the next boom in the tourism market. Students had a first hand experience of the cultivation, de-steaming, filtration, making barrels for ageing and wine manufacturing. Students of BBA-HEM program visited Grover Zampa Vineyard, Doddaballapura on March 27, 2019.

Career Orientation and pre-placement Session for students of management by ITC Hospitality gave the participants an opportunity to know about the industry expectations. ITC executives, Dr. Swarup Sinha, Principal, ITC Hospitality Management Institute and Mr.Anurag Mishra HR Manager-ITC Hotels outlined the history and overview of the organisation. The session was held on March 29, 2019.

Ashish Parthasarathy, won two gold, three silver and a bronze medal in the Innovative Championship: Accommodation Whizz Wizard. He presented a research paper in the on AUGMENTED REALITY as AN INNOVATIVE TOOL TO ENHANCE GUEST EXPERIENCE DURING STAY IN A FIVE STAR HOTEL in the TRANSITION 2019 conference. The theme of the conference was INNOVATIONS IN ACCOMMODATION INDUSTRY ACROSS THE GLOBE- IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STAKEHOLDERS AND SUSTAINABILITY. Ashish is Assistant Professor with Department of Hospitality and Event Management. The event was organised by Garden City University on March 14, 2019.

Students of management got an opportunity to understand ways in which innovation drives value creation and entrepreneurship and about curating brand innovations. Dr. Vijay Kumar, Prof. Sathya Prasad and Prof. G.K. Suresh shared their insights on social and economic value derived from innovations around the world, the process leading to innovation and how ITC as a brand curated innovations that saw tremendous success in the market. The event was held on March 11, 2019.

PES University emerged with top rankings in the seventh Times B-School survey 2019 of management institutes. The survey used desk research, factual survey and perceptual rating for comprehensive evaluation of the institutes committed to providing the best in teaching and all-round development of students. PES University is committed to continually strengthening the trust of students, parents, teaching community, government, industry and business leaders in its core mission of education for the real world.

The Department of BBA, organised a Poster Presentation Competition on the occasion of National Girl Child Day to highlight the importance of education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, safety of girl children and inequalities faced by girls in India, Students performed a dance and skit to portray the kinds of inequalities a girl child faces and concluded it with a message encouraging gender equality. 15 teams presented posters on themes such as progression of a girl child, role of women is different aspects of life, and education and equality of a girl child and the best 3 posters were awarded. The event was held on Monday Jan 28, 2019 on campus.

Students of hospitality and event management got an opportunity to understand how the wine industry works and the emerging career options. The participants interacted with Keshav Raju, CEO and founder of Mudfingers dot com. He shared his experience of building his start-up against the challenges his viticulture business faced. The event was conducted by the department on campus on Jan 28, 2019.

Students got and opportunity to learn from a celebrated chef about authentic Rajasthan cuisine, plate presentation as per industry standard and use of native ingredients. Chef Sanjay Tyagi, personal chef of our Prime Minister during his international visits conducted the workshop.The Parv cuisine workshop held on campus on January 29, 2019 was organised by the department of hospitality and event management.

Students of BBA HEM got an opportunity of curating a press conference that officially inaugurated the upcoming edition of a celebrated event. The first-hand experience of managing the event flow, welcoming guests and liaising with sponsors and media personnel was valuable learning. The press conference launching the Bengaluru Midnight Marathon to be held on Dec 8, 2018 was addressed by Mahesh Bhupathi, Indian tennis player and Shalini Saraswati, Indian Blade Runner. The initiative, aimed to create a platform to raise funds for health, education, social welfare and rural enlistment projects is supported by leading sports and film personalities and backed by companies for employee engagement and brand visibility and NGOs for raising funds and creating awareness on their cause. The press conference was held at a glitzy venue in Bangalore on October 30, 2018.

Students gained hands-on experience at the opening of the world’s largest mobile experience store by Samsung. They assisted in crowd management, logistics, coordination with vendors and activities related to large store opening. The students of BBA HEM volunteered for the event management company for which the department is an academic partner.

The alumni team was at its best, winning the football match against the students in an exciting duel. The contest started with the oath “We the Family of PES Take an oath as per PES Traditions. The match will happen in a fair mode. I will maintain the spirit every athlete would maintain.” The prize distribution and interactive session followed. The alumni of BBA HEM program of batches from 1996 to 2018 participated in the event held on September 1, 2018 on the university’s football turf.

Bhavana and Suraj embarked on a five day journey interacting with the top chefs of Taj. They had a closer look at the modern trends in plating, choosing flavors, selecting ingredients, picking on the right sauce for sea foods and other techniques in signature dishes of leading restaurants. Chefs talked to them about ingredients, gadgets and how they plan full course meals. Bhavana and Suraj, fifth sem students of BBM-HEM program, visited: Karavalli, Memories of China, Vivanta, Azure, Blue Ginger, Terracota, and Bakery and Confectionery of Taj from Aug 20 to 25, 2018.

Alumni meet of department of Hospitality and Event Management gave students an opportunity to meet alumni with first-hand experience of the trends, career options and work culture in the industry. The department presented an overview of initiatives and activities to make them aware of the skills and aptitude of the students whom they may get a chance to recruit or recommend. Such interactions would enable students to transition confidently into the industry on graduation. The event organized by students was held on the campus on July 7, 2018.

A 10-day faculty development programme for teaching and non-teaching staff on MS Office was organised by the Hospitality and Event Management Department from June 4 to 15 on university campus.

Some of the top chefs and F & B managers from across the country visited the campus as jury members, judges and invitees to validate the process of the hospitality competition. 25 finalists from across the country participated in the skill competition across four domains namely cooking, baking, and patisserie and restaurant service. The event provided students an opportunity of informal mentoring by industry experts, skill updation and learning to compete at a higher level. The THSC (Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council) South competition was hosted, organized and conducted by the Department of Hospitality and Event Management from June 21 to 23, 2018 on PES University campus.

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Makerspace, the place to ideate and bring ideas to life, provides the setting for people, ideas and action to come together. The space was inaugurated by Dr. K.N.B. Murthy, Vice Chancellor and Prof. Ajoy Kumar, COO, PES University. CIE Bootcamp, a residential weeklong experiential learning session was held for students to gain insights into the landscape of tech entrepreneurship and take an idea to a pitch using contemporary methodologies and frameworks like design thinking, effectuation, Business Model Canvas and Agile. Eight teams comprising of 4th and 6th semester Engineering students from PES University presented ideas, qualifying for the final pitch, which had Dr S Raghunath, Prof at IIM-Bangalore as the chief guest and juror. The first prize, sponsored by Vantage Agora, was won by “End-to-end Energy Management start-up” ideated by the team of Shrushti, Kalandhar, Mohammed Sadiq and Sumanth. Student volunteers from the Management studies and Hospitality programs at PESU assisted in the smooth conduct of the Bootcamp. The event was held from May 28 to June 3, 2018 on the PES University campus.

EY is one of the largest professional services firms in the world and is one of the “Big Four” accounting firms. The International Taxation course is an important resume-enhancing course for our MBA students. The big-four (EY, PwC, Deloitt, KPMG) are involved in providing taxation services to several Fortune-500 companies and have set up large offices in India to handle these services. PES is the first university at which EY is offering this partnership at the PG level. PES has created two courses based on EY’s International Taxation syllabus and have offered them as Career courses. The job opportunities for MBA students trained in International Taxation is enormous. Internship opportunities are abounding. EY has promised to take a significant number of our MBA trained students as interns, many of which will get converted to jobs. Our Finance specialization is bolstered by EY’s International Taxation. Added to this, we have tied-up with NISM (National Institute of Securities Markets, a subsidiary of SEBI) for a residential program at Mumbai (like IIT-Madras) on Capital Markets. The combination of Corporate Finance-International Taxation-Capital Markets has made our Finance specialization in MBA one of the most appealing in the country. Six of our faculty members are being trained by EY.

A workshop and session on Emotional Intelligence was conducted by Dr.V.Jaykumar for the managers and supervisors of Novotel and Ibis, Accor Group, as a part of the university’s industry interface. The session delved on importance of Emotional Intelligence at workplace, as a tool to improve productivity, and as a key driver for customer engagement.

Catalyst, the event club and forum was inaugurated at an impressive ceremony. The logo was unveiled on the occasion and poster and video teaser were released. The students regaled the audience with a delightful dance performance. The inauguration program held on Jan 12, 2018 in Tech Park seminar hall was conceived and managed by students of BBA-HEM program.

Students got an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the latest equipment in the food and beverage space and bespoke table arrangements. The visit to Bharat Crockeries proved to be a great learning experience. Another such experience was visit to Taaza Thindi to understand the operation and management of small format restaurants. The owner of the popular eating joint of the city, Mr. Srinivas Rao addressed students on best practices and how they maintain high safety standards on par with international norms. The Students of BBA-HEM visited the organizatios on Sep. 7-8, 2017.

The students of hotel and event management showcased their culinary skills by way of putting up food counters at the venue of a popular university event. The students burnt the midnight oil to dish out luscious chocolates and tongue tinglers like chats and sandwiches. Lip smacking delicacies were up for grabs at rock bottom prices. The food items were gobbled up in no time is a testimony to the quality of the food prepared. Students of 1st and 3rd years of the BBA-HEM year program took it upon themselves to set up food stalls to serve participants and visitors, numbering over 7500, at The Amateur Scientist, hosted under the auspices of PES University for identifying bright young minds on August 19.

The national management fest was conducted by the department of MBA on the University campus from March 17 to 20, 2016. One of the leading actors of the Kannada film industry, Vijaya Raaghavendra inaugurated the event. He felt that the large number of participants as compared to his experience in a popular television show made the event a challenging task. He commended the efforts of the organizing team and wished them success in their endeavor. The contestants were restricted to a common area. They competed with each other by saving themselves from eliminations based on votes. The long hours of the contest tests the patience, ability to get along with colleagues, and diligence in completing the tasks diligently in coordination with the competitors. The format gives a glimpse of the challenges which may faced by the managers at personal and professional levels, in their times to come. The winning team from Acharya Institute of Management Science, Bangalore survived the many rounds of elimination. The three day event saw participation of over 100 students and gave the organizing team hands on experience of getting sponsors for the event and marketing and organizing the event. The core team comprised of Siddanagouda Biradar, Shreyas Marudeswar, Suraj Rathi and Tejas A V.