Testimonials

This programme has contributed me a lot in terms of personel skills, relationships and leadership. I do hope the programme will continue to grow and give graduates each year.

Müge AtagunCountry Manager of Etam Grouppe in Turkey and the Middle East region(graduated 2004)

The E-TEAM programme has had an important positive impact on the course of my life, both professionally and privately. The cooperation between universities, combined with the modular teaching method allows to intensively focus on a broad range of subjects taught by the best professors in their respective fields. Furthermore, the international experience and network resulting from attending the programme is highly valued by future employers. The programme has helped me to build a rewarding and strongly international oriented career.

Bram Van GenabetCorporate digital manager at Barry Callebaut (2015-today)Freelance consultant at Hinicio (2015-today)Advanced process control consultant at IPCOS (2014-2015)Process and application engineer at ExxonMobil (2010-2014)(Belgium, graduated in 2010)

I’ve completed my E-TEAM master in the Summer of 2014, and it has equipped me with valuable knowledge and the skills to start my PhD directly after. Looking back, it has been a fantastic experience to travel around Europe to visit different Universities. We were exposed to many different insights into research areas presented by different, internationally renowned Professors, this is invaluable and unique to this course. I have met incredible people along the way and this has been a great experience, both professionally and personally.

The strength of the programme is the variety of topics, teaching styles, and backgrounds of professors and it truly give a broad perspective of the textile world. I have thoroughly enjoyed my E-TEAM time and more often than not, it has intrigued interviewers during job interviews that I have been on a unique course.

I have chosen not to stay in academia but instead pursue a career in industry, should there nevertheless be an interest in a guest lecture (e.g. for the composites course I’d be happy to do so for the E-TEAM.

Laura VeldenzPhD in composites, university of Bristol (UK)Sales engineer at SGL CarbonProposal engineer at Airborne (The Hague, NL)(graduated 2014)

For me, it was the first time stepping out of my comfort zone and also the first time traveling abroad for a very long duration. The initial homesickness is inevitable but it soon ebbed with the support from my classmates. I joined the programme a week later after it commenced. My friends helped me to cope up with lost time. With progressing semesters, my course allowed me the mobility to study at 3 different countries. We moved as a class which played a huge part in gelling us together. Over the semesters, our coordination improved as a result.

E-TEAM is a perfect option for the student who has passion for travelling and advancing in the textile industry. Overall, the programme was an enlightening experience and one that is so hard to forget.

Lakshmi Palaniappan(India, graduated in 2016)

The E-TEAM project was very helpful for me. During four semesters, I studied in three different universities. This exchange experience directly helped me to find a suitable PhD project, because my PhD tutor also gave us lectures during the E-TEAM project. In addition to this, I learned lots of professional lectures from this project that expanded my understanding about textiles. I think I found my favorite interest in textile engineering and laid a foundation for my next choice.

In addition to the impact on learning, this project also helped me to learn a lot of skills in life. It helped me to improve my ability to speak English and gave me the chance to communicate with many foreign students. It also gave me the chance to live in three places and to learn about the lives of the local people.

Dan Wang(China, graduated in 2018)

E-TEAM is a best decision that I would had taken for my Master studies. The programme is unique in all its ways, starting with travelling each semester to different country, ending with variety of modules that we have gotten each weak. Every semester I was one big step up in “building my hill of experience”. I had the opportunity to meet best people, to see beautiful places around the Europe and to have best 2 years of my life!

Rovena Vaičkutė(Lithuania, MSc2 student)

Looking back, I can say that joining the programme is one of the excellent decisions I made. I gained in-depth knowledge in advanced materials and processes , smart textiles, emerging technologies in the field of material and textiles among others. The courses are organized in modules and most of the courses had team assignments which made us work in groups. The programme was intense and demanding as we were doing one module per week. Working on the courses assignments in itself created a special relationship amongst us classmates as we could regularly spend time together after class hours as we work on our assignments and by default plan our extra curriculum activities together. Through this arrangements, I got to know my classmates’ origins better and the existing cultural differences amongst us. I believe they learnt a lot from me as well. We pre-explored the places we were going to for the semester together, as most of us were new in this locations. We learnt how to find our way out in these environments. I must say that our hosts in these institutions did a great job, as they ensured we had buddies to integrate us into their systems by taking us to social events like get togethers evenings and weekends. They could also advise, or in the first weeks give us company as they show us places like cheap students restaurants, shopping, laundry, cinema e.tc.

During a few weekends that we were free, we could join a few of the Erasmus trips to explore different places around our locations. For example while in Maribor, we visited Graz and Vienna. While in Mulhouse we visited Strasbourg and Basel.

To summarize it all, the experience through this programme taught me new things academically, socially, internationally and exposed me to different environments all over Europe. I Learnt the way of doing things while in France, Slovenia, Turkey and in Belgium. As soon as I completed my Masters degree which I passed with a greatest distinction, I started with my PhD in UGent (Belgium).

Sheilla OdhiamboPhD at UGhentLecturer at Moi University (Kenya)Visiting lecturer at University College Ghent(Kenya, graduated 2011)

I appreciate participating in E-TEAM because it led me to learn the newest and the most updated technologies and sciences available in Textile Engineering. Also, the Textile world has a wide variety of areas and E-TEAM covers all of them, giving the students a really good view and understanding of the whole textile industry. This leads them to have courage and self-confidence to speak their opinion and when it comes to solving a problem, they dare to think and invent a solution.

Another thing was sitting in one class with international students and professors. This way you get an idea about other countries’ university systems and the textile industry. You will be able to express yourself and communicate in English. This leads to a better understanding of other people and accepting and respecting the fact that everyone is different and unique. You will get a more realistic view when you compare your home country with others and you get to know other countries’ problems and advantages. You will get more independent and learn to survive and manage your life far from home, without the help of others. You’ll become more dependent and more open-minded. Also, some projects need to be done in groups with other students and some of them have a presentation. So you improve your group work, sense of responsibility and public speaking. The process of moving each semester is interesting. As you mentioned yourself the first day, moving will be easier after 3-4 times so you get to be more flexible and more adaptive to change. This way you can embrace every opportunity because you are not afraid to change your place. E-TEAM enables all students, even the ones from developing countries like me, to be in touch with the world and sit in the lectures of great international professors in this field, and also travel and get to know the world better while studying and getting more knowledgeable at the same time. I am very grateful that I had the chance to be in E-TEAM!

Sahar Pourahmad(Iran, MSc2 student)