BME and Market Építő Enter Into Partnership

BME Rector Charaf Hassan and Sándor Scheer, founder and CEO of Hungarian consctruction company Market Építő Ltd., have signed a cooperation agreement that covers education, innovation, and talent development.

While a university’s success can be measured by several metrics, in the case of BME, it makes the most sense to look at its impact — specifically, how it affects the Hungarian and regional economy.

“BME would be less successful without reliable partners in the business world,”

said Charaf Hassan.

According to the rector, such agreements are necessary because BME aims to operate flexibly and respond quickly to market needs, which requires constant, active relationships with industry players. “In an R&D contract, money is not the only important thing — knowledge sharing is just as crucial,” he stated.

He added that university leaders want students to spend as much time as possible as interns at companies, since “nowadays, no one waits years for fresh graduates to learn the ropes — much of the needed experience must be gained before graduation.” He also said he would like “to see as many engineers from industry as possible teaching at BME.” The rector found it particularly gratifying that the university is partnering with a major construction company, noting that after its founding back in the 18th century, construction was the institution’s first major field of study.

Sándor Scheer began by noting that of the 300 engineers at Market Építő, 171 hold BME degrees, and all are proud of it. He said the agreement is important to the company partly because the industry is currently not attractive enough to young people.

“We must create opportunities for them to feel the greatness of the creative process and to see that the industry has a future,”

he declared.

The CEO added that Market considers itself an early adopter of innovations and is convinced that only those who remain competitive will survive in the long run — which requires the integration of academic and practical knowledge.

Zsolt Herencsár, Director of Development at Market Építő, reminded that this is a defining period for the construction industry, as it is simultaneously experiencing major changes such as the spread of digitalization, the strengthening of sustainable construction, the expansion of competencies through data-driven decision-making, and more efficient project management.

Describing the details of the collaboration, he said it will have three main elements: employee participation in education; innovation-focused knowledge sharing; and talent development through scholarship programmes. He believes that the entire construction industry — and thus the Hungarian economy — will benefit from this partnership.

Szabolcs Rózsa, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, gave a short presentation about the faculty’s operations, emphasizing its service-oriented approach — half of its revenues come from activities such as engineering consultancy, expert services, and various grants. He also mentioned that there has already been cooperation between the faculty and Market Építő in areas such as measurement projects and teaching, but this new partnership will be much more comprehensive.

The Faculty of Architecture will also take part in the collaboration, most likely through the Department of Construction Technology and Construction Management, though other departments are also open to cooperation, said Dean Tamás Varga. He also indicated that with the creation of a new platform called Arch_Lab, the faculty aims to become more visible than before.

Rector’s Office, Communications Directorate