Five groups of Fudan students went on a trip to Finland for their Fudan-Tekes ilab mid-term presentation in early May. After three months of hard work, the 25 students were fully prepared to deliver their reports and so excited to be exposed to real Nordic culture.
In Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the iLab client companies welcomed the students in their own ways. Kuudes, the Finnish design studio, introduced local culture to the students through “family-get-together” at two local homes, where the students experienced real-life style in Finnish families including Nordic food and interior design.
The Kuudes team visiting a Finnish home
Cultural tour is another good way to get to know a place. That’s how staff from Oy Verman Ab did it. By showing the students around, the hosts let them see and hear for themselves about Finnish culture and society.
A landscape card made by students from the Verman team
Company tours and mid-term presentations were held on May 2nd and 3rd. The students were shown around their client company’s working sites and reported the business solutions they worked out to the senior management teams.
According to the Freeport Cobalt team, a tour to the plant and lab deepened their understanding of the client company and the products they produced. At the report session, the team did a presentation that received very good comments and feedback from the senior managers, which was a great encouragement to the students.
Staff from the Freeport Cobalt company taking a picture with the students
And after the Verman team did their report, the company expressed thanks to the students for their contribution in providing lots of new insights about Chinese market trends.
The Verman team taking a group photo at the company
The last stop for this Finland trip was a visit to Business Finland (used to be known as Tekes), the state-owned innovation funding that promotes trade, investment and travel. There, Dean of Fudan School of Management, Pro. Lu Xiongwen and Director General of Business Finland Pekka Soini signed the Memorandum of Understanding to unveil another three years of cooperation between the two institutions, who jointly launched the iLab program in 2013.
Pro. Lu Xiongwen and Director General of Business Finland Pekka Soini signing the paper
Though a short trip, the visit proved to be very inspiring for everyone. The Freeport Cobalt team said that the trip was not only “a chance to review our current work, but also a precious opportunity to learn more about Finland and its people.” “As for the final report,” they added, “we’ll work with the clients to explore the potential of EV market and do a satisfactory job.”
The Beneq team believed the tour was a good chance to “have a close observation of our client company and Finnish culture, making us comprehend their way of doing business more deeply.”
And students from the Yousician team took the tour as completely new experience to work in a foreign country and learn its culture. “What a short but sweet journey!”
Staff from Business Finland, Fudan faculty and MBA students taking a group photo
