SEFI brought expert voices to EELISA conference

The first EELISA Conference brought together the members of this European University for the first time to Politechnica University of Bucharest from 4 to 6 October 2023.  SEFI brought the latest views on Engineering Education in two sessions on Friday 6 October.

The morning session presented views of higher engineering education stakeholders Ljiljana Kerawi (student from BEST), Alex Tachnini of Mathworks (industry) and Raffaella Manzini, dean of Faculty of industrial engineering at LIUC, as well as Sophie Grivaux, dean of studies of EELISA and Timothée Toury, secretary general of EUT+. These representatives of SEFI and European University alliances discussed how the Alliances can benefit from the new educational models and approaches being developed, researched and disseminated through the SEFI community and how the challenges and opportunities of European Universities could be addressed by SEFI . 

The afternoon session was a hands-on workshop moderated by Roland Tormey and led by Sofie Craps and Greet Langie from KU Leuven:  “Engineering competencies development through the prism of Professional Roles and Life-Long Learning.” During her PhD, and within the PREFER project, Sophie and the team developed a model of engineering professional graduate roles, along with a framework of professional competencies which can be used to guide curriculum reform as well as support decision-making in self-directed and lifelong learning of engineers. A number of self-test tools have also been developed that can be used by universities and industry to better understand role alignment and professional competencies. The workshop participants could try out these tests and discuss the next steps for this research.

The 1st EELISA International Conference celebrated achievements, shared outcomes, and assessed the impact of the Alliance’s first three years. The conference featured inspirational keynote speakers, engaging round tables, hands-on workshops, open dialogues, special presentations, and exhibitions—all designed to create a unique programme of activities aimed at fostering cooperation and developing a shared understanding of the context and perspectives of EELISA 2.0.