THE INDEPENDENT MBA STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2007

The Independent MBA Student of the Year 2007 - and the winner is...

The Association of MBAs is pleased to announce that this year's winner of The Independent MBA Student of the Year award is Bart Knols, graduate of Open University Business School. Bart addressed the distinguished guests at One Whitehall Place, stressing the importance his MBA had in gaining key skills to help fight diseases like malaria: "My MBA has given me the tools to fine-tune my argument that scientific skills only will not deliver a healthier world. Will not enable those with biology degrees today, to become the leaders of tomorrow in the fight against malaria. There is a pressing need for management training, to turn developing country scientists into global public health players."
Bart Knols receiving his MBA Student
of the Year Award 2007 from
Phil Walker, Vice-President of Capgemini

This year The Independent MBA Student of the Year Award celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over the last ten years, the Award has brought recognition to some exceptional MBA students, who have demonstrated a talent for leadership and have shown potential as future ambassadors of the MBA. The criteria for the Award measure not only academic success, but also commitment to the business school and fellow students and contribution to the enhancement of the value of the MBA in the market. 

As the advocate for the MBA, the Association is proud to recognise the achievements of outstanding MBA students. You can read the profiles of this year's winner and of the three finalists below:

Bart Knols
Open University Business School
WINNER of The Independent MBA Student of the Year 2007

 Bart Knols grew up in the south of Holland, where at a very young age he developed a keen interest for development issues and Africa. At the age of 19 he first travelled to Africa for a year to study sleeping sickness in a Kenyan Maasai community. That experience fuelled his determination to devote his life to finding appropriate solutions to combat insect-transmitted diseases, in particular malaria – which kills a child every thirty seconds and infects one out of twelve people on Earth each year. 11 more years of living and working in East Africa followed during which time his innovative and creative approach to conducting research became ever more recognized internationally.
At the age of 32, having completed a PhD in medical entomology, he became the Director of a large research station on the shores of Lake Victoria, heading 100 staff, besides his own research group of 35 scientists and technical support staff. Aware of the fact that scientists often progress in their career based on scientific accomplishments but not necessarily their management and leadership skills, his early ambition to undertake business education surfaced again. Not being able to do this in Africa, it wasn't until he started working for the United Nations (International Atomic Energy Agency) in Vienna in 2003 that he got into contact with the Open University and decided to start an MBA. Being able to directly use his acquired skills within the UN, his transformational ideas to better the organisation earned him an IAEA Special Service Award in 2006. 

MBA coursework on creativity and innovation led him to pioneer an entirely new method to control mosquitoes (using a fungus), which since 2006 has landed him over 2 million USD in research funds, with projects in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. The MBA directly influenced his candidacy to serve on the executive board of the UBS (Bank) Optimus Foundation in Switzerland, which he joined in June 2006. This Foundation funds 50 projects worldwide to better the lives of children and support biological and medical research. He serves as an advisor to the World Health Organization, and recently worked on their new 10-year strategy for research on tropical diseases.

Since 2007, Bart and his wife, Inga, have started their own consultancy firm that engages in medical information provision, training of scientists in management skills and expert consultancies around the world. Bart acknowledges that at times the MBA was tough going, besides having a family (with two children) and constant global travel. Looking back though, he considers every minute of it well spent. "As a scientist I could do a lot, but now I can achieve change on a much larger scale and make a real difference. This, no doubt, would have been much more difficult without a top-class MBA".

Aimee gained her undergraduate degree in Economics and postgraduate degree in Corporate Finance from Pontifica Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in her native Dominican Republic. Before embarking on her MBA, Aimee was working as a project manager for the corporate and investment banking division at the Banco Popular Dominicano (BPD), the largest private commercial bank in the Dominican Republic. BPD granted Aimee paid leave of absence during her period of MBA study, with a view to enhancing her skills in the implementation of strategies to guarantee sustainable growth for the company and the country.

Aimee considers herself to be an organised, patient, committed and focussed person, who expects to build her self esteem and confidence through the MBA experience and living abroad. Aimee is a member of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE), which promotes economic development by working with the public sector to search for solutions to social and economic problems. Aimee has also significant experience of working as a volunteer in underprivileged communities in the Dominican Republic, including literacy programmes and social work. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the Fundacion San Miguel Arcangel, a non-profit organisation which supports poor rural families by providing loans to enable them to participate in income-generating activities. Once Aimee completes her MBA she intends to return to the Dominican Republic and occupy a senior level position in a recognised institution, we she can apply and share the knowledge she has accumulated across the years. Her medium term goal is to start up her own business.

“I would recommend to any potential MBA student to pick the most diverse and multicultural course – the most valuable thing is the network. I would also recommend a full time course – it is more interactive and the most valuable thing is the network.

It is a great honour to be a finalist in this competition. It has provided a platform to spread awareness of social and ethical enterprise, which is my area of work”.

Bjørn is from an entrepreneurial family. Besides his full time work as a banker at F. van Lanschot Bankers he is a board member of the Peduli Anak Foundation. Within the Foundation, he is involved in the creation of long term global strategic plans, the development/implementation of effective and efficient organisational structures, commercial corporate activities, the (future) providing of micro loans and the social and the ethical responsible representation of the Foundation.

Bjørn's entrepreneurial interest led him to study law (focusing on corporate law) at the Open University, and he then went on to study his MBA at the Rotterdam School of Management / Erasmus University. Before becoming a pioneer in the field of entrepreneurship, Bjørn started his career (as a family tradition) in the Dutch army, and was dispatched to the former Yugoslavia. Bjørn believes that the combination of business and development work will become the new trend in the 21st century.

Benjamin Haan
Monash University Graduate School of Business
Finalist of The Independent MBA Student of the Year Award 2007

 Prior to undertaking his full-time MBA at Monash University, Ben was a manager at Accenture (global management consultancy) with seven years experience in business transformation consulting. Ben has worked in a number of countries during his career with key projects in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy and India. During his time at Accenture, Ben worked with a diverse range of clients such as UBS, British Telecom, British Airports Authority, Unilever, Sandvik, and the Australian Taxation Office.

Ben led the winning team in the 'Monash New Enterprise Challenge', an entrepreneurial competition run out of Monash University. The same team then went on to win the national Australian 'John Heine Entrepreneurial Challenge' in November 2006. Ben and the Zipper team later represented Australia in the global MOOT-CORP entrepreneurial competition in Texas in May 2007 picking up an award for 'Outstanding Product'.

Ben undertook the MBA in order to facilitate a major career change from Consulting into Private Equity. Ben had been told by a number of recruiters that with his background it would be 'impossible'. However, in order to position himself as best as possible for an opportunity in Private Equity, Ben proactively:

• Rearranged his MBA program to focus exclusively on electives in entrepreneurship and finance;
• Cold-called a number of senior players in the Australian Private Equity industry in order to establish a mentoring relationship – this effort proving successful in four out of five attempts with these relationships continuing now;
• Undertook a Private Equity research paper to provide him with further exposure to the industry; and
• Worked to be the top performer academically on the Monash MBA program (High Distinction average)

Ben has now started work as a Private Equity Associate at Partners Group, an Alternative Assets group headquartered in Zug (Switzerland).

Ben's contribution to program development has been most significant as more and more MBA students have taken up electives in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. Ben has excelled academically and nearing the completion of his two year full-time MBA program his grades are in the top 5 percent of all results. He has served on the MBA Student Committee and provided tremendous support for his fellow students and for MBA management.

For further details about the competition, please contact:

Harlequin Shaw

h.shaw@mbaworld.com
The Independent MBA Student of the Year Award 2007
Association of MBAs
25 Hosier Lane
London EC1A 9LQ
UK