Mälardalen University (MDH) offers International Masters programme in Innovation and Design for Indian youth

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Mälardalen University (MDH) offers International Masters programme in Innovation and Design for Indian youth

WeSchool to support as an academic facilitator from India

While India still needs to implement substantial reforms in its innovation policy to further improve its performance, WeSchool with many firsts to its credit in management education space, has created a platform with Mälardalen University through Master’s programme in Innovation and Design for the Indian human capital to boost up their potential by imparting new knowledge and skills to acquire creative mind-sets as well as business sophistication. Prof Dr Yvonne Eriksson, Director-Research, Prof Bengt Köping  Olsson, Program Co-ordinator  and Prof Dr Koteshwar Chiramulla, Post Doc Researcher  from MDH along with Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool  unravelled the content, modalities and the opportunity spaces of the programme, now available for Indian youth. In the last few years, WeSchool and MDH have jointly worked on several initiatives such as the Indo-Sweden Innovation Accelerators Program (ISIA) wherein 11 Swedish Cleantech companies and WeSchool students worked collaboratively for over 6 months on innovative energy solutions finding a market in India. MDH also offers Linnaeus-Palme Scholarship program for students and faculty exchange at WeSchool.

The multidisciplinary Two Year, Full Time Masters programme in Innovation and Design is created to acquire both theoretical and practical competencies, offers a combination of disciplines such as engineering, social sciences and humanities, as well as perspectives drawn from the arts and teaches about innovation management, design processes and communication in complex organisations. It includes qualitative research methods and skills to collaborate outside traditional academic boundaries in interdisciplinary projects with corporate/societal partners, helping to develop capacities for multidisciplinary collaborations, both nationally and internationally.

“This major initiative between WeSchool and MDH is aimed to set Indian youth on an accelerated path of innovation with design thinking, in keeping with national agenda and global trends. WeSchool and MDH will look forward to the active involvement of our faculty and students in taking up joint ventures Like workshops, case study, industry projects to solve current corporate challenges as well as those that will emerge in the future scenarios, thereby creating a win-win situation for multiple stakeholders. The wide-ranging programme content will certainly create a plethora of opportunities for our students by giving them an advantage in securing careers in the global corporate sector, open avenues for academic research; and encourage them look at the start-up culture with renewed hope and enthusiasm, especially now when ‘Start-Up India, Stand-Up India ‘initiative is about to be announced by Govt of India.” ,elaborated Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool in his opening address.

“We are indeed very happy to join hands with WeSchool in one more initiative with the Masters program. For the Indian students this means studies or placements abroad and work in multicultural settings that will bring new experiences, increased intercultural competence and a higher level of employability with a global edge. The program is developed in collaboration with our industrial partners in the region which will facilitate carrying out Research within innovation and design within the research and education area, Innovation and Product Realisation (IPR). As we believe that competence for innovation and creativity can be trained in at different levels that helps companies to think of newer ways, Mälardalen University would like to extend its association by exploring the possibilities for collaborations with corporates in India as well”, Said Prof. Dr. Yvonne Eriksson, Director-Research, MDH, while defining the outline and content of the collaborative venture further.

With Switzerland, UK and Sweden topping this year’s Global Innovation Index (GII); the writing on the wall is clear; innovation-driven growth is no longer the prerogative of high-income countries. In spite of the fact that ‘frugal innovation’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ have become buzzwords in India, we have performed poorly on World Bank sponsored Global Innovation Index (GII) 2015 by being pushed to 81st spot among 140 countries well behind middle income countries such as Brazil, China and South Africa. The Masters Program in Innovation Management and Design is indeed a welcome move that will help mentoring Indian youth on the path of creative corporate leadership and entrepreneurship with a global edge.