First batch of 44 students from IIMB & Toulouse Business School’s joint Aerospace MBA graduate in France

Bengaluru: The first batch of students of the General Management Programme for Aerospace and Aviation Executives (GMAE), which is a partnership programme offered by Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Toulouse Business School (TBS), graduated on Friday, September 29, 2017, at Toulouse Business School in Toulouse, France. Forty-four Indian students joined their fellow partners of the part-time and full-time Aerospace MBA taught in Toulouse for the graduation ceremony.

The event, which took place at the main campus of TBS, brought together more than 75 students from India, United Emirates, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Peru, France, Morocco, Italy, Mexico, China, Portugal, Hungary, Switzerland, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Belgium, and Albania. Representatives from the Aerospace industry, TBS and IIM Bangalore were present at the ceremony.

The programme offers its graduates a GMAE certificate (General Management Programme for Aerospace and Aviation Executives) from IIM Bangalore at the end of the first year and an MBA from the Toulouse Business School at the end of the second. It allies IIMB’s academic expertise in management and TBS’s aerospace competences. This unique combination of managerial and technical expertise also represents a step forward in the understanding of European and Indian markets. Airbus, an actor in constant development in India, is associated with the pedagogical aspect.

The programme makes a valuable contribution to the Aerospace ecosystem where professionals, academics, researchers and students come together to share knowledge and experience and build a global network. That is one of the many reasons why the programme attracts high-calibre students from all over the world.
The average Indian delegate has 15 years of experience and comes from a well-known national or international company or institution, such as the Indian Air Force, Air India, Indigo Airlines, Prime Aerospace Middle East, Airbus Group, Tata, Honeywell Technology Solutions, SpiceJet and UTC Aerospace Systems, among others.

Prof. S Raghunath, director of the aerospace management programme at IIM Bangalore, said: “The programme equips the students with the necessary leadership skills and a broad base education. It will help develop the aerospace and aviation ecosystem not only in India but in the region as well.”

“The first batch of TBS/IIMB AeMBA India represent more than just a fantastic achievement. It is very much like the first roll out and first flight of a brand new aircraft: years of preparation, fruitful collaboration between TBS and IIMB teams, enriching and shared experiences. But the most impressive and satisfactory result is to realize how the graduates have grown to become international high skilled managers and aerospace leaders,” said Prof. Christophe Bénaroya, Director of Aerospace MBA programs at TBS.

Special Awards
The graduation ceremony recognized the academic work of Thirunavukkarasu R with the Research Paper Award for his paper, ‘Assessing the Potential of IoT in Aerospace’. “I am thrilled and honored to receive this prestigious award. It encourages me to strive for greater feats,” he said.

Krishna J.S. was awarded the first Personal Odyssey Prize, which honors the most significant journey in the programme, as well as team-spirit.