Today marked the final day of the project: presentation day.
Each group offered their solution to Patryk and the professors. The Belgian students mostly covered the technical parts, while the Polish students offered the financial/economical insights.
After five rounds of presentations, complete with feedback from professors and CEO’s, all gathered upstairs for the certification ceremony. Here each student was awarded their international project certificate.
And with that, the eventful week and project came to a close.
We gave our thanks to the professors and Patryk for making the week possible, and guiding us through the tumultuous project. Many students went out that night, to experience a final round of international company. As the night grew closer, we finally offered our final rounds of goodbyes and went our separate ways.
We continued to work on the solutions. Seeing as this was the final day of actual project time, we had to put ourselves to work. While the Belgian students racked their brains trying to get their solutions working, the Polish students prepared the presentation which will follow tomorrow. There we will present our solutions to the professors, as well as Patryk.
As the sun began setting, students and professors alike came together one last time for the closing dinner. The university had arranged a restaurant where pizza kept coming and we made sure none of it went to waste. The atmosphere was warm, the company even warmer, and more than a few glasses were raised to the days we’d shared together.
….
Though the mood was high, there was no escaping the bittersweet feeling hanging in the air. Everyone knew that tomorrow would be the last day and that goodbyes were slowly but surely creeping closer.
Wednesday marked the third day of the project, and the day we could finally start implementing our solution.
But before we could do anything, we needed objective feedback. Lucky for us, this was the day Patryk came back to answer our remaining questions. Upon giving us the green light, we finally built a clear and complete picture of the problem. No more assumptions, just direction.
With that out of the way, we got to work. We were aware of the task at hand; the only thing left was figuring out the how. To get us up to speed, Mr. Vangampelare taught a crash course in Power Automate, walking us through the basics of how the low-code platform works and what it’s capable of.
This offered us exactly what we needed to bridge the gap between our idea and the actual implementation. Following the course, we were able to start building our solutions.
As for the evening, no activities were planned, which after two packed days was honestly a welcome break. A chance to recharge, catch up, and mentally prepare for the remaining two busy days ahead.
On the second day of the project we continued where we left off the day prior. We were assigned to internally discuss and research the current business processes. It is essential that we build a deep understanding of how the processes work in their current state and which elements could use improvement.
Assumption is the enemy of facts.
Frederic Vlummens
This was an interesting day filled with discussion and sharing personal perspectives. We quickly noticed the differences between the Polish Economic students’ perspectives and the Belgian students’ immediate thoughts on IT possibilities.
Patryk will be coming back tomorrow to confirm that we built a correct understanding of the assignment, what elements need to change, and to answer any remaining questions we have.
After a full day of courses and research, it was time for something different: bowling! Belgian and Polish students alike headed to the bowling alley for an evening of friendly competition, false starts, and balls that, for some reason, always seemed to end up in the gutter. One seemed a natural-born champion, while another claimed the lane was tilted.
We met at the University of Economics Katowice (UE Katowice). For those who planned ahead and booked an airbnb close to the university it was a short walk. However for Beau, who didn’t possess as much foresight, it was a hefty walk. Nonetheless, we usually arrived on time.
It started off with an introduction to our Polish teammates for the project. Each team consisted of 2 Belgian IT students and 2 Polish finance students. To break the ice, each nationality took turns laughing at how the other party attempted to pronounce their names, and made some small talk.
After the initial introductions we received some short history lessons on Poland, UE Katowice, Belgium, and the collaboration between the universities. The lecturers used the opportunity to introduce themselves and their respective roles.
Finally, the professors informed us on the true nature of the project. We were introduced to Patryk, who is an alumni of UE and now runs a quickly growing logistics company.
He challenged each group with automating a business process present in his company. He presented 4 weak processes that were costing him money, time, and manpower. It was our goal to try and find a solution.
In the evening the university held a cultural food/drink exchange. Before we partook in the Polish delicacies (mostly vodka), the dancing group of the university performed traditional national dances, which included high pitched screams from the women to grab the viewers’ attention.
Unfortunately, due to airport security, we couldn’t bring Belgium’s greatest cultural staple from home: beer. However, we did find some Belgian beers in the Polish chain store ‘zabka’. Our table consisted of chocolate, Cuberdons, waffles, gin, Jules de stroopere cookies…
The polish table was filled with (a lot of) vodka, meat and other traditional Polish foods.
To say the least, we had a blast sharing food and drinks.
We traveled from Belgium to Katowice, which was quite an undertaking. First a train to Brussels, then the flights: some of us flew direct to Katowice, while others had a layover in Frankfurt or Warsaw. From Katowice airport it was one more bus into the city itself. Luckily it was a pleasant 20°C with the sun shining.
In the afternoon the group went their separate ways. Some headed to the pool table for a bit of friendly competition, while others set off to explore the city center.
In the evening we were invited for a drink at the hotel where the teachers were staying. There, we were introduced to the full group, the teachers, and the Polish professor who was leading the project. It was a great opportunity to get to know everyone before the start of the week.
A few of us went looking for the most Polish-sounding beer we could find and settled on Žatecký. Only afterwards did we discover that it was actually Czech. It didn’t compare to the beer we have at home, but after a long day of travel, that didn’t matter anymore.
