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The Howmet Foundation will continue to support the Alba Regia University of Óbuda’s Faculty of Technology in the academic year 2023/2024 (HUF 7.353.400). In addition to the eight years of professional cooperation, Howmet has contributed a total of HUF 130 million to the development of technical higher education in Székesfehérvár. The voucher was presented to Csabáné Budavári, President of the Alba Regia Foundation for Technical Higher Education, and Prof. Dr. Györök György Dean of the University of Budapest, and received by the Dean of the Foundation, István Katus.

At the event, Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, Mayor of Székesfehérvár, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rudolf Kalman Foundation for Óbuda University, welcomed the next step of the successful cooperation. The mayor emphasised that the annual grant always reflects the developments defined by the company and the university together. He also described the Székesfehérvár Science and Innovation Park as a new arena for cooperation between the university and companies, which will be characterised by “scientific – entrepreneurial type orders”.

István Katus, the Howmet-Köfém Kft. said that since 2016, their group of companies has provided a total of HUF 130 million for the development of the campus’ equipment. He emphasized that their goal has remained unchanged from the beginning: “to produce students from the Székesfehérvár campus who have learned with tools, machines, programs and software used in local industry”.

Prof. Dr. Györök György, Dean of the Alba Regia University of Óbuda Faculty of Technology, noted in his welcome speech that they are committed to the transfer of practice-oriented, up-to-date knowledge. A fundamental element of this is the continuous renewal of the educational tool base, which is uniquely supported by the city of Székesfehérvár and its economic environment.

In his presentation, Dr. Károly Széll, Associate Professor, summarized the training and research offerings of the Alba Regia University of Óbuda, as well as the range of services of the Székesfehérvár Science and Innovation Park.

At the end of March, the Alba Regia Faculty of Technology of Óbuda University, the Székesfehérvár Science and Innovation Park, the University of Óbuda, the Festo Hungary Kft., a Fanuc Hungary Kft., Wenglor  Sensoric Hungária Kft. organized together an all-day program: ’Connectivity, digitalisation, industrial solutions’ symposium.

The professionals gathered in Building C1 were able to learn about the Science Park and the University’s capabilities, R&D services, and topics such as sensory issues in industrial robot welding, the use of digitalisation and virtual spaces in the monitoring of complex systems, predictive maintenance software, the combined use of industrial robotics and mixed reality, and the role of artificial intelligence in industry.

The Fehérvár Hockey Academy (FEHA19) and Óbuda University have signed a cooperation agreement to help each other in sports science research and the development of a long-term career model – said Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács, Rector of Óbuda University.

The event on 29 February was attended by Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, Mayor of Óbuda and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rudolf Kalman Foundation for Óbuda University.

In the future, the Fehérvár Hockey Academy (FEHA19) and the Alba Regia Faculty of Arts of Óbuda University will work together for the athletes and students in several areas. The parties have agreed to support each other’s work, so that the academy’s athletes can participate in individual curriculum and in the university’s athletics programme.

At Óbuda University, hockey players will also have the opportunity to prepare for life after sport, as there is a sports economics course available. As part of the agreement, science could also play a role in the coaching of athletes, in the training of young players and even in the evaluation of their performance on the pitch.

The signing ceremony was attended by Mayor Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, Prof. Dr. Levente Kovács, Rector of Óbuda University, Prof. Dr. Györök György, Dean of the University, and on behalf of Fehérvár Hockey Academy (FEHA19) István Fekti, CEO and id. Gábor Ocskay, President of the Board of Trustees.

Ildikó Tóth

On 31 January 2024, a joint press event was held to announce the Arconic-Copper Mill Products Ltd. Zsuzsanna Varga, Managing Director of the University, Dr. András Cser-Palkovics, Mayor of Székesfehérvár, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University and Dr. habil. Éva Hajnal, Vice Dean of Research at the Alba Regia Faculty of Engineering at Óbuda University, that the Arconic Foundation will continue to support the university in 2023. The company supports the development of technical higher education for a long time. It donated 30,000 US dollars to produce special course materials and expand the equipment park in the 2023/2024 academic year in line with new industrial trends.

Mayor Dr. András Cser-Palkovics stressed that this support reflects the intention to support engineering education and to give young people a chance. He stressed that the university’s funding is secured through state subsidies, and mentioned that this year’s city budget contributes to the running and operating costs. The mayor of Székesfehérvár said that the municipality could do this through local taxes paid by companies. He thanked Arconic-Köfém Kft. for their support in training future workers and for being partners in the city’s fight to keep more people in the city.

Zsuzsanna Varga, Managing Director of Arconic-Köfém Mill Products Hungary Kft., who also represented the Arconic Foundation, emphasized that she is “proud to have been able to cooperate with the University of Óbuda for more than 5 years.” She emphasized that during this time they have provided more than 250,000 dollars in support for the education and training of the future generation, who will also become the leaders of the future through their engineering and management work. She noted that it is a traditional company that “prides itself on its roster of highly skilled professionals with whom it produces a quality product”.

Nagyné Dr. habil. Éva Hajnal, Vice Dean for Research at the Alba Regia Faculty of Technology, Óbuda University, highlighted the changing role of universities in her speech. Universities in the Middle Ages disseminated knowledge by sharing and reading the works of the great scholars of the time, while the students absorbed it, hence the name student. In today’s universities, the process of knowledge sharing has been replaced by active participation, where students learn not only the subject knowledge, but also the engineering approach, the way of thinking and, through practical training, the necessary competences from the lecturers. The Vice-Dean stressed that they are working to build close links with industry to keep knowledge and tools up to date through input from the economy.

Dr. Károly Széll, Associate Professor at the Alba Regia University of Óbuda’s Faculty of Technology, gave a presentation on the developments so far, the outstanding achievements of the students (successes at the Fanuc Olympics, robotics world championships and European championships) and highlighted that the 2023 grant will be used to “focus on the development of special industrial courses, including robot programming, PLC (programmable logic controller) programming and security engineering.”

The Municipality of Székesfehérvár City with County Rights, in collaboration with Harman Becker Kft. and the Alba Regia Faculty of Technology at Óbuda University, organized the “Junior Engineers Camp – HARMAN Hackathon” for the second time. This competition was aimed at teams comprising high school and university students to develop ideas and prototypes. The finals took place at the Sóstó Stadium on November 17-18, 2023, involving a 24-hour technical challenge and prototyping session. The event was inaugurated on Friday afternoon by Attila Mészáros, Deputy Mayor of Székesfehérvár; István Kis, Managing Director of Harman Becker Kft; and Prof. Dr. Györök György, Dean of the ÓE AMK.

Teams introduced themselves briefly on stage, followed by a thought-provoking presentation by Tibor Tiszai, process engineer at Harman Becker Kft., on the company’s development directions. Tibor Németh, education manager, then outlined the technical challenge and provided necessary technical information for task completion.

The result of the national call for the ideas and prototyping competition was evident in the composition of the teams that made it to the finals: 2 teams from Fehérvár, 1 from Pécs, 1 from Mohács, 1 from Budapest, and 1 joint secondary school team from Várpalota-Fehérvár. This year marked the first time the university category was included, with 1 team from the University of Pécs, 1 from the University of Pannonia, 1 from the Alba Regia Faculty of Technology at Óbuda University, and 1 joint team from Corvinus University of Budapest and Óbuda University.

The Sóstó stadium provided a well-prepared creative space for high school and university students, including tools such as a 3D printer, laptop, soldering iron, electronic components, sensors, etc., to overcome the technical challenge as well as for prototype production, however, teams were also allowed to bring their own tools. Throughout the finals, a mentor team (“Council of Wise Men”) comprising engineers from Harman Becker Ltd., was available for 24 hours to offer technical support as needed, but the teams themselves were primarily responsible for problem-solving. Competitors enjoyed unlimited food and drinks and had access to a rest area during the finals.

The pitch phase of the competition began at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, during which the teams presented their developments to the jury through short presentations. Each team discussed the concept they had devised to address the technical challenge and showcased a functioning prototype of their product.

At the conclusion of the ‘proof of concept’ phase, the jury appreciated the teams’ presentations, emphasizing that despite the fatigue of the 24-hour competition, every participant had performed admirably and should take pride in themselves and the results achieved.

The evaluation committee included István Kis, Managing Director of Harman-Becker Kft; Tibor Németh, Education Manager of Harman-Becker Kft; Roland Farkas, a dual student at Óbuda University and Harman Becker Kft; Prof. Dr. György Györök, Dean of the Alba Regia Faculty of Technology at Óbuda University; Attila Mészáros, Vice Mayor of Székesfehérvár; and Károly Szántó, Director of the Venture Studio at Obuda Uni Venture Capital Zrt.

The final results of the competition are as follows:

In the secondary school category:

1. Palotai motoroSOKK – a joint team from Veszprém SZC Öveges József Technical School and Dormitory,  along with the Székesfehérvár SZC Széchenyi István Technical School
2. Robbiners – Budapest SZC Mechatronics Secondary Technical School 
3. Sárgák – Baranya County SZC Zipernowsky Károly Technical School
4. Next Generation (NG) – Baranya County SZC Mohács Radnóti Miklós Technical and Vocational School
5. Mikrobi – Székesfehérvár SZC Széchenyi István Technical School
6. New World – Székesfehérvár SzC Hunyadi Technical School

In the university category:

1. AMKoffe – Alba Regia Faculty of Technology, Óbuda University
2. Hackoffein – University of Pécs
3. FDMG – a joint team from Corvinus University of Budapest and Óbuda University
4. JBL Miklós – University of Pannonia

The teams were informed about the number of Harman dollars they earned through their development work.

Participants could redeem their virtual banknotes for Harman premium audio devices placed in the event space.

The gifts were presented by Erzsébet Preiszler, Managing Director of Harman Becker Kft., and Hajnalka Árki, Senior HR Director.

In addition to the valuable gifts, the winning high school and university teams will also enjoy an exclusive factory visit to the Harman Becker Kft. factory in Hungary.

Throughout the evening, all the organisers and participants of the hackathon demonstrated exceptional collaboration, teamwork, and adaptability.

For more information about the competition, visit the official websites:

• http://harmanhackathon.amk.uni-obuda.hu/
• https://www.facebook.com/harmanhackathon