Iddar belongs to a Tuareg nomad tribe and grew up between Mali, Niger, Algeria and Libya before moving to Italy, where he received his high school diploma with the highest grade. He will graduate in International Relations in 2014. Meanwhile, he has been working as an interpreter for the Italian Interior Ministry and has been accepted on an internship in the Emergencies Department of the FAO for 3 months, starting in June.

Giulia Ventricini, with brother and business partner Massimiliano, shows her award.

On March 8th AUR alumna Giulia Ventricini (Business Administration, 2010) was awarded by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Rome with the Prize “Idea Innovativa, la nuova imprenditorialità al femminile” (“Innovative Idea, new women’s entrepreneurship”). The prize, aimed at micro and small enterprises located within the Rome province and run by women, was directed at Giulia’s “MIB Creations” initiative, a new line of family oriented, customized, elegant products such as bed linen and covers, cushions, curtains and personalized fabrics, which she launched as part of her flag manufacturing business, MIB (Manifattura Italiana Bandiere).

Giulia’s project was judged by the Committee for the Promotion of Women’s Entrepreneurship as the most innovative project of the industrial sector for the year 2012. The award consisted of a certificate and a monetary sum.

After graduation, Edwina parlayed the film production experience she gained at AUR into positions at Barking Dogs Productions and Paramax Films in Paris, France.

The American University of Rome offers the only Film and Digital Media BA in English in all of Italy. Taught by an award-winning team of film and digital media faculty from the USA, the degree includes courses in: Multimedia, Film Production, Digital Imaging, Film Studies, Animation, Web Design and Screenwriting.

If you are interested in the BA in Film and Digital Media, please contact us using the form at the bottom of the page.

Alessandra’s novel is the story of Holland Froer, an exuberant and lively 16 years old girl whose tranquil life is shaken by the encounter with an old man whom she believes may be the reincarnation of her lost father, who had died when she was only three. It is a novel on the importance of love, in all its expressions.

This is Alessandra’s second novel. The first, Dal Punto di Vista di Giulia (From Giulia’s Point of View) was published in January this year by De Ferrari publishing. Alessandra is now looking for a publisher for her new book.

Ever enthusiastic about his AUR adventures, Mike has been working to help prepare next spring’s UMD study abroad group. Mike has also published a blog book with the material from his informative, well written and amusing “Andiamo a Roma” (found at michaelcianfichi.blogspot.com). In his returning home blog entry, Michael said:

“I’ve changed for the better, I think. I’m more understanding, accepting, educated and aware of how complex yet intertwined this whole world is.”

He adds, “I know the older I get, the less opportunity I’ll have to travel spontaneously at will so I want to make the best of my remaining two years in college. I hope to persuade a friend to study here, not only so I can have a reason to come back and visit, but also because above all, I think every person should have the opportunity to study abroad because of how valuable and positive experience this has been for me.”

Michael, we’d love to welcome you back!

* The Peres Award for Scholars Study Abroad honors a Scholar who has displayed an interest in international and global affairs. Applicants should exhibit scholarly attitudes, display academic excellence, and demonstrate learning as a result of having studied abroad.  Source: University of Maryland website.

“My desire to become an entrepreneur sprung from a class I had with Professor Fitzimmons at AUR, whereby we discussed Amazon. I remember being fascinated by the drive and creativity required to launch a new venture, and became inspired to do the same. And AUR’s career services office helped me snag a job at Venere – at the time an internet startup in Italy – a foundational experience that set me on my present course in the industry

I was studying my MBA at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology when I decided to do my last semester at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Besides the academic punch that NYU packs, I wanted to live in New York so that I could work on a business idea that my brother Yago had come up with during the summer. One day, it hit him:

“Wouldn’t it be awesome to freeze this moment in time, in this place, so that when someone else passes by this same spot they can find it and experience it themselves?”

That question is what drove the idea of Wyst forward. Wyst is like a new message in a bottle, an iPhone app that allows users to share experiences by tagging photos or text notes to their location. Through Wyst people would be able to share their thoughts, their feelings, their ideas and their experiences – as they happened, where they happened. It would also enable them to capture a moment in a note or a photo, and leave it behind for others to find in that same exact place.

So Yago and I got to work. He would be the Chairman and I would be the CEO. Balance of power and balance of decision. We raised a seed round from friends and family to finance the product development and the incorporation of the company. Through one of my best friends from the MBA we engaged the services of a proven Brooklyn-based digital development firm called HappyFunCorp, which prepared the initial designs and would build the product based on our specifications.

Iker (right) and his brother and business partner Yago (left).

5 months later, and Wyst is a reality. With the product available for free from Apple’s App Store, we have reached downloads from over 30 countries and are slowly but surely gaining traction in this industry. There have been 3 versions of Wyst in the App Store already, based on user feedback, that have prompted us to develop new features and continuous improvement. In order to fuel Wyst’s growth, we have just begun an angel round of financing that will enable us to kickstart development for an Android version and finance other
marketing efforts.

We don’t know where Wyst will take us, but the only way to find out is by doing. If worse comes to worse and we fall, we can always pick ourselves up again”.

For more information, please look us up here:

• Website:         www.wyst.it
• Facebook:      facebook.com/wystit
• Twitter:           @Wystit”

• Read the article on the Repubblica website

• Watch the interview

“Dal Punto di Vista di Giulia” is a diary novel which Alessandra drafted at the age of 12 and which was published last year. It is the story of an adolescent growing up and discovering life at a time of great change in her life.

Alessandra Potenza is about to leave Rome for New York, where she will attend a Master of Science program in Journalism at Columbia University.

The video was produced for Prof. Paul Zinder’s class Experimental Film and Video. Voting is open to the general public until Thursday June 23.

The 5 most voted videos will run for the winning video selection by an expert IULM panel on Friday June 24.

Please dedicate a minute of your time to support your fellow AUR colleagues.  Here is how you do it in two simple steps:

1. Go to this link
2. Then scroll down to the 7th row and click on the star for the video called Imprints… and please send this out to your friends and contacts!