Widening Cooperation: The University of Miskolc and Bosch

The awarding of the Grand Prize for Innovation in approaching. The high ranking award was granted to Bosch last year for one of their developments, the pneumatic drill hammer called UNEO. A fact that contributed to the achievement was that the Bosch company group maintained close relations with the University of Miskolc. We have asked Dr. Tamás Szabó associate professor, department head about the cooperation.

When did cooperation between the University of Miskolc and the Bosch group launch? Why do you think this higher education institution was chosen?

Relations between the University of Miskolc and the Bosch group were established in 2004. The aim of the cooperation is to apply and extend technological and scientific knowledge in the field of research, education and wide-ranging applications of mechatronics, to secure practice oriented training and to supply for the need for engineers in factories.
The Robert Bosch Department of Mechatronics was created on July 1st 2005, as the first department established by an industrial company since World War II in Hungary.
The University of Miskolc was chosen by the Bosch company group because the institution has a widely acknowledged engineering program, and so there is a concord between the need for experts at the Bosch factories and the educational profile of the University of Miskolc (e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and economics). Another important aspect was that four Bosch factories were established in the North Hungarian region, two of which are in Miskolc.
Adequate scientific research potential is available at the University of Miskolc, which is inevitable for founding a department like this. The plans of the Bosch group include the creation of an electrical hand tool development centre.

Apart from the financial contribution, what does this cooperation consist in?

We support and organise joint programs for students in close cooperation with the factories of the company group. These include the creative vehicle building competitions organised yearly, factory visits and apprenticeship programs. Those who are preparing for the engineering profession can encounter living factory problems in the framework of elective subjects, and they can participate in a project task solution contest in the Bosch Challenge program. The best graduating students are rewarded with a company acknowledgement. Leading engineers and instructors of the university meet at the Bosch-University meetings to set strategic goals.

Which faculties and programs are supported?

The cooperation and support is mainly targeted at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Informatics and its departments, but Bosch has started to build relations with the rest of the university faculties as well. The Bosch factories put special emphasis on supporting the training of mechatronical engineers and the creation of mechatronical engineering (BSc and MSc) programs. In order to secure practice oriented training, the four factories of the company group in the region have supported the creation of an up to date laboratory system that meets high international standards.

What kinds of opportunities are offered to students and to engineers who already graduated?

In the framework of the apprenticeship program also mentioned among the cooperation activities, more than a hundred students are employed by the Bosch factories. They offer students an opportunity to complete their compulsory project assignments, their summer practice and their thesis, their degree work in consultation with experts of the Bosch factories, and to actively participate in this. Our outstanding students can apply for the Scholarship of the Republic, the Faculty Memorial Medal, and the best graduating students can apply for the Bosch Award.
The vast majority of the new generation of experts in the Miskolc and Eger Bosch factories have graduated from the University of Miskolc. The ongoing labour force expansion at the Bosch factories secures excellent job opportunities for our graduating students.
The department supports students admitted to the Mechatronical Engineering program. The data testify that the entrance scores of students admitted to the Mechatronical Engineering program are among the highest at the faculty, and 85 per cent of those admitted last year have language examinations, several of them hold two certificates. We shall launch the MSc program in mechatronical engineering in February 2011. Those who graduate in this program will definitely find a job after graduation.

What other opportunities do you see in the cooperation with Bosch?

The department was run as an enterprise in the first three years, which means that its maintenance and operation was secured by income from R&D work done for the four regional Bosch factories. The staff of the faculty departments as well as the students participate in these projects. Cooperation with the factories is a good basis for implementing the „education through research and research through education" principle.
Further R&D contracts are currently in preparation at the department, aiming to implement factory tasks and PhD topics. The Bosch factories increasingly rely on the contribution of the University of Miskolc in research and development projects. The university and the Bosch factories wish to continue their close cooperation in the training of future engineers, and in securing that engineers can meet the latest industrial challenges they face by the time they graduate. The University of Miskolc and the Robert Bosch Department of Mechatronics have joined the initiative of the Bosch factories of Miskolc, entitled „Together for the training of engineers for the future", which aims to provide students with a theoretical and practical knowledge base that helps them become valuable labour force in the labour market. This is the common aim of the industry and the university. We think that the road that we started on and the aims that we have set are right, and we expect excellent students to join.