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What is the best way to learn innovation? By trying it out on real problems from real companies. That is exactly what students in our Master's course "Innovation & Creativity" and our Bachelor's course "Innovating for Sustainability" did in the summer semester 2026. They worked with nine industry partners, including Amazon, BearingPoint, GREENFORCE, and KUKA, and presented their ideas directly to company representatives.
The Grand Open Innovation Challenge with Agorize
The Grand Open Innovation Challenge is the heart of the Master's course. In the second part of each session, we invite industry experts to post a real-world business case.
Along the way, students learn to structure an open problem, develop ideas as a team, and present them in a clear and convincing way. This year, our classroom partners include:
- Amazon: Anna Zosimidou (Pan-EU Account Executive)
- Agorize: Anna Mazin (Head of International Academic Partnerships)
- BearingPoint: Eugen Zaslavski (Senior Manager) and Stella Schick (Senior Business Consultant)
- Reimann Investors: Johannes Pöllmann (Investor) and Lisa Bröske (VC Analyst)
- Struktur Management Partner: Jan Rodig (Partner, Head of Competence Center Strategy & Digital/AI) and Dr. Philipp Krug (Project Manager)
- GREENFORCE: Theresa Wallner (Senior Product Manager)
- Gini: Tobias Fudickar (Product Strategy & Business Manager)
Sustainability from three perspectives
In the Bachelor's course "Innovating for Sustainability," students got to know frameworks for sustainability-oriented innovation and tested them against three guest lectures. Kerstin Heinrich, Head of Corporate Sustainability at KUKA, showed how an industrial group manages sustainability with the same rigor as its financials. Nick Helleberg, Chief Retail Officer at Clever Chocolate, explained how a young consumer brand builds responsibility into its business model from day one. Finally, Prof. Matta gave a guest lecture on Responsible Innovation.
Partnering with our Chair
We sincerely thank all our industry partners for their time and for the open insights into their work. Companies that would like to set a challenge or visit one of our courses as a guest next semester are welcome to contact Prof. Dr. Shashi Matta (shashi.matta@ku.de).
Further information and related articles
Course description and syllabus: Innovation & Creativity
Course description and syllabus: Innovating for Sustainability
Maximilian Bauer on LinkedIn about the course Innovating for Sustainability
