From Mountain Tracks to Startup Hacks: Inside a Breakthrough Season for the MXTers
From a private visit to Canfranc’s underground lab to a podium finish at a Munich AI hackathon, the MXTers end the year not with a PowerPoint, but with purpose.
This spring, the Management & Xponential Technology (MXT) cohort at IE Sci-Tech signed off on its academic year with a trio of moments that captured its unique DNA: one part curiosity, one part execution, and one part reflection.
Deep Learning, Literally: A Visit to Canfranc Underground Lab
The journey began in the Pyrenees, not in a classroom but beneath one. The MXTers were granted exclusive access to the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc (LSC)—one of Europe’s most advanced underground science facilities. Hidden beneath a mountain and accessible via a historic transnational railway station, the lab serves as a research site for dark matter and neutrino studies.
In an environment built to block cosmic noise, students found clarity on something else: what it means to think across systems. The site, part relic, part frontier, turned into a powerful metaphor for the kind of layered, interdisciplinary thinking the MXT program champions.
Pivot Under Pressure: Award-Winning AI at the CDTM Hackathon
Next, a trio of MXTers—Mehdi Zaid, Tomas Ploquin, and Mateo Ploquin Arcila—headed to Munich to join the CDTM Hackathon at Celonis headquarters. Midway through the 36-hour sprint, they scrapped their original concept and built an AI-powered recruiting agent that automates everything from job posting to interviews.
They delivered the entire product in under 12 hours—and earned the "Most Potential to Earn Real Money" prize, awarded by Visionaries Club, Paid.ai, and Everyday Intelligence.
"This wasn’t about surviving a hackathon," Mateo said. "It was about building something that could actually survive in the market."
No PowerPoints, Just Turning Points: The Final MXT Ceremony
Back in Madrid, the MXTers gathered for a final session that intentionally skipped the slide decks. Instead, each student was asked to share a moment—just one—that had changed the way they think.
Welcoming the session, MXT Academic Lead, Professor Joe Haslam explained that the purpose of the course was to challenge assumptions and spark deliberate—sometimes difficult—change: "We do it for the people who say, ‘From that moment on, I decided to take a different path—even if it’s the harder one."
The reflections that followed formed a chorus of transformation. Some spoke of guest speakers who inspired them and challenged their thinking. Others reflected on career shifts—from consulting to startups, and from predictable paths to riskier, more meaningful ones. One student recalled a piece of advice that stayed with them: "Whatever you do, don’t let anyone tell you who you are." Joy Zhong described MXT as the space where she rediscovered her Silicon Valley spark after years in finance and was now ready to "…MAKE XTREME TURNS!"
A recurring theme emerged: the permission to be unconventional, and the clarity to act on it. "I used to think I had to do what people expected," Horacio Salamanca said. "Now I’m building a tool that challenges people’s thinking—on purpose."
As Joe Haslam reminded them, this wasn’t about graduating. It was about igniting. A starting point, not a finish line.
Where They’re Headed
Some MXTers are launching ventures. Others are joining VCs, impact funds, or innovation teams within forward-thinking corporations. A few will travel, prototype, or take time to explore bold ideas. But wherever they go, they’re taking something with them—a mindset tuned not just to exponential tech, but to exponential growth.
Reflecting on the broader vision of the program, Raquel Cabero Quiles, the Academic Director of MXT, added: "The MXT helps students go beyond understanding technology and business knowledge by learning to connect both with an exponential mindset, which is key to shaping the future. What truly sets it apart is the extraordinary ambition, energy, and drive of the students in the room—when you're surrounded by others who think big and share your commitment to creating positive impact through technology, this kind of environment is where real inspiration and change happen."
Joe Haslam added: "In our design of the MXT at IE, we have always had in mind the M.E.T. (Management, Entrepreneurship, and Technology) program at UC Berkeley and the M&T Program at University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). These are among the most selective and challenging programs, annually attracting a class who are highly talented academically and actively engaged in a host of extracurricular pursuits."