The cooperation between Hydro Extrusion Hungary Ltd. and Alba Regia Faculty of Technology, Óbuda University continues to expand. Environmental protection is a priority for both organisations. Their ambition is also reflected in the reinterpretation of the tools released by the company, strengthening the practice-oriented nature of engineering courses at the higher education institution.
In line with the circular economy approach, the surplus machines that appear in one place and are taken out of production are reborn within the walls of the educational institution during the mechanical and electrical engineering courses as raw materials for a project task. In an era of scarcity of raw materials, this cooperation has highlighted a possible way of creating the conditions for practical training.
The cooperation agreement was signed by Gábor Veres, factory manager on behalf of Hydro Extrusion Ltd. and by Csabáné Budavári, chair of the board of trustees on behalf of Alba Regia Foundation for Higher Technical Education, supporting Alba Regia Faculty of Technology, Óbuda University. Nagyné Dr. Éva Hajnal, Deputy Dean of Research representing the University Faculty also participated the programme.
The relationship between the company and the higher education institution will continue in the near future. Besides the dual training further training programmes, joint research and development activities will be done.
On Thursday morning, 14th April 2022, a group of master and bachelor students of computer engineering visited Nemesys Games Ltd. Nemes Games. During the visit, the managing director of the company, Szabolcs Józsa, and one of the lead developers, Zoltán Nyakacska, gave presentations on game design and development and game software. After the presentations, the team was guided through the company’s very exclusive premises, where the developers work in a super-designed environment and use the most advanced technology. We were able to learn about the games the company has been involved in developing and hear stories about the work they have done. We could see the staff at work, with not just two but three monitors in front of them. The students were very enthusiastic and asked the hosts plenty of questions. All of the enquiries were answered thoroughly. We hope to make several similar visits in the future.
COLLABORATION IN THE CLOUD: VIRTUAL KYNDRYL INDUSTRIAL CHAIR ESTABLISHED AT ÓBUDA UNIVERSITY
Óbuda University and Kyndryl Hungary – Kyndryl Customer Innovation Centre have signed an agreement today to establish the Kyndryl Industrial Department at Alba Regia Faculty of Technology in Székesfehérvár focusing on the education of cloud technologies and related fields to prepare students for the jobs of the future. Through the virtual department Kyndryl is going to offer courses in cloud technologies with its own staff and is going to participate in teaching advanced mathematics. Students can access courses from remote locations developing their skills and knowledge in the modern IT areas where Kyndryl has expertise.
Both the company and the university place a priority on teaching cloud technologies as more and more companies and institutions move their IT applications to the cloud. Moving to the cloud is a complex process that requires service providers with a wide range of skills. Kyndryl is one of them representing opportunities for both the company and its employees. Kyndryl’s Customer Innovation Center in Székesfehérvár Hungary was founded in 1997 and today it employs more than 3,000 professionals who support customers across all industry segments in designing, building, managing and modernizing their mission-critical technology systems. Kyndryl and Alba Regia Faculty of Technology of Óbuda University are going to continue to develop and expand the collaboration by creating additional curricula, launching new courses in different research topics and participating in examination boards. Kyndryl has already become one of the university’s largest dual training partners hosting 57 dual students since 2016. As a result 16 students joined Kyndryl in September 2022.
Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács, Rector of Óbuda University, said that it is of utmost importance to strengthen the Hungarian economy so that university graduates have up-to-date practical knowledge and open to changes. Óbuda University has always put great emphasis on developing its industrial relations in order to enable students to deepen their theoretical and practical skills. Our dual system covers almost all areas of technical and economic life and we are consistently increasing it. The best practice is shown by Alba Regia Faculty of Technology in Székesfehérvár, where local companies are currently contributing to the cost of 161 students’ studies, ensuring that they get to know the operation of a plant and the coordination of production processes while they are studying.
Zoltán Zerényi, Director of Kyndryl Customer Innovation Centre, EMEA, highlighted that Kyndryl is constantly seeking and developing the talent of the next generation before entering the workforce. They are working closely with educational institutions for mutual success, the professional fulfilment of the brightest students, the reduction of technology skills gap and the prosperity of the company.
We spoke to Pál Hargitai on a Thursday morning, who as an alumnus regularly returns to his alma mater to share his knowledge with the next generation. As an invited lecturer at Kyndryl Hungary Kft. (https://www.kyndryl.com), he gives lectures on Mainframe for computer engineering students to provide them with up-to-date information before they enter the job market.
“I’ve learned to learn, and with this roadmap, I can master anything.”
Interview with Paul Hargitai, Kyndryl Hungary Kft.
(Part 18 of the alumni interview series)
Which company and in which position do you work?
I work at Kyndryl Hungary, as an IBM mainframe systems programmer.
What was your motivation for choosing our university or its predecessor institutions?
Firstly, many of my relatives are teachers and I always felt that I had an affinity for explaining things and helping others learn. On the other hand, I wanted to let IT graduates know that there is a category of supercomputers, the IBM Mainframe, that many people have never even heard of. Thirdly, it drew me back to the walls where I had studied.
Exactly which predecessor institution did you study at? Which degree(s) did you obtain?
I studied at the predecessor institution of Óbuda University, at the Kandó Kálmán Technical College of Electrical Engineering, Institute of Computer Engineering.
Did you have a teacher you looked up to? What message/perspective/knowledge did he/she enrich you with?
Yes, his name was Tibor Milcsevics. He worked for IBM in Germany for many years. He told us a lot about his work there and we learned a lot about systems theory from him.
Can you recall your first memory of our university?
Our opening ceremony, which coincided with the graduation of the correspondence students.
Did the institution give you a life-long passport?
Yes, It did. I learned to learn, and with that I can master anything.
Did you find time to have fun while you were studying? How were your student years at the university?
Besides studying, I played volleyball for the then NB-I VOLÁN SC. Apart from going to the cinema, the most fun I had was getting together with friends, most often in the “Kinizsi study room”, which was held in the nearby Kinizsi beer bar.
Can you describe what you liked most about the university?
Friends meant a lot to me. The cohesion of our community is reflected in the fact that only two of us could not make it to our last anniversary meeting. College life at the institution has also been great and has shaped us.
What opportunities do you see in higher education today?
When I was a student, I learned programming on paper. Today’s undergraduate education is becoming more and more sophisticated, with very strong hardware and lab facilities in universities. And all this is complemented by the fact that lecturers from companies using the latest technologies are also helping to teach. This is a very big opportunity.
Do you have any advice for today’s youth on how to choose a university/career for themselves?
They should choose based on what their heart tells them, what they need. Don’t take the easy way out just to have a degree!
Can you recall a memorable moment that ties you to our university?
It was a big surprise and a memorable moment of a lifetime when I was awarded the “EXCELLENT HONORARY” diploma as a senior.
To what extent can you use what you have learned at our institution in your workplace?
I needed the basics that I had learnt back then, but there was also another very important factor, which I have already mentioned: I learnt to learn here.
Did you dream as a child of this profession or did you have other ‘career dreams’?
Once, a very long time ago, I was given a book called Cybernetics, written by Oskar Kursa, and it was a trio of books by the same author on the foundations of computer science. At the time I only understood a few things from them, but I felt I had found my direction. Since then, I have often wondered whether it was coincidence that those things eventually led me down the path of computer science.
I think not.
With a degree in hand, what were the first few steps you took to further your career?
It was easy. In my final year, I was already a scholarship holder at the Computer Technology Cooperative in Szeged, where I could have started working as a graduate. Interestingly, a “coincidence” intervened again when, seeing my results, a distant relative prevented me from continuing my life in Szeged at the last minute and contracted me to work on the construction and operation of the computer center of the VIDEOTON Radio Factory.
Did you have a mentor to help you at the beginning of your career?
Yes, my relative definitely played a key role. I would also like to mention my parents, who supported me wholeheartedly in staying in Székesfehérvár and working at VIDEOTON, which had more opportunities, rather than in a job near my family.
IEEE Hungary Section (IEEE HS) annually announces a competition for students in higher education titled “Student Paper Contest.” Only those professional papers and theses can participate in the competition, which were published during the period specified in this call, belong to the professional spectrum of IEEE, written either in Hungarian or in English and were authored by a BSc/MSc/PhD student with active student status in a Hungarian higher education institution. In case of multiple authorship, up to a maximum of three students may apply with the same work. IEEE membership is not required for the application. Works that were already published or even awarded elsewhere are not excluded from the competition. A multi-authored work with a co-author who does not have an active student status (e.g. supervisor) can only be submitted if the name of the applying student(s) appears in the author list prior to the name of the non-applying co-author(s).
COLLABORATION IN THE CLOUD: THE VIRTUAL KYNDRYL INDUSTRIAL DEPARTMENT IS ESTABLISHED AT THE ÓBUDA UNIVERSITY
Óbuda University and Kyndryl Hungary – Kyndryl Customer Innovation Center today signed an agreement to establish the Kyndryl Industrial Department at the Alba Regia Technical Faculty in Székesfehérvár, which focuses on teaching cloud technologies and related fields to prepare students for the workplaces of the future.
Through the virtual department, Kyndryl holds courses in the field of cloud technology with its own staff and participates in the teaching of high-level mathematics. With the involvement of students in Budapest, students can access the courses from the entire university area, even from remote locations, and develop their skills and knowledge in the modern IT areas where Kyndryl has expertise.
Both the company and the university place a high priority on education in cloud technologies, as more and more companies and institutions move their IT applications to the cloud. Moving to the cloud is a complex process that requires service providers with extensive knowledge. Kyndryl is one of them, which represents a huge opportunity for both the company and the employees. Kyndryl’s customer innovation center in Székesfehérvár was founded in 1997 and today employs more than 3,000 professionals who support their customers in all segments of industries in the design, construction, management and modernization of their mission-critical technology systems.
Kyndryl and the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of the Óbuda University continue to develop and expand the cooperation by creating additional curricula, starting new courses in areas offering different research topics and participating in examination committees. Kyndryl is already one of the university’s largest dual training partners, having welcomed 57 dual students since 2016. Of these, 16 students joined Kyndryl in September 2022.
Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács, the rector of Óbuda University, said that graduates from higher education with up-to-date knowledge that can be used well in practice, and who are receptive to changes, have a special role in strengthening the domestic economy. The Óbuda University has always placed a great deal of emphasis on developing its industrial relations so that during the training, students can deepen not only their theoretical but also their practical skills. Almost all areas of technical and economic life are covered by our dual system, which we are consistently increasing. The best practice is demonstrated by the Alba Regia Technical Faculty in Székesfehérvár, where local companies are currently contributing to the costs of the studies of 161 students, ensuring that they get to know the operation of a plant and the coordination of production processes even as university students.
Zoltán Zerényi, Director of the Kyndryl Customer Innovation Center, EMEA, emphasized that Kyndryl is constantly looking for and developing the next generation of talents before they enter the labor market, working closely with educational institutions for joint success: the professional fulfillment of the best students, the reduction of technological skills shortages and for the company’s prosperity.
Howmet-Köfém Kft (and its predecessor institutions) and the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of Óbuda University have been working together for the seventh year now in various research and educational projects. During a press conference on Monday, the almost HUF 8 million grant was handed over, which will be used, among other things, for the development of the robotics center and the pneumatic laboratory. On the program, Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, the mayor of Székesfehérvár, gave a welcome address, István Katus, the managing director of Howmet-Köfém kft., and Prof. Dr. Györök György, the dean of the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of the Óbuda University presented the priorities of the cooperation from the perspective of their organizations.
In the project called “Robot Process Modeling in Higher Education”, the aim was to supplement and modernize the laboratory and educational materials by creating an industrial production line to model the processes of intelligent manufacturing. Industrial processes appear in BSc, MSc and postgraduate level education, thus bringing the students’ practical knowledge closer to the needs represented by the company. During the project, new laboratory equipment was installed, and a new curriculum was developed. For this, the instructors also had to learn about the industrial application possibilities of the new hardware in order to develop curriculum that meets industrial needs.
Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, the mayor of Székesfehérvár, welcomed the participants and noted that despite a challenging period, he sees that strategic collaborations can be filled with new content. He emphasized that “the current support is also about the fact that the cooperation between Howmet-Köfém and the Óbuda University has not only a past, but also a present and a future, and the goal is to increase students’ opportunities and to convey the message to young people that it makes sense for them to stay at home or come to Fehérvár from somewhere else, because this city can give them a good professional and existential vision for the future in terms of its university and industry.” He emphasized that the Óbuda University has achieved a prominent place in the international ranking of universities, to which more and more people apply every year. He noted that the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of the Óbuda University has also undergone serious development in recent years, with an increase in the infrastructure and the number of students, which is a very important factor for the city’s industry. At the end of his greeting, he thanked Howmet-Köfém for its many years of partnership, which is embodied year after year either in the dual training or in the professional programs.
In his speech,István Katus, the managing director of Howmet-Köfém Kft., noted that they were among the first companies in Székesfehérvár who felt it important to get involved in the support of university education as a local business organization. He pointed out that this is now in its seventh year, and they are close to HUF 150 million, and according to their plans, they want to support the university faculty for many years to come. The aim of the industrial companies, including Howmet, is to finance these projects and help them graduate from the university with engineers who can be employed immediately. He said that there are currently dual students at the company who are being supported in their professional development so that they can accumulate as much practical knowledge as possible, which can be useful either at them or at another company. The executive director asked the university faculty to approach the company next year with a project idea that they can support through the foundation.
Prof. György Györök, dean of the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of the Óbuda University, commented, “the company’s attitude towards us is incredibly good.” The support of technical higher education contributes to the expansion of the tool base and the instrument park. He noted that this excellent corporate attitude is also a great responsibility, as this should be treated as a good investment in order to help companies through education. He thanked us for the support received in the seventh year as well, which contributes to modernizing our higher education and training.
Associate professor Dr. Károly Széll summarized in a short presentation how usefully the university was able to use the support. Mechanical, IT, and electrical engineering students can get to know the technologies used by companies at the university, in the robotics centre, or in the pneumatic laboratory. He talked about how he managed to expand the lab with three teaching cells (with fanuc controllers), which can already be used to train 12 people with the industrial robotics engineer training. He talked about the first professional successes, that thanks to the knowledge gained in the robot laboratory, the students won last year’s FANUC Olympiad, as well as about the successful placement of students at the world competition in Luxembourg. Finally, he mentioned that on January 18, the university faculty will organize a workshop conference on industrial robotics.
On November 17, 2022 (Thursday), the opening ceremony of the AIS (International Symposium on Applied Informatics and Related Areas) conference, which is part of the Hungarian Science Festival program series, was organized by the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of Óbuda University. Deputy mayor Attila Mészáros gave a welcome speech, the event continued with the opening speech of Prof. Dr. György Györök, dean of the Alba Regia Technical Faculty, and associate professor Dr. József Halász held the role of chairman of the plenary sessions.
In accordance with tradition, the scientific symposium launched in 2005 as a kind of multidisciplinary forum presented diverse topics on the achievements in the field of technical research and education.
At the opening ceremony held on the university campus, deputy mayor Attila Mészáros welcomed the participants of the symposium on behalf of the city and thanked the organizing committee for the work of the conference. He emphasized that, nowadays, ÓE has achieved a place of excellence in many international rankings, ahead of its competitors, to which the Székesfehérvár university faculty also contributed. He emphasized that the educational work and the research work carried out in technical higher education institutions are important for the city and its economy, the results of which are equally needed by industry. He drew attention to the role of research and development. The city supports these efforts, which is a catalyst for further development. Finally, he wished the participants a good meeting.
Prof. Dr. György Györök, the dean of the Alba Regia Technical Faculty of Óbuda University, welcomed the attendees, wished the participants good presentations, good questions, and high-spirited conversation and opened the conference. He drew attention to the translucent concrete developed by Áron Losonczi in 2002, which he mentioned as a symbol of the openness and diversity of the conference, as well as the open, transparent walls of the university, which welcomes those interested in scientific research with open arms. He emphasized that “what we do within the walls of the university in the name of science has its place and time.” He thanked the organizing committee for the work done to organize the seventeenth conference, wished everyone an open mind and building of good relations.
Associate professor Gábor Péter Molnár started the plenary lectures of the symposium with the title “How American Spy Satellite Images from 1960 Helped Us in the Changing World Environment”, followed by academician Gyula Simon with the title “Robust Localization Methods Using Voting Algorithms”.
On 16 December 2021, after the approval of the OU Senate, the Precision Farming Research Centre was established within the framework of the Obuda University Research and Innovation Centre, aiming to create an interdisciplinary research group and workshop to explore the practical application of modern technologies and their integration possibilities, especially for supporting precision farming. The centre also aims to support translational education, i.e. the up-to-date integration of high-level knowledge, technological development and application results of remote sensing, geoinformatics, sensor technology and artificial intelligence into education, which is a prerequisite for the sustainability, innovation and digitalisation of agriculture and related fields. Our Centre plays an active role in the dissemination, research and education of practical solutions for the rapidly developing agriculture and precision farming at national and international level. Focus areas: research and development of data collection tools, data sources and methods for supporting decisions in the field, and data evaluation methods. Based on previous national and international projects, educational experience (Precision Farming Engineering), successful cooperation with farmers and companies, the first work of the research centre has started. To support education and promote precision farming, an optional course “Introduction to precision farming technologies” (MsC training) has been developed to introduce precision farming technologies and to provide basic knowledge. The curriculum emphasises the practical applications of computer science and engineering in precision farming and other food production processes. Another aim is to involve university students in relevant research. Further development of the engineering curriculum is planned for this year, with a particular focus on the practical application of technology, data mining and the use of artificial intelligence.
Additional plans
To organise a summer university/camp for students from partner universities abroad.
Research proposals: drought monitoring, soil moisture estimation using remote sensing methods.
Building a database of corn variety trial results to support site-specific cultivation.
Verőné Dr. Wojtaszek Małgorzata Head of the Precision Farming Research Centre at the University Research and Innovation Centre
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