1. science
2. engineering

4
NEWS
K7 Bulletin Tuesday February 10
Europe’s best on B
Kumara Rathnam
Karuppusamy
Rathinaswamy
made it to the third
place worldwide
after taking the
Bloomberg’s Aptitude Test.
– I didn’t even
prepare for it.
Emmad Zangani
[email protected]
Kumara Rathnam Karuppusamy
Rathinaswamy is a 25 year old
student taking his master’s in
Energy, Natural resources and
the Environment at NHH.
He took the Bloomberg’s Aptitude Test in December 2014 and
placed third worldwide, and first
in the EMEA region (Europe,
Middle East and Africa). He is
the second person ever to enter
the Hall of Fame from a Norwegian school.
– I took the test because I was
curious about what rank I would
get, Rathinaswamy says.
Over 250,000 students have
taken the BAT. Kumara scored
730 out of 800 possible points
and is in the 99th percentile
worldwide.
– I was a little surprised and
very happy when I saw the results, he says. I’ve told my mother and brother, but I haven’t told
my father yet.
School was never hard
Rathinaswamy was born in
Tiruchirappalli, India in 1989.
By the time he was three he
started going to pre-school.
– The average age in India is
four years old, but my parents
sent me one year early, he says.
He took his bachelor’s in engineering at the Vellore Intitute
of Technology and his masters
at the Great Lakes Institutes of
Management.
– School was never hard. I
understand fast and spend little
time studying in comparison to
others, he says.
Rathinaswamy points to a lot
of differences between the Indian and Norwegian universities.
– Indian universities are a lot
more intense. You have classes
from 9 to 4, Monday to Friday.
Crushed Europe, Africa and the Middle East: Kumara Rathnam Karuppusamy Rathinaswamy placed first Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Norwegian universities focus
more on self-studies. However,
the teachers are good here – and
really helpful too!
Not only is less time spent in
the classrooms in Norway – the
pupils also have more freedom
to choose which classes to take.
– People are not given a choice
in India. You can’t choose between subjects. You are forced to
learn what they tell you to learn.
Here in Norway you have a lot
more freedom when it comes to
choosing your classes and you
can tailor them after your interests, he says.
After taking his master’s he
started working for the Indian
Government at the Indian Smart
Grid Forum.
– I worked on policies for
the electricity sector in India. I
learned a lot about how the energy sector works and the chal-
– In India, doing a bachelors
in economics has a social stigma
attached to it. Engineering has
a better reputation, and my dad
wanted me to take it.
School was never hard.
Kumara Rathinaswamy, BAT Hall of Fame student
lenges, especially in developing
countries. I also learnt a lot after
working with top bureaucrats in
India and it provided me with a
good platform to do my masters
in energy at NHH.
Risk averse Indians
Rathinaswamy has always been
fond of economics, but he chose
to study engineering first.
His parents aren’t happy that
he left India, but they still support him.
– My parents didn’t like me
coming to Norway since I already had a great job in the government sector.
Rathinaswamy thinks it’s because the older generations of
Indians are more risk averse.
– Luckily times have changed,
and my generation takes more
risks, he says.
Pristine Norway
One of his reasons for choosing
Norway was so the traveling opportunities.
– I have already traveled most
of Asia, and I want to travel
around in Europe too. Since
coming to NHH I’ve already
been to Paris and most of Germany. I’m also planning a trip to
Praha this Easter holiday.
In addition to traveling opportunities Rathinaswamy enjoys
the clean air in Norway.
– The air in India is very polluted in comparison with Norway. I enjoy the air here very
K7 Bulletin Tuesday February 10
NEWS
Bloomberg test
NHH tilbake
på topp
5
Norsk avslag til Ukraina
Ukraina ber om våpen fra
Vesten. USA har ikke gitt noe
klart svar, men «vurderer tiltak
fortløpende», mens Tyskland,
Nederland og Norge har vært
klare på at de ikke vil bidra med
mer våpen til området. Man er
redd for at man kan få en situasjon der det indirekte kriges mellom USA og Russland slik som
situasjonen var i Afghanistan på
80-tallet.
Emmad Zangani
Fire studenter fra
NHH danket ut
både BI og NTNU
i BEKK Management Consulting sin
årlige casekonkurranse.
BEKK Management Consulting
har siden 2008 avholdt en årlig
casekonkurranse. I år skulle
deltagerne løse et case presentert av Norwegian. Vinnerlaget
fikk 50,000.-, hvorav 25,000 går
til veldedighet – I dette tilfelle
NHH-Aid. Laget som stakk av
med seieren var satt sammen
av Peder Engesæth, Arne Tjora,
Karoline Dybendal Aulie og Serine Jonassen.
– Gruppen vår var satt sammen av folk som er gode på forskjellige ting; vi går forskjellige
profiler og har forskjellige interesser, sier Aulie.
– Vi var flinke til å dele opp
oppgavene og jobbe individuelt.
Hvis man skal jobbe sammen
hele tiden mister man mye tid,
legger Jonassen til.
Foto: Audun Roald Strøm, Foto NHHS
much. Norway is a very pristine
country. However, getting Norwegian friends is really hard. I
feel like Norwegians are really
shy, unless you get into a party.
I´ve made a lot of friends, but
most of them are Asian.
Multitalented
Rrathinaswamy is taller than
average – a big advantage in the
world of basketball.
– I enjoy playing basketball. I
even used to play for the Indian
State Team. I quit playing four
years ago.
PhD
Rathinaswamy wants to take a
PhD in economics.
– I like studying more than
working, so when I’m done with
my masters I would like to do a
PhD in climate change, he says.
nical and I don’t enjoy that quite
as much.
Why do you want to do a PhD in
economics and not engineering?
– I’m better at economics
since it´s more real life oriented.
Engineering is a lot more techBloomberg Aptitude Test
•
By Bloomberg Institute
•
Takes around 2 hours
•
100 questions across 8 areas: News analysis, Economics,
Math Skills, Analytical Reasoning, Financial Statement
Analysis, Investment Banking, Global Markets, Chart and
Graph analysis.
•
More than 100,000 took the test in 2014.
Variert jury
Både Norwegian og Bekk Consulting var godt representert i juryen. Fra Norwegian stilte blant
annet Bjørn Kjos, samt kommersiell direktør, Thomas Alexander
Ramdahl. Administrerende direktør fra BEKK, Olav Folkestad,
og leder for Bekk Management
Consulting, Harald Krogh stilte
fra BEKK.
Inblikk i konsulentverdenen
Studentene blir presentert med
aktuelle problemstillinger bedriftene jobber med.
– Man får et veldig godt innblikk i hvordan det er å jobbe
som en konsulent. På bedpress
får man et overblikk over hva
bedriften jobber med, men man
lærer ikke så mye om hvordan
det faktisk er å jobbe der, sier
Aulie.
Alle deltagere fikk også et lynkurs i det å være konsulent.
Norge øker tilstedeværelse
mot Russland
Forsvaret skal ha en militærøvelse i Finnmark med omtrent 5 000 soldater representert ved Sjøforsvaret, Hæren og
Luftforsvaret. Det er over 50 år
siden sist øvelse i Finnmark og
eksperter mener at dette kommer til å bli sett på som en reaksjon på Russlands handlinger i
Ukraina.
Senterpartiet satte stopper for tiggeforbudet
Etter mye oppmerksomhet, både
nasjonalt og internasjonalt, har
Senterpartiet nå besluttet å trekke seg fra avtalen de hadde med
Regjeringen om å gå inn for
nasjonalt tiggeforbud. Det er i
hovedsak grunnet formuleringene i lovforslaget som de mener
vil kriminalisere organisasjoner
som Kirkens Bymisjon og generelle handlinger av omsorg for
tiggere og hjemløse.
Northug får delta i Falun
Petter Northug slipper å sone
dommen sin for promillekjøring
under VM i Falun. Det har blitt
søkt om, og innvilget, fotlenke-soning. Northug har vist god
form den siste tiden, og dersom
lenken måler fart kan vi ende
med en ny råkjøringsdom.
NHH koster SiB
Det viser seg at utvekslingsstudentene ved NHH som benytter
SiB-boligene i kun korte perioder koster samskipnaden dyrt i
tapte leieinntekter. SiB har nemlig hundre prosent boliggaranti
for utvekslingsstudenter og det
står nå 190 ledige boliger, i fjor
var det 268. Og vi som trodde at
det var SiB som tappet oss.
Opptur for oljeprisen
Etter et massivt fall i oljeprisen
og en omfattende perestrojka av
oljeselskaper, har den nå steget
med 20 prosent på fire dager.
Imens banker som Goldman
Sachs og Barclays spår oljeprisen
ned i 30 dollar fatet og OPECs
generalsekretær spår oljen opp i
200 dollar fatet så kan vi i hvert
fall gremmes over å diskutere oljeprisen med alle som har lest en
overskrift.