SkyFi Labs turns engineering theory into practical programs to create more employable engineers
Learning by Doing is the vision at SkyFi Labs – a startup that aims to transform students from textbook engineers to practicing engineers.“At one point in my earlier job, I interviewed close to 50 people to identify one good candidate for an entry level opening. All applicants were giving excellent text book answers but no one had a clue how to implement things in real life” – Pavan Ponnaganti, Founder & CEO, SkyFi Labs.
The problem of being textbook geniuses is something that plagues all sectors of the Indian workforce. However, this is explicitly demonstrated within the field of engineering where many students graduate with top grades but are unable to put the theoretical learning into practice. SkyFi Labs aims to bridge this knowledge gap for aspiring employees by creating relevant and structured training programs that involve practical hands-on projects.
SkyFi brings value to the engineering market space by developing structured training programs that involve both offline and online activities to help students acquire relevant skills in the areas of Computer Science, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Pavan Ponnaganti, Founder and CEO of SkyFi Labs adds, “The market opportunity for SkyFi is huge considering the increasing number of engineering institutes, students and recruiters all with a common goal of creating employable engineers”.
What makes SkyFi different is that all their training programs take place in the campus of the student and have engineering at its core as students are required to build things ‘that work’. Through their learning by doing focus, students develop a flavor for learning with a result-oriented approach and develop confidence as well as interaction skills that make them more employable.
While in this era of Internet startups, starting an offline education business might not be very ‘cool’; Pavan maintains that they have consciously remained offline as SkyFi Labs is not in the business of providing content but rather in the business of imparting practical skills. “While we may face more difficulty than an online business in scaling up, the problem we are trying to solve demands contact with customers and a strong technical background which is our strength. By focusing on designing quality projects that challenge and develop students, we are confident that we will be able to cross the hurdles and scale up”, adds Pavan.
Since its founding by alumni of IIT Kanpur, SkyFi labs has made a significant impact within the engineering space. In the past two years, they have reached out to 20000+ students across 2 countries and 20 states and have grown to a team of 11 people. Pavan believes that the quality of people in your team is a key ingredient for a successful venture. When looking for a specialist to build their computer science department, Pavan was searching for a good hacker that was capable of building a business but would still be enthusiastic about an offline startup. After interviewing many applicants, they found Sujit who had leftKanpurto go to Mumbai in the hopes of joining a startup. A couple of phone calls later, Sujit had taken the next available bus from Mumbai toBangaloreand joined them within 24 hours!
His message therefore to all us aspiring entrepreneurs is “to not get disappointed when facing a tough problem. Keep fighting and the solution might just be at your next effort”.
Find out more about the interactive programs offered by SkyFi Labs at: www.skyfilabs.com