APU’s ASBX Accelerator 2025: Where Ideas Take Flight
On 29th May 2025, Enterprise@APU launched its Accelerator Program Kick-off, setting the stage for student innovators to transform ideas into impactful solutions. The event began with an expert session on Design Thinking led by renowned expert Ts. Martin Stefan Mueller (Principal Consultant, Exzellent Profis). The session unveiled the powerful five-stage design thinking methodology that has shaped industries from aeronautics to digital technology. Drawing from his extensive background, Mr. Mueller demonstrated how the flexible design thinking process can begin at any stage while emphasizing the importance of completing all five elements: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
In the empathy phase, Mr. Mueller highlighted its importance when working with unfamiliar clients, drawing from his R&D experience. He referenced Don Norman’s design principles which consists of human-centred focus, root problem-solving, systemic thinking, and simplicity to guide development. Bodystorming helped participants view products from a user’s perspective, uncovering hidden challenges. Transitioning to the define stage, he blended humour about cultural differences with practical insights, stressing the need for flexible problem statements. The “How might we…” approach fostered creativity and teamwork, ensuring problems were neither too broad nor too narrow.
During ideation, Mr. Mueller noted the growing demand for problem-solving skills and discussed how societal rules stifle childhood creativity. His “3 Steps to 100 Ideas” method encouraged expansive brainstorming before refining concepts. For Prototyping, he emphasized that it is the key to learning from mistakes. Starting with sketches and slowly progressing to physical models, leveraging tactile understanding (“begreifen” in German) for better engagement. Finally, in testing, he advocated iterative refinement, using Industry 4.0 principles: gathering feedback, testing hypotheses, and refining designs based on real user behaviour, mirroring his hands-on expertise in product development.
The session ended with Prof. Vinesh presenting tokens of appreciation to Mr. Mueller and the mentors who will guide the teams through the accelerator program, applying the design thinking principles demonstrated in the workshop.
As the ASBX Accelerator begins its journey, participants carry forward not just methodologies but inspiration from Mr. Mueller’s excellent session. The stage is set for these emerging innovators to write their own success stories in the months ahead.
