The sprawling campus just off the Mangalore-Bangalore National Highway 48 is situated on the banks of the river Nethravathi. Surrounded with natures pristine beauty and an excellent infrastructure coupled with dedicated and experienced faculty has made the Campus a much sought-after abode of learning.
The best part of people’s life is to live every moment as they wished it. It might be the ‘the Most’ happiest part one have. Off course, in this world of distractions, expectations, overthinking and the fast growing atmosphere, running behind one thing after other, it is very difficult to be oneself. I am Midhun Jyothis, Founder of Flotanomers, A Drone Company. And what I told in the beginning is what exactly Sahyadri have given me, “to live to my wish”.
Joining the dots backwards.
One of life’s prerogatives is to live every moment as if it’s your last. In this world full of distractions, expectations, overthinking and the ever evolving atmosphere, it is very difficult to be yourself. I am Midhun Jyothis, founder of Flotanomers, a drone company. As I look back at my journey, I realise that it would be interesting revisit my experiences and share the instances that shaped my personality to a great extent.
Sahyadri College of Engineering has created a deep impact on me has influenced my career choices in a big way.
I came to know about Sahyadri college from my friends had opted for engineering in the same college. I was fascinated by physics, and opted for engineering but that is not the exact reason why I chose Sahyadri. Sahyadri was well known for its sports championships. Being a sports-buff, I was actively involved in sports during my school-days, especially the long marathon and cross-country competitions. My decision proved to be quiet fruitful as I got the chance to join the Sahyadri Sports team right on the first day of my college. The college has an impressive ground, that forms a major highlight. I was trained under Nithisha Rodrigues, who is a gem of a person. We bagged many championships along with my first ever long Marathon of 21.5 km Marathon at VTU sports event.
Another important aspect of my college days was the Foundation Course, a three-day introductory program that highlighted various concepts of communication and their presentations. The course also focused on the importance of decision-making.
The best part of Sahyadri is that it has plethora of opportunities to offer other than just academics, which is so important for all-round development of the students. The college believes more into inculcating the value than just focus on grades. With all the required resources in place, the college allows the students to experiment and learn at the same time. The sense of freedom also helps the students in decision making skills.
One of the most memorable experience of college life is joing the team of Dreamers, an in-house hub for innovation activities. I was introduced to the application of electronics even though I was a Civil engineering student. I was totally amazed by the sessions as it dealt with my favourite subject of Physics. I started building projects during a college event Tech Vision and also bagged funding of Rs 20,000 for the project based on “Earthquake simulation using Shaking table”. During the event I came in contact with a fellow classmate who was building RC planes. He gave me a space and allowed me to join him in the research lab at the college to do my project. It was during that time that I developed a strong affinity towards RC planes. Soon, we started working on a project to compete in SAE International Event in the college under Challengers Club. We had a tough time purchasing things to build or even repair the planes. Few days into the project, I realised that didn’t even have a tool kit that was essential. Luckily my cousin gifted me the tools kit required. I borrowed the other components from the Dreamers and Challengers and completed my project. It was a great experience for me. I learnt that more than money, we need a good set of people and the ideas to support in order to accomplish things.
My ‘flying’ days had just begun. Soon, our efforts paid off and Challengers Launchpad took shape. The success story doesn’t end over here. With the kind of experience and knowledge I had acquired over the time with the support of Challengers, Dreamers and the mentors around me, I finally was able to launch my dream company Flotanomers.
Since then, we have successfully conducted many significant events such as Aerophilia, a national level event that is in its fourth consecutive year with participants representing NITs and IITs at Sahyadri. It was a great initiative and I am happy to be the event strategists for the 2016 and 2017 Aerophilia. Later, I mentored challengers for 2 years and have been a associated with the team even now. It was the experience of having witnessed and conducted so many activities that paved the formation of Flotanomers.
We have now established a good foothold for the company and collaborated with four international companies and the second largest drone company called Terra Drone. We have successively conducted survey for AP government in collaboration with Terra drones. The Company is developing several drones and services at our Company.
I have a dream of making the company as one of the most competent company in India and abroad. We have plans to establish our services in the required parts of India in the next three years and later broaden it to the other parts of the world. We have developed ideas for six products, seven services and eight training programs. The company is now focussed on building the right team for future endeavours while carrying our day-to-day business. The network build with help of the college has provided a great boost and is one of the reason for our growth rate.
I am also happy to see many aspiring young minds following our passion. I would like to share few important aspects that let me build Flotanomers. First find the right mentor. Money, people and ideas will follow you if you got the right mentor and if you follow them properly. Once you find them follow them with full heart. They will be your biggest asset. Secondly, find a good place which matches your concept and accelerates your growth. Thirdly, build the team, find the apt people, inspire them to work with you and support them during your journey. They will help you build your empire. Last and but not the least, be grateful for everything you have got.