The 16th Annual NIBS Conference wrapped up in Breda, Netherlands, last week, drawing to a close another year of networking and information-sharing among NIBS members.
This year’s event was hosted by the School of International Studies at the Avans University of Applied Sciences, and attracted delegates from 36 member schools in 19 countries. This year’s organizing committee was led by Fred Cahuzak, manager of internationalization initiatives at the Avans Business School. Prof. Cahuzak was presented with the NIBS Distinguished Service Award for his contributions in organizing the event.
In addition to various networking activities, this year’s conference featured a combination of academic and practitioner presentations focused on the theme: Are Latin American and Asian economies outshining the rest of the world? The lineup of presenters included a range of experts from the host school—including Dr. Frans Stel, Rogier de Jong, Erik Lammers, Jonathan van Melle, and Kitty Muffels. This was complemented by front-line insights from industry speakers with extensive experience in Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America: Ed Sander, Sander Schroevers, and Peter Zuurbier.
NIBS was also pleased to welcome Marcel Meyer, a doctoral student from the University of Navarra, and Andreas Zenthöfer, an economist with the European Commission, as contributors to this year’s conference. Jan Wostyn and Clare Dorking rounded out the content line-up with information on work placement opportunities and logistics in China and New Zealand.
This year’s schedule included site visits to two businesses with roots in Breda and a presence around the world: Innofa, an innovative manufacturer of fabrics and textiles, and AMGen, a multinational biopharmaceutical company. The conference also featured a post-event tour of Neeltje Jans, an eco-friendly water management facility whose technology protects the Netherlands from floods and is being exported around the world.