Business Student Winners of Raya Step-Up Competition Attend IBS Americas Course in Italy

Within the School of Business’s advocacy for entrepreneurship, a competition for undergraduate students was held in November in collaboration with Raya, under the title “Raya Start-Up Competition”. The idea was for students to innovate ideas for Raya’s Aman Payment Application (for end-consumer use), with the objective of introducing the “cashless” concept into the Egyptian society. 

The winning team consisted of four students: Mohamed Serry, Hussein Khattab, Farah Afify and Amr El Sayed. The students earned a 3-week scholarship during the period of January 7-24, to learn about business innovation within an IBS America course in collaboration with CUOA Business School, Italy. 

The course incorporated lectures, seminars, corporate visits, and a group project for graduation. The objective was to offer students an overview of contemporary topics on their chosen themes: “Creativity, Innovation, and New Business” or “International Management and Leadership”, along with an exceptional international experience, granting the students an opportunity to get an insightful knowledge of European affairs. This particular course was chosen to enable the winners to gain international exposure to how the world is operating in terms of business.

“I had a wonderful time on the trip to Italy”, said Mohamed Serry, Finance major. “Other than exploring the exciting culture, historic monuments, and delicious Italian cuisine, I gained a lot of experience and knowledge taking this course. The company visits, lecturers, team tasks and projects were remarkable, not to mention the international experience of meeting many people from countries around the world.”

The course was attended by students around the globe including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Chile, Kenya, South Africa, and Italy. This blending of students allowed for diversification in discussions and experience sharing. Together, the students also explored Italy’s different cities during the weekends to broaden their cultural experience. 

“The trip to Italy was an amazing opportunity which I’m utterly grateful for. The academic aspect, as well as the hands-on practical experience, were illuminating. The professors across different -but relevant- disciplines and backgrounds gave us a well-rounded encounter with the concept of entrepreneurship, with a special emphasis on the international perspective. Lessons continued also outside the classroom, where we visited several startups as well as Ducati, a luxurious manufacturer of motorcycles, not to mention the opportunity of interacting and working with people from different cultures, and the sightseeing trips all around historic Italy”, reflected Farah Afify, Finance major and winner of the competition. 

The CUOA Foundation is one of the most active business education centers in Europe, operating with the support of the Universities of Padova, Trento, Trieste, Udine, Ca’Foscari, IUAV (Venice) and Verona. While The International Business School Americas (IBS Americas), is a member of the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). It offers international programs since 2003 in a range of business functions.