The Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology of the University of Pécs, in collaboration with the Baranya County Chamber of Engineers, organized the MIK Partners professional day, which this year also hosted the Join-Rise Multiplier Event, in cooperation with University of Burgos in Spain, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. Technology is essential in solving challenges of sustainability and engineering and architecture at the university level have an important role to play. The Join Rise initiative was the most popular session of the day, primarily focusing on the integration of sustainability into education. Within this framework, the project's key results were presented in person and online by the project partners. The morning session focused on educational methodology in sustainability and outlining the projects outcomes. Presentations were given by Professor Zoltán Orbán, Marcus Juby, Dr. Bernadett Mészáros, and Juhász Tamás from the University of Pécs, and Luana Presti from the University of Burgos, Dr. Maria Nogal from Delft University of Technology, and Dr. Sara Pavia from Trinity College Dublin.
The afternoon session presented practical building and architectural projects from the faculty's two traditional international partner universities: Wolfgang Schmied, leading architect, and Jan Werner, architectural professor from FH Joanneum in Graz, and Ivica Guljas, university lecturer and civil engineer from the University of Josip Juraj Strossmayer in Osijek. These practical projects provided concise examples of integrating different aspects of sustainability into education, providing clear illustrations of specific problems and their solutions. The afternoon concluded with two practical demonstrations, Dr Carissa Champlin, a lecturer at Delft University presented the GameLab programme, which shapes awareness through gamified learning, and Ignazio Muniz, the lead developer at Bjaland Technologies, introduced and allowed testing of a virtual educational platform specifically created within the framework of the Join-Rise project. This platform is expected to make sustainability knowledge and perspectives accessible through teaching materials, educational modules, and new courses from the partner universities in the second half of 2024.
In the evening, the main square of Pécs, Széchenyi Square, hosted a poster exhibition showcasing the engineering profession, featuring over 100 posters. This exhibition was open until October 12th.
The second day of the international event continued with an international project meeting, also with partners connecting online. Two leading educators from the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Dr János Gyergyák, an architect, and Tamás Juhász, a civil engineer, presented how they transformed existing curricula in their respective fields for international collaboration on the online platform. The morning provided a valuable opportunity for informal discussions with the developer of the virtual platform, fostering a better understanding of its potential use in online education. The consortium leader presented the evaluation of the project, prepared by the National Agency (Sepie). The meeting was a good opportunity to discuss financial, management and administrative aspects of the projects as well. Project partners are going to meet next time in Burgos in autumn of 2024.