Long-term cooperation agreement signed by the University and the company.

“Here at BME we strive to establish close relationships with innovative companies, so working together with Schneider Electric, an industry leader in energy management, automation and building management systems, marks a new level of cooperation. This partnership is all the more important, as the competencies of our Department of Electric Power Engineering, including electric equipment and drives, as well as high voltage technologies, are closely related to the expertise of Schneider Electric, and the cooperation means that our traditional specialist fields will be widened to include areas such as automation and digital solutions. The newly introduced subjects of motor starting systems and crane control are two fields which are highly needed by the industry, but at the moment are not yet taught in higher education. Electrical engineering students will be able to learn to solve real problems in a real industrial environment, thus developing key practical and theoretical competencies and mastering the basics of control engineering”, stressed János Józsa, Rector of Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME).

As a technology company, innovation is crucial for Schneider Electric and we wish to incorporate this into the academic programmes of future engineers. That is why we signed the partnership agreement with BME, the most prestigious higher education institution in this field. The innovative approach will start with the project development, in which the students will also be involved, thus becoming active participants in a pioneering initiative. Within the cooperation we help students by donating HUF 7 million worth of equipment: two motor starter panels, frequency converters, programmable logic controllers (PLC), displays, sensors, switches and power meters. In addition, we provide HUF 2.5 million a year for internship and scholarship programmes, said Zsolt Veres, Country President of Schneider Electric Hungary.

Signatories to the cooperation agreement: Rector János Józsa, Chancellor Attila Kotán and Country President of Schneider Electric Hungary Zsolt Veres

The cooperation between BME and Schneider Electric means that from the autumn of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, student projects will be introduced in motor starting systems and crane control at the Department of Electric Power Engineering of BME’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics (VIK), with the involvement of Schneider Electric. Its aim is to provide access for students to state-of -the-art equipment during their studies at BME, to acquire valuable knowledge and become experts in industrial automation.

This partnership means that every year one intern and four scholarship students can work at Schneider Electric for 6 months. Students will be selected jointly by the company and the university, based on their fields of interest, but one of the most important criteria is that their academic specialisation should be in line with the company’s expertise and their personality should fit into the company culture. According to these expectations, they will be preparing quotes for the partners’ technical specifications, using the company’s entire product range, and will be expected to promote the EcoStruxure system in the market, especially in the field of smart buildings and energy supply. Every BSc student will have a mentor, who will help them to acquire the necessary knowledge and learn about the organisational culture swiftly and efficiently. Students can consult their mentors regularly.

The programme offers tangible prospects for the students, because they have the opportunity to have a long career at the company. Previous experiences show that 95% of interns went on to be employed by Schneider Electric, some of whom have already advanced to mid-management level. Another advantage for fresh graduates is that they can choose from the company’s specialist fields according to their interests. They can try several of these to gain a full insight into the company’s operations.

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Photo: János Philip