Making an MP3 player an eligible product for environmentally conscious users: This was the task of teams of students from eight countries during the “Business Masters” competition at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology last week. For the first time, students from the Universität Karlsruhe won the first prize.
In their case studies, the twelve teams of young entrepreneurs had to adhere to the “green transportation” principle: Ecological awareness without limiting mobility. The Karlsruhe team “Deep Dive” submitted a convincing concept for a “green” MP3 player. Sebastian Walther, Heike Freund, and Philipp Wunderlich designed the value creation chain as environmentally compatible as possible: “We looked for possibilities of minimizing transport paths for delivery and distribution and, hence, reducing CO2 emissions”, underlined Walther. The team’s concept also included environmentally compatible production, recycling, and the reuse of the materials. Moreover, the students conceived a marketing campaign tailored to their product “GreenBeats”. “We are very happy about this first victory of a team from Karlsruhe” says Deep Diver Heike Freund. The team from Copenhagen Business School ranked second. The students from the Otto Beisheim School of Management at Koblenz were in third place.
For the sixth time already, the competition was organized by students from the Faculty of Economic Sciences of Universität Karlsruhe. Gero Tschierschke from Business Masters e. V. thinks that the charm of this event mainly lies in its internationality and in its closeness to practice: “Not only do the participants profit, also the organization team is given insight into rather professional case studies and the design of good solutions.”
The judgment panel comprised representatives of the Booz company and of BASF AG, the professors Gaul and Basedow as well as Nikolaus Maier and Christian Schwarzkopf from Business Masters e. V. They evaluated the solutions proposed in terms of their analytical quality, feasibility, innovative force, and the general impression of the presentation. The final was preceded by a selection round with 80 teams from all over the world.
Convincing presentation: The Karlsruhe team ”Deep Dive“
(from left to right: Philipp Wunderlich, Sebastian Walther, Heike Freund)
(Photo by: Business Masters e. V.)
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is the merger of the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, member of the Helmholtz Association, and the Universität Karlsruhe. This merger will give rise to an institution of internationally excellent research and teaching in natural and engineering sciences. In total, the KIT has 8000 employees and an annual budget of 700 million Euros. The KIT focuses on the knowledge triangle of research – teaching – innovation.
The Karlsruhe institution is a leading European energy research center and plays a visible role in nanosciences worldwide. KIT sets new standards in teaching and promotion of young scientists and attracts top scientists from all over the world. Moreover, KIT is a leading cooperation partner of industry.