BME Faculty Member Joins Tempus Public Foundation’s Board of Trustees

Balázs Vince Nagy, associate professor at BME’s Department of Mechatronics, Optics, and Mechanical Engineering Informatics, recently became a member of the Tempus Public Foundation’s board of trustees. This body is the sole decision-making body of the public foundation, which, among other things, funds international university mobility programs in Hungary.

“Representation on the board of trustees is a great opportunity for BME; over the next three years, we will have direct insight into the activities of numerous institutions involved in international education, as well as into international and domestic processes, including Erasmus, the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship programme, and regional programmes,” Mr Nagy told bme.hu.

The board of trustees consists of 11 members; in addition to representatives from ministries and the National Union of Students in Hungary (HÖOK), a few universities and vocational training centers also delegate members. Decisions are made at monthly meetings, where BME will also have a say from now on. This is important because, 

thanks to the work of the International Relations Directorate, Erasmus activities for both students and university staff are on the rise, 

he noted.

Balázs Vincze Nagy has vast experience in international affairs: from 2018 to 2021, he served as the vice-rector responsible for this area BME, and until very recently, he was the chair of the board of directors of European university association EELISA and also served as president of the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). Both of his terms expired at the end of last year.

EELISA

“One of EELISA’s major advantages, besides the large number of joint educational, research, and community activities, is that it has built a network whose members can put together new proposals quickly — even within a week — as we already know each other’s capabilities well,” he said. He added that EELISA works well in part because its membership is quite diverse: traditional technical universities are joined by smaller and larger research universities, so 

the engineering focus is maintained, but other competencies are also incorporated, such as economics, health, and humanities.

Of course, due to differing cultures, there are challenges in cooperation, but there have already been great results in the field of education and research, such as the launch of the EELISA version of Hungarian scientific student competition TDK or the creation of joint degree programs like DigiTwin.

SEFI

SEFI, founded more than 50 years ago and closely linked to EELISA’s focus on engineering education, is an important organization for two major groups: education researchers (who are not necessarily engineers, but rather educational specialists) and those who practice education and apply teaching methodologies. The organization publishes two journals, holds a major annual conference, as well as smaller forums and summer schools. This May, the deans’ conference will take place in Gliwice, where representatives from industry regularly attend to contribute to the development of engineering education through suggestions and by raising issues.

“BME’s strategic goal is to be present in international communities, which is why it goes without saying that I will remain on the board of directors for another two years, even though my term as president has ended. SEFI is an extremely welcoming community; there is no hierarchy, and it is very easy to build relationships. Incidentally, the association’s former treasurer is a Hungarian researcher, Klára Kövesi, a lecturer at ENSTA in Paris; it was a pleasure to work with her,” said Balázs Vince Nagy.

Rector’s Office, Communications Directorate