30^th anniversary of the Board of European Students of Technology (BEST)

The General Assembly (GA) of BEST was held on the 23 April 2019 in Krakow, Poland. SEFI as an official partner of BEST took part in this significant event.

Prof. Seweryn  Spalek (BoD) presented SEFI to over 300 participants, updating them on the activities of the network. The speech was held during the official opening ceremony of the BEST GA, which gathers leaders representing the members of the BEST organisation, international management members, official partners and several company and university representatives.

The aim of the event was to bring BEST partners (including SEFI) closer to students, to increase the interaction, and to give the BEST partners the possibility to network among themselves. SEFI’s attendance was of great value for the improvement of engineering education as it provided a new opportunity for discussions between both organisations to raise the awareness of SEFI within BEST.

Furthermore, Prof. Spalek took part in the course as one of the four panelists on the topic: The role of European engineering education in preparing future leaders to face the current and upcoming challenges of modern times. The fruitful 2 hour discussion was enhanced by the active participation of over 100 students. The fully interactive meeting set out to address the key issues of modern education, which were formulated under the following sub-topics and questions:

Sub-topic 1: Skills needed in the engineering profession (currently and in the future)

• What other skills are already required by the market that the curricula in universities are not providing?
• What are the main changes expected regarding the skills needed in the engineering profession?
• Are universities keeping up with the changes happening in technology and in society?
• Do companies still see universities as the only source of talent? Do you think it will stay like this, even if universities don’t change much?

Sub-topic 2: Innovation in HEI

• What are the main obstacles to innovation in Engineering Education?
• What should the role of students in the implementation of these changes be?
• What should the role of European organisations in improving Education be?
• How can companies help develop education? Why should a company invest resources in this field?

BEST’s mission is to further educate engineering students from all over Europe. BEST helps them develop an international mindset, to reach a better understanding of cultures and societies and to improve their capacity to work in culturally diverse environments. BEST creates opportunities for the personal development of students and supports them in reaching their full potential.