Institution news
In April 2014, with the support of the local automotive industry, IMechE inaugurated its automotive division in Pune, India. The launch garnered wide spread publicity and interest in IMechE in the automotive community in India. This prompted subsequent events by the unit to increase this outreach. One such large scale event by the unit was IMechE’s participation at the SIAT 2015 conference in Pune, India.
Symposium on International Automotive Technology (SIAT) is a blue riband event in the international automotive calendar and is organized by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) biennially. SIAT serves as an important forum for exchange of ideas and brainstorming for the automotive industry. "Towards Safer, Cleaner & Quieter world" was an appropriate theme for this edition of SIAT which was held from 21st – 24th January 2015 and was the 14th in the series of SIATs bringing automotive experts from 'Industry & Academia' across the globe together on a common platform. The conference was attended by over 1800 delegates representing 25 countries.
IMechE was proud to be a part of this prestigious event to engage with members and engineers in India and other international delegates. The Institution had put-up a stall which was brought to realization by the tremendous efforts of our dedicated volunteers in Pune, namely Mahesh Shinde, Manasi Mone, Mrunal Hatwalne, Hiral Kumar Patel, Badal Bisen, Suraj Bhagwat, Dattatreyudu Mullapudi, Francis, Mrunmayee
among many others. One of the standout aspects of this initiative was that the whole process from concept to execution was realized within the span of 24 hours. IMechE India would like to thank our volunteers in Pune who had driven this initiative.
The stall had over 250 visitors from diverse backgrounds from students, professors, scientists, industrialists and young engineers. Eminent personalities including Dr. Tim Leverton FIMechE (Head of Advanced and Product Engineering, Tata Motors), Terry Spall, Commercial Director, MIRA Technology Park Ltd., Ms Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director ARAI, delegates from Jaguar Land Rover, Fiat, Mahindra & Mahindra, Robert Bosch, also visited the stall and provided encouraging support for the Institution.
The stall proved to be an important tool in spreading awareness among the young engineers and students about the importance of professional registration. The quantum of inquiries received post-event, shows that our Pune team has succeeded in gaining visibility for IMechE for greater penetration. It has already set the ball rolling. This has been a committed team effort by the Pune members who are geared up for raising the IMechE footprint in India and expanding the IMechE India automotive unit.
For more on the event and other activities in India follow us on the India NearYou pages.