Haskayne international MBA student finds sense of community at UCalgary

Since arriving at the University of Calgary, second-year MBA student Muhaimin Pandhiani has discovered more than just academic opportunities, he has found a sense of belonging.   

Through the support of the Haskayne School of Business, he says he’s built a community that reminds him of home in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia.  

“In search of that sense of community where I wanted to get involved, I found myself amidst all of these opportunities and new experiences that I couldn’t say no to,” he says of his first exposure to UCalgary.   

In fact, pursuing his MBA shifted his career plans entirely. With a background in mechanical engineering in Saudi Arabia, Pandhiani sought to develop leadership skills and expand his expertise into the commercial side of business.     

“I worked some dream jobs of a mechanical engineer, but, in the end, I really liked the operations and analyst side of things, and the natural response to that was to get an MBA to have a better business acumen and be more well versed,” he says.   

Leadership involvement on campus   

Pandhiani became involved with the  Canadian Centre of Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL) at Haskayne. Now, as a project specialist with CCAL’s Jarislowsky Fellowship in Business Management, Pandhiani helps organize MBA-exclusive events and foster student engagement.   
  
This, plus real-world experience with startups through Haskayne’s CDL-Rockies program and two years as a mentee in the BMO Mentorship Program at Haskayne, has allowed him to become fully immersed in the faculty’s leadership community.    

Mentorship program gives real-world opportunities    

Pandhiani says the mentors he’s met through UCalgary have taught him to push boundaries and think big.   

“Learning about them and from them teaches me a lot about myself,” he says. “It brings about an energy in me to think no goal is too big if approached in the right manner.”   

It was through the BMO program that Pandhiani met his mentor, UCalgary senator and Haskayne alum Colleen Pound, BA’00, MBA’06, who introduced him to her co-founded company, Proxure, which focuses on data and analytics.    

Last May, he had the opportunity to intern at Proxure through the Mitacs Business Strategy Internship (MBSI), his first taste of working for a startup.    

“I like wearing different hats throughout the day, being able to do so many things at an early stage in my career, being able to make influential decisions that drive a business strategy,” Pandhiani says.   

Arjun Davda, BComm’99, another one of Pandhiani’s mentors, with experience in technology, oil and gas, and supply chain management, is helping Pandhiani improve his elevator pitch skills and assess the current market.   

“Arjun has great attention to detail and lots of compassion when it comes to helping me, which is everything a mentee can really ask for,” he says.  

Building long-lasting connections and well-rounded skills   

Pandhiani is currently working on a second MBSI project with oil and gas-sector startup LysisLogic as a business strategist, with its CEO, Dr. Renzo Correa Silva, DSc, guiding him along the way. He’s also juggling strategic projects for agriculture-based startup PathoScan in the CDL-Rockies eight-month interactive course.   

Getting out of his comfort zone and trying new things, even if they don’t work out, is something Pandhiani says has landed him opportunities.   

“Everything that’s offered outside of the classroom — whether it’s the Jarislowsky Fellowship or just events like fireside chats — those are things we won’t be very exposed to once we go back to regular life and we’re not students anymore,” he says.   

Haskayne provides leadership feedback   

As he grows as a leader, Pandhiani has spent a lot of time collecting leadership feedback from mentors and professors, further adding to the sense of community he sought out when he came to UCalgary.    

“I have found the most successful people I have ever met, and they have been so open to helping me excel at what I am doing, asking nothing in return from me except commitment to myself,” says Pandhiani.    

Having the opportunity to meet new people outside the classroom and engage with his program peers is something Pandhiani says will stick with him forever.   

“Meeting other people through the MBA program and hearing their stories and the atmosphere of Calgary’s business world has taught me a lot about what kind of impact I want to make,” he says.   

After spring convocation, Pandhiani is excited about moving away from traditional engineering roles towards commercial-development roles. Still utilizing his engineering background to his advantage, he’s looking forward to applying the skills he’s gathered in Haskayne’s MBA program.   

“Haskayne has made me confident in my ability to make the best of every opportunity that I am exposed to,” he says.