SUMMARY:-
Dr. Sunil Kumar, a hotelier by profession, is currently working as Director of Academics at the Institute of Hospitality, Management, and Sciences (IHMS), Kotdwar, Uttarakhand. IHMS is well known all over the Pauri Garhwal for its quality teaching and is considered as a premier institute all over the region. Dr. Panwar completed his B.Com. in 2003 from S.D. Degree College, Muzaffarnagar, U.P., and a three-year diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology (DHMCT) from the prestigious J.P Institute of Hotel Management in 2004. As a compulsory part of DHMCT, he did his six months of Industrial Training from Hotel Shipra, Noida, U.P.
As he gained interest in academics, especially in Food and Beverage Service (F&B) he decided to study M.Sc. in Hotel Management with a specialization in F&B Service and received the master’s degree in 2011. In Spite of having specialized in F&B service, his thirst for gaining more and more knowledge did not quench. And so he again Mastered in Hotel Management from Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, and Ph.D. from the C.T. University, Ludhiana, Punjab, in Garhwali Culture, Cuisine, and Tourism.
His journey as a professional began with Hotel Metro Regency, Meerut, as an Assistant F&B Manager. After learning a few skills from there he got the opportunity to work as a Senior Butler for Hotel Majestic Park Plaza, Ludhiana, Punjab, and received the “Best Employee of the Month” award in July 2006 and an appreciation award for “Excellent Service” in September 2006. After working for Park Plaza, Ludhiana, he started to work for “star” category hotels.
After gaining vast experience of the industry he decided to share his experiences with the budding hoteliers. There his journey as an Academician began. He got the opportunity to serve as Head of the Department of Hotel Management, Sheetal College of Biomedical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. He also served as Head of the Department of Hotel Management at Babu Ram Degree College, Roorkee, Uttarakhand; Associate Professor at BCSIHM, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, and a very prestigious group of India – SRM Institute of Hotel Management, SRM University, Sonipat, Haryana. There he headed many committees and worked as a member of the committees.
At the BCSIHM he organized a Workshop on “Art of Baking” in December 2012, organized two Food festivals on “Punjab Da Swad Punjab Di Masti” in May 2011 and “Lakhnawi Rasoi ka Lajawab Swad” in May 2012. He also organized an Intra-University Hospitality Competition “HOSPITIUM – 2015” in March 2015. The success of “HOSPITIUM – 2015” inspired him to organize a National Level Hospitality Competition “HOSPITIUM – 2016” in March 2016. All these events were not sufficient for him to make his student’s learning more useful. He organized three International Conferences in three consecutive academic years with the aim to boost the knowledge, self-confidence, and morale of students pursuing Hotel Management as they were getting a chance to participate and meet students as well as academic and industry professionals from different Universities, Colleges, and Hotels and for himself to grow more as a professional.
He also got the International MoUs signed for Academic Collaboration and Many National MoUs for Industry Collaborations in his current and previous organizations. So far, he has Two Patents, Two Copyrights, Nine Book Chapters, and four papers that have been published in conference-edited books and International Journals. He has also presented nine scientific papers at conferences held at various Colleges and Universities. In addition to the aforementioned awards he was also awarded the “Certificate of Excellence and Appreciation” from the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor of SVSU for organizing the first as well as second International Conference in BCSIHM, SVSU, Meerut, in 2015 and 2016 respectively. He was also given the “Certificate of Appreciation” for organizing the National Level Hospitality Competition “HOSPITIUM – 2016” at BCSIHM, SVSU, Meerut.
After a few years of working in academics at BCSIHM, SVSU, Meerut, he again felt the need to upgrade himself with the current trends of the industry along with academics. In order to do so he joined as Operation Manager in the evening at the “Golden Palms Resort”, Meerut, where he again received the Letter of Appreciation from the Business Owner for “Improving the Quality of Food and Beverage Department” in January 2016.
As a Consultant, he received the first Letter of Appreciation from the Business Owner of “Silver Leaves Restaurant”, Meerut, for setting up the entire restaurant in May 2016, the second Appreciation letter as a Consultant from the business owner of “Omnibus Healthcare”, Meerut, for setting up the “Cafe De Soul” (The Diet Meal Cafe), in November 2016. Whether Industry or Academics he always thought of the students pursuing Hotel Management. He found many students who were enrolled in either DHMCT or BHMCT courses were working in conjunction with their studies. Upon asking the reason for the job/work few replied that they want to boost their industry knowledge or gain industry skills or just for fun. While others replied they are working for money due to personal / family reasons (s). So far he has benefitted more than 100 students through his teaching, industrial training in hotels, and placement for jobs. As a believer in innovative teaching methodology, he adopted the following methods –
- Practical demonstration / hands-on practice.
- Situation handling with role plays (Brain exercise).
- Competitive group discussions.
- Presentations, Seminars & Projects.
- Focus on group learning.
- Teaching through online videos.
- Mild stretching during theory classes so that students don’t feel lazy listening to theory lectures, giving water breaks etc.
- More focus on slow learners by arranging Remedial Classes.
- Career counseling of Students and solutions to problems related to academic/industrial training.
- Developing Entrepreneurship skills.
- Shared his own industry experiences with students.
In addition to all the above methods he always first tells his students to become a good humans as mandatory for a Hospitality Professional. He says that the day one he starts with the basic definition of “Hospitality” which is – “the act of kindness in welcoming and looking after the basic needs of guests or strangers, mainly in relation to food, drink, and accommodation”.
Many students have benefitted from his different ways of teaching and have been inspired by his industry experiences. The hands-on practical classes and presentations have built the personality and self-confidence in his students. So during external exams when they had to face viva / perform practical in front of the external examiner they didn’t feel frightened or anxious and performed their exam well in which many of them got good marks and/or got selected for Industrial training/job interviews in good hotels.
The most challenging problem he has faced in the industry is the awareness of the field of Hospitality. Lack of basic etiquette and communication skills is a common problem seen every year. For every new batch, it took long for him and his fellow teachers to train and prepare their students to understand what hospitality is! However, overcoming such battles is part of the teaching profession. And when students are taught with basic or with a Z-A approach, students start understanding the real meaning of the Hospitality field.
PROJECTS: –
- Submitted to Haryana Tourism Ministry for Developing Training Centre to SRM-IHM Sonepat for Guest House Employees for Haryana Tourism.
- Organized Garhwali Festival (Food, Dance, and Singing) in Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut on 29/06/2018 under the “Ministry of Culture” Government of India.
- A book published on “Documentation of Garhwali Cuisine” under the “Ministry of Culture”, Government of India.
PATENT PUBLICATION:-
- Title of the invention: A BOILING PAN WITH STRAINER, Application Number- 202311011184, Journal Date: 17/03/2023.
- Title of the invention: A COMBINATION OF EATING UTENSILS, Application No. 202311001090 A, Publication Date: 13/01/2023.
Please add two more in Patent Publication. In my profile only. - A COMPOSITION AND METHOD FOR PREPARING SANITARY AND CLEANING AGENT, Application No.202211008568 A, Publication Date: 25/02/2022.
- MULTIPURPOSE PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN MACHINE AND RELATED COMPONENTS, IN PARTICULAR FOR GASTRONOMY/CATERING PROCESSES, BUT ALSO FOR CONFECTIONARY, ICE-CREAM MAKING, AND CHOCOLATE MAKING
PROCESSES, Application No. 202211020023 A Publication Date: – 08/04/2022
