The national final of the 11th edition of the Young Enterprise Project (YEP) took place on Wednesday, 27th of April. Out of the 23 initial teams, 7 were selected to participate in this final.
In total, 73 students from different Bachelor and Master degrees of the University of Luxembourg and different BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur), from 5 different high schools (Ecole de Commerce et de Gestion, Ecole d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg, Lycée technique d’Ettelbruck, Lycée Guillaume Kroll and Lycée des Arts et Métiers), participated in the 2021-2022 edition.
A year-round programme
The YEP is a programme offered at the higher education level, through which students have to create a business plan, an empathy map and a prototype from an innovative product or service idea. Each team must identify an opportunity, develop a business plan and determine its viability.
The link between education and the business world is important for these young people
Each team is accompanied by a coach from the professional world. One of the strengths of the programme is that it creates an exchange between the students and experts in their field. In addition to working on a business plan, the students also learn important lessons and gain insights into the world of business.
Several trainings were also conducted this year. To support the teams in the initial phase of their project, the students received training on the Business Model Canvas by Nyuko, marketing training by Julie Didier from Yuzer, training on video creation by Nicolas Havé from Havé Films and Pitch Training sessions given by Philip Grother, expert/coach in presentations & storytelling.
A jury evaluated each team
Dominique Moeremans, professor at the ECG, Marina Guerin-Jabbour, executive at Huawei, Gilles Feipel, marketing director at Cactus, Thibaut Ciccone, event manager at nyuko, Philippe Linster, CEO of the House of Startups and Rudy Mazzalovo, managing director Europe Transformation Partnerships at Accenture, formed the jury for this 21/22 edition and accompanied and evaluated the participating teams throughout the year.
For the final, which took place at Melusina, each group had 4 minutes to present its project to the jury.
3 winning teams
The first prize was won by the “WeConnect” team composed of Clémentine Offner and Ivo Silva, Bachelor students at the University of Luxembourg. The concept is based on an online platform to connect young people looking for affordable housing with seniors/retirees who have rooms or studios available. This service addresses a major housing problem in Luxembourg and neighbouring countries that the team wants to solve by connecting generations. The team wants turn this project into a real company in the future.
Team coaches: Mathias Nimlin and Christian Gutenkauf
The second prize was awarded to the “ConnectiCouche” team composed of Bryan Mota, Henrique Santana, Kim Guedes and Steven Raach, BTS students from the Lycée Guillaume Kroll. The idea of this team is an innovation on the market of the Internet of Things (IOT). The objective is to create a sensor that will measure the temperature and humidity of the nappies of the care assistants’ patients. This sensor will send a notification to the caregiver as soon as necessary, notifying him/her of the person who needs to be changed first.
Team teachers: Catarina Simoes Pereira and Vittorio Siciliano
Team coach: Jennifer Popescu-Urbain
Third place went to the “Tell Me Bus” team. Dylan Rodrigues, Eduardo Filipe Ribeiro Sousa Alves, Jabes Oliveira Souza and Max Plümer from the Lycée Guillaume Kroll targeted the problem of visually impaired people wanting to use public transport. It is a mobile application that can be controlled by voice commands. This application will help and guide visually impaired people on their bus journeys, while providing real-time information on bus numbers and stops. This information is transmitted to the visually impaired in audio format.
Team teachers: Catarina Simoes Pereira and Vittorio Siciliano
Team coach: Benoit Dorard
Coup de coeur
During this edition, the jury awarded a special prize, a “Coup de Coeur”, to the “Luxembourg Farmer’s Market” team from the Ecole d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg. The team composed of Amy Palumbo, Charles Barthel, Lisa Pierrat, Pauline Muller and Wendy Gräff has the mission to organise a farmer’s market offering local products and workshops on the situation of small farmers in Luxembourg.
2 Alumni Leadership Awards
Bianca Thelen (Recipe 4U team, EHTL) and Cesar Fernandez (QuickSteps team, Uni.lu) received the Alumni Leadership Award from the Alumni Committee. This award is given to students who have demonstrated leadership qualities and the ability to lead their team.
