29 Feb 2024

Alternative Fuels in the Shipping Industry

Consulting project by MSc Business Development students for E.R. Capital Holding

As part of the "Consulting Project" module, our Master's students Sharat Menon, Peter John, Preethi Subramanian, Isabelle Meijer, Carolin Mühle, Christoffer Jensen, Pit Dirks, Alicia Ladwig, Finn Levin, Florian Köttner, Dayton Essel and Frederik Simonet advised E.R. Capital Holding, whose aim is to invest in cleantech and other companies that have a positive impact on the climate and society.

The group's task was to analyze the market for alternative fuels in shipping, both in terms of new technologies, existing regulations and provisions, but also with regard to sensible investments.

"In this project, the HSBA students have dedicated themselves to a very complex topic that is important to us: alternative fuels in shipping," says Lukas Gräfe, Senior Investment Controller at E.R. Capital Holding and HSBA alumnus. "They rose to the challenge, systematically worked through the topic and were able to broaden our understanding of the regulations and current challenges through your structured presentation. The fresh perspective of the students has once again made it clear to us how important the transfer of scientific knowledge into economically viable concepts is."

Our students Sharat Menon and Peter John shared their experiences and learnings with us. They are convinced of the usefulness and quality of the module.

"The project was a great opportunity to apply all my theoretical knowledge to a real project. We got a detailed insight into the maritime sector and learned a lot about how complex the renewable energy infrastructure is. Gathering all this knowledge, processing it, formulating a clear recommendation and generally coordinating the workload in such a large team was a really big challenge," Peter John comments.

"For me personally, I see a lot of value in doing projects that deal with real world business problems. The project has helped me build confidence and understand how to manage alignment and communication with different stakeholders and how to effectively communicate and sell strategies and visions to relevant stakeholders," adds Sharat Menon. "This is an important learning from the project."

Working on real issues from companies and developing practicable solutions is the task of students in the second year of the Master's degree course in Business Development. In the Consulting Project module, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Max Johns and Prof. Dr. Stefan Prigge, they prepare market analyses, develop innovation projects for processes and products or start-up ideas and develop practicable solutions for real challenges faced by companies. The students work in small groups and act as consultants for the company.

Companies that are also interested in receiving advice from students on the Master's degree programme in Business Development as part of the consulting project module are welcome to contact Prof. Dr. Max Johns.