In Miskolc the second Joint Conference of SEFI and IGIP took place from July 1 to July 4, 2007. Some 300 participants discussed the topics concerning engineering pedagogy for three days.
The opening speech held jointly by the two presidents is reprinted here. Claudio Borri (CB) is president of SEFI and Norbert Kraker (NK) is president of IGIP.
CB: Magnificency Rector Patko, distinguished authorities and honourable Guests, dear members and friends of SEFI and IGIP, dear delegates, ladies and gentlemen!
NK: It is a great honour for us, the two presidents of the engineering education societies, IGIP and SEFI, to welcome you to Miskolc.
CB: Benvenuti a Miskolc! Bienvenue a Miskolc, Bienvenidos a Miskolc, Bemvindos na Miskolc (PT), Welkom in Miskolc (NL), Velkommen til Miskolc (DK and NO), Tervetuloa Miskolzan (FI), Witamy w Miskolzi (PL).
NK: Herzlich willkommen in Miskolc! Viitejte v Miskolce (CZ), Dobre doshli v Miskolc (BG), Dobro Doschli u Miskolcu (CRO), Sveiki atvika i Miskolca (LIT), Miskolcya hosch geldiniz (TR), Bun venit la Miskolc (RO), Dobro Pojalowat’ w Miskolz (RU), Walkomna till Miskolc (SE) and
CB and NK: Ischten hosta Onoket Mischkolzon (HU).
CB: We had to pay a tribute to the Europe of plurilinguism, of course!
CB: It’s a great honour to address you and to welcome all delegates to the joint SEFI-IGIP annual Conference, generously hosted this year within the premises of the University of Miskolc, one of the oldest examples of the glorious tradition of European Universities.
NK: IGIP and SEFI, by far the two major European EE societies, 10 years after their last common annual conference, join again their efforts in the organization of a truly international event on Engineering Education. In fact, “Joining Forces in Engineering Education towards Excellence” has been chosen as the overall theme under which our debates, discussions and “brainstorms” will be proceeding in the next three days.
CB: SEFI is proceeding straight on in its mission of improving Engineering Education and its international dimension in Europe; SEFI is a lively and active association, representing a true, competent and bottom-up voice of HEE Institutions, educators, students and EE stake-holders all over Europe. This 2007 annual conference with more than 320 registered participants from 39 countries (25 European + 14 non-European), is the most convincing demonstration of this vitality and of the renewed strong cooperation with IGIP. At this place, we wish also to address a special and warm welcome to all non-European delegates, who joined us from far away and have found their way to Miskolc from Japan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates & USA.
NK: In addition to that, it’s our great pleasure to welcome to the today session Prof. Javier Paez-Saavedra and Jaime Salazar Contreras, respectively. President and Secretary General of ASIBEI, Prof. H. Fujita, Director of International Affairs of JSEE, Dr. F. Huband & Dr. Hans Hoyer, respectively Exec. Director and Deputy Director for International Programmes of ASEE: we are welcoming herewith some distinguished guests but also good friends of SEFI and IGIP! Thank you for being here with us.
CB: To accommodate 188 contributions, all plenary sessions, parallel sessions, workshops and poster sessions were needed; to facilitate “first time attendees” to get acquainted with the two societies, newcomers meetings have also been scheduled.
As usual, in addition to a dense scientific activity, the annual conference hosts the meetings of the governing bodies (two AC and SC meetings, the SEFI-IGIP task force meeting, and SEFI national correspondent meeting), the usual annual General Assemblies and the Editorial Board meeting of SEFI’s official Journal, the EJEE.
In the following, we will shortly describe which are the most important items dealt with by SEFI and IGIP at present, while I shall give a more detailed report on the activities of SEFI within the General Assembly of the Society, on Wednesday morning.
But, first of all, President Kraker and myself shall answer a preliminary question, which might puzzle our wide pan-European audience: why did we convene today here, all together again, after 10 years? Which has been the strategy beyond this decision?
NK: Well, the answer is entirely contained in the document called: VISION STATEMENT “WORKING FOR CONVERGENCE” (rev. 2, 4th Feb. 2006), where it is stated:
“In accordance with the leading Committees and upon approval of the general assemblies of IGIP and SEFI, the two Presidents, Prof. Borri (SEFI) and Prof. Flueckiger (IGIP), express the following vision statements with the intention:
To look for a maximum of synergy between the two Societies and to start a process of convergence towards a common pan-European Association, with the main scope of promoting the quality, internationalisation and competitiveness of EE exploiting the wealth of highly diverse existing educational systems.
To commit the societies to organize common events (e.g. annual conferences, WG meetings, thematic workshops) and to organize at least one of these events per year in common.
To jointly apply for projects in EE at European level and actively participate in the networks supported by the EC (Thematic Networks) in this field.
To shape and place joint positions prominently for EE internationally (e.g. within the future IFEES).
To install the IGIP-SEFI Liaison Group (which has been set up at the end of 2005) as a permanent task force working on all previous items.
CB: Dear President Kraker, dear participants! It might be helpful, so many years after the last joint conference, to refresh our mutual information and understanding concerning our two societies:
SEFI is the largest network of Institutions, academics and corporate stakeholders in the engineering education sector in Europe. It was founded in Leuven in 1973 as the first example of an independent non-profit association directly linking the institutions of higher engineering education and forming an international forum platform for discussing problems, exchange experiences and identifying solutions relating to engineering education. SEFI’s members are institutions of higher engineering education, individuals involved in or interested by the education of the engineers, associations and companies from Europe and all over the world. SEFI’s global mission is “to contribute to the development and the improvement of the engineering education in Europe”.
NK: Dear President Borri, dear participants! Now I want to refresh our information on IGIP. It was founded in Klagenfurt in 1972 by Prof. Dr. Adolf Melezinek, the Honorary Life-President of IGIP. The goal of the association is the promotion of the scientific method of educating technical disciplines, particularly with regard to their pedagogy and methodology. In the broader sense, this term implies the education of all those being active in the technical field, from qualified people up to female and male engineers with a university degree and the coordination and support of international attempts to promote the engineering education as well as the development of corresponding own initiatives.
The International Society for Engineering Education has a unique ING-PAED IGIP register which certificates a certain educational level for lecturers, which is set by the modular IGIP curriculum. Global Engineering Excellence is demanded. Engineering graduates need to have broad engineering skills and know-how, be flexible and mobile, and be able to work internationally. IGIP provides a worldwide platform for engineering pedagogy.
CB: Structure/Organization/Membership:
SEFI’s top management (1 President, 2 Vice Presidents, 1 Secretary General) is assisted by an Administrative Council (The true governing body of the society) and a Bureau (the president’s board). The Head-Quarters is based in Brussels and is run by the Secretary General assisted by other staff members. SEFI derives its position from the unique knowledge and networking of our members. At present SEFI has about 350 members from 41 different countries (Europe and international), amongst which 156 institutional members and 37 associate members and industrial members.
Working groups: The SEFI working groups are open to all members and form the backbone of our society: Curriculum Development (CDWG), Continuing Engineering Education (WGCEE), Mathematics in Engineering Education, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Women in Engineering (WGWE), Physics and Engineering Education (PWG), Ethics in Engineering Education (EiEE). WGs organize seminars, workshops and publish their outcomes. The creation of new working groups is presently strongly recommended and supported by the management of the Society, especially on priority items like “qualification framework, quality assurance and accreditation of curricula”, “humanities in engineering education”, “worldwide dimension of EE and globalization” and “sustainability of EE”: any proposal from any of you would be truly welcome!
European Journal of Engineering Education:
This is the Official Journal of SEFI. Published bi-monthly (since last year), it examines the academic, cultural, economic and social factors which influence the education of engineers in different societies and provides a forum in which teachers, students and other stakeholders in engineering can share accounts of good practices and discuss methodology.
Events: A) Annual Conferences: The Annual SEFI Conference represents the most important event of SEFI every year. This is a unique opportunity for the members and all those involved in or interested by Engineering Education to meet colleagues, exchange views and opinions and to establish new contacts. This year, it’s a great pleasure to “join forces” with IGIP at the 2007 Annual Conference on the theme “Joining Forces in Engineering Education towards Excellence”. Other periodic events of SEFI are WG’s conferences, workshops and meetings: it is the life of the WGs to require periodic meetings and workshops, which are hosted by some of the SEFI institutions and leading groups in the field concerned.
B) Partnerships/bilateral agreements: SEFI developed a wide number of bilateral agreements of cooperation with other European and International organizations, such as UNESCO, EUA, IGIP, FEANI, JSEE, ASIBEI, WFEO ASEE and BEST. Most recently, SEFI was founding member of IFEES (International Federation of Engineering Education Societies), a new international body from which the current SEFI President has been elected as the first and Founding President.
For many years SEFI has been standing in a very close cooperation with the European Commission, DG-Education and Culture and to other EE stakeholders. These days, SEFI participates as active partner in the Commission’s project for the creation of a European Institute of Technology (EIT). Our expertise relating to the Bologna Process and its follow-up (s. Doctoral Studies) is also well-known in the higher engineering education circles.
C) Projects: SEFI has a decade-long experience within the management and co-ordination of European projects in the EE sector. We have initiated several projects in the framework of European programmes, such as ERASMUS, TEMPUS, SOCRATES, etc. In 2007, we will continue to be active in the TREE Thematic Network (Teaching and Research in Engineering in Europe) and to lead the Archipelago, i.e. the Network of all running Thematic Networks in Engineering and Technology TN (the Techno-TN 2007 LLP project). Moreover, SEFI is primarily involved in all developments in the accreditation procedures. After the very successful EUR-ACE project, which has produced the 1st European Quality Label for Engineering Studies (March 2006), SEFI participates in the EUR-ACE implementation project (for EU and accession countries), in the Pro-East project (EUR-ACE implementation in the Russian Federation), in the LEPAC accreditation project in Lebanon, and others.
Finally, SEFI has been invited as the only Academic Society amongst the founding members of the European Network for the Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE), in its function as the widest
academic network of Engineering schools. All other partners there represent different accreditation agencies as well as several professional organizations at European level.
Awards: The “Leonardo da Vinci Medal” is the highest distinction SEFI can bestow. The Medal is awarded by the Administrative Council to living persons who have made an outstanding contribution of international significance to engineering education. Furthermore, “SEFI’s Honorary” membership acknowledges outstanding services rendered over longer times for the life and activities of the Society while the “SEFI Fellowship Award” recognises meritorious service to engineering education in Europe.
NK: The structure of IGIP: the statutory organs of the association are the following: the Executive Committee, the scientific board, the general assembly, the International Monitoring Committee (IMC), the Monitoring Committee at the national level (MC), national and regional federations. The Executive Committee consists of the chairman, the president of IGIP, the vice president, Gudrun Kammasch, and 8 members from all over the world. The general secretary is Eleonore Lickl. I was elected as president of IGIP on September 19th, 2006.
The executive committee is voted by the general assembly over a period of four years.
The Executive Committee appoints an International Monitoring Committee (IMC) for a period of three years each with overlapping terms of office. Their members are approved upon the proposal of the members and/or the board of the general assembly.
The tasks of IMC (regulations IGIP-accredi-tation and curriculum, control and maintenance of the diploma system ING-PAED IGIP, controlling of IGIP-country activities, etc.) are performed by an IMC-ordinance.
IMC appoints in each country IGIP takes an active part in a Monitoring Committee (MC) that promotes, coordinates and monitors IGIP-activities.
Members of MCs are appointed by the executive board. Proposals can be made by each member, wisely though by those members of the respective countries.
The tasks of MCs at land level are regulated by an MC-ordinance.
The core competencies of IGIP are represented by the Working Groups. Their titles stand for the aims of our society: Curriculum Development; Distance Education as an Instrument of Engineering Pedagogical Education Development; International Aspects of Engineering Education; Knowledge Management and Computer-aided Technologies; Language and Humanities in Engineering Education; Mathematics and Natural Sciences in Engineering Education; People and Technology; Postgraduate Training; Technical Teacher Training; Women in Technical Careers; Working with Projects.
CB: It is, of course, the merit of all “players” (in the widest sense) if a “match” ends with a success: this conference is going to be a great success (I am sure you will agree with me) and, necessarily, the merit goes to those “players”, which we wish to mention here, while acknowledging their contribution:
the University of Miskolc and its top management, here represented by Rector Gyula Patko
the Local Organizing Committee, under the guidance of Prof. Angela Varady, and assisted by the SEFI-IGIP Task Force
the Scientific Committee and all reviewers
NK:
all speakers, presenters, moderators & Session’s Chairpersons
the SEFI HQ (with Secretary General Francoise Come and Ms Trine Hundebol) and the Secretary General of IGIP, Dr. Eleonore Lickl
the members of SEFI Administrative Council and IGIP Steering Committee
all delegates and contributors, who are committed to EE, devoting their time and energy, so to find their way here to Miskolc
and last, but not least, all generous sponsors
CB: To all of You, we shall officially forward both, personally and on behalf of the two Societies, a great thank you! With the best wishes for a joyful event, an interesting and fruitful exchange of opinions and expertise and last, but not least, exciting time in Mis-kolc and Hungary, we shall now declare:
CB and NK:
“The SEFI-IGIP Joint Annual
Conference 2007 is now OPEN!”