Interns from Norway join the maxum Business Incubator

Three students from Norway, currently in South Africa attending an entrepreneur course at the Wits Business School, are undertaking an internship at The Innovation Hub's maxum Business Incubator.

Norwegian students Simen Wolneberg, Espen Oland and Kjetil Andersen are undergoing internships at the maxum Business Incubator as part of a study visit to South Africa.

Espen Oland, Kjetil Andersen and Simen Wolneberg are working with maxum staff and the participating start-ups in the Incubator to learn how newly created South African companies operate. During their internship, they will help with the screening process of applicants for the incubation programmes and interact with the Incubator companies for first hand experience of the challenges faced by early stage companies in South Africa.

Espen Oland, a 24-year old engineer with an in-depth knowledge of electronics and mobile communications, is specialising in space technology. At Narvik University College in Norway he is part of the project management team for a student satellite programme with the aim of launching a satellite during the autumn of 2007. With the business and administration skills he is developing while in South Africa he intends to start up a space related company in Norway.

Kjetil Andersen is 23 years old and is studying structural engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). While at NTNU, he has been actively involved in motivating students to start up their own companies. The student organisation he works for is located at an on-campus incubator similar to maxum, but much smaller. Kjetil is interested in technology development and enjoys reading about new gadgets. He is interested in learning more about marketing and business development while in South Africa.

University of Oslo informatics graduate, 24-year old Simen Wolneberg is working on his Masters degree in oriented programming, software analysis, software development and database programming. Projects include making a compiler and developing a management system for hospitals and applications for mobile devices using the J2ME technology. At maxum Simen is working for DBIT management systems, where he hopes to learn more about innovative approaches to software development.

After three weeks in South Africa, they agree that South Africans are very friendly. "The hospitality is different in a positive way from that Norway as people here are more open than in our country", according to Espen. "We have already experienced some of the cultural differences between our two countries and are hoping to take back to Norway all the learning from being exposed to many different ways of thinking".

They are enthusiastic about their internships and already enjoying their assignments. "This is probably going to be our best summer (it is summer in Norway now) ever", says Kjetil.

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