CBI-FP

Project at a glance

• Focus on real-life societal challenges (e.g. SDGs).
• Draws its methodology from Design Thinking, Challenge-Driven education, and Experiential learning.
• Interdisciplinary student teams from the three Fusion Point partner schools.

Public summary

CBI Fusion Point (CBI-FP) has the explicit goal to link human-centred research, novel education methodologies and scientific expertise with real-life societal challenges. It has been delivered annually since 2014, when ESADE, UPC and IED Barcelona came together for the first time to deliver a multidisciplinary challenge-driven program.

Since 2017, student challenges have been centred on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. This will continue during the 2022 and 2023 editions of CBI-FP where the course will include cutting-edge technologies developed under the ATTRACT initiative. CBI-FP draws its methodology from Design Thinking, Challenge-Driven education, and Experiential Learning, bringing together interdisciplinary student teams from the three Fusion Point partner schools.

This program has several distinct characteristics that contribute to the design and delivery of innovative proof of concept and functional prototypes applying advanced technologies to societal impact. Learning happens through self-directed teamwork in heterogeneous groups of students, faculty, industry partners, target users etc., forming a large community of co-learners in the process of addressing a challenge.

Students of CBI-FP follow a non-linear learning process. By definition, innovation outcomes cannot be known at the outset, so students must learn to navigate extreme uncertainty using iterative, explorative, human-centred methods to chart their course.

Over 15 weeks, the students meet on a weekly basis for workshops, seminars, teamwork, coaching sessions and several touch points with the scientists of the involved research centres. Each team is assigned 3 coaches – one from each school. The students travel to CERN 2 times during the course for a total of 12 days.

CBI-FP has been featured in prominent magazines and newspapers like The Financial Times, The Times of India, La Vanguardia, and El Pais.