Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai launches MBA in Technopreneurship in association with IIT Stuart Business School, USA

Great Lakes Institute of Management, a premier B-School in India announced the launch of MBA in Technopreneurship in association with Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business, Chicago, USA. The launch event happened on January 31 at Elliots, Crowne Plaza, Alwarpet, Chennai followed by a formal MoU signing between the Deans of both the institutes today at Great Lakes campus, Chennai.

The launch event at Crowne Plaza was hosted by Mr. N. Sankar, Chairman of the Sanmar Group, and the Program announcement was made by Dr. Bala V Balachandran, Founder, Dean & Chairman, Great Lakes Institute of Management in the presence of Dr. John F O Bilson, Dean – IIT Stuart Business School.

Launching the new program, Dr. Bala said, “Great Lakes is the first B-School in India to have come up with an exclusive program for Technopreneurship. The program will be a three module one – the first one at Great Lakes, the next being a blended module and the last one at IIT Chicago. At the end of the program, the participants will receive an IIT Chicago MBA along with a Great lakes Certificate. With disruptive technologies,  Machine learning and digital advancements in the entrepreneurship space today, programs such as these are going to have an edge and Great Lakes constantly strives to provide its students a global competitive edge. Associating with IIT Stuart Business School will ensure design thinking that is critical for Entrepreneurship and a global outlook of the curriculum, he added.

Dean (Dr.) John Bilson, remarked that Chicago being home to a number of leading institutes in the world, the competitive spirit between these colleges has always ensured positive spirit amongst its students. “Illinois Institute of Technology has always been the first to provide US and other countries many innovations. This program with Great Lakes will be yet another innovative program that integrates design thinking and Technology. I see in this synergy between Great Lakes and Illinois Institute of Technology an opportunity to co-create innovation and entrepreneurship in Technology space thus being called as Technopreneurship.”

Dr. Michael R Gosz, Vice President of Enrollment in Illinois Institute of Technology stated that the students taking up this Technopreneurship program will be immensely benefited as IIT Chicago has over 8000 students from almost 100 countries making it a truly global campus. Ms. April Welch, Associate Vice Provost of Strategic Affairs, IIT added that the participants would be a part of the vast alumni network of IIT Chicago providing them the right opportunity to network and nurture their entrepreneurship ideas.

During the launch, Dr. Bala also announced the commencement in April 2017, of a 5 year integrated BBA + MBA program in Great Lakes International University (GLIU), located in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

Congratulating Great Lakes on the launch of Technopreneurship program, Mr. N. Sankar, Chairman of the Sanmar Group said this unique curriculum is going to be one of its kind and a great opportunity for the participants in terms of learning. The Sanmar Chairman also applauded the model which the 5 year integrated program Great Lakes International University will be adopting. “I think the integration of Liberal arts, Engineering and Management under one roof is a novel idea and I sincerely appreciate Dr. Bala and Great Lakes for putting this together”, he said.

Senior faculty from both Great Lakes and IIT Chicago, senior members from various corporate houses, and TiE Chennai were also present at the launch event.