Archive for January, 2008

Exams

Published by
andrew
at January 13, 2008 in Lisboa. 0 Comments

I haven’t posted in a while so I’ll let you know how my exams are going. On 4 January I took the Product Innovation exam. This course was very interesting and well thought (by Luis Filipe Lages, a great teacher/professor) so studying for it wasn’t very hard. Being properly motivated can make such a difference. From our class of 15 students, nobody failed. Alec and me both finished with a superb 18/20 :-) I highly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in innovation & entrepreneurship.

Next exam was on 7 January: Logistics & Supply Chain Management. We didn’t receive many classes as the professor was often not able to attend. Much of it we already learned in previous years. The exam wasn’t hard and the professor likes too give a lot of points. Didn’t learn much from this course.

Yesturday, 12 January, was the hardest exam. Damn. Analysis of Industry and Competition. There was a lot of micro economics involved with theoretical models to show how certain situations affect competition in a given Industry. The course was rather interesting but very theoretic. The professor (who looks a little like Fez from that 70s show) did a good job to keep it interesting. It’s really a shame that the exam was such a problem: WAY too little time to solve all questions, so you rush through most of the computations without taken much time to think. This not only makes it stressful and unpleasant, it also punishes students who want to tackle the questions thoroughly. Giving the students half an hour more (or reducing the number of questions) would have made it a lot less frustrating. 15 minutes after the exam most answers popped into my head, blaaargh, frustrating..

Tomorrow the last one.. Bluurgh, International Business. It might have been an interesting course if the professor wasn’t so lazy, sleepy, unenthusiastic and constantly leaving the classroom to smoke and drink coffee. On top of that she has such a boring voice and a blank stare. No, this really drains your motivation to put effort in this mildly interesting subject.

So I better get off and hit the books!

No Dakar :-(

Published by
andrew
at January 5, 2008 in Lisboa and Photography. 2 Comments

Tomorrow was supposed to be a beautiful day in Lisbon: sunny, 17°C and the Paris-Dakar starting here. Unfortunately the Dakar organisers were forced to cancel the rally due to safety concerns in Mauritania.

Following several consultations with the French government and taking into account its firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally
Amaury Sport Organisation

 
That really sucks, because I love to watch the rally every year. It’s a good break from studying during the exams and the landscapes they pass are so beautiful. (Some nice pictures from previous years)

Dakar HummerToo bad we won’t see it this year. Most contestants however are still here in Lisbon with their cars and teams. When I came back from my first exam (which went well) I was surprised to see both Hummers of Robby Gordon and Ronn Bailey in the middle of Avenida, just outside the metro station. I took some pictures of both cars and their support trucks. The Tuareg of Hardy and Lecompte was also parked in front of the Novotel. Nice rides. It kinda sucks to see them here in the middle of the city in stead of in the desert sand.