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The RICS School of Built Environment has partnered with International Facility Management Association (IFMA) to announce the starting of the IFMA Student Chapter.
Facilities Management and Corporate Real Estate Management being a key component of the curriculum in School of Real Estate, IFMA Student Chapter will act as a local source of facility management education, information and interaction, bringing the association’s vast resources directly to the students.
The coming together of RICS School of Built Environment and International Facility Management Association (IFMA) to form an IFMA Student Chapter is another step into being a truly industry-led institution.
IFMA was established in 1980 and is the largest and most widely recognized professional association in the facility management domain. With 134 regional chapters and 17 industry/interest-specific councils worldwide, the association supports 24,000 members in 105 countries. As a student member of the IFMA chapter, the students begin learning about and contributing to the FM profession, start building their contact list and earn recognition through IFMA’s Student Chapter of the Year Award.
The Indian Facilities Management Market is estimated to grow at 17% to cross the $19 billion mark over 2015-20, as per Global Infrastructure Facilities and Project Managers Association (GIFPMA). Facilities Management as a profession encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology. Facilities Management is really vital in today’s world as it delivers effective and responsive services, enables changes in the use of space in the future, creates competitive advantage for the organisation’s core business and enhances the organisation’s culture and image.
Mr. Maheshwaran V, Director IFMA India, along with facilities management stalwarts like Mr. Anish Kadiyan, Director Operations Asset Services, CBRE and Mr. Chandranathan Udayakumaran, Head of Facilities-South Asia, Mentor Graphics Corporation were invited to announce the IFMA Student Chapter followed by a power-packed panel discussion as speakers giving valuable insights to the students, based on their experience of taking care of millions of square feet of commercial office and retail space globally. The panel discussion also constituted Mr. Sunil Agarwal, Associate Dean & Director, School of Real Estate and Col. GK Grover, Professor Emeritus, School of Real Estate.
Mr. Kadiyan from CBRE focussed on the importance of role of facility managers in an organization. He said, "The role of a facility manager not simply operational in nature but that of a strategic planner who helps to organize the day-to-day operations of a business, paying special attention to the premises on which the business is located. From managing vendors and contractors to arranging for maintenance and looking for new ways to lower costs, multitasking is essential for achieving success as a facility manager." He further highlighted that there is a deficit of 18,000 facilities managers annually in India.
Mr. Udayakumaran from Mentor Graphics Corporation was of the view that “Managing facilities efficiently and effectively requires that a robust strategy is developed within the context of the organisation’s overall business plan keeping in mind the cost implications.” For students, this eye-opening session on the many facets of facilities management was extremely helpful as many of them plan to build their career in the FM sector not only in India but also internationally.