We plan to open TCEs in all the major metro cities in India

Nirmalya Chatterjee, Head-Business & Operations, Tekla India Tekla India is the Indian arm of Tekla Corporation, a leading Finland based developer and marketer of software products and related services for Building Information Modelling (BIM). Nirmalya Chatterjee, Head-Business & Operations, Tekla India talks about the company’s recently launched Tekla Centre of Excellence and its advantages. Please give us a bird’s eye view of Tekla’s operations in India?Tekla Structures’ BIM software provides an accurate, detailed and data-rich 3D environment that can be shared by contractors, structural engineers, steel detailers and fabricators as well as concrete detailers and manufacturers. In India, we operate through our corporate office in Navi Mumbai and one branch office each in Delhi and Bengaluru. We sell software licenses and provide technical support and training services to our customers in the construction and infrastructure industries. Tekla has recently launched ‘Tekla Centre of Excellence’. Please elaborate on this.Tekla Centre of Excellence or TCE was launched in Q3 2010. This is a Tekla authorised training academy to impart professional knowledge on building information modelling processes through use of Tekla software. We sign an agreement with our franchisees to allow them to exclusively run TCE in their particular city. All the successful candidates passing from the institute are awarded industry - recognised certificates directly from Tekla. In fact, we won our first TCE franchisee in Pune in November last year and have received a number of business proposals from interested parties from different cities. What was the motivation that led to TCE ?TCE marks Tekla India’s foray in the educational services business. Today, acute lack of skilled professionals in India is hampering the effective implementation of the BIM technology in the construction industry. Our vision is to bridge this yawning gap between demand and supply of certified BIM professionals in India’s rapidly growing construction and infrastructure sector. Who can benefit from courses run at TCE?Our courses are highly beneficial to civil and structural engineering students who are looking at a world-class professional certification to jump start their careers. TCE courses also tremendously benefit our customers who need to either train their personnel or recruit external professionals. How will you guarantee quality of education at TCE?Tekla provides and directly supervises all the course content at TCE. Based on the release of newer upgrades of our software, we periodically update the curriculum. How is TCE different than other CAD training academies?Tekla was BIM even before BIM was invented. We offer the best BIM technology in the market. By enrolling at TCE, students and professionals not only get an opportunity to learn our software but also understand BIM as an integrated construction process. Learning in a TCE is based on hands-on project-oriented curriculum. We also refer candidates passing out of TCE to our vast client base all over India. What is your future plan for TCE?We plan to open TCEs in all the major metro cities in India in the next two years. Our goal is to produce 500 certified Tekla BIM professionals by the end of 2012. We will collaborate with various prestigious engineering and construction management colleges in the country. We are also connecting with publication houses. Just recently, Tekla was referred in one of the chapters of the book ‘Building Design and Drawing’ by Shah, Kale & Patki. This is a well respected reference book for civil engineering students.