Wanted: a match between companies and students!

A business project in a realistic environment, the project is embedded in the context of a company. The company provides the problem, students get to know the context of the company, understand the problem and formulate a solution in consultation with the company.

The teams consist of four to five students. Given the context of the programme and the international background of the students, the working language of the project will be English. Where possible, a native speaker (Dutch, French) will be assigned to each project team.

We are looking for companies that take an innovative approach to their product, but also to the processes involved in manufacturing or marketing the product. Any link to the business plan or operational plan of a company is eligible. With a view to the future, an “e-component” will certainly add value.

We are looking for projects in the field of product innovation, market branding, marketing… extended to customer interaction (B2B, B2C or B2G) and links to a customer journey…

Projects that include elements of web-based collaboration, efficient processes, streamlining of processes that students can design and optimise, also fall within the scope of these business projects.

And, of course, projects that evolve at the intersection of the two previous principles can be formulated as issues.

Students always look for the “feasibility” of a solution based on effectiveness and an optimal cost-benefit analysis. Depending on the complexity of the issue, students will also initiate an implementation or a working demo…

Concrete examples of past projects? How can we use product A, which is strong in a B2C market, to also be strong in B2B? – How can we convert our marketing into e-marketing? – We want to enter the market abroad (EU) with an existing product. Is this sensible? Feasible? – We have a new product. How do we introduce it to the market? – We want to get to know and understand our customers better. What is our customer’s journey? Should we opt for cost leadership or exclusivity?

Or, optimising the operational processes of our e-commerce – Evaluating our inventory issues – Finding a solution for the bottlenecks in our sourcing – Mapping and optimising the information flow of our processes – Can we benefit from further automating (IoT) our production processes? – Can our distribution be more efficient? Finding or optimising locations for points of sale…

And, of course, there are many other possible issues…

The course is supervised by Professor Kris Pattyn, a former (and still somewhat current) serial entrepreneur, currently affiliated with KU Leuven, Brussels campus. He specialises in the intersection of business processes, operational processes and sourcing. At the Brussels campus, he is also responsible for the course components involving business projects in the third and fourth years. He supervises the students, both in the project process and in terms of content. This only increases the added value for your company!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact him at kris.pattyn@kuleuven.be.

Practical information: the project runs from mid-February to mid-May 2026. The students will present their projects in the last week of May 2026. You will be invited to attend.

At the beginning of February 2026, there will be a digital session for the business coaches, where the practical details will be outlined and you, as a business coach, will also be given additional background information.

Students will contact you from mid-February onwards to discuss the issue you have formulated and to plan a company visit. Depending on what is requested to be investigated, students will visit the company several times. It is certainly not the intention that students be permanently present at the company. Anything that can be discussed digitally can be done so via this channel.

Interested? But not sure? For more information, please contact Kris Pattyn. Have you formulated a project? Submit it via this link. (As the projects will be conducted in English, we ask that you also formulate them in English).

We look forward to receiving your fascinating issues!