KIET Group of Institutions Blog

Because of the concerns raised by various environmentalists, the concept of green building construction has become immensely popular and has attracted a lot of attention. Furthermore, the meteoric rise in the population and demands have made it necessary that we address the issue of resourcefulness and sustainability sooner.

There is a great scope in eco-friendly and sustainable construction for civil engineering students.

 We talked to Ms. Shriti Pandey, one of our KIET Alumni and founder of Strawcture Eco, to understand her journey from an engineering student to an entrepreneur.

Q&A:

• How do you define Strawcture Eco? We would also like to know your achievements.

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “Strawcture Eco is a green construction company. It was registered as a private limited company in January 2018. The vision of the company is to make housing more accessible, affordable and sustainable for all. Strawcture Eco is the first company to achieve Social Impact Challenge Award in the United Nations in New York last year. We also were the runner up of UP start-up conclave. We are incubated by NITI Aayog, IIM Bangalore and are in partnership with TATA steel to build low-cost housing structures in rural economy in India.”

• What inspired you to take this initiative?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “Strawcture Eco was born out of my personal experience being in a village for one year. I did a rural fellowship ‘Bank of India- Youth of India’ in the year of 2017. The experience made me realize that there is a huge potential for building houses for the rural community at a low cost and thermally more comfortable than these traditional houses that we live in. 90% of this community do not have a proper house.”

• What challenges did you face?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “The very first challenge, I think, every entrepreneur faces is that when you go to the people and you pitch the idea- nobody believes you. They usually think it’s a crazy idea. The people have been building houses with concrete and brick for more than 100 years, why would they like to switch? Therefore, the initial resistance was psychological. Over a period of time, once we built the first model, people started to see our house and believe in it.

The next challenge was convincing people to work with us in the team. Because a lot of time, people prefer working in corporate in steady jobs than startups because of their flexibility and security. But within last one and half years, we’ve been able to have a good strong team of  people who believe in the vision as much as I do.”

• We would like to know about your journey from a student to an entrepreneur and about your life as an entrepreneur?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “I completed my bachelors in civil engineering in 2014 from KIET. After graduation, I decided to study more instead of immediately getting a job. So, I went to the US to do my masters in construction management. At that point in time, I saw a huge potential of doing my own business in construction space and implementing new technologies which are going to be the future. 

As an entrepreneur, it’s impossible to give yourself a holiday. But it’s exciting at the same time because knowing that you have the power to create something, to make decisions and also help people do more than just a job. It gives you immense gratification that helps you keep going even without 8 hours daily schedule or without any weekends.”

• How did education at KIET help you during this journey?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “I was introduced to the concept of engineering at KIET. Few of my professors really gave me that passion to get into it in-depth and I started reading all the reference books along with textbooks related to concrete and steel technology.

So, KIET played a huge role. It made me realize the importance of  Engineering and If it wasn’t for studying here, I don’t think I would be anywhere in this field at all.”

• What do you think about KIET’s incubation program?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “KIET has one of the best incubation facilities and infrastructure in all of UP and I think KIET incubator has a huge potential. It’s now up to the students to develop new ideas while they are in the school phase of life to go there and actually utilize the resources. Unless you have an idea and take an initiative, the incubator or your mentors can’t really help you.”

• How can students make themselves future-ready?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- I think in today’s world, whether it’s India or globally, the trends are changing rapidly. Therefore, whether you are a civil engineer or a computer science student what you have to realize in your third year or fourth year is what is going to be the trend for the next ten years. If you can really make yourself skilled in that trend before you graduate; I think there is a huge potential for  whether you want to do a job or you want to create your own opportunities for yourself.”

• After getting a degree, most of the students run for a job; only a few of them think to become an entrepreneur. What do you think about this?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “Of course, that’s the main trend. I think the main reason for that is the idea that if we have no background and we have no safety cushion, we cannot start something of our own— which is justified because I also felt the same way. I actually started off by randomly applying to competitions that allow students to participate. I was rejected at 10 of them and then one of them selected the idea and I got incubated by NITI Ayog. So, if you have an idea, don’t even think about turning that into a business or registering a company because those are more complex and legal affairs. If you have an idea— just write it down, make a small business model of it on a presentation and start pitching to your school, schools in your own neighborhood, and in other competitions. You’ll see that very soon you’ll find like-minded people and that’s the key. Once you find the like-minded people who believe in the idea, you can have your own team and start. When you finally have your first paying customer — that’s the time when you have to get into the nitty-gritty of registering a company. Until then don’t think of those things because that will make you scared.”

•  What are the opportunities there for a start-up and what do you think about the future and scope of start-ups?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “In India, right now, almost every state, every big district has an incubator, every premier institute has an incubator. The main step for any aspirant would be to first get incubated if they have an idea. Because the incubator provides you the cushion, it gives you the stipend. It gives you the right mentors. What you lack as an entrepreneur is not imagination or the creativity—what you lack is the experience.”

• Any message for youth and especially KIETians?

Ms. Shriti Pandey:- “I think the risk is universally proportioned to age. So if you are in college, that’s the best time when you can take a risk— not rash but a calculated risk. Do take as many calculated risks as you can. If you have an idea, you can easily devote one year of your life to that. If that doesn’t work out, it won’t stop you— You can still find a job. There is always a job in the market. So, take those risks and you’ll see that if you really put your own 100 percent into it, before that deadline arrives, you will be somewhere much earlier.”