The European Space Agency (ESA) has joined the CEMS global alliance as the first partnership of its kind, at a meeting in Brussels last month.
Established in 1988 by four leading European business schools (Università Bocconi, ESADE, HEC Paris and the University of Cologne), CEMS has grown into a 29-school partnership, collaborating with 70 Corporate, four Social Partners, together offering a Masters in International Management (MIM) programme.
The ESA was voted into the alliance by a committee of academic, corporate and social representatives from the CEMS network, during a meeting which marked the alliance's 26th anniversary.
Niels Eldering, Technology Transfer Officer at ESA, and an alumnus of CEMS partner the Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University (RSM), says,
"Having access to the business student community is important to us to define new exploitation potentials of space-based knowledge for the terrestrial market both now and in the future."
The ESA has long been affiliated with the CEMS network, and for the last ten years has worked with RSM - and more recently the Norwegian School of Economics - to run week-long seminars which challenge CEMS students to find practical business uses for space technologies.
Dr René Olie, Academic Director of the CEMS programme at RSM, says,
"The ESA has been invaluable in providing our students with access to one of the most dynamic and high tech industries in the world, helping CEMS students to shape their entrepreneurial and consultancy skills."
Also included in the festivities was the induction of 11 new Corporate Partners - including Facebook and Dropbox, the election of Professor Andrea Sironi of Università Bocconi as CEMS Chairman and the graduation of a record number of CEMS MIM students, most of them already in possession of a job.
Roland Siegers, Director of the alliance, says,
"In the heart of Europe, CEMS came together for a memorable series of events that culminated in our Global Graduation Ceremony, with over 1013 graduates from 62 countries receiving their diploma both on and off stage. These days will be remembered not only as a showcase of CEMS diversity, but more so of the excellent spirit of cooperation and mutual learning that we represent in both the academic and corporate world."
