Working Visit to Armenia | Day 3: B2B Has Entered Universities: Polytechnic and Its Partners Are Training a New Generation of Sales Professionals

**Agenda of the Armenian work phase of the LISS24 Project Day 3: “Sales Laboratories” in Universities and Inter-University B2B Competition The third day of the event was hosted by the Armenian National Agrarian University. The discussions focused on the technical aspects of establishing “Sales Laboratories” at the participating universities of the LISS24 project: • The location, acquisition of equipment and software packages, • Features of implementation and integration of the laboratories into the academic process, • Involvement of specialists from the hardware and software provider company during the operation phase. Ruben Aghgashyan, NPUA coordinator of LISS24, reported that although the official deadline for the lab setup is November 2025, Polytechnic University is ready to launch this innovative lab as early as this September. The laboratory is essentially an "Emotion Measurement Tool." The equipment records changes in key emotional parameters of negotiators, such as anger, contempt, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise, and engagement. Special AI models analyze these and offer suggestions for improving the likelihood of success. Gor Martirosyan, Head of Work Package 3 of LISS24 at NPUA: “The launch of the B2B Sales Laboratory will contribute to the improvement of our university students' soft skills and significantly enhance their business communication and interaction capabilities. The two competitions held during these days were pilot in nature. The laboratory will help ensure more professional preparation of both lecturers and students for future competitions.” The second of the two competitions focused on B2B sales. It featured three students each from NPUA and NUACA, who, under the roleplay scenario, acted as sales professionals for EDUX, trying to pitch the company’s multi-field training products to Inecobank CJSC. The jury included representatives from both companies. Mariam Ghandilyan from Polytechnic University secured second place, while students from NUACA took the first and third spots. Notably, however, only one student- Arina Manukyan from Polytechnic, who didn’t place among the winners- received a concrete internship offer from specialists at Inecobank CJSC.

Working Visit to Armenia | Day 2: Expanding Innovation and B2B Sales Competencies and Student Competition

On the second day of the event, the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia (NUACA) served as the host institution. Since the launch of LISS24, the three participating Armenian universities, NPUA, NUACA, and ANAU have jointly designed and implemented pilot programs focused on generating innovative business ideas and enhancing B2B sales. These pilot initiatives mainly differed in the format of the internal competitions held at each university. Lida Aghajanyan, Responsible for subject-matters of academic affairs, NPUA: “These pilot programs will be refined and improved with the support of European partners. Armenian business organizations will also be involved to align the content with labor market demands. There is a prospect of integrating these programs as elective courses into the full curriculum at the Polytechnic University.” According to the project coordinator from Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS), Finland, it is almost impossible to learn these skills through lectures alone, practical application is essential, as well as the use of more innovative teaching methods. Arto Kuuluvainen, LISS24 Coordinator at TUAS, Finland: “We are building familiarity and trust with one another, which is also one of the fundamental elements of both B2B sales and innovation. Our goal is to transfer our knowledge and competencies to Armenian and Georgian universities, particularly in areas related to B2B sales and innovative skills. We also plan to establish sales laboratories in both Armenia and Georgia.” Lida Aghajanyan adds that the B2B laboratory currently being set up, with the equipment procurement process already completed, will also provide the opportunity to continue organizing competitions on a regular basis. Polytechnic University's Victories of the Day The most exciting, engaging, and inspiring part of Day 2 of the Armenian work phase of LISS24 was the inter-university student competition on innovative ideas. To ensure impartiality, the jury was composed of representatives from European and Georgian institutions as well as the universities' business partners. Polytechnic teams secured the top two positions. 1st Place – “Smart Cup” A smart cup designed to improve the quality of life for people with visual impairments. 2nd Place – “Braille Board” An innovative Bluetooth-enabled device that connects to smartphones and is designed for individuals with visual limitations. It allows users to input text and control essential functions without using the screen. 3rd Place was awarded to students from the Agrarian University for their “Track Tail” mobile app for pet care.

🇦🇲 LISS24 Armenia Onsite Visit: Innovation, Sales, and Partnerships in Action 🇪🇺

Between June 9–12, the LISS24 Erasmus+ CBHE project consortium convened in Yerevan, hosted by our outstanding Armenian partner institutions: National Polytechnic University of Armenia (NPUA) National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia (NUACA) Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) These four days were full of strategic planning, project deliverables, Sales & Innovation Competitions, and inspiring engagement with students and industry stakeholders. Highlights included among others... Opening remarks, and important discussions, with Sargis Asatryants, Varazdat Hovhannisyan, Hrachya Zakoyan, and Vardges Yedoyan. Workshop on university–industry collaboration, featuring f.ex. HackTech. Enthusiastic participation in student competitions in B2B sales and innovative business idea development A robust roundtable on Sales Lab setup and deployment, led by Alexander Eigner and Timo Holopainen Site visits to labs and centres that represent Armenia’s academic and technical strengths 🙏 A heartfelt thank-you to project's partners and other friends of LISS24: Ruben Aghgashyan, Artur Altunyan, Varazdat Hovhannisyan Lida Aghajanyan, Lilit Ghazaryan, Tatevik Yedoyan PHD, PMP®, Mariam Movsisyan, Lusine Mnatsakanyan, Angelina Hovhannisyan, Kalipse Sedrakyan, Gevick D.., Tatevik H., Alexander Eigner, Huaan Fan, Pedro Fuentes, Eduard Demetrashvili, Khatuna Khabadze and all other partners, the students & support staff who made this a truly impactful experience. The LISS24 project is co-funded by the European Commission under the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education programme. We continue to strengthen innovation and B2B sales capacity across higher education in Armenia and Georgia. On behalf of project coordinator (Turku University of Applied Sciences / Sales and B2B Business (Research Group, Turku University of Applied Sciences), Dr. Arto Kuuluvainen, Dr. Timo Holopainen & Mr. Harri Lappalainen. hashtag#ErasmusPlus hashtag#LISS24 hashtag#B2BSales hashtag#Innovation hashtag#SalesEducation hashtag#HigherEducation hashtag#CapacityBuilding hashtag#Armenia