Professor Sadagopan’s Weblog

It was yet another day visiting Hong Kong Conventin center - probably the largest such facility in the world that has million+ square feet of built-up space, dozens of rooms, large halls capable of hosting 10,000 visitors, kitchen with facility to host 4,000 guests, gallery-type theater halls.. all done beautifully without sacrificing efficiency. The Managing Director gave insights into the evolution since 1988, planned addition of 2 more million square feet, ability to host almost 5 events every day, utilization of 60%, more than half a dozen mega events year after year… So much to learn

The visit to Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) was another eye opener. The atrium that greets you at the entrance is spectacular. The connected bulidings that merge into a single large building with class rooms, lecture halls, student amenities on one side, library on the other side and residence halls on the third side fit so well amidst the beauty of greenery all over, backdrop of the sea and the sheer elegance of buildings, one notices the “wow” phenomenon right away. With 8,000 students (3,500 on campus) and 500 faculty / staff staying on campus the University is a mini-city. One day I hope that Indian institutes will learn to develop campuses like HKUST; the facilities folks did give insights into how meticulously they are planning a new building for the Business School that is likely to be operational by 2011.

Today we visited National University of Singapore.

What was striking was the consistent drive of the NUS top management to challenge the team towards excellence. I have been watching NUS over the past 5 years, when the University has done consistently will - in terms of global rankings. But the recent goal of the President that all departments should start bench-marking them with the global top 10 is very impressive; for any upcoming department, it can be a humbling experience to find yawning gaps, but keeping such a high goal takes the University to great heights. NUS President wants at least 10 departments (of the 100+ departments) to be in the global top 10 in 10 years. He has the full support of the Singapore Government.

What a contrast with our own Institutions in India where the governments after governments systematically kill any new initiatves.

Looks like our children will find NUS far more attractive academically five years from now, than any of our premier institutions. Sad for India but great for Singapore!

Today we visited SMU (Singapore Management University).

Thanks to Prof Ted Tschang my good friend we could visit them even on a holiday (May 1). We met the Dean and two senior Professors (Jeremy & Ramaswami) in Finance and Marketing respectively.

I had known SMU from Day 1. In fact one of the previous Deans had invited me; I had spent couple of hours giving my own views. What is amazing is their growth into nearly 5,000 students today, an amazing campus right in the city with about six large buildings connected by an underground concourse, ultra-modern class rooms with tools to support sound pedegogy (two projectors and a board, unobtrusive computer, simple control for projectors - all achieved after a full year of experimentation by the actual teaching faculty), access control, special group meeting rooms for students to provide team learning and most important a razor sharp focus to take research-led teaching to great heights. SMU Finance department would soon be one of the Top 10 global schools; you see the strategy at work. “Do all it takes to achieve the goal” was the clear message; “we are clear as to what game we are playing; it is the number game; publications in top 5 journals; our recruitment, compensation,, are all “tweaked” for it” said the Head of the Department.

There is so much to learn from SMU - be it physical infrastructure or intellectual infrastructure, that too built up at great speed; SMU B-School has 100 faculty members and the University as a whole has 200 faculty members already (in just about 6 years!)

Today we visited NTU (Nanyang Technological University)

Starting as a private college with teaching in Chinese, NTU has grown into a najor technical university with scope extending to Design, Arts and Media. The campus is truly a garden that is a treat to one’s eyes. With 18,000 students the campus ib bubbling with energy that too with a truly globally attractive place for the best of the students from every corner of the globe. The building of the Arts, Design and New Media with a longish dome like structure with lawns on the top is a truly “out of the world” experience. Attention to details - with every building connected by a pathway that is protected from rains (and heat, thanks to Singapore having 30 degrees celsius temperature for nearly 360 days) and well-lit for use in the nights - is one example. The School’s ratings are going up year after year. With focus on Science-based Engineering, inviting 11 Nobel Laureates to visit the School regularly are clear signs that NTU is poised for something much bigger in the years to come.

Will we in India learn from “best practices” of NTU? May be not, till we change our “mindset” of “we know it all” and the powers-that-be hell bent on systematically finishing off excellence through excessive control.