The College of International Transport and Logistics at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) Alexandria Branch showcased the Interreg NEXT MED SPEEDUP Project during CITL Graduation Projects Day 2026, held on 4 July 2026.
The event took place alongside the presentation and evaluation of graduation projects developed by students in transport, logistics, supply chain management, international trade, sustainability, and innovation-related fields. This context provided a relevant dissemination platform to reach future entrepreneurs, innovators, and potential startup founders at an early stage of developing market-oriented ideas. More than 200 people attended, ranging from students to practitioners, entrepreneurs, and business owners, which expanded the activity’s reach beyond the academic audience.
As part of the project’s communication and visibility activities, SPEEDUP was represented through a project banner and promotional materials. These materials helped introduce attendees to the project’s focus on supporting innovative SMEs and startups and strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems across the Euro-Mediterranean region.
The discussions around the visibility materials focused on practical forms of support that are relevant to early-stage entrepreneurs, including entrepreneurial skills development, tailored mentoring, collaborative project development, professional networking, and links to business support structures. The activity also helped connect graduation project ideas with possible routes for further development, such as acceleration, partnership-building, or future engagement with entrepreneurship support initiatives.
The activity contributed to strengthening the connection between academic innovation and real market needs by presenting SPEEDUP within a setting where applied student projects were already being discussed and evaluated. It also supported AASTMT’s continued efforts to encourage entrepreneurship, logistics innovation, sustainability, and stronger collaboration between academia, industry, and the wider business community. By exposing students to practitioners, entrepreneurs, and business owners, the event helped encourage student project teams to pursue entrepreneurship and supported the achievement of the SPEEDUP Project’s goals and objectives.
Overall, the SPEEDUP visibility activity at AASTMT Alexandria Branch contributed to raising awareness of the project among a relevant audience and to promoting dialogue on how innovative ideas can be developed into more competitive and sustainable startup and SME pathways in Egypt and the Mediterranean region. In this sense, the activity reinforced Interreg NEXT MED’s wider mission by linking innovation-led entrepreneurship with practical cross-border cooperation opportunities across the Mediterranean.
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