Personal growth, intercultural competence, and multidisciplinarity have become vital focal points in academic education. Recently, students from the Master's programme in International Management at TH Rosenheim, in collaboration with PXL University (Belgium) and Algebra University College (Croatia), successfully concluded an international project week that encapsulated these principles.
The event took place at the TH Rosenheim campus, where IT and business students from various universities were brought together in multidisciplinary and international teams. Throughout the week, they collaborated on developing a digital business model for the metaverse. "In the business world, technology and business are increasingly overlapping," said Carolin Fleischmann, who led the project at TH Rosenheim. "Professionals who have an understanding of both domains and engage with multiple disciplines will be the highly sought after experts of the future."
These international project weeks, known as 'Blended Intensive Programmes' (BIP), receive funding from the ERASMUS+ programme.
The students achieved remarkable results during the project week. Ultimately, an international jury recognised the team that created VAMI (Virtual Assistant for Mental Issues) as the winners. VAMI is a virtual character designed to aid young individuals facing mental health challenges in metaverse environments such as Fortnite and Roblox. "More significant than winning the competition is the personal growth that stems from this experience," emphasised Carolin Fleischmann. "Through this intensive week, where students collaborated with individuals from different cultures and languages, replacing familiar lecturers with international experts, we all grew as humans and specialists. We learned to work alongside individuals from diverse disciplines and countries."
Looking ahead, plans are underway for a second edition of the project in the upcoming academic year. The exact location, whether Zagreb or Hasselt, remains undecided. Nonetheless, the students expressed their enthusiasm for the metaverse and, particularly, for the international teamwork. "The most exciting aspect was the dynamic between the lecturers and the students. Collaborating with individuals from other countries and witnessing what can be accomplished within such a short span of time was truly fascinating," a master's student from Rosenheim mentioned.