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Portfolio holder External Affairs, Entrepreneurship & Innovation

EXTErnal relations

Luuk's main task is to maintain all Student Union contacts with the business community. The main task is to realise new partnerships, long-term cooperations with companies. The main goal is to gain benefits for Union participants, students and student entrepreneurs at the University of Twente, but also for the company itself. This added value can be both direct and indirect. Direct added value is created by, for example, discounts or training courses from professional organisations which directly affect the student. Indirect added value is created by financial resources that an organisation makes available to the Student Union. This is then returned to the students through sponsorship.

The entire process, from the first idea and contact to signing and maintaining the partnership, is supervised by Tom. The External Relations portfolio holder is also responsible for the external relations consultations with study associations and the consultation with the municipality once every six weeks.

entrepreneurship & INNOVATion

The Student Union is responsible for the policy regarding student entrepreneurship at the University of Twente. Together with Novel-T and ETM, facilitates and stimulates student entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship offers students many opportunities to develop themselves and gain experience. The Student Union collaborates with various parties within the UT to provide a great deal of support for this. The reason the Student Union is involved in student entrepreneurship is that it offers enormous opportunities for students. The experiences gained are unique and cannot be developed within the study.

As portfolio holder for Entrepreneurship, Luuk is taking stock of the needs of student entrepreneurs. On the basis of this, she tries to take action so that the desired support is realised. An example of this is the realisation of the Incubase in February 2020 in cooperation with Novel-T. This is the start-up incubator in the area and offers start-ups a place to work, follow programmes and network.

It is also important to coordinate everything with the various organisations involved. There are numerous business clubs, Novel-T, the Business & Science Park, the Innovation Lab, ETM and more. It is up to the portfolio holder for Entrepreneurship to attune the services offered to the wishes of the student entrepreneur. Luuk is the spider in the web who knows everything and can make the right connection between the wishes of student entrepreneurs and the existing supply.

Luuk Hansman

Study: Applied Physics 
Active: 
From: 
Email: luuk.hansman@utwente.nl

About 3.5 years ago, I started the bachelor’s in Applied Physics at the University of Twente. In my first year, I quickly realised that I wanted to become more involved in student life in Enschede. That’s why in my second year I decided to move to Enschede, and it turned out to be one of the best choices I’ve ever made. 

Through my studies, I joined my dispuut BRAK. Besides all the fun, we also run a craft beer company together, called Bracque Speciaalbieren. In our brewing kitchen in the Bastille, we develop our own recipes, which we then scale up in collaboration with a local brewery and sell commercially in the region. Within the company, I am responsible for the finances. In my third year, I also started working at Pre‑University. There, I spent a lot of time teaching and developing educational materials. By being involved in different environments alongside my studies, I discovered how valuable and enjoyable it is to look beyond just your academic programme. 

This academic year, I started the master’s in Applied Physics. Because my studies progressed quite quickly I began looking for a new challenge, and that’s how I ended up at the Student Union. What excited me most about doing a board year at the Student Union is the level of professionalism, the contact with so many different parties (from students and UT staff to people from industry), and especially the impact you can make on student life in Enschede. 

I’m really looking forward to contributing to the UT student community in the coming year while continuing to work on my own development. If you have any questions about my portfolios or about the Student Union in general, feel free to reach out!