ESTIEM Magazine | Autumn 2011 | Systems Modelling

Systems Modelling Designing Tomorrow

European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management Issue 41 2011/2 | ISSN 0874-5242 | Price 0 Euro | www.estiem.org

The moment you set foot on solid ground and realize you can always spread your wings.

This is the moment we work for.

// INNOVATION MADE BY CARL ZEISS

Carl Zeiss is one of the global leaders in the optical and optoelectronic industries with 24,000 employees. At Carl Zeiss, you will have the opportunity to work on trendsetting technologies together with the best minds in your field. Carl Zeiss employees passionately strive to create something that makes the world a better place.

Start your career with us: www.zeiss.de/karriere

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INSIDE ESTIEM Back in 1990 ESTIEM Projects...

ESTIEM Committees Some words from the Board 2011 Job Opportunities Members Committees ESTIEM Trainings We tweet, we share, we like!

Central ESTIEM Fundraising Team!

Social Entrepreneurship?!

The businessbooster Initiative Council Meeting Karlsruhe An engagement story in Ankara METU Do you need a change to save the day?

What does it take for a sailing trip?

EXIT Activity Week - Memories From previous Project Leaders Memories from a retired ESTIEMer Europoe3D Summer Academy / A mind and life changing experience A symposium by EPIEM TIMES Semi Finals / Darmstadt 2011 Organisers’ insights / Novi Sad 2011 TIMES / A winner experience

INTRODUCTION Editorial President’s Speech

6 7 8 9 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

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FOCUS

34 Multi-Dimensional Separation of Concerns for Domain Specific Systems Modelling

36 The importance of Systems Modelling for 38 40 41 43

Sustainable Develoment Systems Modelling using Casual Cross-Impact Analysis A Method to Avoid Mass Casualties and Catastrophes System dinamics and modelling for a better world Systems Modelling: A Tool for the Times

CAREER ESTIEM and Arkwright 46 Being an intern at P&G 48 They know Carl Zeiss now 49

51 53 56 57 AGENDA

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EXPLORE EUROPE ERASMUS at Grenoble INP A semester in Karlsruhe Silky memories from Como Solution of the crossword of the 40th issue

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Introduction

imprint Project Leader Jelena Bajsic

Dear ESTIEMers,

Editorial Staff Jelena Bajsic Melania Mateias Sebastian Mohr Anne-Laure Ladier Terhi Marttila

Design Jean-Yves Lemelle Sebastian Mohr Anne-Laure Ladier Sam Mosallaipour Article Acquisition Jelena Bajsic Abubakar Saleh Darija Medvecki Melania Mateias Advertisement Acquisition Melania Mateias Contact magazine@estiem.org ESTIEM Permanent Office Paviljoen B-6 P.O.Box 513 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands Fax: 0031-(0)40 2473871 info@estiem.org www.estiem.org Disclaimer The contents may not always reflect the opinion of the publisher.

Any reproduction or copy is permitted only with the permission of the editors.

Our Partners

JELENA BAJŠiĆ

Layout Anne-Laure Ladier

In our modern economy, systems modelling has been gaining interest among experts, industrialists and academics within the business field as well as the technology sector. Some systems have experienced failures during their functioning period; the consequences can be small and not vital for the business itself, or immense, which results in system shutdowns or even mass catastrophes. The prime example is the disaster in the Fukushima nuclear power plant earlier this year.

Modelling and system simulations have proved to be good methods for decreasing the chances or even preventing system, project and business failures. The tendency has been taking effect worldwide, and almost every new system is modelled before being implemented. In short, most companies today build models using information technology, in order to ensure the success and sustainability of their system.

That is why the ESTIEM Magazine welcomes you to its 41st issue! You will have the chance to read about how experts, students and academics feel about systems modelling, its use, or its effect on business and industry.

Next to that, you will also read about what is going on in the ESTIEM Projects and Committees, the experiences of those who attended an event, or went on an exchange somewhere in Europe. You will find out more about social networks and ESTIEM, or working experiences of those doing their internship. Just go through its articles and interviews to see what else this issue has to offer!

Enjoy reading!

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Dear Reader,

The word “system” evokes different images in minds with a common point, that a system is not only a collection of parts functioning as a whole, but also the product of their interactions, which leads to several variations and possibilities. Over the past decades, the complexity of systems and interdependence among systems have grown even more that the translation of perceptions into explicit pictures became a crucial need. Systems modelling then arose as a discipline to express and analyse real-world situations through approximations of systems.

From natural systems to mechanic ones, considering the failures in functionality of a system or unpredictable disasters both with the potential to create catastrophes, the ability to analyse variations of interactions and their consequences has become fundamental for prompt responses and hence decreased impacts of such system failures.

That is where systems modelling steps in with plenty of advantages of its use as also listed by the Institute of Industrial Engineers in the late 1990s.

First of all, it enables making improved choices by giving the ability to understand the behaviour of systems by reconstructing and examining various scenarios. The very understanding can be improved thanks to observations and tests from different aspects. Furthermore system modelling creates the References:

Maani, Kambiz E. and Cavana, Robert

Y. Systems Thinking and Modelling, Pearcen Education, 2000.

Sokolowski, John A. and Banks, Catherine

M. Principles of Modelling and Simulation, Wiley, 2009.

grounds for quick adoption to changes by identifying the constraints and exploring possibilities.

Understanding the interactions among variables that make up the system guarantees an easier detection and diagnosis of problems, which, together with the ability to visualise the plan, makes prompt responses possible. Further beyond profound selections and ability to react to failures quickly, system modelling eases the adoption to changes by answering “what if ” in design and modification.

Aligned with the multiple benefits that one can derive from using systems modelling especially under increasing complexity and unpredictable occurrences, system modelling is a crucial tool for understanding and evaluating real-life events.

Inspired by all, the ESTIEM Magazine takes the privilege to provide some insights into this unique field in its 41st issue. Enjoy reading!

In high ESTIEM,

BERNA BAŞ

President’s Speech

INtroduction

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Inside Estiem

Back in 1990,

students from five different countries founded an organisation, which they named ESTIEM: European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management. Its aim was and still is to establish and foster interrelations among European students of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM).

After 21 years, it has grown into an organisation bringing together 50 000 students from 65 universities in 25 European countries, and is still growing.

All these universities offer courses in IEM. Based on this structure, ESTIEM forms links between students, academics and companies in order to create a Europe-wide, multi-level IEM network. ESTIEM has continuously increased the number of its activities, thus being able to offer a great variety of events to IEM students and an opportunity to experience different cultures, take part in international projects and become friends with other ESTIEMers from all over Europe.

The decision-making body of ESTIEM is the Council, which meets twice a year, in autumn and in spring. Each university, represented by its socalled “Local Group”, sends two student representatives. The six members of the Board of ESTIEM are elected during the autumn Council Meeting. The Board is responsible for the management, coordination and administration of the association.

Besides taking leadership positions in the Board and as Project Leaders, ESTIEM members can also take up more responsibility by working in one of the Committees. With lots of teams and tasks to choose from, there is a place for everyone.

Naturally, the backbone of ESTIEM is the European IEM student. The students involved in ESTIEM incorporate both the skills re-

quired for modern business and an open-minded approach towards other people and cultural issues.

For more detailed information about our organisation and its activities, please visit our website at www.estiem.org. Here you can also find everything you need to know if you want to get involved. So don’t hesitate and start moving… you will not regret it! n

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BrainTrainer is a Project designed to develop leadership, presentation, business and human skills of the participants through professional trainings lasting one or two days. Its aim is to coach and develop the participants to become more professional and successful in their organisation as well as in their own future career.

Europe3D

Within a 5-day seminar series the participants get a basic picture of the hosting country. A special focus thereby lays on national characteristics in politics and economy. Lectures given by experts from politics, science and economy shall provide the participants with a theoretical insight. On the other hand the Project’s aim is to integrate our guests actively in this seminar. Especially to include the practical aspect, the Project cooperates with companies for excursions and lectures.

ESTIEM Magazine

The official publication of ESTIEM provides the perfect platform to reach a target group of approximately 50 000 students of Industrial Engineering and Management at universities all over Europe.

The ESTIEM Magazine is published twice a year and distributed among IEM students, graduates and also professors and companies across Europe, through the ESTIEM network.

Summer Academy

Through the Summer Academy Project, ESTIEM recognizes the importance of and takes responsibility for providing knowledge of ethics and sound leadership among future leaders of Europe. It was set up to bring international students together during summer holidays to engage in open discussion, group work, debate and private study under a senior Academic Leader.

Student Guide

ESTIEM Projects...

BrainTrainer

Inside INSIDE ESTIEM

Student Guide is ESTIEM’s guiding service provided to students who are interested in studying Industrial Engineering and Management in Europe.

Through an online database full with academic and practical information on cities/universities, ESTIEM promotes intercultural and academic exchanges within Europe. All the information is provided by students in our database. Student Guide also shares the experiences of the students who have been abroad for studies by collecting articles.

TIMES

T h e Tou r n a me nt I n M a n a g e me nt a n d Engineering Skills (TIMES) is the largest pan-European case study competition solely for the students of Industrial Engineering and Management.

This prestigious, highly acclaimed event is the flagship project of ESTIEM. It has successfully been organised since 1994 and attracts around 1 000 top European students every year. After Local Qualifications in 65 different universities and 7 Semi-Finals in selected cities, the winning team of the Final is awarded the title of Europe’s “IEM Students of the Year”.

Vision

Vision Seminar Series aims to improve the personal skills and capabilities of the Industrial Engineering and Management students in Europe.

The seminars contain a balanced mixture of academic lectures, workshops and company visits, which are combined with cultural and free-time activities of the organising city. Through those activities the participants of a Vision Seminar develop themselves both personally and professionally. Each year’s Vision Seminar series focuses on one main topic to which all Vision seminars are connected.

The current main topic is Vision - Crisis and Change Management.

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... and Committees

Inside estiem

Corporate Relations Committee

The Corporate Relations Committee coordinates the relations between ESTIEM, companies and universities jointly with the Board. The Committee’s work covers a number of fields with the aim of improving and simplifying ESTIEM’s relations with companies and universities, such as updating cooperation proposals, creating and gathering results for different surveys or training people on how to approach companies and universities.

The Corporate Relations Committee also plays an active role in supervising and supporting Projects and other Committees with regards to sponsors and academic supporters.

Financial and Legal Committee

The Financial and Legal Committee’s role is to ensure ESTIEM’s compliance with all laws and regulations. It supports the Board, other Committees, Projects and Local Groups in all financial and legal matters. On one hand, it consists of experienced ESTIEMers and ESTIEM Alumni, who are motivated to provide advice whenever requested. On the other hand, active Committee members work on creating and updating Best Practice Documents, trainings, templates, etc. for all related topics.

Since many people are unexperienced with finances and regulations, the Financial and Legal Committee aims at helping them to deal with them correctly. Furthermore, the Financial Controllers, who perform every year the audit of the financial books of ESTIEM, are part of the Committee.

Grants Committee

The Grants Committee supports ESTIEM’s applications for EU Grants and aims to establish and develop knowledge on public funding opportunities and their application procedures. It also wants to share the existing knowledge with as many ESTIEMers as possible and to support more and more Local Groups apply for an EU Grant for their events.

Information Technology Committee

The IT Committee maintains the mail, intranet, and web servers of ESTIEM and coordinates all IT-related development in the organisa-

tion, such as regarding the IT backend system (.NET platform/C#). In addition, its members offer troubleshooting services and technical advice to ESTIEMers.

Knowledge Management Committee

The Knowledge Management Committee does three things. First, updating/creating Best Practice Documents – from organising a Project to how to be a Leader, available online on the ESTIEM Portal – by documenting the collective experiences of ESTIEMers throughout time. Second, collecting feedback from the ESTIEM events participants in order to make Quality Reports, showing the development of ESTIEM’s Projects. Third, providing trainings on the ESTIEM events and on local level to stimulate a continuous development of ESTIEM and ESTIEMers.

Members Committee

The Members Committee supports the member groups of ESTIEM and provides information for those students interested in joining the ESTIEM organisation by forming their own Local Group. They guide the interested groups through the whole process, starting from establishing contact – via the guest and observation period – until fully pledged membership. Also, Members Committee takes care about Local Group Exchanges, Requirements that Local Groups are expected to fulfill, tutors Local Groups that are already members of ESTIEM and tries to figure out what Local Groups need on local level, cooperates with the Trainers on Tour to fulfill these needs that have issues about any possible topic (HR, PR, Recruitment, Fundraising) and fosters connections between Local Groups.

Public Relations Committee

The aim of the Public Relations Committee is to take care of ESTIEM’s outer appearance. The Committee is responsible for communicating the brand of ESTIEM and increasing the awareness both inside and outside of ESTIEM. The PR Committee works with several different tools to achieve this, for instance designing PR material, creating design templates and guidelines, as well as working on press and social media visibility. n

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Some words from the Berna Baş President

The increasing will to have a bigger role in shaping this organisation paved the way to my application for Presidency; what I could picture from the moment that the results were announced on was my dedication and commitment. What came along the way, on the other hand, has made this experience even more remarkable.

Meeting and working with many ESTIEMers, learning to deal with and adapt to different styles, welcoming various perspectives and experiencing how challenging communication can sometimes be, were the first highlights of this year. Getting used to non-stop travelling and even to a few seconds of “where am I?” feeling when you wake up, trying to make work discipline fit into this life style and at the same time keeping the balance in your personal life were another inevitable parts of it. And they all taught me something - better time management, reacting more quickly, surviving with less sleep and food, exploring my own limits and how far I can/ should go over them, quickly shifting perspective to understand others are just few to name.

What seemed as one of the biggest challenges to achieve at the beginning of the year but became a significant motivation with time, was the team spirit inside the Board. The supportive attitude of everybody, sharing many things, finding someone online anytime and hence not feeling “alone”, being good friends as well as good team-mates and more, made our Board a great team to work with and was an important source of my motivation.

Inside ESTIEM

Board 2011 Ilka Petersen

Vice President of Education Coming home from Council Meeting Finland in November 2010, I found myself elected for the ESTIEM Board – something I had not anticipated before leaving. In the following weeks, my life had to adjust to the changes. I was highly motivated to work for ESTIEM and with the other five that were elected with me. Being part of this team turned out to be one of the best experiences of this year. Working together to reach your goals and support each other whenever needed, suffer from lack of sleep and social time while others share the same and just being there as friends to each other is very important when spending the main part of your life with ESTIEM. Being highly engaged, you are often moving close to the edge of exhausting yourself, which is why retreating from work is very important – a lesson learnt from “Vision – Leadership through Engagement” and experienced in practice many times this year. The responsibility for ESTIEM can feel light and motivating, but also pressuring and stressful – the key is to manage the latter and enjoy the first!

I can say that I learnt several things and improved many skills this year. To name some examples, prioritisation of tasks, ability to cope with stress, articulating your ideas and goals to others, having a better understanding of the complexity of organisations and being able to sleep anywhere at any time if needed can also be mentioned. You can and must try to meet others’ expectations, but you should also allow yourself to make mistakes and be who you are.

“Being part of this team turned out to be one of the best experiences of this year.” - Ilka

Inside estiem

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Alexander Peters

Vice President of Administration The fact that I am writing this article in the train reflects a bit the year: a year where work never stops and from time to time also travelling takes place.

Maria-Alexandra Bujor Vice President of Finance

When I applied for this position, I knew that my upcoming year would be filled with some major tasks such as my graduation and the start of my master programme abroad. But still, I felt the strong will to put the Board on top of that. I told you, during the General Assembly, about my study plans for 2011 but you still put trust in me and the door to be a Vice President of Finance for 365 days was open.

It is sometimes hard to explain to ‘outsiders’, like your parents, that for example after two hours of going through your emails you are not done for the next days. There are peak moments, for example during preparations of the Council Meeting, where you have difficulties keeping up with the work that As with any great experience in life, they don’t needs to be done. But there are also periods where come alone, but bring a bunch of friends with them things are going steadily and you can spend time on named work, stress, pressure, anger and conflicts. long-term improvements (e.g. for me working on the What I and we had to learn was to cope with those new Portal). The latter, contribut“side effects” and turn them into, what they “Seeing improveing to the development of this orcall, “the year of your life”. ments because ganisation was my main reason to of your work is become a member of the Board.

It clearly took me some time to get used rewarding and a Seeing improvements because of to the working style and all the duties I had your work is rewarding and a moti- motivation to keep not seen from the outside. My biggest chalvation to keep going with the work. going!” - Alexander lenge was the dilemma that one does not This motivation is sometimes needsee the results of one’s work immediately. It ed. A lot is expected from you and giving construc- takes weeks, months, and sometimes probably betive feedback is a skill not possessed by everyone. yond “our” Board year to receive feedback and see Learning to deal with that is one of the many things the consequences of your effort. I used my private you will learn in your Board year, together with life, friends, movies and my Board colleagues to time management and leadership skills. compensate for that. And, of course there are the events and other ESTIEMers who made me enjoy But of course it is not all about the work. Since the work. One of my first “official” events was my first event in 2008 I met a lot of great friends the Financial and Legal Committee Coordination from all around Europe. Friends whom I sometimes Meeting. But working together with a great team met more often than my friends at home in the many and being so warmly welcomed by the Local Group events that followed. Travelling and meeting many in Madrid (I used the fan you gave me all summer people from all over Europe is an unforgettable ex- long!) put a long-lasting smile on my face. perience. At some point I will have to change my focus again to my studies after these years, but for now Now, towards the end of our timespan, I can tell I will keep ‘living the dream’ as long as possible. you that ESTIEM has never seen such cute books before (colourful folder with butterflies and flowers Thanks to those with whom I had the pleasure on them) and that I will look back in Ankara, a bit to work with this year. See you around somewhere tired but certainly more mature, at least one year in Europe! older and 5kg heavier.

©Lauri Anttila

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Inside ESTIEM

“As an advice to all members who are considering an “ESTIEM career”, I think a Facebook quote would fit best: « Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them, so go out and start creating! » ” - Melania

Melania Mateiaş

Vice President of Public Relations My ESTIEM Board year – hard to describe in a couple of words! As any beginning, it was hard: all my previous expectations could not compete with the feeling I had after starting my Board year - a lot of work, stress, commitment and determination to get things done, combined with many challenges, great opportunities, important achievements and all fed by a lot of fun! As time passed by, I learned how to better deal with the challenges and enjoy every part of my work. While striving to reach our goals and trying to maintain a close relation with my family and friends, making priorities and keeping my personal balance of work and fun was crucial! It is hard to make everyone happy, but once you succeed, you will see all your efforts were definitely worth it!

During the year, I’m glad to say that together with my team we have managed important achievements, which contributed to the team’s motivation and increased our enthusiasm towards working for ESTIEM. There were also moments when we had a hard time finding our motivation and work was becoming more and more stressful, but in the end it is important to just take a break, see things objectively and start over again.

I would like to thank everybody who was helping and supporting our work during this amazing year, especially our leaders, Local Responsibles and event organisers, but above all, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my fellow Board members, who were there for me through good and hard times, making this experience so incredible!

Max Steinmetz

Vice President of Activities One normally might think that being the Vice President of Activities is the best job ever in the ESTIEM Board. You are the one who travels the most, visits the most Local Groups, makes the most new friends, keeps the ESTIEM Spirit alive and who spreads it all day long. This image might be true but this is also valid for all the other Board positions.

It is an incredible experience to work for one year together with many different kinds of people from various countries. Almost each day you feel part of a crazy family, whether it is virtually or live does not matter. During the whole year you will like and hate each other, as a family does, depending on topic of the discussion. But one thought always keeps the ESTIEM family together - the dream to improve ESTIEM, which is a marvelous bond.

Being a member of the ESTIEM Board is much more than a hobby or a full-time job, it is your LIFE, which one shouldn’t underestimate. Honestly, the position doesn’t matter that much in the end. All major decisions are made by the complete Board and not by one person, which is something you should never forget. There are many challenges waiting for you as a Board member.

Thanks for putting your trust into electing me for the position of the Vice President of Activities.

This year definitely changed my life.

Dear Barbies, it was a pleasure to work with all of you. n

Inside estiem

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Inside ESTIEM

The start of your bright future!

victoria martÍnez

This Initiative started last year and until now many changes have been done and many obstacles have been solved.

Personally, I heard about this Initiative in its very beginning but it wasn’t until after the Council Meeting Karlsruhe when I decided to really give my best to reach a new level in this Initiative. It happened during a conversation with my friend Lennart Werner.

At some point in our professional lives, we need to look for a job or an internship and we need to be as well prepared as possible. The competence in our business world is hard, but here, Job Opportunities Initiative is aiming at assisting ESTIEMers. They have this unique career service as advice and help about all the necessary steps for a successful start of their career: from starting to write their CVs until the day they go to a job interview.

If you don’t know where to start, join us and figure out what an ESTIEMer can do after his or her graduation. We can give you interesting job offers, thanks to our database on the Job Opportunities page, career tools management, information and resources to improve your skills until you reach the top of your professional development.

Since you don’t usually learn about this kind of topics during your lectures at a university, join this Initiative in order to know where to start and where to go.

We also need YOU to step forward and continue making this Initiative an essential service within ESTIEM. You are only one email away from the start of your bright future! Think about your career and join Job Opportunities! n

Members Committee

Caring about ESTIEM’s members

As you can guess already from its name, the Members Committee takes care of the members of ESTIEM – according to our statuses, these are not ESTIEMers, but the Local Groups, which are part of our network.

BETÜL DOĞRU

One task of the Members Committee is to contact various IEM related student associations, introduce them to ESTIEM, and provide information about the organisation for those, which are eager to learn more. If they want to become a part of ESTIEM, the Committee guides the student groups through the whole membership process, via the guest and observation period, until fully pledged membership. Tutoring the Local Groups which are members of ESTIEM already and helping them to solve their problems is also the responsibility of the Committee.

Besides approaching, reactivating and taking care of the Local Groups, the Members Committee helps

ESTIEMers to get more active within ESTIEM. The new development of the “Human Resources” position as part of the Members Committee, helps ESTIEMers interested in being active at central level to engage in tasks that suit them the best, thanks to the information about all the Committees, Projects and Initiatives, and new positions on the central level.

Lastly, the Task Group which is in charge of the “Local Group Exchanges”, aims at increasing the activeness of the Local Groups and making ESTIEMers feel the ESTIEM spirit. It is also conducted by the Members Committee to foster connections and knowledge exchanges between Local Groups.

It is clearly seen that whatever is related to Local Groups and ESTIEMers is directly related to the Members Committee. Keep in mind: “We love our Members!” n

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ESTIEM Trainings

Inside ESTIEM

Explosive development

Are you a trainer? Are you a trainer aspirant? Have you attended an ESTIEM training once? Or... could it be that you don’t know anything about our training department yet? Well, then keep reading and learn about the amazing and glorious story of ESTIEM trainings!

People started collecting material, writing training reports and creating a standardised evaluation sheet for trainings. Moreover, the idea of standardised ESTIEM trainings came up, a first step on the way to the Trainers on Tour (ToT) concept. The idea was also implemented in other events, such as the Local Responsible Forum and the Regional Coordination Meetings. With all these changes, we quickly saw that more trainers were needed, therefore a proactive recruitment of trainers was started. This raised a discussion on the requirements and necessary skills for trainers.

Once they were defined, the vision and mission of the training system was phrased.

With Kajsa Olofsson as coordinator, the concept for the first “Training New Trainers” event (TNT) was developed. Its goal is to ensure a higher quality of trainings and the establishment of a new generation of trainers in ESTIEM. The first edition of the event - the pre-TNT, took place in

In 2011, the Trainers on Tour concept was properly established and with the support of Gregor Herr as the ToT coordinator, several successful ToTs have been organised - the first of them was held in Milan. This type of event can be requested by any Local Group - you ask for some trainings and then Gregor finds trainers that come to your LG and train you in the topics you asked for.

Also in 2011, the first Training Advanced Trainers event was held, an event to further educate ESTIEM trainers through trainings delivered by professional and experienced trainers.

As you can see - trainings in ESTIEM are developing at a breathtaking speed! Stay on track and don’t miss the next steps...

Are you interested in becoming a trainer, or wondering what being a trainer is about? Then contact the TNT coordinator Judith Hartl, or the trainer coordinator, Janine Brockmeier. n

Mari Haga Rimestad Sebastian Geese Judith Maresa Hartl

Things started in 2009, when some motivated, training-loving people tried to get some structure in the ESTIEM trainings. There have been sessions delivered at Council Meetings and several events for years already, but there was neither any procedure regarding how to educate ESTIEM trainers, nor any coordination and mentoring for trainers. First ideas were developed to improve this. Under the guidance of Sebastian Geese and Aaro Kauppinen as trainer coordinators, a database of ESTIEMers with training experience was set up, as well as a training library with background readings in the ESTIEM File Browser.

Eindhoven in January 2010. Some months later, after those trainers acquired practice and experience in training delivery, they set up the second TNT event in Ankara in October 2010, again with Kajsa as the TNT coordinator. Result of this event was an enthusiastic new generation of trainers who started delivering trainings on local and central ESTIEM level. Meanwhile, Louise Linder had become trainer coordinator. Under her lead, the training department grew bigger in the Knowledge Management Committee. With more and more trainers and an increasing number of people interested in trainings, the support structure had to be developed. Thanks to the joint efforts of the coordinators and the KMC, a mentor system for trainers got established and the procedure to become an ESTIEM trainer was clearly defined.

Inside estiem

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We tweet,

we share,

we like!

You can deny it as much as you like, but boy, oh boy, we do live in a virtual world. Even if you are one of the “I don’t play Farmville for a living” people, you are part of the online community, this way or another. Daily doses of Google, e-mails and e-news prove it.

Milan ĐorĐeviĆ

Now that we have come to terms that everything is online these days, it is quite clear that ESTIEM, as a Europe-wide student organisation, needs to boost its online presence. Sure, we have a Facebook fan page, we have a website, but is that enough? Could the subsequent actions considering social media usage help ESTIEM in its public recognition? Could it influence the corporate relations and opportunities?

Experts say “Yes”, but read for yourself which extra online dimensions ESTIEM could get, and what are the potential benefits from exploring them.

Thank you Mark Zuckerberg!

“You don’t have a Facebook profile?! Man, it’s like you don’t even exist!” We are not going that far with acknowledging this statement, but one must be really deluding oneself if deciding not to give this a thought. Almost everyone is on Facebook, and that is the simple truth. We know it, companies know it, organisations know it, universities know it and celebrities know it, well... hence our fan page!

There is not really much to say about our Facebook page ( facebook.com/ESTIEMf b) that you don’t already know. We post, we share, we like.

It is the basic online transparency of today, one of the best communication channels and tools for getting feedback, promotion and good PR (internal and external - don’t forget, our partners also “like” us).

Fail whales and tweet

If you are familiar with the fail whale, skip this part. If not, keep up and welcome to the animal farm!

The concept of Twitter is micro-blogging. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in

length, but do not let the short length fool you - you can share a lot with a little space. With frequent tweeting, the power of Internet and social media bring the latest information to all the Twitter users out there. You follow the information flow of whoever you want (Following), and you are followed by other users (Followers). One-way communication and two-ways communication are equally optional.

The benefits are numerous. The user visibility increases with the growing number of active followers, communication quality gets a new, immediate dimension, and in the end, it is fun!

Join us tweeting and discover what the fail whale is on twitter.com/ESTIEMtweets!

Dude, you’re totally stalking me!

Yes, privacy is a sensitive thing to meddle with.

But, you know what? There are privacy settings and Friend approvals/rejections. So, surf smart. Right, now we know how to protect ourselves from online stalkers, it is the right time to mention checking-in via Foursquare.

Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or by SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. I can already hear you dismissing Foursquare, but wait! It is more than just letting your mom know where you have been (only if you accept her friendship, remember). It is about discovering new locations and sharing your experiences and adventures with your friends, bragging about new places and badges, and having your own travelling book. Just imagine how many ESTIEM adventures you could store in your Foursquare account ; and you could relive some of the memo-

©Lauri Anttila

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ries by browsing your check-ins with your friends.

StraBaParty? Not really by the rules (moving objects and all), but you could always check-in to a cosy pub and give a tip.

Follow ESTIEM’s page on foursquare.com/estiemtweets and get the opportunity to explore unique ESTIEM venues and events.

Tumblr - the pronunciation experience

It is pronounced the way it is spelt. The idea - sharing pictures, videos, quotes, texts and re-

Inside ESTIEM

blogging those you find - comes as a not-so-original concept but thanks to a great interface, an easy navigation and tons of content, Tumbling is an addictive, and yet almost a profound way of connecting social and digital media. From ESTIEM’s point of view, tumbling means visiting a digital booklet containing everything about ESTIEM - from basic info for newbies, to all sorts of material from ESTIEM events to captivate the adventurous spirit of all ESTIEMers.

Reblog us and help us stay fresh by offering new material through estiem.tumblr.com. n

The Corporate Relations Committee has a Central ESTIEM Fundraising Team!

The Corporate Relations Committee coordinates the relations between ESTIEM, companies and universities jointly with the Board.

The Committee also contacts corporate and academic parties to help fundraising for central ESTIEM and plays an active role in supervising and supporting ESTIEM’s Projects and Local Groups regarding company and academic supporters. Starting April 2011 ESTIEM has two official Partners: Procter & Gamble and the youngest member of the ESTIEM Partner Pool, the company Carl Zeiss. But we are not stopping here, we are in the search for even more companies to become our Partners!

I n Ju ly 2011, t he C or porate Relat ion s Committee gathered a strong Fundraising team and with the positive and fearless attitude of these ten persons, by the end of August, the Corporate Relations Committee contacted over sixty companies in one month. The process of contacting com-

In September 2011, the team started a second round of contacting companies by sending reminders to companies and striving for an answer from them. This was done by email or via a direct call since we have a prepaid Skype account for this purpose. All in all, the most important aspect for us was the quality of the process: “Contact less and have more time to really follow-up on your actions”.

The maximum amount of companies to contact was around fifteen per person.

A big “thank you” to this year’s Fundraising team: Victoria Martinez, Asbjörn Friederich, Andreas Schönle, Sonja Martinov, Selin Temel, Sami Vaittinen, Han Che, Max Steinmetz and Melania Mateias!

P.S. The Fundraising team of 2012 is already recruiting: if you are a natural-born talent in sales and fundraising or just interested in developing yourself in these fields, join us by contacting the Committee Leader at leader.crc@estiem.org! n

SUSANNA NURMIO

The Committee’s work covers a number of fields with the aim of improving and simplifying these relations, such as training people on how to approach them, distributing and updating cooperation proposals and fostering already established partnerships by regularly giving feedback to our Partners.

panies was simplified by assigning preselected companies to all team members, who then searched for more information about these companies on their corporate web pages, the ESTIEM Alumni Portal, LinkedIn and other social media websites.

Inside estiem

16

Social Entrepreneurship?!

Say that again, please?

DUARTE VALENTE

Everyone has heard about Entrepreneurship: having a great sense of opportunity, alertness, innovative thinking, courage and power of will in order to undertake and create something new, most often a business.

Also, non-profit organisations come across frequently on our daily life. However, how many have heard about Social Entrepreneurship? Not many, I believe.

Even though the definition is not well established, Social Entrepreneurship can be explained by a confrontation. While entrepreneurs may change the game of business and its established equilibrium, social entrepreneurs’ focus is to act as the ‘positive change agents’ for society and environment. The roots and the way they act are the same as for regular entrepreneurs, they seize opportunities others missed and improve structures, inventing new approaches and solutions. They are ambitious and persistent. However, unlike business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs primarily seek to generate ‘social value’ rather than profits. And, distinctive to the majority of non-profit organisations, their work is targeted for a long-term, permanent positive change and not only immediate, small-scale effects.

Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and father of microcredit, who also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, is one of the best and most mentioned examples of social entrepreneurship. The idea for Grameen Bank can be traced back to the year of 1974, where Yunus was inspired during the terrible Bangladesh famine to References give small loans to a group of families so http://www.ashoka.org/social_ that they could create small items for sale

entrepreneur without the burdens of predatory lending. Back then, he identified the limited http://www.pbs.org/opb/theneoptions of poor Bangladeshis for secur wheroes/whatis/ ing even the tiniest amounts of credit.

Unable to qualify for loans through the http://www.skollfounformal banking system, they could bor dation.org/wp-content/ row only by accepting exorbitant interuploads/2010/09/2007SP_ feaest rates from local moneylenders. More ture_martinosberg.pdf commonly, they simply succumbed to begging on the streets. Yunus confronted http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ the system, proving that the poor were

Social_entrepreneurship extremely good credit risks by lending

the famous sum of $27 (US dollars) from his own pocket to forty-two women from the village of Jobra. The women paid the loan back. He found that the women had invested the money in their own capacity to generate income and become more independent. Tailoring garments and selling them, was one of the examples that made it possible for those women to pay back the loan, buy food, educate their children and take a step to overcome poverty. Grameen Bank sustained itself by charging interests on its loans and then recycling the capital to help other women. Yunus brought inspiration, creativity, direct action and courage, motivating other organisations to replicate his model in other countries and cultures.

From this great example we can see that most of the ventures created by social entrepreneurs are focused on generating ‘social capital’, being the main aim to further social and environmental goals. A great part of the time, they are associated with the voluntary and non-profit organisations, but this does not necessarily rule out making a profit. While some social entrepreneurs dedicate their ventures to a goal of making a difference without making profit or at least be financially sustainable, others, just like Muhammad Yunus, help society unstuck and overcome difficulties and still make a profit out of it.

Why does it matter?

Being focused on positive change, Social Entrepreneurship is active and directly making the world a better place. It is more responsive since it does not wait for shifting priorities of government and major organisations; it gets on with making the social and environmental change required to meet needs. Just like anyone can be a business entrepreneur, anyone can also be a social entrepreneur. Watch carefully what surrounds you, seize an opportunity and leave your mark on the world.

Not ready to take such steps? Then join the Social and Environmental Responsibility Initiative, your help will make ESTIEM greener and more socially aware, achieving sustainable change. Even the “strongest and biggest tree on the forest was born from a small seed”. n

17

Inside ESTIEM

The VICTORIA MARTINEZ

Initiative

The goal of the Business Booster (previously Business Incubator) is to raise entrepreneurial spirit and engage all generations of ESTIEM to collaborate with each other. This will be made possible through a virtual interactive platform, designed to connect students and alumni/experts to share ideas and knowledge, as well as fresh new events that would offer direct cooperation between interested parties. Imagine all the possibilities of such an advantage…

Following our entrepreneurial drive, and with the help of ESTIEMers and Alumni, we started to cooperate with a platform called clu.de (getting a clue?). During the past months, we have worked together to personalise and fine-shine it as much as possible to serve ESTIEM’s needs in the best way. Now, whether you have an idea which you want to elaborate and improve, a problem or task for which you need creative solutions and problem solvers, or you just want to look around, participate in existing ideas or tasks and expand your network – Business

Booster & Clu are here! You can choose whom to share your idea with, or just search for your topic of interest. In a future knowledge-based economy, it will be thoughts, know-how and creativity to be valued most, and with the right attitude, beautiful things can emerge here. A creative person could be lost for days in this realm… In addition, all ideas and discussions are stored in a virtual knowledge database that can be resourcefully used in the future.

The same passion and vision for new, better things for ESTIEM made the STARTup Live RhineValley #1 available for ESTIEMers. In this exciting event, people from different backgrounds come together to present ideas, listen to new thoughts, work hard and get to know each other.

This is steroids for your idea. You get to pitch, form your team, work, get feedback from startups, experts and mentors, and present what you have achieved in front of about 100 people including experts from all over Europe. Talk about a booster, huh?

The world is moving fast. New technologies, new companies, new millionaires, everything is new… You must not let this overwhelm you. Tune in with the program, get your board and surf the new ESTIEM wave, the Business Booster wave! Don’t be a passive observer in your own story, get a grasp on things and keep on boosting! n

Dimitar GrČev

What does it take to found your own company? I mean, besides vision, courage, passion, experience, the right contacts, determination, positive attitude, luck… Yes, starting your own business takes a lot.

But look around you. There are thousands of successful companies founded by people not different from me or you… Well, they are a little different. They didn’t have the Business Booster.

INSIDE ESTIEM

18

COUNCIL MEETING KARLSRUHE Experience from a participant The XLII Council Meeting in Karlsruhe was the third Council Meeting in a row I attended ever since I joined ESTIEM. Now I feel it is time to finally share with our readers the extraordinary experience from visiting the biggest event within this organisation.

SEBASTIAN MOHR

As one of the most active Local Groups, the expectations of Karlsruhe when it came to this event were very high. However, with the ESTIEM OlympiXX event from 2010 still in my mind, I knew that they were thoroughly capable of organising huge scale events, such as a Council Meeting.

With the intention of doing something special, Karlsruhe decided upon a concept, which was a slightly different approach when it comes to Council Meetings at that time. Their plan was to keep the participation fees as low as possible and finance the event rather by sponsors than money from the participants.

We got stylish reusable cups and were accommodated in a youth hostel and gyms, which (I assume) helped the budget and also created a nice camp-atmosphere for those who actually decided to sleep. I am not sure whether I can speak for everyone, but I believe the concept of keeping additional costs for the participants low was received quite well by the majority of the people.

So much for the concept, but what about the actual event? The Council Meeting in Karlsruhe

started like every Council Meeting does, with the arrival of all the participants. This always happens to take one whole day because there are over 200 people travelling by car, train, bus or plane and arriving from all over Europe. Needless to say, this event is no exception and if you arrive in the morning, you better bring something to keep you entertained, because it is going to be a while until everyone else is there.

After everyone finally arrived, the family teambuilding and junior training began. This is where newcomers are introduced to the ESTIEM culture and customs, as well as briefed for the upcoming days. Of course this introduction is also used for socialising and making first contact with the people from many different cultures around you. All of this eventually leads to the welcome party at night, a lot of singing, a lot of dancing and further socialising with people. Where did that pretty Serbian girl I met during the orientation go? Oh well.

Too early in the morning on the next day, the General Assembly started. Despite all the parties and leisure activities, this is the actual reason of a Council Meeting’s existence. It serves the purpose

9 19

of informing all the Local Groups about recent developments within the organisation, presenting reports, electing new Leaders, promoting events and voting upon other important decisions. There is so much going on; I almost missed the simple but tasty pizza dinner sponsored by Continental and the following party.

StraBaParty. What is a StraBaParty, you may ask?

Imagine a tram going from one end of the city to the other, several times during one night. Put in some music, a huge sound system, a bar and lighting equipment. Now fill up the whole thing with 200 people dancing, singing and having a great time and you have got yourself a great night.

The third day consisted, not surprisingly, of several more hours of General Assembly as well as Working Group sessions. I thought: “Where am I supposed to go now? The blue building, where is that? Oh hey wait, there is the pretty girl from the first night, I guess I will just join her group.”

After a great night followed a not so great morning, with many people needing more than one notification that it was about time they got up. Looking around the General Assembly room I noticed a lot of people looking very tired. The rest of the day went on as usual: some reports, university presentations, we elected some new Project Leaders and Local Group Warsaw as organisers for the next spring Council Meeting!

What was special about this day was the evening program. Local Group Karlsruhe booked a whole swimming pool just for the Council Meeting participants and it was nice to have something completely different from a regular party. For me, this was definitely one of the highlights of this event.

Needless to say that everyone was exhausted and only a few people felt like going out after the pool.

Well played, Karlsruhe, well played.

Friday was not just any Friday, but “Company Friday”. Several well-known companies held presentations for all of the participants and many of them sent representatives to get in contact with the students over the whole day. The workshops organised in cooperation with these companies were a nice opportunity for the participants to get to know them and their companies.

As entertaining and interesting as these workshops were, there was one point on the agenda that many of us had been waiting for the whole week and has been anticipated ever since the Council Meeting was announced. I am of course talking about the famous Local Group Karlsruhe

While preparing for the Gala Dinner it started to feel like the Council Meeting was slowly coming to an end. I hate ties but I did not want to stand out while everyone was looking nice in their suits and dresses. After I finally got ready, I joined a crowd of people to the restaurant.

The place looked nice and went well with all the fancy dressed people. After only two and a half hours of more presentations, thanks to the organisers and announcements for the departure on the next day, we eventually got to eat. The beat of music a few hours later let everyone know that the formal part of the evening was over and that it was time for one last celebration during this great event. People danced, laughed, took pictures together and made arrangements about when and where to meet again. I felt that same mood of farewell, which is always there during the last night of every Council Meeting. When I departed the next morning, I realised that I was already looking forward to the next one. n

INSIDE ESTIEM

INSIDE ESTIEM

20

An Engagement story in Ankara METU

Abubakar Saleh

Being a Local Responsible and missing two consecutive Council Meetings is too sad for me, yet who could ever believe that a single event could replace all of the missed ones and be a turning point? It was Vision Ankara-METU 2011. Before I left to Ankara, I never imagined that the upcoming five days would be so outstanding.

The 16th of March 2011 was my arrival date and of course I was so excited that I was the first participant who arrived there. The organisation team led by Melis and Sine, told me that I was free to do whatever I wanted in the campus until the program started, but I couldn’t wait at all so I joined them to help finish their preparations for the night. All the other participants arrived accordingly during the evening and my excitement increased gradually. Of course Melis, the Event Responsible, had to make the event ESTIEMish, thus we played some games to get to know each other more. Later we spent the rest of the night at a cocktail party.

The second day was full of activities - after listening to introductory speeches from Melis and David, we went to the IBM meeting room where a very lovely and funny lecture was delivered by Mr. Giovanni Aliverti, an Italian citizen which brightened our day. He briefed us on how he had been leading different groups of people by engaging them in fascinating activities. We continued the day with a visit to the Efes Pilsen Beer Factory and a Turkish night in Nazende where we ate Turkish food, danced Turkish dances and learnt Turkish songs!

The next morning was meant for us to get lost a bit in the huge METU campus; we played treasure

hunt. It was very difficult for us to make our way inside it, yet using the basics of Turkish language that I knew and the help of my lovely group, we were able to make our way to win the game. After that we went to attend two lectures delivered by Mr. Hamit and Mr. Herman Butz from the BOSCH Group. Of course, both of them concentrated also on this year’s Vision seminars’ topics - “Leadership through engagement”. Our next stop was Anit Kabir, a graveyard of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the republic of Turkey. The place was so huge for one person to be buried in but it’s his significance that the Turkish people show. After that, we went to a city tour that lasted even longer than expected.

Later we went to the city center and the ancient Ankara castle and looked at the whole of Ankara downwards - it was just a perfect landscape.

On the final day after breakfast, we had an origami session where we created amazing objects all together. After that, the symphonic Orchestra conductor came to discuss Leadership through Engagement in his career too. The last part of our activities was the outcome creation of the Vision seminar. David, the Project Leader, helped us to summarize the significant part of the event as we were divided into groups, where every group presented their understanding of Leadership through Engagement.

When the event came to an end, I felt that it left a great thought in me, and made me very motivated. I learnt how to engage our Local Group’s ESTIEMers to be more attractive and prominent.

I owe a lot to Local Group Ankara-METU for this amazing event that made me a better person and a better Local Responsible. n

21

Inside ESTIEM

Do you need a change to save the day?

Right after the Council Meeting in Karlsruhe, the Visionaries started preparing the next Vision series, “Crisis and Change Management.” An open call for the organisers was sent and the Coordination Meeting in Darmstadt was scheduled. In Darmstadt, the Vision team faced another challenge when it came to decide on the next Vision organisers out of many good applicants.

Besides deciding on where the ESTIEMers will be going for the next Vision Seminars, the Vision team also worked on many Project related issues during the first Coordination Meeting of 2011-2012. We revised the whole Project, decided on our action points and planned the next months.

I was more than happy and thrilled to see that the topic “Crisis and Change Management” managed to reach and excite many ESTIEMers.

As the Project Leader of the Crisis and Change Management Vision Project, it is highly important for me to raise the awareness on the unavoidable amount of crisis that the world is facing each and every day – organisations, companies and individuals. Each day is a new challenge and the necessity of the ability to implement the “Change” is a big requirement for us, the leaders of the future.

Join our Vision Seminars: Grenoble-Lyon Karlsruhe Helsinki-Tampere Trondheim Enschede-Groningen Ilmenau-Darmstadt Famagusta Final Conference Vienna

20-27 November 13-18 December 13-19 February 28 Feb - 4 March 4-10 March 15-22 April 9-15 May 22-27 May

In 2011-2012, we will explore eight different regions and eight different Crisis and Change Management stories which will lead us to learn more and more. Besides the experiences that we will have as participants, the Vision Organisers will also face an unforgettable challenge. They have already thought, searched and discussed a lot on how to present you the best of the topic in their region.

Why don’t we just hear what Abubakar from Famagusta has here to tell us. “Local Group Famagusta is organising a Vision because it will contribute to the motivation of our local members. In addition to that, the topic of this year’s series interested a lot of our Local Group members and many of them believe it would be a great asset for their professional development during these days’ world crisis.” Local Groups Darmstadt and Ilmenau who will organise together a Vision in April also have some word; “We think that Vision is the highlight of ESTIEM. Vision is the prime example of the unique ESTIEM-spirit of connecting hard work, cultural exchange and partying. On one hand the high-level academic program combined with company visits and discussions deliver knowledge to the participants which they cannot get from many other sources. On the other hand, the participants have the opportunity to meet like-minded and equally motivated people from all around Europe. Local Groups Ilmenau and Darmstadt are excited to host such a great project.”

There is always room for improvement and ideas in the Vision Team. If the topic attracts you, come and be a Visionary! Contribute to the sexiest Project in ESTIEM, support our organisers or help us give ESTIEM the most valuable information from what we will learn this year. You need Vision to see! n

Bahar Akinci

The Vision term 2011-2012 already left four months behind, or actually six months by the time you read this article. What is the Vision team up to, what are the upcoming plans and how can you contribute?

INSIDE ESTIEM

22 Dzień dobry LG Warszawa! Just recently I met th’ bloody Pirate Yogi in the port of Bearlin.

While havin’ rum he was blabbering about the beautiful nature of Poland, especially the Pojezierze Mazurskie! His impressive remarks about this treasure of nature let me want to set sail on these waters. And indeed, Yogi scrawled upon my plank about the glorious Local Group of Warszawa organising such a unique event! And so I said: “Arrrrrrr! I like it!”

What does it take for a

sailing trip?

FLORIAN HEINEMANN

What had started with some chitchat during the Yogi Bearlin Training Weekend turned into one of my most magnificent ESTIEM experiences: the Sailing Activity Week!

what we did and we also contributed to the crew’s success in mastering this shiny sailing vessel, even in very serious and challenging situations (for example flipping the boat upside down!).

What does it take for a sailing trip? Sounds easy, eh? Well, a boat, obviously. And it needs some organisation here and there to provide a solid framework for letting things just happen. The organisation team of Local Group Warsaw provided this framework in an absolutely perfect way. We had been provided with three suitable boats, eight people each. We had experienced sailors, some from the Local Group, on these boats for support in case the amateurs mess up. There had always been a decent level of essential supplies, so we never starved or worse, might have gotten thirsty. And to complete the list, we had very well preselected marinas and places from which we could choose to lay anchor at.

Marinas provided many benefits like sanitarian and shopping places. Furthermore, every marina had a small restaurant which somehow transformed into a nice place for clubbing ‘til sunrise!

During the more relaxing moments, everyone pursued its hobby: fishing, coconutting, bananaing, diving, sunbathing, storytelling, fooling around, cooking, mosquitoing, enjoying Honey-Bear-Vodka in the middle of nowhere during a power-blackout, eating freshly baked stuff from the locals, snoring, breakfasting, sleeping on the docks, experiencing Polish culture, and having more than enough time to make friends rather than contacts! Some stories will be forgotten, some stories will become legendary. It is up to the participants to share them.

So far about the framework. Since there was absolutely no schedule, it was up to the participants to find something to do all the time. The framework’s content had to be generated by the ships’ crews.

Each and every single one of us was responsible for

Resume: a sailing trip does not need a schedule.

A starting date and arrival date is more than enough.

Trips like this do not have to be organised. They will happen on their own. Just provide the framework. n

Thank you Local Group Warszawa for this seven-day friend-ship-building game! And especially thanks, hugs and kisses to you Marta. You did a very, very good job there to provide us a framework! I am looking forward to Council Meeting Warszawa!

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Inside ESTIEM

EXIT Activity Week - Memories I finally went there! I was finally able to go to Novi Sad, all exams passed, in the mood for holidays, but only one problem: what to do with my summer internship?

After a nice trip with lots of changing trains and meeting some crazy British people, we arrived in sunny, hot and beautiful Novi Sad. We were very lucky - Miroslav, a member of Local Group Novi Sad, picked us up from the main station and took us straight to the supermarket, where we bought every kind of Serbian delicacies, which I can describe in just one word: delicious. I met all of my old friends from Novi Sad and I felt like at home.

When all ESTIEMers finally arrived, we started the pre EXIT Festival in the dance and reggae arena.

It was one of the hardest decisions of that evening: which stage is better?

We had a cultural Saturday. Seems strange during EXIT? But it isn’t! We visited an exhibition of the eccentric painter Salvador Dali. Because of the lack of time for visiting every interesting place, restaurant and pub, we had to resign to go to the beach, called “Strand”.

Instead of sunbathing and listening to music, we enjoyed the amazing city center. The evening ritual was the same: short shopping stop in a local supermarket, Polish specialties and the owner’s rakija with typical Serbian “cvarci” as a snack, then taking the taxi to the fortress. After these preparations, we were ready to listen to and sing Jamiroquaai’s songs. He emitted a lot of energy towards the audience. Also, there was the Groove Armada performance, which we did not want to miss!

First day of EXIT started with an amazing concert of Arcade Fire and nice indie rock music. After that, we walked around the whole Petrovaradin Fortress to check everything and enjoy the music, new people, and a warm Serbian night.

Unfortunately, I lost my travel mate, Adam, and missed the concert of Magnetic Man to look for him.

Luckily, while I was searching for him, I found all the other ESTIEMers and spent the rest of night at the great Dance Arena.

The last day went by so fast. After very few hours of sleeping and going sightseeing for the last time, the moment has come for Portishead and Paul Kalkbrenner. At sunrise, unfortunately, I had to say goodbye to everyone and go back home.

I packed my suitcases and went to the Novi Sad train station to catch a train to Budapest (again, thanks, Miroslav for picking me up). After about 30 hours of travelling, changing trains and waiting near the borders, I arrived and still had some Serbian souvenirs!

On the next day, Adam and I explored Novi Sad in our own style : looking for a charger converter.

That was the best option to see not only the city center (it’s true, we got lost), but also the other

I’d love to say thank you to all the participants of this amazing event, my special thanks goes to the wonderful people from Novi Sad, I will never forget you! Hvala! Ziveli! n

Karolina pilz

What to do? I used my convincing skills and got permission from my company. Then I packed my suitcase, waved goodbye and took care of Adam’s understanding of time. In the last three minutes before the departure of the train he managed to buy the tickets and dinner. That’s time management.

parts of the town. After the exhausting trip, we went to soak our feet in a fountain and relaxed some more in small pubs while enjoying far too much of Serbian cuisine. We spent that evening getting to know random people, listening to great music and looking for ESTIEMers.

Inside estiem

24

From previous Project Leaders TIMES 2011 Project Leader Could you introduce yourself briefly, please?

XAVIER AzCUE

Though I consider myself Portuguese, my Basque heritage and the fact that I was born in Toronto, Canada, have made me quite multinational from the moment I was born, over 21 years ago. I am currently in my fifth and last year of IEM studies, and I loved ESTIEM since the first time I heard of it.

Why did you decide to become a Project Leader?

My path in ESTIEM was mostly through TIMES. In my first three years of university I participated in three Local Qualifications, two Semi-Finals and one Final. I really liked the experience and thought that Lisbon should organise a Semi-Final in 2010.

In the end we made it happen and I became Project Leader of the event. Afterwards, I felt there was more that I could do so I applied for the TIMES Project Leadership and simultaneously Local Group Lisbon applied for the TIMES Final, where I was also the Project Leader.

There must have been some difficult moments. Your worst experience, please.

There were a few difficult moments, but one stands out. We had a problem with the TIMES Rules & Guidelines that were not up to date with ESTIEM’s current member situation, i.e. we had ESTIEMers who by the rules, couldn’t participate in TIMES. There was a formal complaint regarding one of the finalist teams because of this. Since to me and the Board it didn’t make sense to have an ESTIEM Project where all ESTIEMers could not participate, the rules were overruled, but it was definitely not an easy call.

“Great, I became a Project Leader!” What was your best experience during your term?

Luckily the good vastly overshadows the bad and there is a multitude of excellent moments: our two amazing Coordination Meetings, funny moments during our weekly chats, seeing the satisfaction of

participants, organisers and sponsors after a well organised event. If I had to pinpoint one, my favourite moment was during the last Council Meeting, through several conversations, when I realized that many ESTIEMers truly appreciated all the effort I so many times thought would go unnoticed.

What did you gain from being a Project Leader and what did you add to your Project?

I learned a lot about myself and about others, I really developed skills you cannot learn in a classroom. And we had a very good TIMES year with a large amount of achievements - adding a Semi-Final led to a better Local Group distribution. Despite having no central sponsorship, a profit was made and we made a long term investment in promotional material; the creation of central feedback and the TIMES booklet; many good discussions with feasible conclusions on the future of TIMES. However, the greatest addition was increased communication with the TIMES team, and also increased communication with Local Groups which led to 91% of the Local Groups organising a Local Qualification or at least sending a team to a Semi-Final.

What was your favourite activity or unforgettable moments in ESTIEM that made you become such an active member?

There was no one moment or activity where someone flipped a switch, it was the gradual combination of many, many moments. From my recollection, the most fun I have had so far was during the three TIMES Coordination Meetings I went to.

Is there anyone you want to thank for their support during your time as a Project Leader?

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to all those who made this year a success. A huge thank you to all from the bottom of my heart, all the Semi-Final organisers, those who recently joined the central team, and my two Board Responsibles.

©Lauri Anttila

25

Is there any advice you would like to give to the younger ESTIEMers?

ESTIEM really can be, and should be, a platform for personal development and also a great way to network and more importantly make excellent friends. Though sometimes it might not seem so, it is really easy to be active within ESTIEM, you just

Inside ESTIEM

have to reach out, ask questions, and communicate; because above all, what is essential for a network like ESTIEM to function well is excellent communication.

Vision - Leadership through Engagement Project Leader Could you introduce yourself briefly, please?

Why did you decide to become a Project Leader?

My local board year in Karlsruhe was about to end, and I knew that I wanted to continue doing something “on the top” of my studies. The position of my favorite ESTIEM Project was vacant, so I joined the Vision team and discussed my intentions.

There must have been some difficult moments. Your worst experience, please.

I remember mixing up some hours after a lot of travelling. I was on my bike on the other side of Karlsruhe when I realised that a scheduled chat with the academic contact persons of Aalto University started five minutes ago. You have to understand that these people are incredibly busy and every minute you can “claim” from them is precious. Believe me, I never rushed home so quickly.

However, nobody was upset and we had a productive chat.

“Great, I became a Project Leader!” What was your best experience during your term?

I was in the aircraft back from the Vision organised by Ankara-METU in the early morning. The sun just rose and I was reading the little letters I got from participants during the Gala Dinner the night before. We had an outstanding seminar there and I was able to feel the deep impact on the partici-

What did you gain from being a Project Leader and what did you add to your Project?

We all talk about globalisation and borderless teamwork, but only a few know what it means to coordinate an international team. When it comes to the adding part, that is definitely the new academic perspective we gave to the Project. ESTIEMers as lab rats and researchers at the same time - that is definitely new!

What was your favorite activity or unforgettable moments in ESTIEM that made you become such an active member?

It was when I realised that I still remember lectures from my very first ESTIEM event, the Marketing Vision in Linköping 2008. I wanted to give other ESTIEMers this opportunity and thought I could do that the best by leading a wide-span Project.

Is there anyone you want to thank for their support during your time as a Project Leader?

Yes, my Mom. She rocks! For all others, see the last pages of the Vision Booklet.

Is there any advice you would like to give to the younger ESTIEMers?

Don’t be afraid of change because ESTIEM will change a lot for you. Enjoy it like a big piece of cake.

n

David Brandstädter

I’m David, sometimes also known as “Brandy”. I studied three years in Karlsruhe before I moved to Eindhoven where I am doing a master programme in logistics right now.

pants. That made me realise why me and my team put so much effort into this Project. A Never-forgetmoment!

©Lauri Anttila

Inside estiem

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m o r f s e i r a retired ESTIEMer Memo Will you please introduce yourself to the ESTIEMers?

SEZEN SAYOǦLU

This is Sezen speaking; I was the Project Leader of our lovely ESTIEM Magazine once and have been active for approximately five years in ESTIEM until I felt like retiring; which definitely does not mean that I stopped watching what is going on. I guess it is impossible to loose your interest entirely, it always feels good to hear or know what is happening and talk to your old friends.

What about my life now? After an enjoyable student life in Bilkent University, Ankara, and traveling around enough, I worked for three months as vice president and brand manager in a software and consulting company owned by a friend. Now, I am marketing manager at Rocket Internet which is a Germany based company investing in the development of innovative companies in the internet industry. I live in Istanbul and enjoy its beauties while struggling with the crowd and the traffic load.

Could you describe the role of ESTIEM in your life in three words?

“Adventure” is the first word as I got into some troubles during or after each ESTIEM event.

“Friends+Fun” is the second group of words since every time I got bored with my regular life in Ankara, I found myself having fun during an ESTIEM event; it is the people who make it enjoyable and memorable.

“Perspective” is the third word but I am not sure how to put this right. What I am trying to say is, in ESTIEM you start thinking with a wider perspective. You get to observe various people and their reactions in several circumstances. It is kind of a cultural and sociological experiment for all of us.

What was your favourite activity or unforgettable moments in ESTIEM that made you become such an active member?

Well, all the events have special and memorable moments but I am sure Summer Academy is the best for everyone who has attended it. On the other hand, I caught the spirit during my first real Council Meeting in Eindhoven.

How did ESTIEM contribute to your professional/personal development?

I think all the soft skills that we need in our professional and personal life are or can be used in ESTIEM. When you are active enough to take responsibilities, you must learn how to communicate with every different personality, do good team management, delegate work and responsibilities, motivate people, appraise them, deal with problems, present your projects and convince others. So it is up to you to improve yourself in such a great diverse community, which cannot be found everywhere.

If I could make a “before and after” picture of my ESTIEM life, all the things would be positive in the after picture except some injuries due to high level of fun!

Is there any advice you would like to give to the younger ESTIEMers?

April 2008, Council Meeting Hamburg Sezen accepts her Project Leadership.

Enjoy ESTIEM and have fun. It is what keeps you in besides the professional development, international atmosphere, travelling opportunities etc.

You will meet super people and have unforgettable friendships so it will be impossible to quit when you catch the spirit. n

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Inside ESTIEM

The best way to discover a country in all aspects? Europe3D… “Europe3D memories? Excitement, uniqueness, rhythms, openness, powerfulness, enthusiasm x3 and desire to experience it once again!” - these words from of a non-ESTIEMer participant of Europe3D Sweden explain almost everything.

Break the Stereotypes with Europe3D…

Europe3D also helps its young open-minded participants to gain special insights about the hosting country, breaking the stereotypes that they had in mind before attending the event. By letting the participants find the answers to their questions during five days in a multicultural atmosphere, the participants’ ideas about the hosting country always change after the event, most of the time in a positive way.

Besides these advantages you get by participating in the events, Europe3D can help people to be involved in ESTIEM and get more active in this great student platform just like other ESTIEM Projects. To give an example from my side, my

ESTIEM story started with my first ESTIEM event, Europe3D France, in February 2009. I found myself in a perfect atmosphere full of friendship, group-work and lots of fun in a lovely country.

After three awesome days in Lyon and Paris with a well-prepared agenda, I had my first ESTIEM and Europe3D experience at the same time. With its attractive seminars, serious discussions, interesting daily activities and great parties, Europe3D France inspired me into getting involved in ESTIEM and especially in its lovely three dimensional project.

Once I was back, I joined the Europe3D Team, then started to work for it actively and finally became the Project Leader of Europe3D 2011. I can happily say that our project team is growing fast and is always open to new members, new ideas, which means that you are always welcome in the Europe3D team to share them. It is always a pleasure to see new members among us.

After four successful Europe3Ds this year, Europe3D Turkey, Europe3D Spain, Europe3D Hanse, Europe3D Hungary and two Coordination Meetings in Zürich and Istanbul, Europe3D is growing one-year older with its great mosaic.

Additionally, with some nice promotional improvements within the Project, such as the Europe3D booklet, and new responsibilities with new task leaders, Europe3D is getting one step further thanks to all its members.

So what should you do if you are interested in the Europe3D Project? Send an e-mail to the Project Leader (leader.europe3d@estiem.org) and join us! n

ÖYKÜ TOMRİS

The best way to get to know all the different sides of a whole country is a special Project of ESTIEM, which was named Europe3D in 2007. As all ESTIEMers may know, Europe3D is one of the Projects of ESTIEM, which allows the participants to get to know the hosting country in three dimensions: politics, economy and culture. Within a 5-day seminar, the participants get the basic picture of the hosting country. A special focus thereby lays on national characteristics in politics, economy and culture with the help of lectures given by experts with a theoretical insight. Along with cultural activities, traditional visits and of course great parties, participants from various countries have a good time by learning all about the culture of the hosting country living all together. Plus, long-lasting friendships cross the countries are established at the end of their journey…

2012 Europe3D events: Europe3D Vojvodina - March Europe3D Greece - April Europe3D Portugal - April Europe3D Artic - November We are looking forward to seeing all of you ESTIEMers in our Europe3D events next year!

Inside estiem

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A mind and life changing experience How can I tell you about probably the most genuine month of my life with only 5000 letters? How can I include that same impression of 25 other individuals?

I simply can’t. This attempt is my personal impression of having witnessed both Summer Academies 2011.

Han Che

When Professor Dietrich Brandt summoned us for the very first session I could tell we were all eager or curious to see what he had planned for us.

I remember him standing there wearing a childish smile and then saying something like: “I have no clue what to do with you; after all, it’s your Summer Academy!”

Throughout the next days I experienced a productive vivid group dynamic with an emergence of creativity I’ve never witnessed before. We chose our own topics for the discussion, with one of us leading every new session. Dietrich often sat on the offside not saying a tone.

Jim on the other hand was quite talkative … at least during his lectures in the first week. I won’t even try to summarize its content, which was including 5000 years of ancient teaching, knowledge and wisdom. So again: I simply can’t.

In the center of Jim’s Academy was the reflection session held every evening after our home made and rather often improvised dinner.

So much was happening around us. We seemed to force ourselves even more to react and interact to the exterior. Having the time to look, seek questions and answers inside of us was strange in the

beginning but turned scary as we progressed and finally truly opened our eyes. Through an extremely carefully and emphatically guided journey, Jim led us to our very own core. Seeing images of our own unconscious, how it views us and thus, ultimately, how we really view ourselves. For me personally it was not a beautiful (in)sight. I won’t deny here that during the reflection sessions many buried emotions surfaced that tears and pain have been shed and shared by every one of us. It wasn’t easy to get there. But it was a rare chance we have been given.

Above everything else, the Summer Academies, both of them, are a safe and secure place for us to care, even to share pain, trust each other and finally grow together. For that, two very essential things we had to learn first: silence (the Fruitful use of Silence - Jim Platts) and the ability to notice. We can’t notice ourselves if there is no silence and we can’t notice others if we are not silent.

Back to Dietrich’s Academy. Did you notice something? Did you wonder and asked yourself “how a group of 14 young individual minds were able to develop such a momentum so fast in unison?”

What both Academies have in common is a focus on self-development, to become a better person, a better leader. Yet a leader must not be someone who is hierarchically above us, as in leadership is not about giving orders to those seemingly below us. It is about being a good example, being an honest human so people themselves choose to follow us. It is a responsibility, not a power and it’s best if it is accomplished unseen. Dietrich’s very own feat on how he silently managed to lead 14 people into developing our own dynamic is nothing less than

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the example on true leadership taught during Jim’s Academy.

It is true that Dietrich follows a more practical approach than Jim. Both academies have their incredible individual values and lasting impressions.

As for me I count myself extremely lucky. I had the chance to reflect and notice the teachings of Dietrich’s Summer Academy. Vice versa his practical approach gave me a framework to store the very abstract teachings of Jim. Finally I am aware of another possible path for my future.

Inside ESTIEM

Notice again that I do not use “knowing”. I simply don’t. Knowing, understanding and eventually being, will be the road ahead of us. Before that we must become aware that this road exists and that is what the Summer Academy is all about, nothing more, but also nothing less. As a matter of fact, one thing I do know. The trust that we, 26 human beings, have built in merely two weeks during the Summer Academies is nothing less than unique. I wouldn’t be surprised to see us, decades from now, clinking glasses and saying: “To Jim, Dietrich and the ESTIEM Summer Academy”. n

A symposium by EPIEM Session 1: ‘How to make an integrated curricu

That is why the EPIEM organisation (EPIEM stands for European Professors of Industrial Engineering and Management) has been created two years ago. The young association that has been supported by ESTIEM since the very beginning now organises the first European Symposium on Research and Education in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. It will take place from the 18th until the 19 th of November 2011. This conference aims at addressing these issues and, most importantly, producing tangible contributions through an active role of the participants.

Session 2: ‘How to integrate business cases

The discussions and workshops of the conference are divided in two sessions, each with a main theme.

lum?’- the topics include the embedding of applied methods in the Industrial Engineering and Management educational program, its theoretical foundation and practical experience. The session is aimed at developing a procedure or a generally applicable method which properly combines methods of the two academic worlds, business versus engineering disciplines. with academic research?’ – the topics include the connection of industry-oriented Master’s/ Bachelor’s thesis with academic research, due to the fact that different cultures are defined as specific case studies versus academic research.

The keynote speakers of the plenary lectures will be led by two acknowledged and highly experienced professors – Dr. Tom Ridgman, University of Cambridge and Prof. Klaus Dieter Thoben, University of Bremen.n

JELENA BAJŠIĆ

Across Europe, the broad and multidisciplinary subject of Industrial Engineering and Management is taught in a variety of ways, and its research covers a wide spectrum of disciplines. Because of this rich diversity, there are unresolved issues that remain for the teachers and researchers, such as the need for a common methodology in education and the question on how to integrate business cases and academic research.

Inside estiem

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TIMES Semi Final Darmstadt 2011

Sabrina klatt

It was the end of January 2011 and pretty cold in Darmstadt, in the middle of Germany, when seven teams arrived here to participate in our TIMES Semifinal. Five days full of competitions, professional and fun ones, exploring a new city, eating, partying and making new friends were about to start.

Local Groups Aachen, Berlin, Gothenburg, L i n köpi ng, K a iserslauter n, Paderbor n a nd Ilmenau each sent the winning team of their Local Qualification to compete in Darmstadt to get their flight-tickets to Lisbon. With the help of our main sponsors, Linde Material Handling and J&M Management Consulting as well as the other sponsors BASF, EADS, Daimler, Ernst & Young, BCG, 4flow and Schneider Electric, Local Group Darmstadt was ready for hosting its first big ESTIEM event in a long time.

The event began on Tuesday, the 25th of January, late afternoon with a welcome kick-off, including a buffet and the opportunity to get together with some of our sponsors, who sent some representatives to inform the participants about ways to join their enterprises. For getting to know each other more easily and in a fun atmosphere, we then went to a bowling centre and had the first competition of the event - the winner of the bowling evening was team Berlin, which turned out to be very good in all the fun games.

The next day was our first case-day with a case written especially for this occasion by one of our main sponsor, Linde, and which dealt with forklift trucks. The jury was really impressed by what the teams figured out in the four hours of case solving time and followed the presentations with great interest. Besides two managers from Linde, the jury consisted of a university professor and a psychologist to get a mix of the theoretical and practical knowl-

edge. In the evening, Linde joined us for dinner at a Spanish place where we could make the feedback of the day and chat about the company in an informal frame.

In between the two case days, Thursday was the free day to get to know Darmstadt. In the morning after having the opportunity to sleep a bit longer, a rally took the participants throughout Darmstadt to find out about the city history, while also having fun. As a combination of entertainment and learning, in the afternoon we had a workshop held by the logistics consultancy “4flow” where the participants learnt about how to handle both logistics and purchasing of goods for a production. Even though the next day was a case-day again, most of us went to an amazing university-party later that evening after having a great time while chatting and drinking cocktails over dinner.

Friday’s case was provided by our second main sponsor J&M and made the participants deal with the branch of artificial vs. natural based food flavour ingredients. Starting from the first case-day, team Linköping made the best impression on the jury, consisting that day of two J&M representatives as well as a BCG-consultant who has recently finished his PhD, a professor and an industrial engineer who is working in asset management. But the winning team was not announced until the middle of our gala-dinner. Before that, we had had a nice sparkling-wine-goodbye to say thank you to all the helpers, sponsors and participants.

So Linköping team was announced the winner which will go to Lisbon to compete in the TIMES Final. This was celebrated until late that night with everybody having a real good time. Goodbyes were said at brunch on Saturday when everyone departed, keeping nice memories and a smiling picture in a frame with them. n

Organisers’ insights Novi Sad 2011 TIMES - Tournament In Management and Engineering Skills. Is it just that? For many ESTIEMers TIMES means something more. The Semi-Final in Novi Sad 2011 proved that theory.

The opening ceremony as well as the whole competition took place at the Faculty of Technical Sciences where the participants received a warm welcome by the Dean. During the first day of the tournament, representing teams of Local Groups Belgrade, Bucharest, Budapest, Istanbul-ITU, Istanbul-Yildiz, Kragujevac, Sofia, Skopje and Zagreb, went through the first case given by the biggest telecommunication company in Novi Sad. After the presentations were finished, it was obvious that the team from Budapest made the best start.

There was not enough time to relax for the competitors. Their next challenge was waiting for them the very next day – a case study provided by one

of the best European flooring companies had to be solved in just three and a half hours. All the teams put in as much effort as possible to provide the best solution and steal the victory from Local Group Budapest. Anna Fodor, Évi Kádár, Balázs Füredi and Csaba Hartmann, the team from the only Hungarian Local Group, had the ticket for Lisbon in their hands. Second prize went to Skopje, and third prize found its place in the hands of the competitors from Istanbul-Yildiz. Now the celebration could begin…

After two days of no relaxing, all thirty-six competitors and over fifteen guests could finally get together and make this event unforgettable.

The gala dinner served in an authentic Vojvodinian atmosphere with the notes of the beautiful traditional songs made all the people forget about the competition and enjoy themselves in the unique experience the TIMES organisation team provided for them. This team, consisted of young and ambitious ESTIEMers worked very hard to make the TIMES Semi-Final Novi Sad 2011 the unforgettable event for participants, guests and themselves. n

“…A unique experience for both participants, the organising team and people on the other side of the evaluation sheet…”

“…If we mix up the efforts of the guys from Novi Sad and lots of ESTIEM spirit you get lots of fun and a TIMES Semi-Final to be REMEMBERED…”

Professor Dusan Dobromirov, president of the jury

Bogdan Leca, LG Bucharest

Inside ESTIEM

UroŠ TodoroviĆ

Nine teams from seven regional countries took part in the competition, aiming for the chance to be a part of the prestigious Final in Lisbon.

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Inside estiem

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TIMES A Winner Experience

Jesper stenmark

How did you decide to take part in the TIMES competition?

What kind of difficulties did your team face during the whole competition?

My first participation was in 2008, in the last year of my bachelor studies. My friends and me decided to try out the competition, just for fun. We practiced a little beforehand and managed to do really well and win the Local Qualification. After that, I have been competing every year. But the main reason I am taking part in TIMES is because it is a great learning experience and a lot of fun. Every time I have been to an interview or hold a presentation, I can feel that my TIMES experiences have significantly improved my self-esteem and courage.

Being in a very tough situation to present your material for the judges in English with very short time to prepare, you are really pushing yourself when it comes to this competition.

The main difficulties occur usually when you get stuck and cannot find a satisfying solution to your case. Then it is very important to know that your team will make the best out of the situation and will not panic. We always tried to stop, think and discuss in a very calm and objective way when we got into these situations.

What were your expectations regarding the whole competition?

To get some challenging cases to solve and at the same time meet many other interesting people.

What were your first thoughts when you realized you made it to the TIMES Final?

I was very happy that we could get the chance to once more solve some cases and have fun with my friends.

What did you gain from the competition?

As I mentioned in the beginning it is a very good learning experience. You learn how to work under pressure and deliver results and you get a really good teamwork experience. If you come up with a good solution, the most important part is how to communicate it so the audience understands our solution and message. This is also a great experience and I really had to focus when writing the transparencies, which may have improved my handwriting skills a bit. It also develops your English skills, both in talking and reading/writing. Learning a lot about different types of business problems and industries can give you a nice preview of how it would be like to work as a management consultant or someone responsible for solving business problems. And last but not least, you make new friends!

As the winner of the TIMES competition 2011, what is your advice for those who still haven’t competed?

The IEM students of the year 2011: Peter Mattsson, Johan Lind, Jesper Stenmark, BjĂśrn Nilsson Local Group LinkĂśping

I think everyone should try out this competition. Even if you do not like competition and being put under pressure, you will still learn a lot.

There are so many positive effects about taking part in this competition, and you will learn so much the first time you participate. It is a very steep learning curve experience. n

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focus Multi-Dimensional Separation of Concerns for Domain-Specific

Dubravko Ćulibrk

Systems modelling is the interdisciplinary study of the use of models to conceptualize and construct systems in business and IT development. In fact, software engineering has been the greatest driving factor behind the development of the systems modelling techniques. This is due to the complexity of the state-of the art software, especially software that deals with highly dynamic situations such as crisis management and early warning systems [1].

Naturally, the methods developed for software systems have been used to model systems in general, with the aim of furthering our understanding of their structure, behaviour and simulating critical situations that cannot be studied in the real systems (such as a fire at a football stadium or nuclear reactor meltdown).

Michael van hilst

Domain-Specific Modelling (DSM) is a model based software development approach, whose expressive power is gained from notations and abstractions aligned to a specific problem domain. DSM is based on the use of a Domain-Specific Modelling Language, designed specifically for use by the experts in a specific domain, such as medicine, security, electronics, etc.

Typically, DSM relies on graphical representations of the domain abstractions. These include objects and functions/behaviours of interest for the experts in the domain. A Domain-Specific Visual Language (DSVL) is capable of freeing the designer from being tied to more general notations, such as those provided by the Unified Modelling Language (UML). In domain-specific modelling using a DSVL, a design engineer describes a system by constructing a visual model with the terminology and concepts from a specific domain. Analysis can then

be performed on the model, or the model can be synthesized into an implementation or used to simulate different situations in the real system. Domainspecific modelling has been successfully applied in several different domains, including automotive manufacturing, digital signal processing, electrical utilities and crisis management systems [1].

Unfortunately, the formalisms used to describe systems in DSM suffer from the same deficiencies as the traditional system description and programming languages. They usually provide decomposition mechanisms, which allow for adequate separation of concerns within one dimension only, e.g. structural in object oriented and functional in procedural programming languages. Structural description methodologies enable adequate representation of the different elements and the static structure of a system, while functional descriptions view the system from the point of view of its behaviour and function.

Concerns which are not orthogonal with respect to a specific dimension supported by the description language result in scattering of description parts and code through and tangling between different software artefacts in the system. The inability to adequately decompose the system within a single modelling methodology reduces comprehensibility and potential reuse, increases the impact of change, and complicates systems evolution and reconfiguration.

Multi-Dimensional Separation of Concerns (MDSOC) is an approach to software development motivated by the need to achieve adequate separation of concerns in the software design and development process [2]. It is a general model, which can be instantiated to achieve separation of concerns in

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Systems Modelling multiple dimensions in any system model. Extension of the DSM approach to incorporate MDSOC leads to more manageable, comprehensible system models, promotes reuse and enables the design of (software) systems that are easy to change and reconfigure.

The decomposition in MDSOC is based on additional means of decomposition, called hyper-slices.

The modules within a hyper-slice should contain all and only those units pertinent to one specific concern, whatever dimension it might belong to. A single unit may be pertinent to several concerns, so the hyper-slices can overlap. The system is modelled by a collection of hyper-slices, which can be composed to form the complete system or larger units called hyper-modules. Since the composition mechanism is to a great extent automatic, hyper-slices can easily be recombined to create system models that address different sets of concerns (e.g. create software for mobile phones with different features and functionality). This is a significant step forward with respect to traditional domain specific modelling methodologies and allows for better models to be built and easier use of existing models by the experts. n References 1. Fleurey, F. and Solberg, A., “A domain specific modeling language supporting specification, simulation and execution of dynamic adaptive systems�, Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, 2009: 606-621.

2. Harold Ossher and Peri Tarr, Hyper/JTM: Multi-Dimensional Separation of concerns for JavaTM, ICSE, Limerick, Ireland, 2000.

Dubravko Culibrk is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Serbia. He received his B.Eng. degree in automation and systems control as well as a M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia, in 2000 and 2005, respectively. In 2006 he received a Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. His research interests include video and image processing, computer vision, neural networks and their applications, cryptography, hardware design and evolutionary computing.

Dr. Michael Van Hilst is a Adjunct Research Professor at the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University.

Dr. Van Hilst has an unusual depth of background that he brings to research, teaching, and work. An MIT graduate, he has 17 years of industry experience, in addition to his academic work. He has worked in City Planning (in Iowa), Astronomy (at Harvard and for NASA), Geophysics (in Paris), product development ( for IBM), corporate research ( for HP Labs), teaching (at Microsoft and FAU), and management (for high-tech startups). He enjoys both the intellectual pursuit of knowledge, and the practical pursuit of making things work. His current research interests are information security, project management, and process improvement.

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The importance of Systems Modelling for Sustainable Development

Igor Jovanović

Dynamic systems modelling is a scientific approach that enables the synthesis of scientific understanding, allowing the problem to be reached and solved better. Sustainability is a term, which links environmental changes to global development, emphasising the responsibility people must take for future generations, while sustainable development is such a development that meets the needs of the present, without endangering the future. The definition shows it tends to keep the integration dynamic balance between maintenance and transformation.

The approach expresses the goal, but not the way for reaching it. Another related approach, the back casting, is used to create a strategy, based on envisioned goals. Laws and regulations, taxes, incentives, subsidies and expenditure programs are some of the factors that impact sustainable development.

When creating policies, it is very important to consider economic efficiency, environmental integrity and people’s well being. Since this is a complicated,

integrated matter, there is always a possibility of politics making side effects and problems.

Since there are no guidance principles given in sustainable development, researchers are very important in helping to create and operate them.

Also, it is important to see what kind of effect particular technologies have on a local level, and if it can be used globally, as the prototype of guidance principles. When it comes to choosing new equipment, researchers have a problem. Namely, before the 1960’s, the only principle in getting new equipment was economic efficiency. Since pollution was one of the main topics then, it automatically became a criterion, to those who were trying to keep up sustainable development. Cost-benefit analysis was being replaced by environmental impact analysis and life cycle assessment, which rely on comparative analysis. In the years following, partial comparative analysis was considered inadequate, and sustainabil-

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ity became the third criterion in getting new equipment. Sustainability was more adequate because it views a system in an integrative way, as a whole, it is directed towards the future and it implies the limits to growth. Also, if sustainability is to be maintained, it is important to determine to which extent the technology will be used.

However, if only one technology is to be implemented, modelling the whole system is not practical. Since modelling just a part of the system is wrong, from the integration point of view, there are some principles that need to be satisfied. First of all, the system boundary needs to be established, along with the planet boundary, showing to which extent earthly resources can be used. The next step is setting the extent of the sinks for waste produced by the technology and the uses of those sinks. The final step is setting the boundaries of the market for the products of the considered technology.

A general framework for assessments of sustainable development has the following characteristics: integrating the corners of society, economy and ecology; reflecting the dynamic aspect of the assessment; loosening the boundaries between sustainability and unsustainability; providing guidance for decision making and remedial actions.

Also, the time horizon needs to be long enough to see beyond the short-term problems. The model must be able to generate alternative scenarios.

Indicators of sustainability must be associable with each of the given scenarios.

Simulators are descriptions of complex systems that show the interrelations among the processes, which the system consists of. They work by combining the past states of the system with the scientific understanding of processes. They are dynamic, active and they represent the system-as-a-whole behaviour, which users find attractive. Simulators are, essentially, learning devices, able to extend human powers of perception. As learning devices, they can neither predict, nor give any kind of advice for the future. They can be used to explore the system responsiveness to potential actions of society, such as e.g. growth of population, life-style, technological innovation etc.

The dynamic systems modelling approach, developed for assessing sustainability of technologies, has the following characteristics: the systems model must take the present state as a starting point and be able to generate potential future states; the model can answer questions as “Where will the system go, if a specified technology is destroyed?”, but not questions like “Where will/should the system go?”; the model must focus on what is physically feasible; when answering the question “Where can the system go”, there is no need for the model to show the behaviour of the controller (owner, government etc.); the aim is the physical coherence, not causality. The feedback should not be expected if the controller is not represented; processes are controlled independently. The whole system must be determined in terms of control variables. n

Igor Jovanovic is a third year student at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences (FON), University of Belgrade – the Management Science Department.

Reference 1. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss2/art6/

He has been an active member of ESTIEM Local Group Belgrade since December 2010, but next to that, he is a part of the Article Acquisition team for the Faculty paper – InterFON.

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Systems Modelling using Causal Cross-Impact Analysis

Heiko Duin

Often we are involved in planning tasks which quite considerably extend into the future and which are based on vague knowledge bases. As a consequence of such a situation, it is often hard assess the impact of specific planned interventions. The question is whether specific action plans really influence the system under consideration and what are unwanted (or wanted) side effects and how is the system changing in the long run (long term effects). In addition, the occurrence of mostly unwanted events may have very strong influence on the system behaviour even when the probability of occurrence is very low. In such a case causal cross-impact analysis as introduced by Olaf Helmer (1977) can help to support such planning tasks.

Klaus-Dieter Thoben

The basic idea of cross-impact analysis is to get a systemic picture of the rough structure of a complex system supporting any long-term planning and assessment tasks. In difference to other system simulation approaches, e.g. system dynamics, causal cross-impact analysis is not used to generate prognostic data, but to analyse effects over and above a business-as-usual scenario provided by the end user.

Causal cross-Impact modelling is based on a discrete time model. The time period under investigation is divided into single time steps called scenes.

Each scene represents a time span, e.g. a year, a quarter or a month. The end of the total time period under consideration is called the time horizon.

The basic elements of a causal cross-impact model are so-called trend variables which represent measurable elements of a system (like levels or stocks in system dynamics). For each trend variable the user is asked to provide an estimated business-as-usual development coupled with an uncertainty factor called volatility.

Event variables in a causal cross-impact model describe events which are not under the control of actors of the model, but which might have a strong influence on other variables (trends or events) in the case of their occurrence. The user is asked to provide occurrence probabilities for event variables.

Action variables are under the control of actors and represent their manoeuvring space in decision making. If an actor wants to apply an action, a specific investment has to be done so that the action variable can develop an intensity with which it influences other system elements (trends or events).

These variables are inter-related by defining cross-impacts between them spawning up the crossimpact matrix which consists of six different areas or sub-matrices: One sub-matrix collects all impacts having a trend variable as source and destination, one for trends on events, one for events on trends, one for impacts between events and finally the influences of actions on trends and events.

Once the causal cross-impact model (system model) has been defined, scenarios can be generated by applying a simulation algorithm to the model. Therefore, causal cross-impact analysis is a tool which can be used within the various approaches of Reference 1. Duin, H. & Thoben, K.-D.: Enhancing the Preparedness of SMEs for E-Business Opportunities by Collaborative Networks.

In: Cruz-Cunha, M.M. und Varajao, J. (Eds.): E-Business Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for SMEs: Driving Competitiveness. Business Science Reference (IGI Global). Hershey, New York, 2010, pp 30-45.

2. Helmer, O.: Problems in Futures Research: Delphi and Causal Cross-Impact Analysis. In: Futures. 9 (1977) 1, pp 17-31.

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scenario techniques. The model allows to evaluate different settings of questions like: what are the best options to reach the goals, what events could disturb the way towards reaching the goals, how strong are the effects of such events, will the occurrence of a specific event cause the occurrence of additional events, and many more. Scenario techniques are based on two principles: Systems thinking: Organisations or societies

must perceive their environment as a complex network of inter-related (external as well as internal) factors.

Multiple futures: Organisations or societies

should not reduce their strategic thinking to one exact prognosticated future. Instead, alternative future scenarios should be created and considered or at least anticipated.

The scenario generation approach adopted by the research institute BIBA is based on the causal crossimpact analysis as roughly described above. It has first been introduces by Olaf Helmer (1977), but up to now, BIBA included several enhancements to that causal cross-impact analysis method according to requirements identified during various research projects. These improvements include delayed impacting, threshold impacting, expression variables and a technique for structuring and managing scenarios in a tree-like structure. BIBA implemented a cross-impact modelling and simulation software package called CRIMP for Windows, which allows the interactive set-up, simulation and evaluation of such causal cross-impact models.

Application areas for causal cross-impact analysis are diverse, e.g. scenario generation in long-term (strategic) planning, policy analysis and planning or regional development and planning. Currently, this approach is used in supporting breeding environments for virtual organisations in their strategic planning (Duin & Thoben, 2010). n

Heiko Duin, born in 1965, received his Master of Science in Computer Science in 1992 at the University of Bremen. He started as a research scientist at BIBA in 1992. From 1997 to 2009 he was employed at the engineering company PRODUTEC Ingenieurgesellschaft.

In 2002 he joined BIBA again, first part time and full time since 2009. He participated in many European projects within the programmes RACE, ACTS, TEN-TELECON, ESPRIT, IST, ICT and NMP during his professional career.

In some of them he performed in management functions, such as overall project manager or technical manager. Currently his main interests involve the development of tools to support strategic planning in enterprise networks, the development of serious gaming applications for educational purposes and the development of mobile applications.

Klaus-Dieter Thoben is professor in Production Engineering at the University of Bremen, Germany. He studied mechanical engineering at the TU Braunschweig. After finishing his studies, he became a staff member of the Faculty of Production Engineering (Department of Systematic Design) at the University of Bremen, where he received his Doctor of Engineering degree in CAD applications in 1989. In the same year he joined BIBA as Manager of the CAD/CAM Lab. From 1991 until the end of 1996 he has headed the Department of Computer Aided Design, Planning and Manufacturing. Since 2003, he is head of “Information and Communication Technologies in Production” and one of the managing directors of BIBA. His special interests are organisational issues and applications of information and communication technologies in co-operative environments (including Knowledge Management and e-leanings approaches).

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Systems Modelling

A Method to Avoid Mass Casualty and Catastrophes

We are living in such a world that the most important threat to our lives are widespread deterioration of the natural environment and continual emergence of sudden catastrophic environmental changes resulting from complex interactions.

Orhan Korhan

A complex system consists of entities that interact with each other to produce the behaviour of the system as a whole. A model is a representation of the essential aspects of an existing system (or a system to be constructed), which presents knowledge of that system in usable form. Therefore, a model is used to represent the complex system by defining boundaries to the system, defining the objectives, setting the constraints, and introducing the relationship of the entities within the system.

The study of complex systems requires methods of analysis and simulation with characteristics such as looking at parts of a system in the context of the whole system and its environment, using adapted experimental tools, theoretical analysis or computer simulation; taking into account that the behaviour of complex systems depends on many independent pieces of information and not on just a few parameters.

Jacob Stolk, a scientist from New Zealand, assessed some complex systems methodologies for application to risk assessment of the emergency management. Evolutionary algorithms, Bayesian networks, multi-agent simulation and emergent models were developed to suit the emergency responses.

Evolutionary algorithms are general problem-solving algorithms inspired by the evolution of organisms, interpreted as an optimisation pro-

cess. Evolutionary algorithms do not find globally optimal solutions but only approximate solutions.

In order to design an optimal, or at least good solutions, we would have to define what is to be optimised. For example to minimize loss of life, minimize damage, and maximize appropriateness of flood warnings or some combination of these and/ or other success criteria.

Bayesian networks describe systems in which elements in a situation are causally connected, with conditional probabilities associated with the connections. They are used to determine probabilities of states of events in the described situation, when some part of the situation has been observed. They offer an intuitive way to define probabilities of different outcomes at the level of individual system components; these probabilities need not to be defined objectively, but can be based on the judgment of experts with practical knowledge of the system; they offer a method to integrate component-level knowledge in the outcome at a whole-system level.

In multi-agent simulation active entities in the world and their behaviour are represented in a computer as software entities called agents. These make it possible to represent a phenomenon as the result of the interactions of a set of autonomous agents. It can be applied to any system composed of individual entities. Multi-agent simulation is particularly suitable to simulate complex systems, as it offers a natural way to describe system components and their interactions and can be used effectively to simulate such systems to study their behaviour.

Emergent Models methodology defines ways to derive macro-level behaviour from micro-level

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properties and behaviour, and discovers models at the macro-level implied by those that describe the micro-level. This methodology can also be applied to the inverse problem of discovering micro-level behaviour of the composing entities of a complex system from data on its macro-level properties and behaviour.

Modelling such complex systems is the key factor to avoid mass casualties and catastrophes.

Establishing emergency management and response systems can help the public deal with sudden unfortunate incidents, as well as prevent them from happening.

Orhan Kohran is full-time Faculty Member at the Eastern Mediterranean University, Gazimagosa, KKTC. He works on ergonomics but also on mult-attribute decision making.

System dynamics and modelling for a better world System dynamics and modelling are looking for a detailed and systematic explanation arising within a certain situation. Nowadays, we can say the application of system thinking has been growing and is well recognized in both public and private sectors. However, still there are several strategic and operational level activities and complex systems that need better decision and policy making through system dynamics and modelling.

Indeed, there are several well-structured management and engineering philosophies that are implemented in order to optimise different variables and strive for continuous improvement in the existing dynamic social and business environment. For instance, there are globally accepted ingredients of business that seriously need to be optimised, namely: cost, time and quality. In our view, focusing only on those variables may not work out anymore to live in a better world. If not, we will ask some questions like: “How about social, economic, environmental, customer delight/ satisfaction, and scarcity of resources, disaster, etc.?” That is why we claim everything should be considered as a system and sees the dynamic behaviour for sagacious policy and decision-making. It’s true that the advancement of technology brings several pluses and minuses in the globe and needs system analysis before and after the real product or services are coming out.

If we see the reality in the present world, it does not matter whether we are a poor or a rich country, but we all are the subset of the globe and we are interdependent from each other as long as we are in the same system. A common agenda that knock everybody door/nation is the sustainability and environmental issue. For sure, there is no common understanding and ef- ❱❱❱

Petri helo Alemu Moges belay Josu takal

A practical approach to risk management from a complex systems point of view is required to model real systems. Multi-agent simulation is particularly suitable to simulate complex systems, as it offers a natural way to describe system components and their interactions and can be used effectively to simulate such systems to study their behaviour. An emergency response system can also be described in a very natural way as a system of interacting agents; therefore, multi-agent simulation can be used to gain insight into such a system. Multi-agent simulation can be combined with Bayesian networks to capture risk and uncertainty. Probability estimates can be incorporated via expert judgments. Bayesian networks can be used to integrate component level knowledge in an outcome at the whole-system level.

Evolutionary computation can be used to find optimal solutions to the design of system components and their interactions, given a desired behaviour of the system as a whole. An extended Emergent Models methodology could be suited to the above approaches to consolidate emergency response. n

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fort on this issue between North America and Asia, Asia and Europe, Africa and North America, etc.

But as long as we are living in the same planet we are beneficiaries of scarce natural resources directly or indirectly regardless of the amount of utilisation.

Here, I would like to share you my experience from concurrent engineering 2011 conference in which we got a best student paper prize at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. The paper deals about past, present and future concurrent engineering, and the conceptual model also includes and emphasizes on system thinking. The big support comes from different delegates of different countries like Japan, Brazil, USA, Australia, UK, Korea, China and etc. I was curious to listen everybody’s feedbacks and I observed each country has their own burning issues on resources, market shares, environment, economical crises, network, fair trade and etc. Finally, I realized that no one wins the race by running alone and concluded system dynamics could be appropriate for the existing and future decisionmaking for optimum utilization of resources.

To take a specific case on product development while applying the idea of concurrent engineering, we have developed a conceptual model that encompasses several factors and we suggested that system analysis should be integrated with system dynamics. In existing turbulent business environment, it may be repugnant only focusing on profit, i.e. just manufacture and sale the product to customer without looking at different perspectives based on Alemu Moges Belay is a PHD Researcher/ student at university of Vaasa, Finland. He has industrial experiences and published peer reviewed international journals and conference proceedings. He got best student research paper prize and award from CE2011 conference at MIT, Boston, USA. My research areas cover Concurrent engineering, Product development and life cycle, decision making, performance measurement, statistical quality control, technology management, system dynamics, sustainable development, manufacturing, service and Energy business.

all stakeholders’ requirements. Several researchers have treated concurrent engineering from different angle. For instance, time reduction of the product life cycle, design for manufacture, time-to-market, teamwork and collaboration. Of course, all these are important but there are some attributes that should be considered. We would like to summarize with some questions that should be answered and included as a part of system dynamics and modelling for better visualization and decision making in concurrent product development: 1. Concurrent engineering on which type of processes?

2. What kind of network, team work or structure to use?

Josu Takala is Dr.Tech, Dr.HC, professor in industrial management 1988- at University of Vaasa, Finland. He holds several visiting professorships in Europe and Asia, e.g. in TUKE,Slovakia; KU, Thailand; UTHM, Malaysia and WUT, China. His interest is mainly in technology management in the competitive strategies of private and public organizations in manufacturing networks. He is actively working in several scientific forums and advicing global new businesses. Member of IEEE and Chairman of ISPQR, International Society of Productivity and Quality Research.

Petri Helo, Professor of Logistics Systems, has been teaching at the University of Vaasa since 2003. he was a visiting Scholar at Cranfield University in UK, and a visiting Lecturer and professor in universities in Germany and Thailand. The research interests cover logistics systems and supply chain management, information technology tools, and productivity measurement and technology progress. He leads the Logistics Systems Research Group at the University of Vaasa. The group studies the relationship between the elements of complex logistic networks companies are facing today and looks for ways to improve their performance.

He published several international journals.

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3. Any relationship with other structured management and engineering philosophies, similarities and differences?

4. To which application we better implement it?

5. What kind of challenges do we expect and experienced so that we could take appropriate remedial action?

6. Do we include sustainability (social, economical and environmental) issues for betterment of our ecosystem?

7. What about the future application and technol-

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ogy foresight?

8. D o we have appropriate tools for analysing and decision-making (robust decision-making, system dynamics?)

The accelerating technology sophistication and dynamic complexity of products and services in both private and public sectors force us to use system dynamics and modelling so that we can visualize complex systems and understand well the interactions between different variables with respect to time. n

Systems Modelling: A Tool for the Times is moving, and how the play will unfold in the next few seconds. Such cognitive tasks are exceedingly difficult to replicate artificially. Yes, there are robotic soccer players who compete in robot cups, and yes, these games are a fun to watch. But the level of sophistication is nowhere near a World Cup match, is it?

How is it that we can do these things? One may argue that evolution has prepared us for all such tasks. Keeping an eye on the young as they indulge in mischief, scrutinising the intentions of opponents in a situation of conflict, even cooperating in a hunt... These complex activities seem so ❱❱❱ Dr Sencer Yeralan spent the 2008-2009 academic year at METU developing courses in sustainable systems engineering and management at the department of Industrial Engineering. After fifteen years as a full-time member of the faculty of Industrial Engineering at the University of Missouri and as a tenured member at the University of Florida, Sencer Yeralan now holds a courtesy position at the University of Florida. He is also assistant dean of the College of Technology and Innovation at the University of South Florida Polytechnic (USFP).

Web references: www.yeralan.org

SENCER YERALAN

When you think about it, many things we do are exceedingly complicated. How is it even possible that we play a spirited game of soccer, or drive in heavy traffic? How is it possible that we can keep an eye on a bunch of our younger siblings, knowing what each is doing, perhaps even thinking about doing? A system scientist would call these situations “complex dynamical systems” that have many elements and a multitude of interactions among the elements. In soccer, there are not only your team members to consider, but the opponent, the ball, the referees, and even the spectators to consider.

Yet when you are in the zone, it feels like you know where each player is, in which direction each one

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natural to us because we carry with us the traits honed and perfected over the many centuries of evolution.

given political approach and its opposite view may both be successfully supported by opposing politicians concurrently.

Complex systems are not limited to those for which nature has prepared us. We mostly live in an artificial environment surrounded by manmade systems. Although humans still maintain a complex society, and act as members in this social environment, there are still many other artificial complexities. Infrastructures such as electric and water utilities, the transportation networks, trade, heath-care systems, government and taxation, are all complex systems. In fact, their complexity seems to be on the increasing. Not only are the elements of these systems become more and more sophisticated over the years, but also, as globalisation pushes to further unify and integrate, systems are getting larger and larger. A double whammy.

Artificial complex dynamical systems such as power grids and health-care must work well at all times. When such systems fail, there are severe and very unfortunate consequences. Since most of these systems are designed, built, and managed by us engineers and management scientists, it is up to us to make sure that these systems are robust. We must understand and predict their behaviour.

Evolution has given us our instincts to play soccer or act as members of a social group, but alas, it has not prepared us for the many artificial systems we must deal with in our everyday lives.

When power goes out as a result of some emergent behaviour of a large, tightly integrated power grid, we seem to be out of insights. When there are economic worries over taxes, spending cuts, government debt, we are often clueless as to why these things have happened, and what exactly is the best way to get back on track. Many such things seem inexplicable or even counter-intuitive. Is raising taxes to pay off government debt a good thing, or is it the very thing that could put another nail in the economic coffin? One thing is for sure.

There are no shortages of politicians with political views on every conceivable approach to such dilemmas. The politicians may be charismatic and motivating, even convincing. However, rarely do any of these approaches seem to be driven by solid scientific facts. On the contrary, facts presented as statistical data almost seem to be manipulated to arrive at the desired conclusions. That is why a

This is where things get a little difficult.

Generally speaking, our scientific knowledge is not at a level where we can predict the behaviour of complex systems simply by a static evaluation of its structure. Such complexity almost seems to resist any analytical attack to reveal its secrets. The term “analytical” means to break into its elements, study the elements, and then comprehend the system from their properties of its elements. The analytical method works well in, say, electrical engineering. If you understand the input-output behaviour of resistors, transistors, and such, you could then write equations that combine all the elements to describe the system. Such mathematical tools work well for circuits. They also work well for gears and levers, even for chemical reactions.

Yet, each complex system does have its own peculiar traits, its own idiosyncrasies, its own way of running. Perhaps our science cannot yet extract such behavioural properties for a given arbitrary complex system. Nonetheless, we can quite easily familiarise ourselves with the behaviour of a system, get to know it as it is, as it were. Humans have a way of relating to complex systems. Commonly, we personify a complex system, describing it as if it were a living thing. I am sure you have heard someone say “my computer hates me today” many times. We all understand the phrase and we all know that computers are void of human emotions.

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The computer with its diverse set of hardware and software components and multitude of interactions among these components is a good candidate to be viewed as a living breathing entity with its own quirks and caprices. In fact, as one gets to know his computer, he relates to it as if it was a living thing.

“I always wait a few seconds before closing this application”, a friend said just recently, otherwise my computer does not like it and locks up. This was not a rule that was gleaned from a systematic study of the computer hardware and software. It was simply knowledge that was acquired by experience. In fact, we are so apt in remembering such behavioural patterns that sometimes we observe, remember, and act, almost with no conscious awareness. As if the inanimate but complex object were a member of our society, with which we must learn to coexist.

Science may not yet have the tools for us to comprehend the behaviour of a complex system just by dissecting it. For instance, it is currently out of the realm of science to tell what type of music one may like by studying each one of his individual cells. But we do have the capability to “get to know” a complex system. And that is a good thing. We could get to know and eventually predict the behaviour of complex systems we so critically depend on. But how could one get to know how a failure unfolds in systems such as power generation and distribution infrastructures, health-care systems, or transportation? We would not want to place these systems in failure modes to observe the subsequent misery they inflict on the society, just to “get to know” their behaviour, would we?

This is where systems modelling and simulation comes in. We would not want to mess with a real system upon which we so critically depend.

However, if we create an operationally faithful facsimile of the system, in this virtual world, we can play out all of the doom and gloom scenarios we want without inflicting and real pain or suffering.

Moreover, systems modelling is also a useful tool be-

fore the system is actually constructed. Before large investments are made to build a complex system, during the design phase, we could build a model and play out its behaviour. The system design parameters could be selected in relation to the best performance and highest reliability. All this, done in a virtual world, would indeed save us time and money in the long run.

For a systems modelling approach to be useful, first the model must be built to closely mimic the real system. This is a science and an art in and of itself. The model must be detailed enough to duplicate the traits and behaviour of the real system, while being uncomplicated enough to be built and executed. Then, we must be able to run the model many times and observe its responses. We must be able to play a large number of “what if ” games on the model. The model should execute quickly and display its behaviour openly. The model building process must have a healthy amount of verification as well. We must be confident that the model, as it executes, actually parallels the real system in its behaviour. This requires a bit of science as well. But at the end, all this work is worth the effort, as we can then study the critical complex systems upon which we all depend in an “off line” manner, so to speak.

With the advent of more powerful computers, systems modelling is becoming quite the thing to do. We have economic models, climate models, models of galaxy interactions, models of fluid dynamics, etc. It appeared in the news services last week, as you may have seen, that a systems model run on a supercomputer has predicted revolutions in many parts of the world. Well, let us hope that these are peaceful revolutions. But one thing is for sure: Systems modelling is a fundamental tool for the new century. As industrial engineers and management scientists who are responsible for designing and running complex manufacturing, transportation, and service systems, we are lucky to have systems modelling in our toolbox. n

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CAREEr

ESTIEM and Instead of writing the typical “ARKWRIGHT is a great employer” article, I have decided to try a more personal approach. I will share with you why I decided to join ARKWRIGHT after my active ESTIEM years with two board terms in 1992 and 1993 and why I still think that this was a good move.

Seventeen years ago my active ESTIEM life came to sudden end when I went to Australia to write my master thesis. When I think back ESTIEM is what I will always remember from my student days.

It still puzzles me how determined the “early” ESTIEMers from Austria, Finland, Germany, Holland, Norway and Sweden were, to build a new European student organisation. In only three years we managed to create a network of more than 40 student groups, many of them located in Eastern Europe. Please have in mind that this was a time without Email and reliable telephone lines in many countries. With hindArkwright Consulting AG sight one of the reasons for our deterAn der Alster 82 mination was the democracy move20099 Hamburg ment and the fall of the Berlin wall.

Germany Unlike today European unification was Phone: +49 40 2716 6221 popular in all relevant segments of society with students playing a very active role.

Coming home from Sydney in 1995 I was confronted with a difficult decision. How could I find a job that is as rewarding and interesting as being a board member of ESTIEM? Timing was good and I had more than a dozen interviews with consulting firms and large corporations. I developed a complicated decision matrix taking into account all sort of criteria. And at the end of the day I made a decision

that cannot be called fact-based. It was purely emotional. ARKWRIGHT, a strategy consulting firm of Scandinavian origin, felt a bit like ESTIEM in the early days with its strong Scandinavian presence.

Many of my friends and family could not understand my choice of employer. Why accept an offer from a company that has only started an office in Germany recently when offers from well established companies were on the table? I suppose my entrepreneurial genes that were fostered by ESTIEM were too strong. I just liked the challenge to work in a company with many international projects and the determination to build a strong presence in Germany and the rest of Europe.

The first six years at ARKWRIGHT were fascinating. I quickly climbed up the career ladder and was made responsible for our German operations.

On our mission to grow a pan-European company we got a lot of tailwind from the new economy.

Only the sky seemed to be the limit. And then the bubble burst in the aftermath of 9/11. It became apparent that we had made fundamental mistakes. The biggest one was that we changed our culture too fast and failed to adhere to our own values.

T his was a valuable learning experience.

Together with Martin Schimpke (ESTIEM president of 2002) I made an effort to rebuild ARKWRIGHT in Germany on a more solid foundation. Over the last nine years we have built a substantial consulting business with many brand name clients. We paid a lot of attention to our values and our distinct culture. As a principle we are very selective when it comes to experienced hires. We recruit graduates directly from university. No need to say that

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about two thirds of our staff has an IEM degree. Many were active ESTIEMers and this appears to be a key to success.

Over t he last decade ARKWRIGHT has sponsored local ESTIEM events on a continuous basis and many of my ARKWRIGHT colleagues are regular participants of ESTIEM meetings. My personal involvement was very limited. I did not even make it to the annual ESTIEM Alumni meetings.

ARKWRIGHT kept me busy and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my wife and kids.

CAREER Career

native speaker for extensive research and thanks to ESTIEM we were able to generate more than a dozen qualified applications from senior IEM students and graduates over just a week-end!

T his compelling example shows that ARKWRIGHT can benefit a lot from ESTIEM. At the same time we offer very attractive career perspectives to Ingolf Putzbach is Managing E S T I E M-g row n I E M g raduPartner at ARKWRIGHT ates and young professionals.

A R K W R IGH T is k nown for ingolf.putzbach@arkwright.de its long-term relationships with +49 40 2716 6214 large international clients. We have a very open culture and put a strong emphasis on training.

Then a family visit to Vienna coincided with Spirit in combination with trust, dedication and rethe 2011 ESTIEM Alumni meeting. I met many of sults is one of our core values. Since we are actively the old ESTIEM buddies and the current ESTIEM looking for talents with entrepreneurial genes, we board. The meeting was quite a revelation for me. offer early participation in the ARKWRIGHT partFun-wise ESTIEM has not changed a bit, but at the nership. same time it has developed into a professional and very mature organisation with a remarkably strong A lesson that I have learnt over the past 16 years European network. of my professional career is that there is still far too little exchange between students and professionals.

Now that the promises of the new economy This is why I invite all ESTIEMers to actively use were actually delivered (e.g. mobile Internet, web the ESTIEM Alumni network. Get in touch with me communities), the network is more accessible and us and get a better idea about what you want to and powerful than ever. For me as a partner at do in your professional life. With LinkedIn, XING ARKWRIGHT this means that I have even bigger and other platforms access is easier than ever. And opportunities to find excellent graduates and in- for some of you ARKWRIGHT may be an interestterns. This realisation comes at the right point in ing option. n time, since we are once again in expansion mode.

Being well established in Europe’s currently most successful economies is a good basis. We are look- ARKWRIGHT is looking for IEM graduates and students intering at concrete opportunities for permanent offices ested in a career in strategy consulting and corporate finance as Intern (students) in other markets where we already have business Business Analyst (bachelor degree) or with clients. An excellent example how valuable Associate Consultant (master degree). the ESTIEM network can be in this context is our most recent assignment in Portugal. We needed a

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Being an intern at Read here how Moritz Wilke, ESTIEM Student Guide Project Leader in 2008-2009 experienced his internship at Procter&Gamble!

MORITZ WILKE

Where did you do your internship and what did it consist of?

I did my internship at Procter&Gamble in Germany, Kronberg (near Frankfurt), in the Information & Decision Solutions (IDS) department, which is a part of Global Business Services.

IDS is using technology to improve the way P&G does business. While I was there I was part of a team that implemented a software solution for the customer service operations of whole Western Europe. My role was in Cutover Management, so I was involved in planning that one day on which we changed the whole system from the old one to the new one. This was pure project management.

I was requesting information, coordinating worksteps and following up on things that had to be accomplished within deadlines. A great challenge in a project that involves hundreds of people from all around the world and different external partners.

What was your best day at work?

The day when we made the Go/No-Go decision, the point-of-no-return. The core project team gathered in a meeting room together with the management, and people from all the departments involved were either present or on the phone. Then each department and the management, from the business as well as from the technical side, had to give their sign-off. As a result, we shut down the system that had been the core of P&G’s European business operations for about twenty years. A truly historical moment in P&G’s customer service operations.

What was your biggest learning at work?

What I really learned was to be persistent. If you want something from people who have a high

workload - what often happens in the final stage of a project - you learn how persistent you have to be to meet your own deadlines.

What do you see as the biggest similarity between ESTIEM and P&G?

Having worked in several Europe-wide projects in ESTIEM, I felt like home at P&G from the very beginning. I was in a quite international team, spread mainly around Europe but also the USA, India and the Philippines. Therefore, a lot of the work was done in virtual teams. Communication via e-mails, messenger and phone conferences were already familiar to me so ESTIEM was an ideal preparation.

Would you recommend an internship at P&G for other ESTIEMers and if so, why?

P&G offers great opportunities for ESTIEMers.

As I mentioned before, if you have worked in ESTIEM you are already well prepared. At P&G you find an international work environment, room for your ideas and the chance to take real responsibilities as an intern. So, yes, I can recommend it.

What is the one piece of advice you have for future applicants?

I cannot really say do this or that and you will get an offer. As an ESTIEMer you have good chances because you are likely to possess the qualities P&G is looking for. As you get your own project you will be responsible for, I would say it is important to show initiative. You should see yourself what input you need for your project and reach out for it. If you are someone who likes to be told exactly what to do, probably P&G is not the right company for you. n More information on www.pgcareers.com

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They know Carl Zeiss now In April, Carl Zeiss ceased to be an unknown with the ESTIEM network. Around 200 industrial engineering students learned more about the main sponsor of the last Council Meeting in Karlsruhe. The event was also a success for Carl Zeiss: many participants see the company as an attractive employer.

The Carl Zeiss Group is a leading group of companies operating worldwide in the optical and optoelectronic industries. Carl Zeiss offers innovative solutions for the future-oriented markets of Medical and Research Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Eye Care and Lifestyle Products. The company has approximately 24 000 employees worldwide, including more than 10 000 in Germany. That’s as far as the theory goes.

T he company presented itself to around 200 participants as the main sponsor of the last ESTIEM Council Meeting in Karlsruhe. The company used various workshops to introduce prospective employees to the company. For example, the participants together with Dr. Ulf Lehmann, Vice President of Corporate Global Supply Chain, looked at how value creation at Carl Zeiss works.

Bernhard Just, Senior Vice President of Corporate Human Resources, provided an overview of the career opportunities and encouraged the students to be innovative, not just for Carl Zeiss. The cooperation with ESTIEM could lead to a “successful and sustainable collaboration,” emphasized Dr. Daniel Tasch who is in charge of personnel development.

Thorsten Burchert from human resources organised the cooperation. “It was a very successful event,” he summarizes. The participants confirmed

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Dr. Ulf Lehmann and his team closely follow the presentation of the results from the global supply chain workshop.

his opinion: before Carl Zeiss began its partnership with ESTIEM and used the meeting as a platform to present itself, only a handful of the organisation’s members were familiar with the name Carl Zeiss. The 200 up-and-coming engineers know now who Carl Zeiss is as shown by a subsequent survey. Furthermore, Carl Zeiss is one of the top 5 most popular employers* along with Audi, Bosch, BMW and Lufthansa for recent engineering graduates. “Our mission was a success: they know Carl Zeiss now,” states Thorsten Burchert.

The success of the event means that the cooperation will be expanded in the future. Initial contact has been made to local groups such as the university group of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

The event was not only an eye-opener for the students; Carl Zeiss also learned that the target group of industrial engineers is particularly important for Carl Zeiss, not just in Germany, but throughout Europe. n *10 companies were surveyed: Carl Zeiss, Bosch, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Lufthansa, Thyssen Krupp, Mahle, Siemens and Voith.

Bernhard Just, Senior Vice President of Corporate Human Resources at Carl Zeiss AG, t alking with around 200 ESTIEM members at the last Council Meeting in Karlsruhe.

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WANTED: Beautiful minds Master's Programme in Global Management of Innovation and Technology We at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) invite you to join our high-standard, cross-cultural education and research community. Make one the most important decisions for your future and study with us – we promise to make your investment worthwhile.

The Department of Industrial Management at LUT is the oldest Finnish unit in the field, as well as the largest research and training unit of its kind in the Nordic countries. The department offers high quality education which has been

recognized in Finland with the national center of excellence award and also internationally with the ASIIN e.V.-accreditation.

These quality labels are certificate of high-class engineering education, and a guarantee of continuous development. The two-year master’s programme is taught in English and leads to the degree of Master of Science in Technology.

Please contact for further information: Ms. Riitta Salminen, Coordinator + 358 40 717 2670, riitta.salminen@lut.fi

[ The next application period is 2nd January – 14th February 2012 ]

www.lut.fi/gmit

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Erasmus at Grenoble INP studying, skiing, savouring!

What do you have in mind when you think about life in France?

Croissants and baguettes? Castles and vineyards? Strikes and bureaucracy?

France, as all the travel agencies describe it! Some days later, after the first unsuccessful effort to get a student card (no student card without a passport copy, no passport copy without a copy card, no copy card without a student card), I got stuck in a tram because the driver was striking. This was the moment when I finally accepted that France actually is as people told me – and that quite some of the prejudices are true.

But in the months that followed, I not only started to love those little things we expect the French to do and which they are really doing – I also made

JUDITH HARTL

When I arrived in Grenoble in September 2010 to spend my Erasmus semester there, I was absolutely intent on ignoring prejudices and only rely on my own experiences. I got out the night train with my backpack, suitcase and too many bags, curious to discover this country and open for new impressions… What happened next? My French roommate came to pick me up at the train station, and after getting rid of my luggage, we dropped by a bakery to buy a baguette. We took the baguette up the mountain to the castle, from where you have a great view over Grenoble and the mountains, and had our first glass of red wine together. Savoir-vivre en

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a lot of experience out of the box that made me realise that life in France is about so much more than good food and a tongue twisting language.

In short, my time in Grenoble could be divided in three categories: The time I spent studying and doing university stuff, the time I spent exploring Grenoble and surroundings, and the time I spent partying or trying to find a party. To start with the last one: First rule I had to learn here – come early or you are going to miss the fun! Nightlife in Grenoble starts at 8 pm with food and ends around 1 am with the barman or security guy kicking you out. But French students are creative, and more than once we ended up partying with 20 people in a 10-square-metre-cellar or organising a picnic in the park at 3 am.

That made it sometimes hard to go to university the next morning – but as groups are small and students are expected to attend their classes, there was no choice. I guess I gave the impression of being quite helpless in the first weeks; three years of French at school are not enough to follow the professor’s explanations about supply chains and simulation software. I found myself in situations where I was just nodding, smiling and saying “Oui oui, en fait” although I didn’t get a word. But this became better, and at the end of the semester I was able to follow all those many discussions and debates that came up during classes.

But Erasmus is of course much more than studying – and Grenoble is much more than science and universities! During the weekends, holidays and free afternoons, there was plenty of time to explore the region around Grenoble. Hiking in the mountains, skiing in the big resorts nearby, visiting small villages and cities – there is so much to discover! One of my favourites was a one-week

trip to Provence in autumn – some friends we met in Grenoble invited us to stay at their places and we also took advantage of the current strikes – which meant that the conductors were not controlling tickets and we could take the trains for free.

We discovered the alternative and multicultural neighbourhoods of Marseille, visited the Popes’ Palace in Avignon, and enjoyed the beach life near Montpellier – probably the best and cheapest holidays of my life!

One last highlight has to be mentioned here: the ESTIEM Vision seminar we organised together with Local Group Lyon in December 2010. I not only had the opportunity to see how other Local Groups are working, but also could contribute to the organisation and experienced great team spirit and motivation.

So, long story short: I look back to some great months with wonderful memories, lasting impressions, interesting people and new friends! If I were you, I would not hesitate any longer and start preparing a semester abroad... Grenoble would definitely not be the worst place to go to! n

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Explore Europe

Karlsruhe

A semester in

Before explaining the milestones of my exchange semester, I need to give some background information to tell how everything started. After finishing my newbie year at Istanbul Technical University, I decided to apply for an exchange semester abroad. My aim was simple: improving my German. Therefore I wrote three German-speaking universities in the application form, Karlsruhe being my second choice without knowing anything about the city - at that time I was not active in ESTIEM. I joined ESTIEM a bit later, four months after receiving an e-mail telling me that my application in Karlsruhe was rejected - I missed the chance by one person. Through my activeness within ESTIEM, I experienced that Karlsruhe was a very active Local Group consisting of really cool people. I was then hoping to be able to study in a city where I knew friends from ESTIEM... But my plans for the upcoming year turned out to be unnecessary when I received another e-mail asking whether I would like to study in Karlsruhe for the following semester due to a late cancellation. Now I guess you can understand better my enthusiasm in the first paragraph.

If you are planning to study abroad, one of the basic needs is to look for a place to stay at. Generally universities help at this point, if not your friends.

That was basically my case. University helped me

to get a room at the dormitory, starting a couple of weeks after my arrival. Thus, I had to find another place until then. This was the first time I contacted Local Group Karlsruhe for help, and they have always done a lot more than I asked for. They let me stay at their place for that time period, welcomed me at the Karlsruhe main train station, helped with my luggage, accompanied me to my temporary place, showed their great friendship, and last but not least, taught me really great German words and sentences that I will use for the rest of my life. ❱❱❱

ATAMERT ARSLAN

Every student exchange experience is special - that is for sure. However, mine was something extra-special, something really unique. Why? Because doing Erasmus at an ESTIEM university is cool. Being an exchange student is even cooler when you can get to know and even become a member of one of the most active Local Groups in ESTIEM. Until here it sounds perfect, right? And what if I also mention having a Council Meeting organised 10 minutes away from your dormitory one month after your arrival, and going to the General Assembly hall by bike? That is shortly how my Erasmus in Karlsruhe for the summer semester 2011 started.

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There is more to say about my time with Local Group Karlsruhe. The Council Meeting was indeed an interesting experience for me as representing Local Group Istanbul-ITU, but also sometimes showing people where to go for the next destination. Right after the CM, I became a better Local Group Karlsruhe member when I started to regularly attend their weekly meetings. Since the first meeting, during which everybody introduced himor herself, I have become “der Ausländer”(the foreigner) of Local Group Karlsruhe introducing myself “Well, I’m not really from here”. I used these words, not because I felt like a foreigner at all but just to have something in common to laugh about.

It seems to get quite funny when I pronounce this word, probably due to my accent.

After each meeting, it is a tradition for Local Group Karlsruhe to go to Oxford Café, where they offer famous cheeseburger and various types of beverages. You should definitely drop by there and have one of those. Apart from fulfilling my hunger, I was taking the chance to be with them for another benefit. Remember the words and sentences mentioned above? Well, I might not be the first person collecting sentences from local people and writing them in a notepad, but still it is something I would suggest for those willing to study abroad, if you have not thought about it before. Whenever I read out these sentences, no German person standing in front of me could resist laughing. Isn’t exploring the culture one of the aims of an exchange semester? Getting to know different ways of thinking serves this aim.

With this “technique”, it gets easier to make friends, and easier to blend in no matter where. I was basically collecting these new sentences every Tuesday at Oxford, practicing them with different people during the rest of the week until the following meeting, and having the same loop all over again until I got famous for some phrases. Meetings and Oxford Café were not the only places where I joined

the members of Local Group Karlsruhe. They also invited me to attend their Strategy Weekend, which took place out of town, and where they discussed the future of their association. I also took part in a company visit.

Have you heard of dialects? Probably yes, but you happen to get to know them better when you study abroad. In the beginning it was really hard for me to deal not only with German itself but also with its dialects. I knew the grammar very well but when it came to talking, I was lacking skills. These different dialects were making it even harder. Therefore I was always asking “Sprichst du Hochdeutsch?” (do you speak high German?). Hochdeutsch (High German) stands for the “standard” German taught at school.

It is mostly spoken in the region of Hannover, so at first I ended up staying close to high German speaking people, as their German was easier to understand and it was easier for me to practice with them.

As a matter of fact, the German dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg, the province where Karlsruhe is located, is still sometimes a problem for me. Even the motto of Baden-Württemberg is: “Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch.” (We can do anything.

Except speaking high German.) Still, I know that it is relatively easier to understand compared to the Bavarian (where Munich is located) dialect!

What about the city of Karlsruhe? Even though not everyone out of Germany has heard of this South-Western city, it is indeed a lovely small town.

Some people from bigger cities might think that it would be boring to live in a smaller place. Definitely not! After having lived in the really big cities Izmir and Istanbul, I found Karlsruhe quite sympathetic.

There you can run into your friends on the street, or even better in a bar. After some time you have the feeling that you know all the people living there, which binds you even more to the city. Karlsruhe is well known in Germany especially for its univer-

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sity (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), which is one of the top and the oldest technical universities within Germany. Its graduates are important people; for instance Karl Benz, regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, is originally from Karlsruhe. During summer 2011 the province of Baden-Württemberg celebrated for 125 days the 125th anniversary of the first invented car. Another Karl from Karlsruhe, Karl Drais invented the running machine (Draisine), namely bicycle without pedal, an idea that got further developed into the modern bicycle. As if proving the history, bicycle is a quite common transportation vehicle in Karlsruhe.

There are no hills at all, giving a great joy to ride a bike through the city. Since I am from a city where nobody can ride bike in the city centre not only because of high hills but also due to crazy drivers that always think they have the priority, I experienced some interesting moments in the transition period.

Going really crazy about the idea of riding a bike to school, I was sometimes riding so fast that I almost hit some pedestrians on the road, who expected me to slow down at the yellow light. On the other hand when I met a car at a zebra crossing, I always first waited for the car to continue, as I was used to in Turkey. Imagine what happens if the driver also waits for me, as they give the priority in Germany.

We ended up waiting together for a couple of seconds, which is a quite funny situation! It’s a good example of cultural differences, so to say.

Over 90% of the courses are offered in German, but do not be scared if you don’t like this; some of my Erasmus friends did manage to take English courses only. Personally, I had an equal number of German and English courses. At first I could barely understand what the teachers said but as time passed by, and hanging out with the right friends (not always Erasmus students as you generally speak English with them) it got easier to deal with. One

small advice, if signing up for an exam besides signing up to the course sounds unfamiliar for you too, you better be quick to do so. Otherwise you might end up missing the deadline for the exam like I did.

It’s just a small hint, which could save you one lecture or, in other words, your time in the future.

The weather in Baden-Württemberg is said to be the best in Germany, so is it for Karlsruhe, another advantage for living in Karlsruhe. But it took me some time to get used to it, because it is quite cold in the summer, especially for a guy used to getting burnt during hot summer days. One interesting point is that the plans of Karlsruhe are said to have inspired the plans of Washington City. For example, streets both in Washington and Karlsruhe radiate from the centre in kind of sunbeams. The centre in Karlsruhe is the palace, surrounded by lots of gardens where you can have a picnic, play games and so on. Since it rains really often in Germany, at least compared to Turkey, you happen to see forests everywhere. The air quality therefore is pretty good, I would say.

As shown with these examples, Karlsruhe is more than just a small city in South-West Germany.

Surprisingly, it has a lot to offer, considering it is not known that much outside of Germany. To be honest I did not know either that such a city existed before I joined ESTIEM. But now I am extremely happy to have studied there, got to know Local Group Karlsruhe alongside with the other people living and studying there and most important, I experienced some of the best moments of my life. If you haven’t studied abroad yet, I hope you get that chance and experience even better moments in the future.

Es läuft für den Ausländer! – A common German expression that is used to say: you’re satisfied with the conditions! At least that’s how I use it. n

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SILKY MEMORIES FROM COMO

Studying at Politecnico di Milano, Italy

NAZLI GİZEM ÖZBEK

I like to imagine life as an on-going journey that is made up of many crossroads. With each direction that we take, we give up on the rest. The decisions we make shape the path of our individual journey, and we never truly know what would have happened if we had taken the “other” way.

My Italian adventure started right after arriving at the fourth major crossroad of my life at the age of 23. Going to Como and studying Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano was a decision that I took after carefully weighing the pros and cons - and yes, at that moment I didn’t even know what a SWOT analysis was, even though I was a Mechanical Engineering graduate!.

I was already acquainted with Politecnico di Milano through my Erasmus Exchange Program

back in 2007. I wanted to get a Master’s degree in Management, improve my Italian, meet people not just from one culture but from all around the world, and while doing all this, enjoy the best cappuccino ever. Next thing I knew, I was on the plane from Istanbul to Milan and the second thing I knew, I was on the train from Milan to Como.

For those of you that have read about or visited Como, it is a small, peaceful and rainy city in the north of Italy. A one-hour train ride takes you from Milan, the industry and fashion capital of Italy, to Como, the touristic city famous for its soft silk, gorgeous lake and sexy (oops!) handsome George Clooney. The Como campus of Politecnico di Milano houses three Master’s programs, namely Management, Computer and Environmental Engineering, all of which are carried out in English.

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Hence, Como is the right place for those students who want an international study environment, spiced up with the Italian way of life.

The program lasts for two years and is oriented along the three important tracks that used to make up its previous name: Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering. During these two years, students are expected to complete eleven courses and a final thesis work. The courses can be chosen to some extent, where students need to pick a certain number of courses from each group. The thesis work is also flexible and three different options exist. People who do an internship can do a project that adds a maximum of three points to the final score, those that can devote more time and do more research can write a “tesina” which contributes up to maximum five points, and lastly a thesis which requires more in-depth research but also rewards a maximum of seven points to the final score.

Most courses have a project and a final exam.

Doing well on the projects, going to class or at least studying the course notes from the slides, helps a lot on the finals. The system is very flexible, so even if you fail an exam or are not satisfied with the score, you still have a lot of chances to repeat it, which is great for us students.

Another nice thing about Polimi (short for Politecnico di Milano) and Como & Milan is that you are in a strategic central position to travel a lot around Europe. And when I say a lot, I mean it! EasyJet, Ryanair and Trenitalia are the saviours of many students as well as car rental companies.

From the food perspective, there is delicious pizza, pasta, vino and gelato all over Italy, all with the real Italian taste and style, but try tasting them while looking at the beautiful view of Lake Como, especially when the sun is setting down.

For me, this decision at the fourth crossroad led me to nice places, nice people and nice occasions so far. I suggest you to go to Como for a Master in Management Engineering and go through the same places, but with different people and in a different time frame that will make your experience significant and unique. After all, the important thing is to have the best possible and most enjoyable journey as a result of the choices that we make. My journey through Como turned out to be spectacular and very memorable, and this even without seeing George Clooney in person! n

Solution of the crossword of the 40th issue 1 2

Enough about academics? I thought so! Coming to the cultural part of this Master’s program, what I can say for sure is that meeting international students was the most beneficial and fun aspect. You get to learn different points of view, see different approaches to similar situations and work in teams with people from literally all around the world.

You cook, eat, drink, walk, dance, play sports, study, party, cry, smile and laugh with them in those 2-3 years. With a few, you make close bonds that you will always keep no matter how distant the countries are on the map. Now I’m touched again… Hey, Como people of 2009-2011! Miss you a lot already.

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AGENDA

Check the latest updated event information at www.estiem.org and register for your favourite events through the ESTIEM portal. See you somewhere in Europe!

NOVEMBER 2011 13th-19th Post Council Meeting Balkan Trip | Ankara to Belgrade 18th-19th EPIEM Conference | Groningen 20th-27th Vision - Crisis and Change Management 101 | Grenoble-Lyon

FEBRUARY 2012 31 Jan-3rd TIMES Semi-Final | Linkรถping 13th-19th Vision - Changing Technology | Helsinki-Tampere 20th-24th TIMES Semi-Final | Sevilla 28th-4th Vision - Be Prepared | Trondheim

DECEMBER 2011 12th-18th Training new Trainers | Siegen 13th-18th Vision - Energy, the Power of Change | Karlsruhe 5th-12th European School of Entrepreneurship 2011 | Catania

MARCH 2012 Beginning Europe3D Vojvodina | Novi Sad 4th-10th Vision - Corporate Crisis, Quo Vadis? | EnschedeGroningen

JANUARY 2012 3rd-6th TIMES Semi-Final | Cambridge 9th-13th TIMES Semi-Final | Ilmenau 16th-20th TIMES Semi-Final | Paderborn 16th-20th TIMES Semi-Final | Darmstadt 21st-26th Ski-Activity Week | Darmstadt 22nd- 28th ESTIEM Innovation Days | Lappeenranta 23rd-27th TIMES Semi-Final | Lund

APRIL 2012 Mid-April Europe3D Greece | Chios 10th-15th TIMES Final | Stockholm 15th-22nd Vision - Financial Crisis, Lessons Learned? | Ilmenau-Darmstadt April Europe3D Portugal | Porto-Coimbra

MAY 2012 30Apr - 6th Council Meeting | Warsaw 9th-13th Vision - Pre-crisis | Famagusta 15th-20th LR Forum | Eindhoven 22nd - 27th Vision Final Conference | Vienna

Pursue your Industrial Engineering Master’s Program in the Netherlands?

What about the masters Innovation Management or Operations Management & Logistics at Eindhoven University of Technology?

www.tue.nl/masterprograms/oml www.tue.nl/masterprograms/im

Where innovation starts

European Symposium on Research and Education in Industrial Engineering and Management

Integration of business and engineering in education and research

Embedding IE&M in two academic cultures: business and science

18-19 November 2011 University of Groningen The Netherlands

European Professors of Industrial Engineering and Management

www.epiem.estiem.org

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