Juan-Miguel Villar Mir Inaugurates the UPM Entrepreneurs Club

On 21 April at the Madrid Polytechnic University’s ( UPM) Advanced Technical School ( ETS) of Industrial Engineers, the President of the Villar Mir Group Juan-Miguel Villar Mir inaugurated the UPM Entrepreneurs Club. It is an initiative supported by the UPM’s Creation of Companies programme whose goal is to spread entrepreneurial values among students at the university.

The project, conceived as a part of the Indoforum, a forum on the usage of the Industrial Engineers’ E.T.S. entirely organized by students, comes under the vice-chancellorship of research, which began the Entrepreneurs Club through its Creation of Companies department.

Juan-Miguel Villar Mir pointed out that in the initiative “two key aspects for the future of our country come together: the promotion of the entrepreneurial spirit and activities in R&D, both fundamental to economic growth and to overcome the current crisis”.

Specifically, the project, which is in its sixth year, comes from Induforum, the employment forum for the E.T.S. of industrial engineers; it is made up entirely of students. The UPM Entrepreneurs Club try to work with all initiatives which aim to enhance the training received in the School with other business subjects as well as encourage the students as entrepreneurs via the creation of an organisation through which they can get in contact with other entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences first hand.

The President of the Group highlighted the opportunities offered in today’s world for companies and entrepreneurs thanks to the push by technical advances and globalization. He added that “an ever-changing world that works more like a marketplace all the time offers increasing opportunities to entrepreneurial activities. He listed the qualities that, in his own experience, make someone a professional and a successful entrepreneur; they were: enthusiasm to work, emotional stability, tendency to analyse and creative ability, communication, motivation, health and honesty. He highlighted that the number one thing “once we find ourselves at the helm of a company is to set goals: without goals there’s no company”.

Speaking on the current economic crisis, he pointed out that “changeable and uncertain economic climates provide greater opportunities for efficient companies because it’s precisely in times of difficulty when one is able to appreciate the difference between good and poor management”.

Juan-Miguel Villar Mir gave the audience several recommendations regarding their future careers. Among them were: the absolute necessity to finish their university studies well “with the highest marks possible”, completing an MBA, and attention to taking entrepreneurial responsibility once leaving the School. Along with this he emphasised the importance of prior studying and evaluation when the time comes to take a chance in business, in which they must be conscious of their responsibilities, both as businesspeople and as managers and professionals to “sow happiness into their surroundings”.

Regarding the vocation to business, a fundamental aspect for entrepreneurs, he advised the audience that except for those with a clear calling to scientific research or teaching, the best choice is “to work in a private company without throwing away opportunities to dedicate oneself to commercial and financial activity.”

II Spanish-French Business Forum Juan-Miguel Villar Mir also took part in the II Spanish-French Business Forum: Transport Infrastructures from a Business Perspective, which took place 22 April. His speech was within section entitled Road Transport: the Steps Necessary for an Environmentally Friendly Yet Efficient and Competitive Method. In his speech he stressed the fundamental role of transport infrastructures in the growth of a country as a lever for productivity and well being.