Project Week in Focus: Students Tackle AI, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Across Programmes
Project Week in Focus: Students Tackle AI, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Across Programmes
Project Week in Focus: Students Tackle AI, Sustainability and Entrepreneurship Across Programmes
Students Tackle Industry Challenges Across Disciplines
Artificial intelligence, sustainability, entrepreneurship and digital transformation were among the themes explored by students across Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences during the May 2026 Project Week.
A core part of Wittenborg’s applied learning approach, Project Week places students in teams and asks them to work on real-world problems set by external organisations and industry partners. Working across programmes including MBA, MBM, BBA, EBA and OnCampus pathways, students spent the week researching, developing and presenting solutions to practical business and societal challenges.
Exploring AI Beyond ChatGPT
MBA and EBA students worked on a project commissioned by AI Captain, a company specialising in machine-learning education and AI training.
AI Captain was founded by AI and sailing enthusiasts Thomas Joosten, Wouter de Winter and Daniel Versteegh, who combined their interests to create a more hands-on approach to AI education. Instead of focusing only on classroom-based theory, the company uses applied learning where participants test outcomes in real settings.
Wittenborg’s Amy Abdou invited Versteegh, founder and chief engineer of AI Captain, to kick off Project Week. Versteegh develops course content as well as software and hardware components including sensors and steering systems for machine-learning training. The courses focus on building an autopilot system using pre-recorded sailing data, helping participants apply basic AI and machine-learning concepts in practice.
The student task focused on how AI Captain could make its training more accessible to business professionals without technical backgrounds. Students were asked to explore what non-technical professionals need to understand about artificial intelligence and how it is used in different industries.
Their research went beyond well-known AI tools like the large language models. They looked at uses such as predictive maintenance in industry, protein structure prediction through Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold, AI-based recruitment tools, and lending models that use alternative financial data.
A key finding was that, while AI tools are increasingly used for everyday tasks such as writing emails and reports, many organisations still lack clear policies. Data privacy and governance were recurring concerns.
Students turned their findings into suggestions for future AI Captain courses, including topics such as data scraping, data validation, AI implementation and EU AI Act compliance.
For James Greer, an EBA student in Entrepreneurship and Small Business at Wittenborg’s Amsterdam location, the project highlighted the importance of understanding the client’s needs.
“Put yourself in the company’s shoes,” he said. “Identify the problem they are asking you to solve and then work towards a practical solution.”
He added that Project Week gives students useful experience in working directly with real organisations and improving practical problem-solving skills.
Turning Business Ideas into Digital Systems
More than 80 MBA and MBM students took part in a separate Project Week in collaboration with Odoo, a business management software platform used by companies worldwide.
The project was coordinated by Wittenborg's Vanessa de Oliveira Menezes and Ali Ozdemir. Students were asked to develop their own product ideas and manage them using Odoo’s integrated tools, including ERP, CRM, accounting, inventory and e-commerce systems.
Arthur van der Haegen and Jim Janmart from Odoo’s training office in Belgium delivered workshops to help students understand how to use the platform.
The project focused on moving from idea to execution and gave students experience in how business operations are managed using digital systems.
The activity was also linked to the Job Fair in Apeldoorn, connecting the project to future employment opportunities.
Learning Entrepreneurship Through a Real Business Case
Students in the CEG and OnCampus programmes worked with Daniil Potapov, founder of Buzz Power Banks, a company that operates a network of power-bank rental stations across the Netherlands and other countries.
Potapov shared his experience of building the business, including both successes and challenges, and introduced students to basic concepts in sales, communication and business development.
His session included practical exercises where students worked in teams to research potential customers and develop simple sales approaches for organisations such as Schiphol Airport, McDonald’s, Jumbo and Efteling.
Students then worked on tasks based on real challenges facing Buzz Power Banks, including identifying franchise customers and developing sales and marketing strategies.
After the session, Potapov wrote on LinkedIn that “theory needs practice to stick” and said that Project Week exposed students to real business challenges the company is currently facing.
Green Skills and Sustainable Careers
Sustainability was the focus of another Project Week linked to Green4ADU, an Erasmus+ project coordinated by Wittenborg on green skills and adult learning.
The project was supported by an international webinar with speakers from research and practice in environmental and social sustainability.
Among them was Ludovica Montecchio, a PhD researcher involved in the MEDiverSEAty consortium, who spoke about marine biodiversity and ocean literacy through her work with Ocean Archive.
Marcus Banai, coordinator of The Hague’s Energy Coach Network, spoke about energy inequality and the Energy Equal Laak initiative, which supports tenants with practical energy-saving measures.
The webinar themes fed into the Project Week assignment, which asked students to look at how sustainability is affecting jobs and what skills will be needed in the future.
Students worked in groups to identify issues, develop recommendations and present their findings in reports and presentations.
WUP 23/06/2026
by Erene Roux
©WUAS Press
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