On March 16th and 17th, a group of 24 undergraduate students from Babson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, came to IE University. Babson College, one of our exchange partners, is known for its innovative spirit and is ranked as one of the top undergraduate institutions for entrepreneurship in the U.S.

While on their visit of 2 days, Babson students participated in various lectures that developed their understanding of the historical, political and societal changes that have taken place in Spain since its transition to democracy.  Professors from IE University and Business School, such as Gayle Allard, Josep Borrell, Gerardo Jacobs, and Miguel Larrañaga organized presentations to share their academic insight with our visiting students. Babson students also had the opportunity to visit IE Business School’s Area31, where they learned about the Startup ecosystem around IE as well as heard pitches from various entrepreneurs.

One of the highlights over the two days was a joint Luncheon and Team-Building activity lead by Prof. Matthias Tietz that involved the Babson students along with a group of some of our best students at IE University. During the luncheon, the students had a chance to network and exchange perspectives on academics, business and world affairs. The students from both schools also had a chance to participate in a team activity titled “Exploring the Entrepreneurial Mindset” that allowed them to use critical thinking and creativity skills to develop and create products targeted towards specific customer bases.  It proved to be a great success, and both groups of students walked away from the event happy, enlightened and with fresh perspectives.

IE University and Babson, together, are exploring future opportunities to expand our partnership and collaborative efforts.