As you might have read on our website, I (Jappe de Best) was invited by Professor Leandro Gurgel as a guest professor at UFOP for the past half year. One of my activities was teaching a course on biobased technology & business development, a condensed version of the semester module that is taught at Avans. In the course 11 students from UFOP worked for 3 start-up companies that want to introduce a biobased product. In the course the students not only had to look at the technological possibilities, but also address marketing, business, sustainability etc. This multidisciplinary set-up was not yet known at UFOP. Students usually focus on the topic of their own study programme and are not familiar with doing an assignment for a company.
During a period of 14 weeks the students worked on their project, had meetings with their clients and got crash workshops on topics like how to deal with a client, how to make a business plan, sustainability, marketing, and finances. To guide the student groups, Leandro and I also had 2-weekly meetings with them to talk about their progress. During the course the student groups also exchanged their results with the students of the comparable semester module at Avans.
This year the course will be taken over by Leandro and one of his colleagues. I won’t be able to join the whole course, but plan to join for 2 or 3 weeks. The plan is also to continue the exchange with the module at Avans. A nice example of virtual cooperation and exchange.
Do you want to know more about this initiative. Feel free to contact me ([email protected]).
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