Frank doesn’t see a connection between KE@Work and Beauty and the Beast, the fairytale about a young woman who is forced to live with a monster. Elmer Nelis, managing director of the Heerlen-based company Mediaan, quickly explains Frank’s hesitation. None of the KE@Work partners had any reservations before going in. “At Mediaan, we knew that the developments in data science would become very important to us. When Frank was trying to establish KE@Work in 2013, we right away said: we want in.”

KE@Work alumna Danni Liu also took to the programme immediately. “I thought, yeah, this is my thing! I was looking for possibilities of getting work experience. This would be my second study and I didn't want to enter the labour market with six years of study experience, but no real-life work experience.” Danni’s choice paid off. She partnered up with the cloud computing company Open Line, where she continued to work upon graduating.

Enthusiasm is one thing. However, for such a partnership to work, many things need to balance out: work and study, for example, but also the interests of a company and those of a university. “Of course”, Elmer says, “those don’t necessarily align. We are looking for good students just like the university is. We want them to work on real projects, which is in our interest, but we also understand that they are students.

In the end, I also want them to finish their studies.” Frank adds: “We tell our students that they are members of a team. It’s fine to think and talk about everything that goes on at the company, but keep an eye on your study assignment.”

However, contrary to what you might expect, KE@Work doesn’t usually take away from academic performance. “Students realize through KE@Work that there is more to studying than just passing an exam”, says Ellen Narinx-Schrauwen, who coordinated the programme until recently.

Frank shares that observation. “Before, they would work just to pass a course, but now they want to be prepared for whatever they encounter at work. As a result, in most cases their grades actually go up.”

After showing a picture of the A-Team, known for their 80’s television show, we learn that the A-Team never rose to fame in Danni’s birth country China. Danni, after an explanation from current KE@Work coordinator Mel Schickel: “Ah, so you want to know how we cooperate. Open Line colleagues said to me that KE@Work staff constantly checked how students were doing. They really cared.” Elmer had similar experiences. “The university’s strong involvement with the programme shows in the students. They are a tight-knit bunch: they look for each other’s company and they work together nicely. These students also have the right kind of knowledge and the proper mindset. Their foundation was laid down in Maastricht, and I really credit Frank and the people at DKE with that.”

The DKE-Team indeed keeps a close eye on their students. Mel: “We track how students do at exams. If their performance suddenly changes, I’ll ask them what's going on and whether I can help them. I understand that sometimes things just don’t work out, and most of the time it all goes well.” Danni believes that the voluntary nature of the programme is another one of its strong points. “Students choose to join, because they see – for whatever reason – something in it for themselves. That motivated group of students is your starting point.”

Frank is happy to see corporate KE@Work partners who are able to place themselves in the students’ shoes and who don’t underestimate them. “What I like about Mediaan is that students are genuinely part of the team.” Elmer nods. “With us, students get an introduction like any other employee. They participate in the HR cycle and join us at company parties. We also visited clients together. The key is to take into account that they are students. In the beginning, that took us some getting used to. For example, during exam week, they suddenly weren’t there.” Frank: “Mediaan sees the value of combining work and study. Upon graduating, students want to earn money. Instead of just hiring them, Mediaan would offer them a half-time contract so they could still study for their master’s degree with us.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Data Science and Knowledge Engineering adapts too. The department checks their curriculum against the many contacts across industry. Ellen: “We need to know what is happening at these companies. Are we preparing graduates the right way? If students are doing something different in the field than what we are training them for, we need to change something.” The other way around, KE@Work students bring new knowledge to the businesses that employ them. “In some large companies, they still do everything with Excel files”, Ellen continues. “No matter how young, students can say: we might be able to do this in a more efficient way.”

In the meantime, Mediaan underwent somewhat of a revolution. “I always say: Mediaan is a technology company, but in the coming years, we grow towards becoming an AI (artificial intelligence) business.” Elmer proudly dishes up some numbers. “When we started KE@Work, we didn’t have any data scientists on board. We now have seventeen. Five of those are current KE@Work students. Others completed KE@Work with us and stayed after graduating. In total, 15 of our 17 data scientists have a connection to DKE in Maastricht. They are all very good: for example, we have a partnership with a large telecom business, which we would not have had without KE@Work…and all of this over the span of just five years? Many companies want something similar.”

KE@Work changed something else at Mediaan. English has replaced the local dialect almost entirely as the company’s main language. “The discussion about international students, how having them supposedly takes away from education, I think it’s a discussion not worth having at all.” Elmer is firm in his words. “Those are all very good people. They travelled to study here. They are motivated, and this shows in our company. My message to other businesses would be: embrace the international aspect. It’s very important if you look at the broad picture, that you can keep people like them here in the region.”