The US comes calling for IITians

_______________________________________________________________

Editor's Note : Sudhakar Shenoy is the Founder and President of Information Management Consultants, Inc., of McLean, Virginia, who graduated from IIT Bombay in 1970, with a B. Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering. We wanted to highlight this example of how IIT alumni can strengthen IIT's brand image as a world-class university, help IITians get better opportunities, and also help their local community at the same time.

George Mason University has set up an interesting program to draw talent from IIT Bombay to the Washington DC area. Sudhakar Shenoy, Founder and President of Information Management Consultants ("IMC"), Inc., of McLean, Virginia, who is interviewed in the Summer/Fall 1999 issue of Y-Point, set this unique program up earlier this year.

Sudhakar thought of the idea over Christmas 1998, and by February 6, 1999, he and Lloyd Griffiths, Dean of GMU's IT school were pitching the idea to more than 60 potential students at IIT Bombay.

Eventually, the School of Information Technology and Engineering at George Mason University and IMC entered into an agreement whereby IIT students are selected for a work/study program designed to encourage students to come to GMU, and to stay after graduation and help build a business. Each student receives a scholarship that will cover the cost of a two-year Master's degree program in Information Technology at GMU, a housing allowance and a paid internship at the sponsor's company.

Students are required to work 20 hours per week, during the academic year, and upto 40 hours during the summer. Each student is required to maintain a cumulative GPA of no less than 3.5, and is also required to maintain a satisfactory performance rating from the sponsoring company.

Sudhakar and GMU view this as an ongoing investment in the area.   "If we are to be the second coming of Silicon Valley, we need talent like that in our area (Washington DC)". Several other companies in the area are also interested in the program and are working with GMU in this regard.