Board Interview

BOARD ARTICLE

...30th Board members interview their successors.

President: Ines Moreira interviews Luis Viudez

interviews Maria Serodio 1) If you could only choose one moment from

on? your ESTIEM journey to remember forever, what would it be?

I would have to divide it in two different moments. our network and beyond for the past 30 years and

The first was my election as a President of the 31st Board. Little did I know how unusual the times and what the challenges for the board and all of the network would be. However, undoubtedly it is something I will not forget as it was the culmination of years of work and devotion to the network. The second one was during my year as a Regional Coordinator, and moreover, the Leaders’ workshop in Yildiz was another peak moment of my journey.

2) What should ESTIEM never forget?

Above all, the ESTIEM Spirit. It may sound like an “obvious” answer but as time goes by, it has been that everlasting flame of our identity which is

3) How do you want your Board to be remembered?

I have it clear since the beginning of my mandate: definitely as the Board that never quitted and that invested every resource they had in improving and making ESTIEM a better place.

Vice President of Education: Duarte Oliveira

1) What is the number one problem universities have that you think ESTIEM can have an influence

I have the perception that universities are not very good at getting a broad view of IEM in Europe and benchmarking with other universities. Usually they know their own reality well and at maximum the one of their country or partner universities, but are not able to have a concrete view on specific differences at a European level. ESTIEM can certainly help here, as a connector of IEM Europe, since we have been in contact with so many universities in the different countries of important to always remember.

started research in IEM related topics.

2) Looking back to your ESTIEM journey, what led you to the position of Vice President of Education?

I think since the beginning I have always drifted towards the educational side. In fact, my first organized and attended events were Academic Days, and I have always seen value in keeping on learning. After taking part as Department Coordinator of the Academic Department, it became clear to me that this was an area I wanted to develop further in the network.

I feel like IEM topics, even though in university they can be quite challenging, in ESTIEM they have a chance to be looked upon in a completely

different perspective that can get through to the students. Besides, two things I really like in this position is that it gives me a chance to be creative and to meet many professors and professionals from which we can learn from and with whom we can work.

3) If you had to pick up a different Board item for the position of Vice President of Education, what would it be?

That is a tough one. I hope if it comes to the point of changing it, I will have more time to think about watching;

it! For now, I would say it could be a book where every week, even month has been a bit challenging for me to be honest. Willing to get the maximum out of every day while having multiple meetings and tasks to do and still trying to catch some time for family, friends and hobbies, I could say that 24 hours per day sometimes is not enough. Still though, I am definitely truly enjoying every single day!

each Vice President has the chance to write a small message from their mandate to their successors. Alternatively, it could also be one of those fake books that have storage inside, so that we can always keep a small bottle of our favorite drink with us.

Vice President of Public Relations: Robin Dietrich interviews Trajko Krstic

1) What is one thing that you want to make people know about ESTIEM?

There is a variety of definitions of what ESTIEM is. Not for people to know, but actually to understand at least one of them would be enough for me. I think that could be even enough for everyone - to see and to feel all the joy in the atmosphere that ESTIEMers bring. Smiles come right after. 1) If you could make an ESTIEM event without

2) If you had to come up with the ultimate ESTIEM

It is pretty simple, the steps would be the following: 1. Find a huge bowl (let’s say 10l); 2. Throw all fruity ingredients you can get at that moment; 3. Start with pouring the same amount of any blue Absinthe and some good North-West beer. Doing that would get us the exact

ESTIEM green colour; 4. “Accidentally” drop few bottles of Minttu and few glasses of Porto wine while no one is 5. Add few drops of soplica to get sweet taste and mix it Voila. You can start drinking with other ESTIEMers!

3) What has been the biggest change in your life since you started your board year?

Actually, when I think about it, there are already a lot of changes. I think I could say the biggest one is that I have gradually started to respect time much more. Even though one might say that I am still a bit late for some meetings, I have in mind time on a greater scale, in general. Planning every day,

Vice President of Activities: Olli-Eemeli Lappi interviews Marc Johannsmann

cocktail, what would the ingredients be? any limitations, what would it look like?

Really interesting question. Okay, firstly, it would be longer than a week, maybe 14 days. Having more time to enjoy the ESTIEM spirit is always wonderful. Having guests as IEM professionals, trainers and going to conferences every morning

would be great, to learn as much as possible in these two weeks. The event location would also change frequently - the aim would be at least 7 cities, going from North to South or East to West. And for sure, leisure activities cannot be missed - boat parties, skydiving, city tours, carting, camping in nature, kayaking and surfing.

2) Many consider Vice President of Activities as the entertainer of the board, which karaoke song could you entertain your board and ESTIEM sure difficult, so what is the thing that you are

during your mandate with?

Hard to choose one now. I really like to sing German songs as “Fliegerlied”, but on the other hand, I not being able to travel, I dream of meeting my cogreatest friends I have in Council Meeting Porto!

am also happy to take any challenge in another language as for example “Meidän Laivassa”. That is always more than fun. When I would need to choose one, it would be: Country Roads!

3) What are you looking forward to the most for your board year?

There will be many special moments coming up this year, but I would definitely highlight the first Board meeting again in a Local Group, where we, as a Board, will meet for the first time after all these online events together. Waiting a lot for the first hugs and cheers we will have together and just enjoying the time. Secondly, after announcing Porto will be one of the highlights this year. There we will rock Europe again and show the best ESTIEM spirit all together! Stay safe and hope to see you there!

Vice President of Finance: Arthur Michalczyk interviews Merve Aksoy

1) Not being able to travel to ESTIEM events is for awaiting the most?

I remember my last trip very well. That was the first time we heard that there will be a quarantine for us whenever we are back. I know that we did not take it too seriously then. After 6 months of boardies and singing the ESTIEM song with a great passion. Also, I am looking forward to meeting the again an Online Council Meeting, Council Meeting

2) ESTIEM has been in a very critical financial situation in the last years, which has resulted in many financial cuts. Taking the lastly approved minimum development budget as a starting point, what financial support would you like to see the first in your next budget if possible?

During the many years I was around as an active ESTIEMer, I believe that we have learned a lot from each other and my generation gave it a very good start to our year. The biggest important thing for

See you somewhere...

me will be supporting the growth and development of the network.

3) What is the most important trait for you in your relationship between you as a board responsible and your leaders?

ESTIEM is known for being a network where you can have many great friendships. Same applies to me, not only with my leaders but also with my coboardies and with every other ESTIEMer.

Vice President of Administration: Giuseppe Perrone interviews Elif Nur Akyildirim

1) Neither the end of my mandate year was like often and your mood may be affected by them. would tell myself; “firstly, take time for yourself to think wide”, then, “not take the situation personally, and try to see their perspective”. Sometimes there is no common solution to a problem, but the important part is finding the best solution for the network. 3) The board year is also filled with beautiful moments which you will have to learn to fulfillment? If so, what is that? And if not, what

any other, nor would be the start of yours. What had fun because of the environment that I had

is the aspect of being in such a peculiar situation that worries you the most?

Not being able to travel for the whole year. Travels make ESTIEMers more alive, better feel the ESTIEM spirit, and tend to work harder while playing hard. It would be normal not to travel for months in this term, but not being able to travel for a whole year 2) The board year is an incredibly tough experience, hardships will accompany you quite What would you tell to your future self in case of a board fight, when reasoning may be scarce and moodiness arises?

I personally think that there cannot be a fight within a group that has the same purpose. There might be discussions, misunderstandings and disagreements. In case of a situation like that, I

appreciate in the face of hard times. Have you already understood what gives you a sense of do you think it is?

Actually, I am not sure. I have memories that whenever I felt exhausted or lost, I did smile and would be the thing that worries me the most.

with my co-boardies and leaders. That made me stay motivated and positive. However, I believe once we start travelling again, there will be a time when I can share a specific moment to answer this question.

in Europe!

Duarte João Oliveira Local Group Porto

CURRICULA DATABASE - CONNECTING IEM THROUGH ANALYTICS

ESTIEM’s Vision and Context Connecting IEM Students Within an IEM Europe

Since 2018, and with the new vision, ESTIEM is committed to connect its students and members around the science of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) by embracing stakeholders around it that can help us to develop exactly that, IEM. If looked closely though, what has ESTIEM been contributing to this vision? What has ESTIEM been delivering to gather everyone around the same purpose? With these questions in mind and with the mindset of giving more power to students, as well as solutions to companies and universities, ESTIEM came up with the Curricula Database, a tool that aims to make our IEM Curricula as transparent as possible.

Early Beginnings and Minimal Viable Product

The idea of having such a database of curriculums already existed in 2018, when the 29th Board of ESTIEM collected all of the curriculums ESTIEM’s Local Groups were recruiting from. However, it was only in January 2020, that the 30th Board gave another dimension to the database: delivering in-depth analysis of our curricula by addressing the subjects with a framework to classify them. external curricula;

Thus, after an intensive meeting with professors Rui Lima and Diana Mesquita, both from Local Group Minho, ESTIEM was able to have two ways of classifying our curricula, resulting in graphics and rankings that enable us to finally compare our education in Europe in a systematic way.

Goals of the Database

If looked closely, the Curricula Database and other tools regarding this research area in ESTIEM, are not simple: they are living ecosystems that serve multiple purposes and multiple stakeholders. Thus, after some thoughts, the team came up with the following goals that define the power of such 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. Be able to discover the true composition of IEM, by analysing as many internal and tool:

Deliver powerful insights to Universities and Industry, by the usage of Reports and Dashboards; Provide IEM Students a Digital Platform to Generate Discussions and Impact on Local Level; Improve Decision-Making for the ESTIEM Board, by allowing the creation of tailored experiences for specific LGs based on their studies; Contribute Scientifically to Europe, by publishing in Conferences and Journals; Be closer to the European Commission, by helping on Education Classification;

Example - Local Groups Porto and Eindhoven

Now, what are the real products coming out of this database? As minimal viable products, ESTIEM decided to begin with graphics: General Classification and Specific Classification. These two show the same: European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) Distribution of the Curricula, but with different levels. Let’s focus on the following examples from Porto and Eindhoven:

General Classification Subjects Distribution of Bachelors Degree Local Group Porto

General Classification Subjects Distribution of Bachelors Degree Local Group Eindhoven

As for the future of the Database, there are some key aspects the team is focusing and deploying energies towards, such as:

Intelligence for curricula predictions in some years; of statistics and information of IEM in Europe; made in reports; From here, ESTIEM can already take away some important conclusions that lead to even deeper assumptions and topics for clarification: Porto is the powerhouse of engineering in Portugal, with 55% of the Bachelors Degree focused in engineering, while Eindhoven invests much more in core aspects of IEM, like operations management, with 31.48%. When seen in perspective, Porto is the strongest job market for manufacturing and production in Portugal, whereas companies in the region of Eindhoven focus much more on

1.

2.

3.

4. ESTIEM will be able to apply Artificial ESTIEM will become the number one platform ESTIEM will be a major player in the creation of new curricula in many Universities in Europe; ESTIEM will drive profit from these analyses specialized services on logistics, for example.

Thus, even if not intentional, ESTIEM will eventually become the Facebook of IEM in the future: the major platform with big recommendation and search possibilities on the past, current and future states of IEM, in various forms.