India loses its R&D shine
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hammerhead
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hammerhead
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Yupp these are the factors why engineers go for an MBA. Not like its bad but if I am good at technical I will prefer to stay with it rather than undo the whole thing by doing an MBA.
As I see it, Engineering is about application more than research. The poor state of R & D in our nation is primarily because of poor Pure Science (B.Sc>M.Sc>P.Hd) education. The universities are mostly following decades old patterns which has obvious consequences.....
I would be glad to hear from Indian engineers who are doing 'R&D'. US companies don't do R&D in India, but they do spin a lot about doing it. 3 months later the poor engineer realises this is not the sort of 'R&D' he was thinking about.
Indian technology companies are risk averse and arbitrage oriented. R&D is something they are really not interested in or have the appetite, skill or expertise for. I am sure there are exceptions to the above, but they are just that, exceptions. I have heard Tejas networks, Mindtree, Sasken do some stuff and I am sure there are many others but perhaps individuals who work here will be better positioned to comment
This is not a criticism of the current IT industry, there is room for process oriented service companies with little interest in innovation and place for companies that are interested in innovation.
The later hasn't happened yet but because of the former we have a whole class of Indians who are getting paid decently and kick-starting the economy. Whatever criticism you may have of IT, this is the first industry that started paying well and sharing more of their profits, before them 8-10k would be a good salary with a minority of the business owners cornering money in the economy and creating zero demand. Even then compared to what they charge for the individual engineers services they could pay better.
The sad truth is we don't have an R&D culture or the infrastructure to support it, right from education to industry and government. The first sign of a developed country is high wages and per capita income, IT services has raised the bar here but we will need R&D and innovation to move up the value chain to create products and services for the world market and in the process add more value to our engineers and inventors, have more per-capita income, more consumption, more employment, more growth and prosperity all around, who will then have no need to seek an MBA.
In the meantime Indian IT engineers continue to miss the engineering part of their jobs, maybe 80% reconcile to a good salary, get married and buy a house but there is the 20% that are passionate, bright and talented for who the current system is totally frustrating.
Indian technology companies are risk averse and arbitrage oriented. R&D is something they are really not interested in or have the appetite, skill or expertise for. I am sure there are exceptions to the above, but they are just that, exceptions. I have heard Tejas networks, Mindtree, Sasken do some stuff and I am sure there are many others but perhaps individuals who work here will be better positioned to comment
This is not a criticism of the current IT industry, there is room for process oriented service companies with little interest in innovation and place for companies that are interested in innovation.
The later hasn't happened yet but because of the former we have a whole class of Indians who are getting paid decently and kick-starting the economy. Whatever criticism you may have of IT, this is the first industry that started paying well and sharing more of their profits, before them 8-10k would be a good salary with a minority of the business owners cornering money in the economy and creating zero demand. Even then compared to what they charge for the individual engineers services they could pay better.
The sad truth is we don't have an R&D culture or the infrastructure to support it, right from education to industry and government. The first sign of a developed country is high wages and per capita income, IT services has raised the bar here but we will need R&D and innovation to move up the value chain to create products and services for the world market and in the process add more value to our engineers and inventors, have more per-capita income, more consumption, more employment, more growth and prosperity all around, who will then have no need to seek an MBA.
In the meantime Indian IT engineers continue to miss the engineering part of their jobs, maybe 80% reconcile to a good salary, get married and buy a house but there is the 20% that are passionate, bright and talented for who the current system is totally frustrating.
Are you talking about basic computer science research or research in the context of product development? The former does happen but in very very few places in the country. In fact so few that I can count it on my fingertips - MSR, IBM Research, HP Labs, Philips Research, Siemens, GE, Motorola and to some extent Infy Setlabs and TCS Advanced Technology Center.
Being in the area for the last 5 years or so, what I find is that unfortunately the trend in our country is to shun basic research for more lucrative careers. A country of a billion produces less than 10 PhDs in computer science every year. (excluding the folks that go to the US, which is probably fifty times the number)
Yes research doesn't pay as much as what one would get if one did an MBA. But its not that one lives like a pauper either. The best thing is you get to do what you want for the rest of your life and not what someone else forces onto you
. You don't have to sell soaps, shares, mobile phones or whatever else :rofl:.
Being in the area for the last 5 years or so, what I find is that unfortunately the trend in our country is to shun basic research for more lucrative careers. A country of a billion produces less than 10 PhDs in computer science every year. (excluding the folks that go to the US, which is probably fifty times the number)
Yes research doesn't pay as much as what one would get if one did an MBA. But its not that one lives like a pauper either. The best thing is you get to do what you want for the rest of your life and not what someone else forces onto you
. You don't have to sell soaps, shares, mobile phones or whatever else :rofl:.hammerhead
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Our IT industry is totally based on the economic success of other countries. The bad thing about service sector is not being indipendent. I believe that it is R&D that will make India a superpower.
. You don't have to sell soaps, shares, mobile phones or whatever else :rofl:.[/quote]That is a slightly sarcastic comment. The only job of an mba grad is not selling soaps etc. which a 10th pass guy might do. Particularly for a person passing out of an iim for example the last thing he might be doing is selling soaps.
I do agree research does not get it's due share in India. However that does not mean you should bad mouth the alternate careers.
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