And the winners are ....

The winners, their promotors and organiser Martine Broekaert (IBM University relations) in the middle and CEO IBM Belgium Bart van Den Meersche at the left

Last Wedensday, December 10, we have had the pleasure to celebrate at the IBM Forum in our HQ premises, the winners of 2008 Students Innovation Contest.

The winners of the contest edition 2008 are:

In the Category Bachelor Students:

Joeri Meurisse from the Universiteit Gent
Nathalie Janssens also from the Universiteit Gent
Ben Van Rompuy from the Universiteit Antwerpen and Jens Verbeken from the Hogeschool Gent (ex eaquo)

In the category Master Students:

Gonçalo Reis and Jaap Baarends from Solvay / V.U.Brussel (duo submission)
Stijn Polfliet from the Universiteit Gent
Tom Rochtus from the UCLouvain

In the category PhD- students (only two submissions)

Dominik Mahr from the Universiteit Antwerpen
Kasra Samiei from the Université du Luxembourg

Congratulations to these brilliant young people and many thanks to all participants ! Success to all of you in your studies and future undertakings.

Rules of the game

Dear Student, Dear Innovator of tomorrow, Welcome at our “2008 Belux Students Innovation Contest” blog !

We would like to help you to become one of the innovators of this world. As a researcher, as a consultant, as a teacher, as a sales engineer, as a manager or as a leader of your own enterprise. The 21st century, or should we say “YOUR 21st century” is full of opportunities for people who look into the future. People who are not afraid of taking initiatives, chase on opportunities, so people who are ready to innovate the world and themselves.

IBM has been going through change and innovation constantly. We were known as a technology leader during the 20th century. This has changed. Today, we are solving our clients’ complex business management problems, we redefine business strategies, we are active in applications integration, and we are still leaders in leading edge hardware and software technology.

Today IBM invites you to participate at the 2008 Belux Students’ Innovation Contest !!

Write a two page paper of about 1000 words with your creative thoughts on how you think a 21st century, innovative company should look like to make it attractive to you.
Send this paper to students_contest@be.ibm.com before November 25th, 2008 (watch the "_" underscore in the e-mail address).

Be creative and bring original ideas ! Think out of the box !! Briefly describe the enterprise that you would like to work at. Describe what it does for its customers. What is your role in that enterprise (in the beginning of your career and after ten years), tell us about the spirit in that company, the fun and social contacts, the other people you’re working with, the role of the management, the customers, ….. You can tell us about your salary and bonuses and all the benefits you’re dreaming of (here you really can be very creative) AND of course explain why all this is so important to you and why it should be there.
Get some inspiration on You Tube, and on some other related websites. You can find a lot of inspiration on the sites listed in the left column of this blog.

We have organized this contest in three categories: one for the best bachelor students works, one for the best master students works and one for the best PhD students works ! The 3 best proposals in each category will receive money awards of resp. 750, 500 and 250 euro!! Go for it !

Rules of the game and practical guidelines:

a) The contest is open to all regular students (bachelor, master or PhD) which are duly registered on December 1, 2008 at a Belgian or Luxembourg School of Higher Education (University, Business School or Hogeschool/Haute-Ecole)

b) Write a paper of about 1000 words, that is about 2 pages A4 in normal letter size (10), in English (international jury!), with as a title: “The 21st Century enterprise where I would like to work”

c) Forward it as from today to IBM at students_contest@be.ibm.com by November 25, 2008 at the latest, mentioning at the top of the document your e-mail address, your name, school and class and the students category you’re belonging to (bachelor/master/PhD)

d) The number of subscriptions per person is not limited ! We do not want to withhold creative young people from being creative!

e) A jury with delegates from IBM’s service consulting groups, from the sales organisation and support-teams, from the human resources organisation and from IBM Academic Relations will evaluate the papers and make the final ranking. The judgment of the jury and the list of the winners is final and cannot be discussed.

f) The 3 best proposals per category (bachelors, masters, PhD students) will receive money awards of resp. 750, 500 and 250 euro, based on the level of innovation, argumentation and motivation, the sound mix of business mind and people focus and overall readability of the paper.

g) The winners will be invited for the Prize ceremony on (NEW DATE !!) Wednesday December 10, 2 p.m. in Brussels IBM HQ, Evere.

h) Data of participants at this contest will be stored in our students data base. You may be invited for events and information - and innovation days. This information will not be used for any sales or marketing purposes. As a participant at this contest, you agree with the rules of this contest and you agree that the ideas that you submit may be published in the IBM innovation program or other initiatives and publications.

Any questions left? Send a mail to students_contest@be.ibm.com

Have fun !



















Have fun :-))