Indian oil executives to attend energy, business programs
Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business will host a group of executives from India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The visit, jointly organized by Pamplin's Center for Management and Professional Development and the Department of Finance, will feature a week-long program of energy and business seminars and tours on campus and elsewhere, beginning today, Monday, Feb. 19.
The group comprises 22 executives from the state-owned petroleum exploration and production company and a faculty member of the Indian Institute for Foreign Trade in New Delhi. The executives are senior engineers with 15-20 years of field experience who are also company-sponsored MBA students at the institute, said Frank Smith, director of the Center for Management and Professional Development. “Their U.S. visit is an integral part of their MBA program.”
The visit will include presentations on leadership, oil and gas exploration strategies, renewable energies, and future energy scenarios by faculty members from Pamplin, the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, and the departments of geosciences, engineering science and mechanics, and electrical and computer engineering. Norris Chamberlain, an executive of Energy Systems Group in Richmond, Va., and a member of the Pamplin Advisory Council, will lead a discussion on the use of landfills as renewable energy sources. The group will also meet Pamplin Dean Richard E. Sorensen and Vice Provost for Outreach and International Affairs John Dooley.
The visitors will tour the Roanoke Gas Company’s control center and liquefied natural gas plant and travel to the Washington, D.C., area, where they will visit Virginia Tech’s Advanced Research Institute as well as the World Bank, the American Petroleum Institute, and ExxonMobil. The program was arranged with the assistance of finance department head Vijay Singal, who was a joint director of finance for 10 years at ONGC in India before pursuing an academic career.
The Center for Management and Professional Development specializes in custom designed training for organizations, including Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies. The center can also provide individual consulting and grant solutions to a wide variety of business challenges found within industry, business, and state and federal government agencies.
Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (BAD ’33), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (BAD ’64).
