January is over, exams are over! However, at Vlerick Business School, we as students are often assessed in other ways than just another standard, boring exam. Vlerick professors are quite often challenged to examinate their students in innovative, inspiring ways. One of the most inventive assessments we’ve had so far was the AB Inbev Shark Tank Challenge – which was as much a life-or-death competition as it sounds!

In a first stage, all MGM, MIMS and MIE students were informed on their particular challenge, which entailed one of the following: Connections for millennials – Insights – Nablab, or the No Alcoholic Beverages Lab. Having been assigned a team of 3 students in total, the challenge would entail 3 consecutive rounds. In the finals, there would be 3 winning teams per campus and per challenge, that would result in 3 final winners in the end. Coincidentally – or not 😉 – the winners of the three challenges were equally divided among the three campuses. So, Brussels, Ghent, as well as Leuven can proudly present a winner of the great 2017 ABI Shark Tank Challenge.

As a MIMS student in Brussels myself, I am here of course to boast about the performance and innovative thinking of my Brussels’ team. (Sorry, not sorry.) Dagmar, Delphine, and Cedric won with their challenging innovation called the Draughtmaster as part of the Insights challenge. They had to successfully come up with an innovation that would unlock consumer data in creative ways. The Draughtmaster, which is as much as your personal tap that – in line with the “internet of things” – is smartly updating you on how well you can tap a beer, whether it’s preserved at the right temperature and the right pressure. In the end, it can even promote you so much as to help you win the international ABI Draughtmaster cup!

Curious readers will clearly see that this idea aligns with the current market trends of home service, home delivery, home cinema watching, etc. But a home draughtmaster is still something many households are lacking today. One can always get a perfect beer in a bar, but what to do if you have some friends over and you want to serve them the perfect beer yourself? Well, a solution is perhaps finally coming your way. Cheers to that!