ANNUAL REPORT 2010/2011
Board of European Students of Technology Coordinator: Samuel Oliveira Content: Gabriela Barreira Research: George Gramescu Design: Dominika Kamola Photo editor: Ceylan Sayın Photos: BEST photos
More info:
www.BEST.eu.org facebook.com/BESTorg info@BEST.eu.org Address: BEST, Maison de Grenoble INP, BP 153, 38404 St Martin d’Heres, FRANCE
Welcome word from the XXIII Board Dear friends of BEST, Today BEST consists of around 3000 students of technology from all over Europe, staying connected through their passion for volunteering, developing students and empowered diversity. At the same time we must not forget the large network surrounding BEST: the universities, industry, organisations and other students, all believing in the work and efforts done by our members. Another BEST year has passed and what a year it has been! The Annual Report guides you through the highlights and other areas our organisation has been focusing on. 2010-2011 has been the year where BEST has aimed at improving the internal work optimisation, strengthening the organisation as a whole, addressing the student needs and increasing the overall impact of BEST on its stakeholders. As the world is becoming more and more globalised, the competition is getting tougher and the needs of our stakeholders are continuously changing, thereby becoming more demanding. As a student organisation we have to strive to keep being dynamic and innovative, constantly working on improving our organisation and services, but most importantly - making sure that we enjoy what we do and see its true purpose. So even if we are exploring new fields and constantly analysing our potential – we are grateful that the values and spirit of our organisation will never change, as it defines who we are and what connects us in the first place. We would like to address everyone who has contributed in making the past year a great one for BEST, thank you for your support and believing in us. We hope you will enjoy reading the Annual Report, where every part reflects upon the daily work done by passionate students, for students. Yours truly, XXIII International Board of BEST Monica Kviljo, President Laura Hellebrandt, Treasurer Matija Lukic, Secretary Christophe Jouret, Vice-President for Internal Support Myriam Teicher, Vice-President for External Services Andrei Ganci, Vice-President for Local Group Support Annual Report 3 2010/2011
6 Board of European Students of Technology
Annual Report 7 2010/2011
About BEST Who and what is the Board of European Students of Technology? We like to think that BEST is many different things: BEST is an independent international student organisation, not for profit and not political. We are from Europe. We are trying to do good. We are students, we do not work for money and would not have it any other way. We are far more than the sum of our 90 constituent groups and our work impacts students, companies and universities in 30 European countries. We are more than 3000 young, vibrant, competent
mindsets and ever improving their soft-skills. Many
and confident young engineers. We have been
more students took part in one or more of the
providing
and
multitude of local opportunities provided by our
international exchange for European students
90 groups. They took part in our BEST Engineering
since 1989 and we are constantly growing both
Competitions (part of EBEC), they were trainees
in numbers and in scope. We have found that our
in our soft-skill training sessions, they took the
differences makes us stronger, so we embrace them.
opportunity to visit one of our many annual local
complementary
education
and national job-fairs, and visit companies with us. We are about adding value to the environments
Almost always for free, but never for nothing.
we are part of - putting smaller universities on the map, connecting students with our partners, closing
BEST is about not standing still, about always
the gap between companies and universities. True
wanting to improve. Instead of looking at what
to our motto of “Empowered Diversity� we never
we have already accomplished, we are looking
compete - instead BEST provides those services
at what we still can do. We are about flexibility -
that others can or will not. Services like BEST Career
always adapting our services to the current needs of
Support, European BEST Engineering Competition
our stakeholders. We evaluate what we do constantly
(EBEC), BEST University Center, BEST Educational
and we are not afraid to stop no longer needed
Involvement, our cooperation with organisations like
services or to start new and exciting opportunities
SEFI, our input into thematic networks like EUGENE
for our students, our companies and our universities.
and EU-VIP, our long and valuable relationships with our partners, under which we not just count companies or universities, but also fellow student organisations like bonding, CFES and AEGEE, are our testament to that.
BEST is about personal development too, and not just for our students. We believe in learning by experience - that is why we outsource nothing. It is why we are so cost-
BEST is about students; about learning and
effective, it is why each and every one of us grows,
participating. Providing value to students is what
be it in project-management, in event organisation,
got us going 21 years ago with what still is one of
in negotiation, in fundraising, in public relations, in
our core services: BEST Courses on Technology and
software-development and server-administration,
on Career Related Skills
in quality management, in marketing and design, in our interpersonal-skills or in such little things as our
In 2010 alone, 9689 students applied to the 95 BEST
level of English.
Events we provided that year, out of which 1992 participated, extending their academic knowledge,
This is the 22nd year of BEST and, if we have anything
gaining valuable insights in different cultures and
to do with it, only the beginning.
8 Board of European Students of Technology
Structure of BEST The basis of our organisation is formed by our 90
but the connection between all of them are
Local BEST Groups spread in 30 European countries,
the common values of BEST which all of them
each one being present at exactly one technical
endorse as their own. The local groups organise
university. Each of these groups has its own local
various local and international BEST activities for the
board and local statutes, its own practices, traditions
students. Also, they actively participate in steering
and culture. Like pieces of a puzzle, each of
the organisation’s development by voting at general
them has its own shape and place in BEST,
meetings and the online voting system.
It is not hard to imagine that the communication
President, Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-President for
between 90 different groups could easily become
External Services, Vice-President for Internal Support
chaotic. With the aim to avoid that situation, BEST
and Vice-President for Local Group Support. The
has developed and is continuously refining its
Coordinators of the BEST Committees are aiding in
international structure. A number of international
maintenance of the organisations essential activities:
teams smoothen the communication between the
Educational
local groups and provide support to them in all
External Events, Trainings, Marketing and IT.
Involvement,
Corporate
Relations,
sorts of domains - from marketing to IT, from writing grant applications to knowledge management. And
In practice, the communication is mainly done
on a top-level, the work of international bodies is
through mailing lists. Some say even too many - a
coordinated by the management which consists of
couple of hundred mailing lists are active on a daily
the International Board and the Coordinators of the
basis - but are the driver for BEST members to practise
six BEST Committees.
and perfect the skill of virtual communication. Even more, BEST is proud to have its own intranet
The International Board represents BEST in the
system, developed by its members from scratch.
external world, facilitates the global development
The intranet is used for archiving documents and
of programmes and activities and always promotes
communication with the whole organisation (e.g.
the values, aims and purpose of BEST. It consists of
via news for all BEST members) and much more. Annual Report 9 2010/2011
NUMBER OF MEMBERS
10 Board of European Students of Technology
Full Member
Milan
Gabriel Poussif
Politecnico di Milano
Name
President
University
Moscov
Nikita Zverev
Bauman Moscow State Technical University
Aalborg
Sune Enevoldsen
Aalborg University
Nancy
Pierre Jollivet
Almada
Ana Rita Nunes
New University of Lisbon
National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine
Ankara
Anil Sahin
Middle East Technical University
Naples
Giovanniluca De Vita
University of Naples “Federico II”
Milena Dostanic
University of Nis
Athens
Athina Patsia
National Technical University of Athens
Nis Novi Sad
University of Novi Sad
Barcelona
Diana Cantó
Technical University of Catalonia
John Milan van der Bergh
Belgrade
Stefan Karadzic
University of Belgrade
Angelos Cacouros
Centrale Paris
Brasov
Paris, Ecole Centrale
Adelina Haulica
“Transilvania” University of Brasov
Bratislava
Miroslava Pindiakova
Slovak University of Technology
Paris, Polytechnique
Amaury Dutilleul-Francoeur
Ecole Polytechnique
Patras
Panos Sotiropoulos
University of Patras
Porto
João Fernandes
University of Porto University of Iceland Riga Technical University
Brno
Hanka Bortlova
Brno University of Technology
Brussels
Jelle Smekens
Free University of Brussels (VUB)
Brussels ULB
Charlotte François
University of Brussels (ULB)
Bucharest
Horia Alexandru Andrei
POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest
Reykjavik
Sara Björk Sigurðardóttir
Budapest
Zsófia Mezei
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Riga
Lasma Bergmane- Behmane
Chania
Stefanos Konstantinidis
Technical University of Crete
Chisnau
Ciprian Placinta
Technical University of Moldova
Cluj-Napoca
Florin Popa
Coimbra
Rome
Paolo Giannandrea
Sapienza University of Rome
Rome, Tor Vergata
Emiliano Varriale
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Saint Petersburg
Ekaterina Balunova
Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University
Sandro Norim
University of Coimbra
Skopje
Bojan Najdenov
Copenhagen
Lasse Korff
Technical University of Denmark
University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”
Delft
Warren Gebbett
Delft University of Technology
Sofia
Vicktoria Antonova
Technical University of Sofia
Eindhoven
Onur Okutman
Eindhoven University of Technology
Stockholm
Christophe Van der Kelen
Royal Institute of Technology
Ekaterinburg
Darya Ivantsova
Urals State University of Railway Transport
Supélec
Taylor Edouard
Supelec - Ecole Superieure d’Electricite
Ekaterinburg, UrFU
Katya Reznik
Ural Federal University
Tallinn
Märt Pakats
Tallinn University of Technology
ENSAM
Marie Pierré
Arts et Métiers ParisTech
Tampere
Lauri Juhola
Tampere University of Technology
Thessaloniki
George Andreadis
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Timisoara
Svetlana Ivana
“Politehnica” University of Timisoara
Trondheim
Jarle Alexander Møller
Norwegian University of Science and Technology Politechnic of Turin
ENSTA ParisTech
Pierre Amiot
ENSTA ParisTech
Gdansk
Piotr Skoracki
Gdansk University of Technology
Ghent
Gert Willems
Ghent University
Marek Olczyk
Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice
Gothenburg
Erik Gallneby
Chalmers University of Technology
Turin
Vincenzo Bruni
Graz
Jakob Redlinger-Pohn
Graz University of Technology
Uppsala
Henning Hammar
Uppsala University
Grenoble
Thomas Auzelle
Grenoble Institute of Technology
Valladolid
Fernando Guerra
University of Valladolid
Helsinki
Ville Rimali
Aalto University
Veszprém
Anna Borbála Martos
University of Pannonia
Iasi
Daniel Brunescu
“Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi
Vienna
Harald Rupprechter
Vienna University of Technology
Istanbul
Gülçe Çiringel
Istanbul Technical University
Warsaw
Paweł Kujawski
Warsaw University of Technology
Istanbul, Yildiz
Mert Öskan
Yildiz Technical University
Zagreb
Ana Habijanec
University of Zagreb
Kaunas
Raminta Petrauskaitė
Kaunas University of Technology
Zaporizhzhya
Yuliya Scorobogataya
Zaporizhzhya National Technical University
Kiev
Alona Shamedko
National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”
Kosice
Julia Dumbalova
Technical University of Kosice
Łukasz Jaromi
AGH University of Science and Technology
Gliwice
Kraków
Baby Member Name
President
University
Aveiro
Joana Fernandes
University of Aveiro
Faro Algarve
António Carvalho
University of Algarve
Leuven
Jef Cambré
Liege
Birsen Gülsu
University of Liege
Izmir
Mert Özden
Ege University
Messina
Riccardo Zanghì
University of Messina
Mário N’Zualo
Institute of Technology (IST), Technical University of Lisbon (UTL)
Miskolc
Márton Czene
University of Miskolc
University of Ljubljana
Prague
Jaroslav Marek
Czech Technical University in Prague
Lisbon Ljubljana
Pierre Robert Stare
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Lodz
Adrian Karpiński
Technical University of Lodz
Louvain-la-Neuve
Georges Castin
Catholic University of Louvain
Vinnytsia
Oleg Bondar
Vinnytsia National Technical University
Lund
Johanna Guth
Lund University, Faculty of Engineering
Wroclaw
Agnieszka Sarlińska
Wroclaw University of Technology
Lviv
Sofiya Kholyavko
Lviv Polytechnic National University
Lyon
Scarlett Nalpas
INSA Lyon
Madrid
Isabel Pino
Polytechnical University of Madrid
Madrid Carlos III
Álvaro Monasterio Alcázar
Carlos III University of Madrid
Maribor
Luka Gasperic
University of Maribor
Observer Group Name
President
University
Las Palmas
Juan Lorenzo Alonso Afonso
Las Palmas of Gran Canaria University
Southampton
Alexandru Puia
University of Southampton
Annual Report 11 2010/2011
It was a very good year... The most important thing first: 2010/2011 was a very
Independent of our external success, we also
good year for BEST. In BEST, many things happen
focused on internal changes as a response to new
constantly. In one day, in one week, let alone in one
challenges. After recognising that our constant
whole year. What you are reading comprises only the
growth has potential issues, BEST members gathered
most important developments for BEST as a whole -
in Gothenburg to design a new membership system
we could not list all the developments in BEST, locally
which will take us safely through the 2020’s. Important
and internationally, even if we’d tried.
outcomes were the increase of the requirements for the continued membership in BEST for current
The Key Performance Areas that we defined
groups and also drafting an improved support
for 2010/2011 were internal work optimisation,
system for them.
strengthening BEST and increasing the impact of our cooperation with external bodies. Looking back we
Another aspect of internal streamlining is the new
are sure in our decision to dedicate this year mostly
regional division of our groups, it will ensure more
to internal improvements and external cooperations.
sharing and diversity while maintaining a suitable
Since 2006, BEST has doubled in size, making growth
travel-distance. We look forward to the new dynamic
one of the constants of BEST. This year we had the
this step will bring to BEST.
great pleasure to welcome our new Local BEST Groups; Faro Algarve, Miskolc, Prague and Vinnytsia,
Administrative changes alone are not enough to
and 2 new Observer Groups; Las Palmas and
keep us strong. Therefore we began evaluating our
Southampton.
working structures, bodies and our assumptions about our work. This process will proceed next year
BEST has been growing in scope as well. SEFI[1]
to ensure that we have time to look at all aspects of
(European Society for Engineering Education) and
BEST.
BEST started cooperating for SEFI’s 1st Engineering Education Flash Week[2]. BEST does not only provide
Continuing our strategy of cooperating closely with
substantial contributions to the content of Flash Week,
other student NGOs we were proud to host the 2nd
such as case studies and training sessions, but is also
edition of the BEST Trainers’ Forum[3], with more
one of the main contributors of students for it. We are
than 80 trainers from 26 NGOs gathering to learn
proud to have been selected by SEFI for this project
from each other.
and are very much looking forward to it. We are also proud to have entered into a framework agreement
Connected to our effort to improve the quality of
with the European Commission (EC) concerning a
our training system, we created a training strategy
3 year partnership. This and our cooperation with
designed to ensure that all of our groups get trained
SEFI shows us and Europe that our impact makes a
with the needed quality. Our training system was
difference.
always a source of pride for us, and it will continue for the foreseeable future.
In addition to bonding and CFES, we are now also cooperating with another student organisation,
We would like to thank all of our partners, students
AEGEE. We have already begun to enjoy its benefits,
and all our members. Without your support BEST
for instance in the form of our joint training-week on
would not have come so far this year.
fundraising for both members of BEST and AEGEE. 12 Board of European Students of Technology
[1] www.sefi.be [2] www.wee2011.com [3] trainersforum.best.eu.org
Training Strategy After thousands of trainer hours, we are still not satisfied! In the year of 2010, BEST trainers delivered a new
chapter of the training system of BEST: A yearly training
record of 3870 hours to our members, but still we
plan for all of BEST (local training sessions excluded)
knew that we were not always the most efficient
according to our strategic needs.
when it came to planning ahead. It was hard for our trainers and trainees to plan beforehand when they
At the foremost, we designed the strategy to make
would not always know which training opportunities
sure that the leaders of BEST would receive enough
were yet to come.
training and at the right moments.
What we wanted was a training strategy which
A very important goal of the BEST training strategy
could utilise and direct the effort of our trainers in a
is to ensure that knowledge management continues
planned way, so that BEST could benefit even more
to stay on par with our increasing size, therefore
than it did with the mostly laissez-faire approach
having a longer lasting effect of each single training.
to scheduling and resource allocation we had previously.
The table below provides an overview of the new training strategy.
In January 2011, members of the BEST Training Group (TiGro) met in Nancy, France, to write a new
Joint Board Training
Presidents’ Meeting
Midterm Board Evaluations
TrainShops bePROUD beRICHER
Trainers’ General Forum Assembly
TrainShops beMORE beKNOWN
Regional Meetings
Regional Meetings
LBG / Joint LBG Training
LBG / Joint LBG Training
The new strategy will be implemented in 2011/2012. [1] Joint Board Trainings where 2 or more boards of BEST Groups are trained together [2] The BEST Presidents Meeting gathers all the local presidents of BEST along with the international bodies of BEST [3] BEST features 4 TrainShops, each lasting about a week: beMORE (Human Resources), bePROUD (Leadership), beRICHER (Fundraising), beKNOWN (Marketing and PR) [4] Regional Meetings are preparatory meetings for the BEST Presidents Meeting and the BEST General Assembly, attended by 4-5 members of each BEST group [5] A Joint LBG Training gathers members of two or more BEST groups [6] Midterm Board Evaluations are often attended by trainers and offer a great opportunity to training sessions [7] General Assembly of BEST, gathering up to 300 BEST members [8] TRAP is the main Train-the-Trainer (TtT) event of BEST. inTRAP is a TRAP focusing on internationally involved members.
Annual Report 13 2010/2011
The Growth Project Board of European Students of Technology (BEST)
As a result, BEST is proud to have three new Observer
is a European association present in 30 countries.
Groups, with one being from a new country. These
However, with contacts being established with
groups are:
universities from new countries where BEST is not yet present and a team of so-called “coaches” starting to spread their motivation and knowledge about BEST, we have in the past year been trying to increase this number. This is all a part of the current
• Observer Group Las Palmas from Gran Canaria, Spain, • Observer Group Southampton from England, United Kingdom, • Observer Group Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
Growth strategy. As Observer Groups they still have a path to walk The Growth Project has been in action for two years:
in order to become full members of the association
during the first year the goals of the project were
and we wish all of them good luck and a lot of BEST
set, and the strong team that will fulfill these goals
Spirit for taking these challenges.
was also created.
Financial Report It is said that money is not everything, but everything
organising larger events and enable BEST members
needs money. And this is true also in our non-profit
to travel.
organisation. To fulfill our vision of empowering diversity and bringing complementary education,
Most of the incomes come from industrial partners,
career support and intercultural cooperation to our
but we also try to seek grants and university partners.
students and to ensure the sustainability of BEST,
To support these activities, the Financial Team, the
we need to organise many internal and external
Grants Working Group and BEST University Centre
events and run several projects, which cost money.
were created. At this moment, BEST has three
Every LBG has their own accounts and finances,
Corporate Partners: Procter & Gamble and Bekaert.
which are needed to run local projects, and we
Other revenue sources are represented mostly by
have also a common account of BEST. This money
career support partners, project partners, university
is needed to manage the organisation and IT tools,
partners, other supporters and bank account
produce marketing materials, help local groups with
interests.
14 Board of European Students of Technology
To manage the organisation and keep it sustainable,
Considering the status of revenues and expenses,
money is used on international management,
we can conclude that our organisation is in a good
international teams and internal training, coordination
financial position. The status and details of finances
of educational events and competitions. Another
can be followed and checked by each member in
important area is the promotion of BEST and
the accounting tool available in Private Area, our
relations with the external world, so we need to
intranet.
cover production and distribution of marketing materials for external relations and company visits.
Revenues Corporate Partners
22 000,00
15,97 %
Career Support Partners
42 000,00
30,48 %
Supporters
11 000,00
7,98 %
Project Partners
7 500,00
5,44 %
Partner Universities
2 500,00
1,81 %
Statutory Meeting Partners
43 400,00
31,49 %
EBEC Partners
7 000,00
5,08 %
Other
2 400,00
1,78 %
Total
137,800,00
100,00 %
Expenses Internal Communication
40 979,00
32,74 %
External Relations
6 487,00
5,18 %
Administration
3 135,00
2,50 %
Public Relations
6 346,00
5,07 %
Statutory Meetings and EBEC
52 300,00
41,79 %
Support for organising working (“internal�) events
10 260,00
8,20 %
Training
4 135,00
3,3 %
Unexpected Expenses
1 512,00
1,21 %
125 154,00
100,00 %
Total
Annual Report 15 2010/2011
Training System in BEST The number of Local BEST Groups (LBGs) and thus the number of members is constantly growing. A BEST member needs to acquire and develop useful skills in order to be effective and successful in the organisation as well as in a future profession.
• Training delivery. TiGro is constantly working on ways to improve delivery. • Training Strategy. It structures training sessions and delivery techniques. • Preparation of Train the Trainer events where new trainers are brought. In November 2010
One of committees of BEST, Training Group (TiGro),
TiGro initiated working events called Trainer’s
is a body used for such development. Its mission is
Meeting, which aim to evaluate and develop
to provide coordination between the needs of LBGs
such events.
for training sessions and the trainers who are able to
• Quality projects. They are aimed at gathering
deliver them.
new knowledge, evaluating current trainings
The structure of Trainers’ Community comprises two
and developing new ones.
elements: • Trainers’ Community itself. It is represented by over 310 trainers delivering trainings who are simultaneously BEST members. They mutually share their knowledge, materials, as well as support each other. • Training Group members. 42 members of BEST provide coordination of training to BEST mem-
• Knowledge Management. Being a separate project, KM ensures sharing of experience, skills and information within BEST. • PR project. It promotes training services to local BEST groups. • Training Database. It provides statistics, includes “a call for trainer” tool and registration for trainings.
bers in order to ensure they contribute to the as-
• External Relations. TiGro is improving its Exter-
sociation and develop useful skills for their future
nal Relations in the field of training to gain new
profession.
knowledge, techniques of training and opportu-
The Training System is aimed in several directions: • Strengthening TiGro. To consolidate and coordinate the System and to ensure the conformity
nities for BEST trainers to broaden their horizons. The results of the effective BEST Training Strategy are as follows:
of generations, TiGro is developing a member-
• BEST members acquire knowledge about BEST.
ship system, monitors new members, involves
• BEST members are trained in basic soft and tech-
them in the active work and creates a database
nical skills (FR, PR, HR).
of materials which facilitates the exchange of
• Leaders of BEST are trained properly.
knowledge.
• Project teams of LBGs are trained to perform ef-
• Strengthening the Trainers’ Community. Each trainer is extremely valuable. In order to ensure trainers’ active participation in training, a
fectively. • Knowledge Management and Knowledge Transfer work properly in LBGs.
new mentoring system was introduced for bet-
In one year (July 2010 – June 2011) TiGro involved 127
ter support and motivation. TiGro provides them
active trainers who delivered 852 training sessions
with materials, training opportunities, assistance
lasting in total 2.788 hours. Impressive, isn’t it? And
in traveling refunds and a sharing platform.
there is still great potential for development! Annual Report 17 2010/2011
What is the key to success? It is the people -
Organising internal events is one of them. Internal
motivated people with vision, because the vision is
events help the organisation to work on a high-
an engine, which makes us go forward. And that
quality level and also gives the people a chance
is BEST – students with a vision of empowered
to get motivated and to improve their skills. The
diversity in multicultural Europe, where people
number of internal events we organise increases
understand and respect other cultures and are
linearly with the number of local BEST groups in
able to work on an international basis, to use
order to sustain the organisation. This year we
their full potential, act responsibly, to be open
organised around 70 Internal Events.
to new things, to care for the people, to gain news skills, to strive to improve in everything
Having skilled members is needed to sustain
they do and last but not least: enjoy everything
the organisation. That is why we organised nine
they do. To achieve these goals, we provide
TrainShops and trainer camps on various skills such
students from all our 90 universities in 30 countries
as Public Relations, Human Resources, Fundraising,
an opportunity to participate in our academic and
leadership, project management and also delivering
non-academic events, engineering competitions
training sessions themselves. All the participants are
and educational symposia. We provide them
now ready to use their skills working for BEST.
complementary education, career support and increase their educational involvement.
We have a great variety of working meetings for the international bodies. We had four board meetings
However, only a working
and 18 committee meetings including Trainers‘
and
Forum and International Project Forum. These are
well
organised
student
network
can
needed to help to maintain and develop BEST in an
provide
these
high-
indirect way, e.g. by further developing the way the
quality services for the
organisation works, improving inner communication,
students. To ensure this,
gaining resources, thinking of new services,
we have many
improving the training system and IT support,
tools.
finding more possibilities on how to bring students, universities and companies together, trying to improve cooperation with companies and providing better career support for students.
18 Board of European Students of Technology
We also work on diverse projects to improve the organisation in an indirect way, so the project meetings are needed.
from the region we organised 19 regional meetings including a Regional Advisors meeting. Regions were also one of the hot topics of this year, as we tried to find the best division.
In 2010/2011 we had ten of them, including Growth and Grants meetings and meetings concerning the
We also have Workshops where the hot topics are
European BEST Engineering competition (EBEC). As
discussed and every interested BEST member can
we are growing all the time and on the last General
apply. Putting together fresh and more experienced
Assembly in Belgrade we reached the number of 90
members, we create valuable outcomes. In 2010/2011
groups, the growth topic has become very relevant.
we had two of them, one about membership and
We had more meetings regarding the final round of
another about the identity of BEST.
EBEC and national or regional rounds as the project becomes more and more prestigious and a big
We also can not forget our alumni, who did a lot for
challenge to organise. Since the number of local
our organisation, but have had to move on in their
groups increases, also the number of participants is
lives. However, they did not forget BEST and they
bigger. The same rule applies also to the organsing of
met two times on alumni meetings.
General Meetings, which is even more challenging. To prepare the delegates for them and also to
Thus we can conclude that we did lot of hard work
discuss the problems, share experiences, get more
this year, let’s hope it will be even more next year.
knowledge and get to know the BEST members
International Projects’ Forum 2011 BEST members may face many challenges. Mostly it begins with local ones in their local groups,
More than 70 participants including board members,
then they can work on international projects,
members of the committees, regional advisors,
workshops, join an international team, committee
knowledge management working group members
or become part of another body of BEST. This
and people involved in the EBEC (European BEST
international work is very important to ensure
Engineering Competiton, final round) project
sustainability of the organisation and good quality of
worked on top-level issues of the organisation. In
our activities. Most of this work and communication
February, they gathered in Tallinn, Estonia to focus on
is done virtually, using e-mails or other sophisticated
common projects, issues of the whole organisation,
communication channels.
attend strategical sessions and received training. We got valuable outcomes on the regional division,
However, once a year comes an event, which
BEST University Centre, online competitions, annual
gives the people working in international bodies
report content and goals, features and tools on our
an opportunity to meet, discuss, to build stronger
intranet, (such as databases for training sessions),
personal connection and also to see customs of the
fundraising, media relations, application systems
hosting country. This event is called the International
and many other topics. There were so many of
Projects‘ Forum (IPF) and it gives the participants the
them, that making a schedule for all the participants
crucial boost for their work in a very motivational
became a complex mathematical problem, but
atmosphere, which is also important because
nothing which an engineer could not cope with.
motivation gives us a reason to do our best and to
However, the hard work and preparation paid off as
achieve great outcomes.
IPF brought us many useful results. Annual Report 19 2010/2011
P&G Testimonial from International Projects’ Forum During the past year we tried to build further on
do things.
the cooperation with BEST and transform it into a sustainable relationship. We chose to look at BEST
The good fit between the BEST profile and what
as a partner and not as a recruiting tool - this is why
we are looking for in P&G has been confirmed
we decided to be more involved and to follow-up
once more: BEST members work in an
the evolution of the organisation and its members
international and multi-cultural environment,
closely.
they are very advanced in virtual work, they have a technical background and a high level of
Among the several BEST events we have joined, the
soft-skills and they prove strong leadership and
one that stood out was the International Project’s
ownership.
Forum in Estonia in February 2011. We chose to go for a special approach of taking one of our well-
Because of the close cooperation with BEST we
established methodologies that could also benefit
were able to fill our ad-hoc openings in a timely and
students in their organisation management roles
qualitative manner in 2010-2011 and we count on
in BEST, but also in their future career. We took
the same success rate in the future!
our internal Decision Making process, generalised it and transformed it into a 2.5 hours training and
We are looking forward to continuing to build this
workshop. The result was an eye-opening session
strong connection and to welcoming more BEST
for both P&G and BEST: the students were keen
members and students of technology into the P&G
on understanding and relating what our company
world!
does to their own experience, we were interested to listen to new ideas and feedback. All in all, we were
The BEST Campus Team
happy to be able to bring external knowledge to
Procter & Gamble
the organisation and get a fresh view on how we
20 Board of European Students of Technology
General Meetings Tony Robbins said that it’s our decisions, and not our conditions, that determine our destiny. As this is very true, decision-making bodies are the essential part of each organisation. We also know that and that is why we organise two General Meetings every year. The events are the Presidents’ Meeting in autumn and the General Assembly in spring. The representatives of all the Local BEST groups, Observer Groups and international teams gather to introduce the results, evaluate the work, discuss the issues, decide the future of BEST and last, but not least, to socialise with people they might know from prior virtual communication. During the General Assembly the new international board is also elected.
Presidents‘ Meeting in Krakow
Kladovo, Serbia. Two delegates from each local
The XVI Presidents’ Meeting (PM) took place be-
group and representatives of observer groups,
tween 11 and 17 November 2010 in Krakow and
project teams and international bodies met ‘With
Limanowa, Poland. The schedule contained presen-
passion for technology at the crossroads of Europe’,
tations, discussion groups and training sessions.
as the slogan of the event said.
On the first day all the participants attended the of-
On the first day all the participants attended the
ficial opening, which was held at the AGH-University
official opening of the General Assembly which
of Science and Technology. The Official Opening
was held in the Student Cultural Centre and Youth
Day consisted of company presentations, VIP pres-
Centre. Seven international partner companies were
entations, a job fair and workshops in small groups.
present at the event, in order to meet BEST members
The Workshops were held by ING, P&G, Professor
as their potential future employers at the job fair,
Erik de Graaff (SEFI) and international bodies of BEST:
workshops or reach them through presentations.
the Educational Committee, External Events Com-
Participants could choose from three company
mittee and Training Group. Although the resources
workshops, a workshop from SEFI (European Society
were limited, the organisers never lost heart. They
for Engineering Education) and seven different
were following the slogan of the event – ‘If you can
training sessions. Everything was organised in a very
dream it, you can do it.’ – and they did their BEST to
professional way. The participants appreciated the
solve every problem always full of enthusiasm.
suprise of Tunak Tunak Tun (a typical song for our
th
th
organisation with a special dance) playing in a square The sessions in the following plenary days were
in Belgrade while BEST members were passing.
divided in a few logical blocks: International Management, Projects, Proposals, Membership,
The plenary days of GA took place in Kladovo. There
External Relations, LBG Show, Let’s Talk About BEST,
was time dedicated to represent the progress in
General Meeting organisers and Speaker’s Corner.
international projects such as Flash Week, Training
The hot topics of the event were regional division
Strategy,
strategy, educational involvement, identity of BEST,
Competition, final round), BEST University Centre,
country categories and external relations in BEST.
Growth, BEST Image, NGOs and other hot topics were
We voted upon proposals and also changed the
discussed including the Membership Evaluation
membership status of some groups.
Workshop and regional division. We shared a lot
General Assembly in Belgrade
EBEC
(European
BEST
Engineering
using Open Space Technology, elected the GA 2012 host and the next international management, as
The XXIX BEST General Assembly (GA) took place
well as changed the status of a few Local Groups.
between 14 and 22
After the event we had 90 LBGs in 30 countries.
th
nd
April 2011 in Belgrade and
Annual Report 21 2010/2011
Knowledge Management in BEST The turnover of generations is an ongoing process
knowledge management contributes to maintaining
in such an organisation as BEST. People come and
the unity of BEST.
go and keep being active for a quite short period of time.
Knowledge Group works in close cooperation with
For this reason knowledge management (KM) and
Training Group (TiGro). Together they are helping
knowledge transfer (KT) are two of the building
Local BEST Groups to have efficient knowledge-
blocks in BEST that ensure sharing of experience,
transfers and management and to carry out suc-
skills and information between its members.
cessful training sessions on those topics. There have been many steps towards this point. One example
Going from a new to an experienced member re-
is the Knowledge Management Workshop that was
quires knowledge about structure, procedures, tra-
first done during spring Regional Meetings last year.
ditions and the spirit of BEST, as well as knowledge on how to make successful projects. KM and KT are
Another larger project of Knowledge Group is the
the foundations for passing the necessary informa-
archive of Local BEST Group materials. It includes
tion to members. The international body of BEST
the Local BEST Group handbook that provides an
that deals with this area is called Knowledge Group.
overview of the structure and practices of BEST and explains how to establish and become a Local BEST
The Knowledge Group is aimed at organising all
Group.
knowledge and materials that BEST has accumulated since its foundation. As BEST grows constantly and
There is still a world to discover on this topic and
welcome new Local BEST Groups annually, effective
Knowledge Group definitely has a great potential.
BEST Alumni Network Alumni are former members of BEST holding valu-
Besides AlumniNET is working on the establishment
able experience and knowledge about the organi-
of the Entrepreneurship Working Group (EWG). The
sation, attached to BEST spirit and traditions. BEST
Group will support alumni initiatives to start up their
Alumni Network (AlumniNET) brings together thou-
own businesses and share valuable experience.
sands of alumni from LBGs. It is a way to keep alumni
The first step is the Alumni Business Camp in Berlin
together, involved in and informed about BEST.
(70 - 100 participants).
The goal of it is to enable mutually beneficial
The establishment of the EWG is expected to lay
cooperation within the alumni community and
the base for development of new independent
between alumni and active BEST members. This
working groups in various professional areas,
cooperation is aimed at exchange of experience
gathering alumni with similar interests thus boosting
and knowledge, establishment partnerships and
cooperation among them, external organisations,
development of business relations between current
companies and experts from the academic and
and former BEST members.
industrial worlds.
For the accomplishment of these goals certain actions
And there is always place for a casual conversation!
are initiated by AlumniNET. In November 2010 in
AlumniNET is also promoting friendly and informal
Poland and in April 2011 in Serbia, Alumni meetings
meetings between alumni and current BEST
were organised with around 20 participants in each.
members.
22 Board of European Students of Technology
Seasonal Events and Recognition Since 1991, courses have been one of the main
had four seasonal courses each year! BEST has had
activities of BEST in the field of complementary
a steady growth in number of courses since 1998.
education. This year BEST celebrates its 20 year of
Since 2008, there are more than 90 academic
organising courses with high academic standards
courses each year. Thanks to the great efforts of our
for students from all over Europe. These courses
90 local BEST groups, in average each local BEST
represent our mission: developing students and
group organises more than 1 course per year!
th
helping them in becoming internationally minded. In addition, BEST courses give the opportunity to
Since 1992, there have been more than 56 000
work together with other students and getting in
students who applied for one or more BEST courses.
touch with other cultures and traditions.
About 18 500 (33.2%) of them have been accepted one or more times for a course. The total number of
The BEST courses are taught by university lecturers
applicants is now reaching more than 10 000 a year,
or by experts from companies. The academic part is
with more than 17 500 applications per year!
accompanied by company visits, practical sessions, case studies, etc. The courses are aimed at providing
In BEST, it is not only the organisation of these BEST
new knowledge or skills for the participants. Two
courses, but also the recognition of the courses that
types of BEST courses exist, the BEST Courses on
is getting important. Recognition can be achieved
Technology, for increasing the knowledge in a
in several ways. First of all, all local BEST groups are
specific field of technology and BEST Courses on
encouraged in making the academic materials of our
Career related skills, where the aim is developing
courses public. In this way, not only students who
personal skills.
attended the course can access the materials, but also other students who did not participate in the
Since BEST started organising seasonal courses, there have been more than 1 200 courses! Though only from 1998 non-Summer Courses were also organised and only from 2007 onwards, BEST
24 Board of European Students of Technology
course and are interested in the topic, university and the companies can access the course documents as well. Making the course documents available to everyone should start during the Summer Courses of this year!
NUMBER OF APPLICANTS 2000
2005
TOTAL: 3873
2010
TOTAL: 7490
TOTAL: 9689
TOTAL: 9737
TYPES OF EXTERNAL EVENTS
Courses onTechnology
75
2011
Engineering Competitions Leisure events
Partner Organisation Events
Courses on Career Related Skills
Other Events
Symposium on Education
BEST Engineering Competitions Engineering competitions have been an integral
promotion of engineering amongst engineering
part of the services offered by BEST, both locally and
students in addition to working closely with its
internationally, since 2003. Since their conception,
stakeholders; namely universities and companies.
the
organised
Towards these objectives, a basic structure common
competitions have increased dramatically year by
to all competitions within BEST has been established;
year. To date, more than 80 Local BEST Engineering
the Case Study and the Team Design. In the Case
Competitions (LBECs) are held on an annual basis
Study format, competitors are challenged to provide
giving the opportunity for students, from technical
a conceptual solution to a given problem, whilst for
backgrounds, to challenge and prove themselves. In
the Team Design a working prototype is the main
doing this, participants are given the chance to put
deliverable.
popularity
and
diversity
of
their abilities and knowledge towards endeavours outside those in the lecture room and to improve
Despite their common underlying format, BEST
upon their soft skills such as communication and
engineering competitions have evolved to become
creativity. It is our aim to encourage educational
opportunities for the wide range of varying
institutes to support these events to complement
stakeholders related to BEST, not only university
traditional education.
students. One example of an innovative adaption is the competition format currently adopted by Local
BEST aims to encourage self-development and the
BEST Group Ghent. Here they have a symbiotic Annual Report 25 2010/2011
relationship with their university where they run
of students.
their competitions concurrently with a competition
In line with BEST’s vision of empowered diversity
for local high school students. The benefits for the
and our mission towards developing students
Local BEST Group are clear; it self-promotes itself
and creating an international mentality, a large
to potential new students whilst maintaining an
contribution in reaching this goal has been from
excellent relationship with the university. Likewise,
the consolidation of all the LBECs into a larger, more
the university is able to promote itself to engineers
international event now known as EBEC (European
of the future.
BEST Engineering Competition) in 2008. By using BEST’s expertise in organising large events such as
An example on the other end of the spectrum is the
General Meetings with the student orientated focus
new format to be employed during local BEST group
found in BEST courses, EBEC was the next logical
Tallinn’s next LBEC. In their ambitious competition
step. This augmented service now provides an
structure they have two rounds, of which the first
international stage for the best and brightest
rounds consist of eight different Case Studies. These
engineers from all over Europe to showcase
range from traditional engineering specialisations
their skills and to gain recognition in addition
such as mechanics and construction, to newer fields
to understanding and learning from new and
like informatics and power, to more generic fields,
different cultures.
for example; marketing and finance. This format has the advantage of being more attractive to
Since then, two editions of EBEC have taken place (in
companies, of which local BEST group Tallinn has
Ghent, Belgium and Cluj-Napoca, Romania) and the
had much success with examples of Case Study
third edition took place this year in Istanbul, Turkey.
solutions being implemented by satisfied partners.
To exemplify the size to which EBEC is currently
No doubt the greater selection of Case Studies is
at, the second edition of EBEC saw 104 finalists
also appealing to the students. The second round
competing over six days in what was a ten day event.
then sees the winners of the eight respective first
With broadcasts over six TV channels, three front
round Case Studies take on a more general Case
page newspaper articles and almost 200 references
Study and a Team Design. The end result is a better
over 89 websites, the event was widely publicised
relationship with local companies and higher quality
on an international scale.
competitors due to a pooling from a wider selection
26 Board of European Students of Technology
European BEST Engineering Competition Project True to the EBEC motto: ‘Design the future. Today!’,
relationships with local companies are enforced.
EBEC aims to make this a reality. As a large European-
During the second edition of EBEC in 2010, BEST saw
wide project with support of many of the better-,
71 Local BEST Engineering Competitions involving
and lesser- known educational institutes; companies;
more than 5 000 students.
engineering institutes, including SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education); and the IGO,
During the second stage, known as the National
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme); we
or Regional BEST Engineering Competitions,
believe that combined with our fresh perspective
the winners of the local rounds compete on a
on problems and large potential, we can change our
national or even international level to reach the
future for the better. This is why we constantly strive
EBEC finals. The competitions at this level are more
to involve more of our stakeholders throughout the
homogeneous with a combination of both a Team
whole EBEC structure; right from the base with the
Design and Case Study resulting in a winning
Local BEST Engineering Competitions to the EBEC
team for each competition format. From the 5 000
finals.
students competing at the Local BEST Engineering Competitions, only 600 made it to the 13 National
However, before participants can go to the EBEC
or Regional BEST Engineering Competitions, from
finals, they must first prove themselves at each of
which 104 made it to Cluj-Napoca.
the stages of EBEC. The first stage, the Local BEST Engineering Competitions, are held by each and
The final stage sees a similar structure as above,
every Local BEST Group. Although all Local BEST
albeit for one difference; finalist teams only
Engineering Competitions use the format of a
participate in the competition category won earlier.
Team Design or Case Study, or a combination, their
This allows the best teams from Europe to compete
exact nature vary widely; from a single day event
at the highest possible level. The second edition
to one over several days including Case Studies
of EBEC saw a number of prestigious multinational
and a 24 hour Team Design. Through these local
organisations and corporations backing the Team
competitions, students and universities are shown
Designs and Case Studies with support from the
the merits of applying theory to practice and
European Commission and local municipality.
Annual Report 27 2010/2011
24-hour Competitions A particularly original format that is gaining
day event. Since then, the net result of using such
popularity for Local BEST Engineering Competitions
a format has been less resources required from
is one first devised by Local BEST Group Porto in
the local BEST group, both in promotion and in
2009: the 24-hour competition. The concept is
organising the event itself. Furthermore, over the
simple: teams have exactly one day and one
three 24-hour competitions, local BEST group
night to tackle a problem and return with
Vienna has learnt to increase its visibility during the
the deliverables. In this manner competitors
final presentations; mostly in aspects of timing and
experience a more realistic format reflecting the
location. For example during the competition in
nature of engineering projects in industry and
2010, the whole event took place in the main hall of
emphasis is placed on the development of soft skills
TU Vienna. This has made it easier to promote their
such as team management and dedication.
services throughout the university.
As a local BEST group that has organised no less
On the corporate side, local BEST group Vienna
than six LBECs, of which three have taken the 24-
has also enjoyed better collaborations and interest
hour format, Local BEST Group Vienna has had
from industry. As for students, a one day event is
much experience with this sort of competitions.
more attractive and effective for companies than
After hearing about the success local BEST group
a multi-day event and so fundraising has become
Porto had with this format and its popularity with
easier. In addition the popularity of the events
students, Local BEST Group Vienna ran its first 24-
and the increase in visibility has done nothing
hour competition. For them, the main appeal from
but to increase the attractiveness of Local BEST
this format was the attractiveness this format had
Engineering Competitions sponsorship. No doubt
for students; not only was the concept of working
the relationships between industry and students are
24 hours straight challenging, it also meant that
more intimate over 24 hour intensive competitions
students would lose less study time compared to
then through other formats.
the traditional two or three
28 Board of European Students of Technology
It is called a full circle. The core activity of BEST is
fit. Another way of bringing students together with
providing complementary education to students of
companies are our career related events. Our JobFairs
technical universities. This core activity is ensured
are events, where students can meet company
with technical courses, organised by every Local BEST
representatives and talk about the company culture
Group at least once per year. Most of the courses are
and job possibilities. BEST also arranges company
supported by companies, who are interested in the
presentations, visits and other events. The easiest
same field as the course’s topic. Companies strive to
way to get the overview and apply to participate in
search and employ students, who seem to spend
such an event is to simply go to our official website
their free time educating and improving themselves
and choose a suitable event according to type or
through extracurricular work. These students are
location.
searching for something university cannot give them. Applying for a BEST course is then an option.
Many graduates found their current job thanks to some of our career events. Every participant can
BEST tends to cooperate with companies in a
directly influence the image of the company they
longterm perspective. Very often a cooperation on
represent, because students can actually see and
an event becomes a cooperation lasting for several
talk about the work every company actually does.
years. BEST generated a virtual platform called
Also, being in contact with your possible future
BEST Career Support, which helps students and
employees is a great benefit these events bring.
companies come closer together and find a suitable
Annual Report 29 2010/2011
BEST Career Support BEST is connecting students and companies. As
The students can simply create an account and
a student organisation, we see the exact needs of
fill in their curriculum vitae online. This service has
students and we try to match those needs with
become very popular among students who are in
those of our partners. We help students increase
search for a career opportunity. Our CV database
their chances of developing their careers as well as
is becoming larger on a daily basis, approaching
we help companies to find the talents they need.
20 000 CVs from students and graduates. All the CVs
One of the tools we use for this connection is BEST
can be browsed easily with the help of very detailed
Career Support.
search options, which makes the system very efficient for companies to find the candidates who meet their requirements. Through BCS, students
BEST Career Support is a virtual platform which connects students of engineering and technology with our partner companies.
can also receive a regular newsletter, informing
We create cross-European connections, which bring
All job offers, internships and programmes can
diversity, benefits and generates development.
also be posted on the external web page in our
Information from BCS can be accessed directly by
career section, leaving it accessible by all students
all interested parties, making BCS a very effective
who browse our website. In this way, students can
tool for students to find their dream job and for
experience the advantages of BCS and then register
companies to find a perfect fit.
for the full service.
30 Board of European Students of Technology
about the latest internships, job offers and special programmes. The selection criteria are also added here; students can see the offers that match their requirements and wishes.
Career Events Career events are the BEST way to connect students
the BEST Engineering Competitions is a place where
and companies. Obviously, the direct contact
companies, media and the brightest students of
between students and company representatives
technology meet all together. The companies
brings the ultimate glimpse of the company world.
and media welcome the solutions invented by the students and equally the students enjoy the
We can divide career events into three main
presence and attention given to them from the
categories. There are the official Opening Days of our
company representatives and media.
General Meetings, Closing Days of our BEST Engineering Competitions and there are local career
The biggest advantage of our career events is that
events. All events are listed on our official website,
they are so easy to attend. All interested parties can
sorted according to the categories. Students can
simply go to our website, to the section of career
choose to attend company presentations, Case
events and apply.
Studies, Jobfairs, Round Tables and other career events like training sessions or seminars. We invite
With a number of career events reaching one
our partners to official openings of our largest
hundred per year, students and companies have
events, where they have the chance to access
endless possibilities to meet and find a perfect
our network and promote their image among
career or employee. Join us today and become
students. The Closing Day of the European final of
one of our satisfied partners.
Testimonial from Bekaert Bekaert continuously searches for young engineers
more internationally minded, by reaching a better
from all over the world. Since BEST is an international
understanding of diverse cultures and developing
organisation targeting engineering students from all
capacities to work on an international basis.
over Europe, it is a valuable partner for us. Our cooperation started in 2006 and today a fair number of
We acknowledge and can relate to the ambitions
our employees are former BEST members.
of BEST. Our main field of cooperation is through recruitment events, company presentations and
Bekaert is a global technological and market leader in
career newsletters. We send advice newsletters
advanced solutions based on metal transformation
through BEST, for example “How to prepare for
and coatings, and the world’s largest independent
your first interview?”. With these tools we try to
manufacturer of drawn steel wire products.
broaden the scope of young graduates towards
Bekaert is a global company with headquarters in
doing business in an international context. BEST
Belgium, employing 28 000 people worldwide.
and Bekaert have built up a strong relationship
Serving customers in 120 countries, Bekaert pursues
throughout the years which results in a win-win
sustainable profitable growth in all its activities and
situation for both BEST and Bekaert. It’s another
generated combined sales of € 4.5 billion in 2010.
proof of our baseline better together.
The objective of BEST is to provide communication, co-operation
and
exchange
possibilities
for
students all over Europe and to help them become Annual Report 31 31 2010/2011
Local cooperation BEST has no limits when it comes to offering the
advantages for the company. Schlumberger set up
students and companies the opportunities to meet
quite some local partnerships with different Local
each other, offering them the best environment to
BEST Groups around Europe, such as
discuss future career opportunities.
• a job fair organised by Local BEST Group Kraków in Poland in March 2011 (at the AGH-UST - University
Since the needs of the companies, e.g. annual
of Science and Technology),
partners, are not only to recruit students or recent
• a job fair organised by Local BEST Group Ankara in
graduates from international events like General
Turkey in March 2011 (at the Middle East Technical
Meetings which they may support, BEST tries to
University),
facilitate the cooperation between annual partners
• a Local BEST Engineering Competition organised
and Local BEST Groups all over Europe. Sometimes
by Local BEST Group Istanbul in Turkey in March
these companies are also interested in other ways of
2011 (at the Istanbul Technical University),
recruiting new people, they want to know what the
• the Schlumberger Careers Day organised by local
Local BEST Groups are doing, they want to participate
BEST group Bucharest in Romania in May 2011 (at
in local events, especially local career events, and be in
the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest). This
contact with local students. Therefore, BEST gives the
was a three day recruitment event dedicated to
companies the possibilities to come in contact with
Schlumberger.
local BEST groups regarding local events in specific countries, cities and/or universities.
This is just a part of the beginning of the cooperation between
Schlumberger,
BEST
and
the
local
A tool is available for Local BEST Groups to announce
partnerships. The company is eager to continue
any kind of local career event like job fairs or other event,
the partnership with BEST and participating in
such as company presentations, BEST courses, etc. In
similar events in the future. Some of these events
this way, these events can be promoted to companies,
are already planned for the near future. In this way,
which facilitates the contact between the companies
Schlumberger and other companies, can combine the
and local BEST groups to form a new partnership in
benefits from the international promotion offered by
order to reach the companies’ expectations.
the annual partnership through Career Newsletters, promotion on www.BEST.eu.org and internal events,
Schlumberger is one of those companies which
with the benefits of the local promotion during local
took this opportunity by seeing the different
career events in their target countries and universities.
32 Board of European Students of Technology
BEST Educational Involvement is a service that BEST currently offers to students all over the Europe. It creates a platform, in order to raise the awareness
is gathered during the Events on Education and via
of students on educational matters and to provide
surveys in BEST. The Educational Committee of BEST
impartial student input to the stakeholders of
(EduCo) is currently offering more possibilities on
European Engineering Education (EEE). The need
Events on Education, starting with the traditional
for this service comes from the current low level
Symposia and BACo Forums (BEST, Academics
of unbias student input in the field and the
and Companies Forums). Furthermore, EduCo is
rapid development of the previous years in the
involved in educational matters for the sake of the
engineering education.
delivery of this input to the various stakeholders. This involvement includes the participation and
How does BEST Educational Involvement work in
work in European Thematic Networks and Projects
reality? EEE is comprised by many specific academic
and cooperation with associations involved in EEE.
topics, such as curricula development, e-learning,
It also includes representing BEST in conferences
active learning, recognition and accreditation,
and seminars related to Engineering Education.
lifelong learning, student mobility, research in
Furthermore, EduCo supports BEST projects that
EEE, women in EEE, etc. The BEST Educational
are related to academic matters, such as recognition
Programme is implementing the whole platform
and BEST University Centre, and is the team capable
for BEST Educational Involvement. Information
of helping Local BEST Groups when they need
on educational issues is brought to students
assistance to improve their Public Relations with
and their input is provided to stakeholders
their host university.
working on them, at the same time. Student input
34 Board of European Students of Technology
1st World Engineering Education Flash Week The 1st World Engineering Education Flash Week,
The event serves as an umbrella for several other
organised by BEST, SEFI and ISEL (Instituto Superior de
events organised by different organisations during
Engenharia de Lisboa), took place in Lisbon, Portugal
that week, so it represents a great opportunity for
between 26th September and 4th October 2011. This
BEST to increase its visibility and the recognition
event is notable for its new and unique concept of
of our organisation in the world of engineering
gathering 300 professors and 300 students, pairing
education.
them up in teams and solving various case studies within topics of interest in engineering education. The professors and the students are working together and they can get to know each other and the city whilst discussing a problem. Flash Week has an interesting aim and role in the history of the events on education - to deconstruct pre-made groups, to deconstruct the concept of conferences, to have the people in the centre of the event, to support the interaction of knowledge and people regardless their origin or job position, as a mean to empower diversity. It gathers experts from various European organisations, BEST being one of the key elements of the event because of its role. BEST has been involved in promoting the event to students, in developing the social programme for the participants, delivering training sessions and organising small engineering competitions.
Annual Report 35 2010/2011
Events On Education Apart
from
BEST
Courses
and
Engineering
topics of this event were Lifelong Learning, Women
Competitions, BEST also organises Events on
in Engineering and Transition from studies to your
Education as one of the faces of the external BEST.
first job. The outcomes of the working groups were
Traditionally, these are seminars that last 6 days and
sent to StartPro and were used in other occasions,
are focused on evaluating and finding new paths
so that students’ input contributed to the overall
for higher engineering education in Europe.
quality of engineering studies in Europe.
Hereby students can gain or share knowledge on the specific engineering topic in the field of education.
BEST Symposium on Education – BSoE’s are events where students and representatives of the
Two types of the Events on Education can be held, -
universities are discovering new issues and solutions
BACo and Symposium on Education.
in the engineering education. The topics vary on different educational issues: they can be proposed
BEST Academics and Companies Forum – BACo,
by the Educational Committee (EduCo) or be related
where students from all over Europe together
to Educational Projects, run by Thematic Networks
with university representatives and companies are
connected to the European Commission, where
gathered to discuss a certain topic in the field of
BEST, through EduCo, is involved. During July 2010
engineering education. They exchange opinions,
the BEST Symposium “Work virtually! Boost your
share experiences, offer suggestions and find
career at student speed” took place in Ljubljana. The
solutions to common issues. Local BEST Group in Sofia
Symposium was led by the Educational Committee
was lucky to organise the event entitled “University is
of BEST (EduCo) with the help of EuroPACE, ERABEE
not enough? Cross the bridge to real world!”. During
and the hosting Local BEST Group of Ljubljana.
this event students had the chance to know the
The event was focused on virtual mobility of
actual situation in Europe for all the problems that
students of technology. Existing programmes led
affect the transition from the University to the first
by EuroPACE – EU-VIP, Move-IT and EPICS were
job experience. During working sessions, each group
discussed in order to improve the existing methods
was given valuable input by one of the professors
used in virtual programs and to develop new ones
and a representative from StartPro, Mr. William Lis.
for the future. Another topic that was discussed was
The topics vary on different educational issues: the
about the innovation and creativity in university
36 Board of European Students of Technology
settings and how it contributes to raising the
The idea appeals to the European Union in such
attractiveness of engineering among students.
a degree that a thematic network called EU-VIP
The last topic discussed was delivered by ERABEE
(Enterprise-University Virtual Placements) has been
and its focus was on Knowledge Management and
created in order to gather the input from students
methods which could be used in order to preserve
and companies on the topic of virtual internships.
the information during longer periods of time.
Students had the chance to stand at the basis of this new concept. Their ideas and feedback are going to
Also there was an interesting event in Riga in August
be brought back to the European Commission.
2011 - “If your life is online? Then make it work”.
Presence at Educational Conferences As BEST is involved in different aspects of European
conference - “Effective collaborations addressing
engineering education, in the past year several
common and global challenges”.
members of the organisation attended conferences
The EUGENE Scientific Meeting was organised
in this field in order to bring students’ input on
between 16th-17th December 2010, in Gothenburg,
projects which are meant to improve the education
where topics regarding PhD’s were discussed
in Europe.
(importance of the research in engineering education, qualifications’framework domain and accreditation).
During the SEFI-IGIP 2010 Annual Conference in
In addition, there were raised questions on Life Long
Trnava, Slovakia, which took place in September
Learning, continuous education and attractiveness
2010, the BEST members, together with more than
of the engineering education.
400 professors and experts, were updated with the latest results of European and Global Engineering
WISE (World Innovation Summit for Education) in
Education development. BEST also presented there
Doha, Qatar, organised between 7th-9th December
the outcomes of the Symposium organised in 2009
2010, brought together 1000 education, corporate,
in cooperation with CFES (Canadian Federation
political and social leaders from all sectors of society
of Engineering Students), “Improving Engineering
all over the world. This was the second time BEST
Education? Let’s do it together!”.
took part and the summit gave excellent networking opportunities for BEST in a lot of various fields.
During the World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) 2010 in Singapore, Myriam Teicher (Vice-
Furthermore, BEST was represented in the following
President for External Services) represented BEST and
conferences and workshops:
presented the results of the survey “Grand Challenges for Engineering in the eyes of the 21 Century st
Students” realised together with Dassault Systèmes in August 2010. This large conference gathered five international events together, among them the 4th IFEES Summit (The International Federation of Engineering Education Societies) and General Assembly. It offered BEST the opportunity to network
• EUGENE Line A Meeting (Leuven, Belgium, July 2010), • EUR-ACE SPREAD Final Conference (Brussels, Belgium, October 2010), • 3rd partner meeting of EU-VIP (Padua, Italy, December 2010), • SEFI Deans’ Conference (Paris, France, February, 2011),
with experts on education from all over the world
• StartPro kick-off meeting: “Young professional
and to broaden the horizons of the organisation,
and managerial staff facing changes in the
by attending and giving input on the topic of the
working place” (Brussels, Belgium, March 2011). Annual Report 37 2010/2011
Testimonial from Dassault Systèmes Dassault Systèmes is a leading provider of 3D design, manufacturing, simulation and innovation software, as well as product lifecycle management and search-based applications. Used by numerous industrial employers and educational institutions across the globe, these solutions come to educators with a rich set of tutorials and curricula to help them create their own leading-edge courses in a wide range of engineering and non-engineering disciplines. In collaboration with BEST, Dassault Systèmes has launched an international survey called “Grand Challenges for engineering in the eyes of 21st century students: new findings from an ongoing global survey based on the U.S. National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges”. With the support of the BEST network of talents, we received 3 397 replies from more than 90 countries. The survey aims to foster dialogue on the major challenges, and also to develop awareness and curiosity among those who will be required to provide solutions as part of their professional responsibilities. Dassault Systèmes also works closely with BEST on several worldwide events related to education, such as the American Society for Engineering Education Global Colloquium and the 1st World Engineering Education Flash Week. Charles BONNASSIEUX Dassault Systèmes
Testimonial from EU-VIP For many years, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven has had the pleasure of collaborating with BEST in the framework of European Commission funded projects such as for example REVE, VM-BASE and SPUTNIC in which both organisations have been partners. Currently, BEST is partner in the K. U. Leuven led project EUVIP (Enterprise-University Virtual Placements) [1]. This project looks into the possibilities virtual mobility can offer in the area of international work placements in order to enhance the quality of these work and learning experiences. Concretely EU-VIP will result in guidelines and online training material on how to organise virtual and virtually supported (or ‘blended’) international work placements. Project outcomes are aimed at the three stakeholder groups with an interest in undertaking such work placements: higher education staff, representatives of businesses/organisations and of course the students. BEST was taken on board of EU-VIP to represent the students’ point of view in each phase of the project. Besides the constructive input at the project meetings, we also highly value the possibility of organising interactive workshops in the framework of the BEST Symposia on Education. For example, the outcomes of the symposium “Work virtually! Boost your career at student speed!” that was organised last year in Ljubljana, Slovenia were used to fine-tune the intermediate EU-VIP project results. We are already looking forward to the next event and further collaboration with BEST in future projects! Ilse Op de Beeck Media and Learning Unit – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 38 Board of European Students of Technology
[1] www.euvip.eu
Testimonial from SEFI In my capacity as director of a teaching and learning support center at the K.U.Leuven (Belgium), I have been working with BEST already for a couple of years. We worked together in several (European) projects, where BEST was one of our preferential partners when it came to raise the student voice on themes like virtual mobility and lifelong learning. Well-organised, very knowledgeable, ready to engage, making clear points, but also prepared to make compromises,… just a few characteristics how I got to know BEST, as an organisation, and especially the students, the human capital of BEST. Recently, there was a new dimension in our relationship, related to my function as president-elect of SEFI. As this is SEFI’s Year of the Student, we had the pleasure to incorporate student participation in SEFI in a more structural way and to set up a series of common activities, which will culminate in our Annual Conference, sorry the first ever World Engineering Education Flash Week next September in Lisbon. SEFI and BEST are two natural twins, and I hope we can share our lives together to the benefit of both our organisations. Although people are coming and going – it was and still is my pleasure working with the young ‘potentials’ of BEST. Looking forward to continue along those lines! Prof. dr. ir. Wim Van Petegem SEFI President
Testimonial from EUGENE EUGENE LLP Academic Network, active since October 2009, has now arrived at a crucial Milestone: the midterm of the project. It is time for real actions to take place in order to demonstrate that such large cooperation projects are a concrete measure to enhance the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), contributing to the global dimension of Engineering Education. BEST, a historical partner of Networks in the field of Engineering Education is now leading, together with Univ. Birmingham, one of the main activities of EUGENE: Line E - Increase attractiveness of EHEA. We must recognise that the activities are proceeding well in different directions, e.g. learning how to increase attractiveness from good practice. The resonance of EUGENE is certainly increasing in Europe, and not only, much thanks to the important networking support of BEST, connecting engineering students of all European countries and ensuring a substantial representation of the students in the project activities. We wish therefore to officially acknowledge the important contribution of BEST to EUGENE and, more in general to the whole sector of Engineering Education in Europe hoping that this will continue also in the future. Thank you BEST! Prof. Dott. Ing. Claudio Borri, Dr.-Ing. h.c. Coordinator of EUGENE LLP Academic Network (eugene@unifi.it) Dott.ssa Elisa Guberti Project Manager of EUGENE LLP Academic Network (eugene@unifi.it) Annual Report 39 2010/2011
Cooperation with the European Commission At the beginning of 2011 with help of the Grants
to manage the Youth in Action programme. The
Working Group (GWG), BEST received for the first
aim is to promote the active citizenship of young
time the Framework Partnership Agreement grant
people, to foster their social integration in society
covering a part of the operational costs of BEST
and to ensure that a youth dimension is taken into
for the years 2011-2013. This is the grant distributed
account in other EU policies.
by the European Comission through the Youth in Action programme.
Youth in Action (YiA) is a Program created by the European Union to support youth activities. Amongst
GWG is a team in BEST, interested in working on
others there was a grant of Youth in Action from LBG
grant applications and receiving financial support
Riga for a Culture Exchange project with LBG Brno,
in a different way than fundraising from corporate
LBG Louvain-la-Neuve and a student organisation
partners.
from Malta – and the amount of the grant was 14 000 EUR.
The European Commission has a double mission: to develop a framework for political cooperation and
Cooperation with Institutions and Student NGOs In BEST we work actively with developing
students and aims to give support to the education of
partnerships with other student NGOs that share
engineering students so that they can have a greater
a similar vision and culture to ours. Through
impact on society. The biggest project of CFES is
the partnerships we aim to stimulate sharing of
the Canadian Engineering Competition and they
knowledge, resources, best practices and ultimately
also organise conferences on engineering related
provide more opportunities and better services to
matters annually
our students. Our Official Partners – AEGEE, bonding and
As a result of the external relations strategy that
CFES - are the NGOs with whom we cooperate
was implemented during this year, we were able to
the most. AEGEE (Association des Etats Généraux
develop stronger ties with our current Official Partners
des Etudiants de l’Europe / European Students’
and at the same time get in contact with potential
Forum) is a student organisation that promotes co-
partners such as ELSA (European Law Students’
operation, communication and integration amongst
Association), EFPSA (European Federation of
young people in Europe. Their flagship projects
Psychology Students Associations) and ESTIEM
include the Summer University and also European
(European Students of Industrial Engineering and
Schools, which are training events on specific topics.
Management).
bonding, our German partner, has been bridging
During the past year, the partnerships mentioned
the gap between technology students and
above enabled us to co-organise joint training
employers since 1988. In order to fulfil this goal,
events where we had trainers and participants
students from eleven university cities organise a
from both organisations involved in each training
wide range of events, focusing especially on job fairs
event. We organised a training event on Project
of different sizes, European Workshops and training
Management (May 2011) with bonding and
events. CFES (Canadian Federation of Engineering
a training event on Corporate and Institutional
Students) represents over 65 000 engineering
Fundraising (September 2011) with AEGEE.
40 Board of European Students of Technology
BEST, along with other 26 NGOs is under the umbrella
bring for our partners and us. We aim to increase
of the Informal Forum of the International Student
and improve the cooperation with student NGOs so
Organisations (IFISO). IFISO provides a platform
that our impact on the technology students, as well
for collaboration amongst international students
as on the external world will be maximised through
organisations through knowledge sharing and
shared growth and learning.
common projects. BEST plays an active role in IFISO and has sent representatives to IFISO’s meetings in
Did you know that? Besides cooperation with
Istanbul (October 2010) and in Krakow (March 2011).
student NGOs, the External Relations Strategy of BEST covers partnerships with European
This year was filled with wonderful exchange
and Global bodies involved in matters related
opportunities and we had the pleasure of receiving
to youth, education in engineering and
members from other NGOs in a wide range of
volunteering. These partnerships enable us to
events - from Complementary Education Courses
fulfil our purpose and have a higher impact on the
to Statutory Events. At the same time, our members
external world. In 2007, BEST signed a Memorandum
were warmly received in the events of the student
of Cooperation with FEANI (European Federation of
NGOs we cooperate with.
National Engineering Associations) and in February
We value the partnerships with other student NGOs
2011, the President and Ambassador met with
because we believe in diversity, in the power of
representatives of FEANI in Brussels, in order to
knowledge sharing and the improvement they
further develop the cooperation.
Cooperation in the field of training One of the main activities of BEST is to provide
The second Ts’F took place near Vienna (Austria),
training sessions at BEST events, both internal and
between 3th-7th March. Prior to the event several
external as non-formal education. To assure the
BEST trainers provided training sessions for almost
quality of these training sessions, the Trainers’
100 young Austrian students of the Technical
Forum (Ts’F) has been set up to discuss and
University of Vienna on topics such as presentation
improve the training system.
skills, conflict and team management. About 100 passionate trainers from 26 different NGOs
In March 2010, LBG Budapest hosted the first Ts’F.
attended the working sessions during the three
About 70 trainers gathered in Hungary and more
days of the event to share their knowledge. They
than 50 discussions were held on the topic: “What
held more than 70 discussions, presenting their
can we improve in NGOs’ training field?”. This event
ideas and concepts and inspiring each other. The
resulted in several NGOs building up their own
first day of the event was dedicated to Trainers’
training system or improving the quality in existing
Meeting sessions. These sessions are used to work
ones. Since Ts’F 2010 had a huge impact in
on specific training topics and as sessions in which
terms of networking, knowledge and practice
an experienced trainer trains the others on an
sharing, the Trainers’ Forum was an important step
advanced topic.
for the Training Group (TiGro) in developing trainers and achieving synergy between different trainer
If you are a passionate trainer willing to share your
generations. In order to succeed, a second, even
knowledge with other trainers, then follow the
bigger Ts’F was held in 2011, which focused on
news on the Trainers’ Forum for our third edition
ensuring the quality of training sessions and the
in Ljubljana!
trainers’ development. Annual Report 41 2010/2011
Cooperation in the field of Public Relations The Public Relations (PR) project was created two years ago in order to create a stronger external image of BEST and to develop the practices of public relations among the different bodies of our organisation.
Cooperation in the field of Publ
In September 2010, four members became the PR
Apart from that, we contacted a large number of
Core-Team in order to take care of social networks,
European and national channels inviting them to
partnerships and media-clippings. The team
attend and cover our biggest events: Presidents’
gathered 10 more BEST members interested in
Meeting Krakow 2010, General Assembly Belgrade
Public Relations development at the end of the year
2011 and the Final of the European BEST Engineering
in Bratislava for a Short Intensive Meeting. Outcomes
Competition Istanbul 2011.
of the event became the goals of the year for the team.
The third dimension was to ensure a planned and coherent presence of BEST in different social
The first dimension of the project was to create a base
networks: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. This year
of knowledge about media and social networks.
we will also open a blog where everyone will be
The PR Core-Team is developing training sessions,
able to post their BEST experiences and connect
presentations and other resources to spread this
with their friends inside the organisation and our
basic knowledge in the field of PR to our members.
partners.
The second dimension was to increase the
Thanks to our work and to the support of other BEST
appearance of BEST in the media. With this purpose,
bodies, the Public Relations project has achieved all
we are following cooperation opportunities with
those goals and is ready to take on new challenges.
different international media channels. Since April 2010, Young Innovations Europe is the first
The next steps are the creation of a new section
media partner of BEST and they have already
for press on the BEST Public Website, an increase
published several articles in their publications.
of exposure in leading national and international
Next year we want to continue this cooperation and
media channels and an improvement in the support
increase the amount of partnerships and articles.
provided to Local BEST Groups on PR matters.
42 Board of European Students of Technology
CORPORATE PARTNERS CAREER SUPPORT PARTNERS
SUPPORTERS
PARTNERS
MEDIA SUPPORTER Photos:
Danilo Vidovic, Dominika Kamola, Elena Ivashkina, Leire Barosso, Krzysztof Kowalczyk, Miguel Marzán, Paweł Gocyła, Stas Ivanov BEST archive.
Writers:
Alexandra Cota, Andrei Iulian Ganci, Christophe Jouret, Dalibor Benak, Florian Valente, Ivanna James Salmon, Juan Van Roy, Krzysztof Kobyłecki, Laura Hellebrandt, Leonid Kholkin, Lucia Lucía Marquina, Matija Lukic, Monica Kviljo, Myriam Teicher, Naga Sudha Mangeshkar Vankayala, Yulia Adalshina.
Kushniruk, Cibulková,