Between May 23-27, 2022, Bialystok University of Technology (BUT) in Poland organized the International Training Week (ITW). The event was attended by about 40 academics from 20 countries – Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Lithuania, Spain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Tunisia, but also Mongolia, Bhutan, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal. Dr. Ilie NUCĂ, assoc. prof. and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering within the Faculty of Energetics and Electrical Engineering, accepted BUT’s invitation of participation on behalf of UTM. At his initiative, UTM signed an Interuniversity Partnership Agreement with BUT in 2019.
ITW’s goal is to develop international relations and disseminate unique experiences, given that “Politechnika Białostocka” has the most international mobility projects among Polish universities. With a number of about 7.5 thousand students, BUT also enrolls over 400 foreign students annually through mobility scholarships.
The agenda of the event included the presentation of the country and their respective university, a meeting with the BUT management, as well as a presentation of the university and a tour of the BUT library, which is also the university’s Center for Modern Education and History.
As mentioned by the Mayor of Bialystok, Bialystok University of Technology has a significant role in the technological, cultural, and social development of the municipality. Today, Bialystok, with a population of about 300 thousand inhabitants, is a modern and ecological city, with commendable infrastructure, with wide 3-4 lane one-way roads, no traffic jams and enough parking spaces.
BUT organized visits to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, as well as presentations of the university study programs, staff, and its high-performance laboratories. The socio-cultural program included a guided tour around Bialystoc, a trip to the Orthodox monastery in Suprasl and the Herbal Corner in Koryciny, as well as a show of Polish folk dances.
Participation at ITW was ensured through the ERASMUS+ academic mobility programme, thus, the invited teachers conducted courses for BUT students. Assoc. prof., Dr. Ilie NUCĂ gave lectures on “New Solutions for the Urban Passenger Electric Vehicles”, based on the scientific concerns of UTM’s Department of Electrical Engineering and the experience of the Chișinău municipality in this field. The lectures also included general information about the Republic of Moldova and the Technical University of Moldova, as well as quizzes on the topic and local souvenirs.
BUT International Week was an effective arrangement for exchange of information and contacts both with the authorities and the representatives of the hosting university, but also between the participants from different countries. The UTM representative discussed with the authorities of the BUT International Relations Office regarding the establishment of new ERASMUS mobility agreements focused on the IT, Mechanics, and Architecture fields. A potential partnership between similar faculties was explored with the coordinators of the ERASMUS program at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Jaroslaw MAKAL and Dr. Jaroslaw FORENC. It is worth mentioning that Dr. Jaroslaw MAKAL carried out an ERASMUS teaching mobility at the Department of Electrical Engineering of UTM in May 2019, with two students benefitting from ERASMUS scholarships from BUT. The UTM student of the Bachelor’s program “Electromechanical Systems Engineering” (ISEM) Gheorghe VÎRLAN obtained an ERASMUS+ mobility scholarship, spending the current semester studying at the Bialystok University of Technology.
The participation of the UTM representative in the International Week at the Bialystok University of Technology was a good opportunity to assess the current situation and to implement new ideas for the development of the UTM-BUT interuniversity relations.
