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.
