Who should join?

Are you one of the student of Silver Oak Campus and you have the dare to dream to start your own company?? If yes, you are most welcome to join ChessNut Club which is one of the most vibrant Entrepreneurship Club of the Vibrant State of Gujarat.

About Us:

Education should always be purposeful, growth oriented and productive. But somehow, present pedagogy is failing to produce dynamic and enterprising youngsters capable of facing the changing times and taking on the toughest technical challenges. Academic Qualifications no longer define the worth and expertise of a candidate and prospective employers are no longer looking at mere qualifications but at the employability potential of the candidate. Furthermore, the industry has neither the time nor inclination to train a fresher in skills required. Owing to tough competition, industry is ready to recruit only skilled candidates who can contribute immediately to the well being of the company. Hence the emphasis is on how best to integrate industry relevant skill set and regular college curriculum and expose students to real workplace culture.

The median age of the population in India is 27 years. That is, half of the population of the nation is under 27 years old. That amounts to more than 600 million people or about double the total population of the US. In order to account for the growing youth population, India needs to create 150 million jobs in the next decade, or about a million new positions every month. Since government or corporations cannot generate such large employment, most of these jobs need to be created by startups. Moreover India is expected to add over 10 million people to its workforce each year for the next 10 years. Employment for such a large workforce will largely come from entrepreneurs who build fast-growing companies that create tens of thousands of jobs. A large number of these entrepreneurs are students today – and they need all the inspiration, encouragement, and support they can get! The need of the hour is a sustainable platform to hone the skills of students and provide the support each individual needs to grow. A well defined solution is the establishment of Chestnut Club.

Chestnut Club will progressive and student friendly initiative, with a well intended objective to eliminate disconnect between pure theory taught in colleges and the reality in the global job/entrepreneurial market. Chestnut Club will create an opportunity culture where each student has an opportunity to excel and is encouraged to realize his vision and long term objectives through Entrepreneurial and Skill workshops and Seminars. Paramount importance will be given to training students in employability skills and design thinking for entrepreneurship that cater to industry and technological needs. But, Chestnut Club also realizes the basic truth that being technically good is not adequate and therefore rigorous training will be given in communication skills, sound values and professional ethics to enable the student to venture out in confidence and prove his calibre for the next generation market both as a Entrepreneur or as a Workforce.

Vision and Mission

Skill and Entrepreneurship ecosystems are the driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. Countries with higher and better levels of skills adjust more effectively to the challenges and opportunities of world of work. We also believe that entrepreneurship is the key that can unlock India's latent inventive potential. It will not only push India to the forefront of the world but also help raise the quality of life in the country.

With this belief Chestnut Club targets to help in the development of SOCET's as well as Gujarat's Skill and Entrepreneurial ecosystem by enabling easy and efficient interaction between it's major components spanning students, working professionals, aspiring and existing Industrilist/Entrepreneurs, mentors, angel investors, venture capital firms and corporates through initiatives like interactive sessions, competitions, conferences et all.

Significance:

Entrepreneurship is a key driver of our economy. Students exposed to entrepreneurship frequently express that they have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self esteem, and an overall greater sense of control over their own lives and technical know-how. ChessNut Club is fostering Innovation within students and help them looking beyond what they currently do well, identifying the great ideas of tomorrow and putting them into practice.

Exposure to:

Technology:

3D Printer, Laser Cutters, CNC Router, Vinyl Cutters, Media Technology, Arduino, Raspberry Pi and all other prototyping equipments

Entrepreneurship:
  • Entrepreneurial Lecture Series/Workshops
  • Various Platforms like Idea Validation Platform, Startup Services Platform, Investment Platform considering the various phases of an entrepreneur.
  • Students Day Out (Students get a chance to spend time with an Entrepreneur, CEOs, Founders, Big Businessman for a day)
  • Events like 'Startup Bootcamp' and 'The First Pitch'
  • Games like Virtual Stock Market, Business Simulation etc.
  • Organizing Startup BootCamp which will be a perfect Platform to "make ideas happen".

Credentials:

  • 5 startups already launched successfully
  • 6 awards from GTU Sankul Day
  • Collaboration with other various Labs such as FabLab, CiC3, GIC, OSTC, ISDN etc.

Coming up Activities:

  • Lecture Series on Design Thinking
  • Workshops on Ideation
  • Informal Sessions (Sessions will be interactive, like case study sessions, Stock Market Analysis etc.)
  • One day sessions on various Platforms like Idea Validation Platform, Startup Services Platform, Investment Platform considering the various phases of an entrepreneur.
  • Students Day Out (Students get a chance to spend time with an Entrepreneur, CEOs, Founders, Big Businessman for a day)
  • 'Startup Bootcamp' and 'The First Pitch'
  • Online Quizzes
  • Games like Virtual Stock Market, Business Simulation etc.
  • Visit to various Co-Creation Working Space.
  • Seminar on Legal and taxation consultancy for startups.
  • Training on Video shoot, editing, ad jingle, montage creation.
  • Mentoring for successful Crowd funding
  • Startup Fest - which will be a confluence of visionary students, professionals or anybody who wishes to be one of those crazy rebels who will change the world, start his own business or fund a business and become a trend-setter.
  • Organizing Startup BootCamp which will be a perfect Platform to 'make ideas happen'.

Contact Us:

Prof. Utkarsh Patel,
Asst. Professor, GTU Innovation Club Coordinator,
C-403, Silver Oak Campus, Ahmedabad
E- utkarshpatel.ec@socet.edu.in

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