CoreStories


Michael: Alumnus 2019

As a bio-engineer with a theoretical background, I found it difficult to imagine how I could use my interests and abilities in a practical position on the work floor. Because of its unique character, the innovation internship at CORE has helped me enormously with this - in a short period of time you learn an immense amount in connection with management, communication and team work, in short, things that you cannot possibly learn behind your books. On top of that, there are the interesting contacts you make from day 1 with important players in the Leuven energy and sustainability sector (including Leuven 2030), the fun atmosphere within the team, and certainly not to forget, the extensive coaching that you can always rely on do if you have any questions or problems. The innovation internship at CORE was a great start to my professional career and I can only recommend it!

20/04/2020

Annelies: Alumnus 2020

CORE gives me the opportunity to gain experience in entrepreneurship and innovative projects. In the past year I have learned a lot about various aspects that were not covered in my training as a civil engineer-architect. Among other things, I learned about project management, professional communication and running a start-up. I also further developed my soft skills by giving presentations and leading meetings. I think a big advantage is the freedom you get at CORE to discover everything and the good support that is offered through coaching. Moreover, you work together in an enthusiastic team and it gives a lot of satisfaction to achieve your goals together.

21/04/2020

Steve: Coach

I have been the enthusiastic and proud coach of CORE for 8 years now. As a coach, I try to support the COREnauts in their learning process as entrepreneurial engineers, but I also try to challenge them to take their first steps into unknown territory. It is an experience for me every year to see students evolve within this trajectory. For me, however, CORE is not only an interesting learning path for students, but also a way to show that students take corporate social responsibility seriously. In recent years, CORE has certainly made some important sustainable contributions. I am already looking forward to being able to coach an enthusiastic team again next year.

23/04/2020





Jonas: Alumnus 2019

About 3 years ago I chose to do an entrepreneurial internship in the student company CORE. The challenges in the company as well as the intensive and personal coaching have made me very aware of my strengths and weaknesses in 2 years. By working intensively on this I have grown enormously professionally. The projects are very varied and can be colored by the team members themselves. The entire cycle from project scouting and negotiations to financial settlement is covered by the students. For this we can count on support from the extensive network. This was an experience that was greatly appreciated when applying for my job afterwards. In my current job at Siemens, I still use techniques and knowledge that I learned during my internship at CORE on a daily basis.

24/04/2020

Nele: Alumnus 2021

My interest in energy has been present since the beginning of my education as an industrial engineer in electromechanics. However, there is no possibility to graduate within this domain on the Group T campus in Leuven. In my third bachelor's degree, I therefore actively looked into how I could still include the link with energy in my education. CORE fitted perfectly into this picture. CORE also offers many other opportunities. In my first year at CORE, for example, I was able to effectively apply theoretical aspects from my training in practice. I have not only learned a lot on a technical level, but I have also grown in terms of soft skills. The support from the postgraduate gives an extra dimension to the training. The coaching sessions contribute to personal development. Because of the experiences I have already gained in my first year, the hunger for the next year is very great!

25/04/2020

Yolan: Alumnus 2014

At the time I found out about CORE, a company run by students that could be owned by companies, organizations and ordinary citizens. When I heard this, I applied immediately and I have not regretted it for a second. Never have I learned so much in 2 years. I have discovered my own interests, strengths and weaknesses, being able to start and grow different types of projects, all within a context of cooperative entrepreneurship. For example, I started the course "sustainable entrepreneurship" within the postgraduate and I got to know the principle of the Circular Economy, which focuses more on materials. After my time at CORE, I went for the combination of both aspects and I have been a Circular Economy facilitator at Vlaanderen Circulair for 3 years now. This is a team within the government that guides the transition from a linear to a circular economy and where my focus is on education. Thanks to the very relevant experience I had already gained at CORE, I got into this job. I can therefore advise everyone to apply at CORE to learn much more about yourself and the world from practice than you will ever do at school !

27/04/2020


Bart: Alumnus 2016 & coach

Since this year I am also guiding the CORE team from a coaching role. As an ex-COREnaut, I know better than anyone how intensive the learning experiences are that you go through during your innovation internship. I now also try to support these learning experiences through team discussions and by closely monitoring the daily operations. With the bold developments in the Quppa project, the technicality in the Blue Heat story and the dynamic and social character of the awareness projects, there were already a lot of challenges this year for both COREnauts and coaches!
26/04/2020

Steven: Alumnus 2018

Working in my own company together with passionate fellow students appealed to me. I had the opportunity to develop myself during the process. With the support of the various partners of CORE and support from the training, I found myself in many challenging situations. This experience gave me a clear picture of where I wanted to go with my career.

23/04/2020

Matthew: Alumnus 2017

CORE has been a hands-on learning experience for me that has really prepared me for the business world. By participating at different levels in the cooperative, you pick up an enormous amount of skills and insights that you can immediately use in the business world. It gives you, as it were, a head start in terms of professionalism at your first job. It has also helped me personally to find out where I want to go with my career and where my strengths/working points lie on which I can focus.

28/04/2020


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