Locations
30/09/2025

Creativity on the Menu

In August, we swapped burritos for brainstorms in Eindhoven. Together with design association Lucid, we hosted a business case for 200 first-year TU/e students. The challenge? Solve real Salsa Shop problems. From messy burritos to cold deliveries. Students on fire

TU/e students in blue Lucid intro week shirts working together on the Salsa Shop business case, sketching ideas and building prototypes with paper, string, and recycled materials at a classroom table.

The Lucid board had poured their whole summer into this intro week, and you could feel it: energy, fun and a room full of eager students in bright blue shirts. While I was still wrapping my head around being called ‘mevrouw’ (at 25…), they were already sketching, cutting and building like pros. Some pushed every boundary of the brief, others staged mini theatre plays to sell their ideas. Creativity everywhere!

Shark tank, but with salsa

At the end, I joined the Lucid board to judge the results, start-tank style. We saw it all: sharp technical prototypes, wild concepts and groups that had us laughing out loud. What struck me most was how much value comes from working with students. Fresh eyes, bold ideas and the guts to try anything.

For Salsa Shop, that’s the real win: collaborations that spark creativity and keep us connected to the next generation of thinkers and makers. And after this day? We learned, we laughed, we ate. Turns out that’s all it takes to head home satisfied.