NEWSLETTER

Nr. 43November

2015

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”, Benjamin Franklin said. The opening of the new academic year can well be considered another such an investment. Like previously, this year's opening marks a new beginning for the first year students, and a continuance for the rest of the student body. And they were all greeted by the i r professors , loca l off i c ia l s and representatives of industries.

In his welcome speech, Dr Ioan Vasile Abrudan, Rector of our University, underlined the importance of higher education for the development of both high school graduates and industries, which are the final beneficiaries. In this way, our University fulfils its mission by educating and preparing future professionals, on one hand, while furnishing high quality human resources to a developing county and region, on the other. Two of the highlights in the festivities this year were the formal launch of the Chinese undergraduate study programme, and the presentation laptops that the University offered newly enrolled high school valedictorians.

Invited to take the floor, representatives of the local administrative bodies addressed the audience. They included Mr George Scripcaru, Mayor of Brașov City, Mr Mihai Mohaci, Prefect of Brașov County, and Mr Claudiu Coman, Vice‐President of the County Council.

As in previous years, the young people who decided to further their education here were introduced to the opportunities they have, both in terms of the high level instruction they will benefit from at our University, as well as of the promising career development paths that Brașov and the Central Region affords them. “Vivat academia!”

Dr Liliana RogozeaDr Andrea Deaconescu

OPENING OF THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR 2015‐2016

On 1 October, at the beginning of the university year, the vernissage of the exhibition Transylvanian Landscapes, including around 50 engravings by Hans

Hermann took place at the new exhibition and events hall at the Multicultural Centre of our University. The exhibits belong to the Art Museum of Braşov.

Among the invited speakers at the vernissage were Dr Ioan Vasile Abrudan, Rector of our University, graphic artist Bartha Arpad, manager of the Art

Museum, Dr Adrian Lăcătuş, Head of the Multicultural Centre, Radu Popica, art historian and curator of the exhibition, and architect

Gheorghe Edmund Olsefszki. An excellent musical performance was offered by Alexandra Fiţ (piano, voice).

The diversity and the complexity of the works was reflected not only in the techniques used by the artist, but also

in the traditional areas captured: representative monuments and anonymous corners from the

Transylvanian burgs (Braşov, Sibiu, Sighişoara, Bistriţa, Mediaş), rustic citadels and fortified churches (Rupea,

Prejmer, Slimnic, Bazna, etc.), along with landscapes and rural scenes.

Painter and an engraver Hans Herman was born in 1885. He is considered to be one of the

thmost important Transylvanian artists of the 20 century. He studied in Braşov and at the

Academy of Arts of Budapest. He returned to Transylvania and started teaching drawing first at Mediaş then at Sibiu, where he s e t t l e d i n 1 9 1 8 . T h e g r a p h i c representation of Sibiu remains a constant topos in his works. In 1956 he received the Emeritus Artist order of Romania. He died in 1980 at Sibiu. The exhibition was opened to the public throughout the month of October.

Ioana Zenaida Rotariu , PhD Student

VERNISSAGE AT THE MULTICULTURAL CENTRE OF TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY EXHIBITION OF ENGRAVINGS BY HANS HERMANN

Transilvania University of Bra�ovWhat purpose does the university serve if not to pave the way for the society of wisdom?

(Paolo Blasi)

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

It is not the walls that make a school, but the spirit that reigns within.(King Ferdinand I)

OPENING OF THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR

VERNISSAGE AT THE MULTICULTURAL CENTRE OF TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY

SIITME ‐ IEEEOPENING OF THE CONCERT SEASONTHE SECOND EDITION OF THE EUROPEAN

POETRY BIENNALE

COMEC 2015

INAUGURATING THE NEUPERT BLANCHET HARPSICHORDEVENINGS AT THE FACULTY OF LETTERSMITUTOYO DONATES HI‐TECH EQUIPMENT BOOK LAUNCHTHE APPALACHIANS /CARPATHIANS CONFERENCEWELCOME ERASMUS+ INCOMING STUDENTSOUTSTANDING VIEWS OF ROMANIA'S FUTURETHE INTERNATIONAL C.S. LEWIS SYMPOSIUMCHALLENGES IN THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION

CURIOUS MINDS PROGRAMMES AT TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY OF BRAŞOVMEDIA TRAINING BY STUDENT SHOWPARTNERSHIP WITH HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF SEOULDAYS OF CLUSTERS 2015 SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI

The 2015‐2016 academic year made its spectacular entrance with a new concert season held at Aula Magna, an opportunity to introduce an exceptional musical personality, Marouan Benabdallah, the most famous pianist that Morocco lent to the international stage.

Being a resounding cultural event, the concert was prefaced with an academic introduction by the organizers.

The musical repertoire was aimed at capturing the consummate piano virtuosity of the protagonist, and to highlight an impressive career that crossed paths, more than once, with such virtuosi as Daniel Barenboim and Lorin Maazel.

Marouan Benabdallah's repertoire covers a wide range of musical eras, from among which the artist selected an interesting potpourri of Romantic‐era composers, as Fr. Schubert, R. Schumann, N. Paganini, Fr. Liszt and S. Rachmaninov, a diverse however unitary repertoire, given the resemblance of compositional elements.

The audience relished the exquisite ability of the pianist to sweep through agogics, dynamic planes or tone colours, and bring to light the very essence of the era and of the composers. As the pianist's fingers swiftly and gently stroke the piano keys, each musical detail sprang to life, embraced the listeners, testifying to the exceptional technical mastery of the protagonist.

Marouan Benabdallah's presence at Aula Magna was an exceptional moment, the first in a series of such momentous events that our University offers to all culture buffs in Brașov.

Dr Ioan Oarcea

ABOUT ELECTIVE AFFINITIES IN POETRYThe second edition of the European Poetry Biennale which took place on 29 and 30 October

was aimed at trying to capture both the evolution of poetry during the past four decades and the complex relationships between past and present in poetry, between canonical and young poetry. The concept of elective affinities that Dr Adrian Lăcătuș, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, put forward with the enthusiasm and a sense of anticipation specific to literary readings, was based on the confidence in the quality of poetry and in the more seasoned poetic artists who had the opportunity to invite, in turn, younger poets, representative for new directions in poetry. This continues the legacy of writers and poets Gheorghe Crăciun, Alexandru Mușina and Andrei Bodiu ‐ a genuine tradition based on value, authenticity and respect.

For two days, the local audiences were given the opportunity to listen and talk to prestigious national and international poets such as Yassen Atanassov and Kamelia Spassova (Bulgaria), Tomáš Mika and Alice Prajzentová (Czech Republic), Jüri Talvet and Andra Teede (Estonia) Johann and Robert

Elekes and Johann Lippet (Germany), Milan Richter and Bizarretová Lucia (Slovakia), Romulus Bucur and Anca Dumitru, Viorel Mureșan and Claudiu Komartin, Nicolae Coande and Silviu Gongonea (Romania).

The audience became aware that they were part of a poetic experiment made every other year and intended to wipe out the divides existing in European literature, to give the general public access to the output of poets from different countries, while also advocating for a future in which poetry is no (longer) seen as an outdated or elitist art.

Camelia Bunea, PhD Student

THE SECOND EDITION OF THE

EUROPEAN POETRY BIENNALE

OPENING OF THE CONCERT SEASON

PIANO RECITAL ‐ MAROUAN BENABDALLAH

On the 15 and 16 October, Transilvania University of Brașov, in partnership with the thAcademy of Technical Sciences (ASTR), the Brașov branch, organized the 6 edition of the

International Conference Computational Mechanics and Virtual Engineering.The conference topics included the design, simulation, production, exploitation and

monitoring of advanced structures based on modern methods of computational mechanics. The conference proved to be a hub for exchanging ideas between researchers from Hungary, China, Germany and from several academic centres in Romania, as Bucharest, Ploiești, Constanța, Galați, Iași. The overarching idea was that engineering specialists are indispensable to our modern world.

The co‐organizers of the conference hosted a round table discussion on the following topics:‐ Paying a tribute to Dr Sergiu T. Chiriacescu, correspondent member of the Romanian

thAcademy, full‐fledged member of ASTR – on his 75 anniversary. Facilitator: Dr Ioan Călin Roșca, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering; speakers: Dr I.V. Abrudan, Rector, Dr I. Curtu, Dr N. Ivan, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Ioan Călin Roșca, and Mrs. Chiriacescu, MD.

‐ Automotive Inventics in Brașov – a harmonious partnership between our University and the research and industrial sectors. Facilitator: Dr Gheorghe Al. Radu, Secretary of ASTR Brașov.

‐ Employers meeting future engineers. Facilitators: Dr Ioan Curtu, President of ASTR Brașov, Dr Sorin Vlase, Director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and correspondent member of the ASTR.

The round table discussions involved students, professors and researchers, as well as representatives of the business sector in Brașov (Schaeffler, Siemens, Dräxlmeyer and Autoliv) and, on behalf of AGIR Brașov, Eng. Traian Tomescu, President, and Dr Ionel Starețu, Vice‐President.

Dr Ioan Curtu, President of ASTR BrașovDr Mariana Domnica Stanciu

TH6 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE „COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS AND VIRTUAL ENGINEERING”

COMEC 2015

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

On the 28 November, Aula Magna was the venue of a concert having as protagonists Steffen Schlandt, Carmen Topciu and the Gaudeamus Quartet, an event occasioned by the inauguration of the NEUPERT “Blanchet” harpsichord, an exquisite instrument which joined its other family members at Transilvania University – the Steinway & Sons concert piano and the concert organ.

After an engaging presentation of the instrument, Steffen Schlandt invited the Gaudeamus quartet (Lucia Neagoe first violin, Raluca Irimia, second violin, Leona Varvarichi playing the viola and Stefan Neagoe playing the cello), along with Carmen Topciu, mezzo‐soprano at the Opera in Brașov, to join in the performance and give a recital of baroque music, with musical pieces from Vivaldi, Händel and Bach. Each artist rendered a particular tone and, together, they conveyed the musical message to the finest note. The clear and delicate sonority of the harpsichord, elegantly mastered by Steffen Schlandt, was beautifully emphasized by the chord quartet and by the mezzo‐soprano Carmen Topciu who supported the exquisite performance with a flawless interpretation.

The audience highly appreciated the remarkable performance. This fact can only represent an incentive for similar events to be organized in the future.

Dr Maria Cristina Bostan

INAUGURATING THE NEUPERT BLANCHET HARPSICHORD

Radicalitate și nuanță, the latest book by Mircea Martin, was launched at Okian Bookstore on 8 October. This event was the first in a series of meetings held within the frame of “Evening at the Faculty of Letters”, a project initiated by the late Dr Andrei Bodiu two years ago.

Published by Tracus Arte, Mircea Martinʼs book consists – by its author's own admission ‐ of articles, essays, and interviews published over time. Dr Rodica Ilie, Dr Caius Dobrescu, Dr Virgil Podoabă and the moderator, Dr Adrian Lăcătuș, Dean of Faculty of Letters, discussed the book and, in particular, the title essay Radicalitate și nuanță. Stressing on the importance of the two concepts discussed by literary critic Mircea Martin in his book, Virgil Podoabă outlined the author's influence on the development of our Faculty of Letters. Caius Dobrescu described Mircea Martin as an unparalleled professor of style, highlighting the potentiality of nuance to promote dialog and tolerance. Adrian Lăcătuș described the book as a subtle manifest for the sanity of contemporary culture. At the end of the meeting, Mircea Martin read from his book the article “Andrei Bodiu – a man, a group, a school of thought”.

Anca Papană, PhD Student

On the 16 October the department D05A within the Research and Development Institute of Transilvania University hosted the inauguration of the Laboratory of dimensional metrology, as a result of the partnership between Mitutoyo Romania and Transilvania University.

Following the visit, in March this year, of Harumi Aoki, CEO of Mitutoyo Europe, Mitutoyo Romania donated to our University a contact 3D coordinate‐measurement machine, with modular fixture equipment, 2D optical measurement equipment, a roughness measurement machine, a vertical measurement column (Z‐axis column), a grade 1 gauge block set, together with other “small‐equipment” accessories, and the possibility of remote transmission of the in situ measurements. Any measurement complies with the international traceability standards. For teaching purposes programming of the Mitutoyo coordinate measurement machines will be provided by 20 MCosmos educational licences, whereas the integrated management of the measurements will be supported by Measurelink software.

On behalf of Mitutoyo, the event was attended by Henk Slotboom, General Manager Mitutoyo Europe, Jakub Ruszkowski, Manager Mitutoyo Poland, and Florin Călin, Manager Mitutoyo Romania. The invitees applauded Mitutoyo's policy focused on staying in close contact with technical academic institutions in countries where the organisation has technical and commercial representation, and at the same time expressed their joy at being welcomed at Transilvania University.

Our University stated the importance of collaboration with the industries and expressed its gratitude for having been selected as partner. The donation was acknowledged by Dr Daniel Munteanu, Vice‐Rector, Dr Ion Vișa, Director of the ICDT and Dr Gheorghe Oancea, Director of the IF Department.

Dr Laurențiu‐Aurel Mihail

MIRCEA MARTIN, ABOUT RADICALISM AND NUANCE

INAUGURATING THE MITUTOYO METROLOGY LAB WITHIN THE ICDT – L3 D05A

MITUTOYO DONATES HI‐TECH EQUIPMENT

EVENINGS AT THE

FACULTY OF LETTERS

VIVALDI, HÄNDEL AND BACH

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

The Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, together with Șt.O.Iosif Bookshop organised, on 28 October, a book launch for “Counselling families in trouble. A psychological and educational approach”. The book coordinated by Dr Laura Elena Năstasă was issued by Eikon Publishing House. The bookshop's premises were packed with a large audience consisting of practitioner psychologists, school counsellors, students and other participants interested in family related psychological issues.

The book is the outcome of fruitful collaboration between university teaching staff with a rich experience in the area of psychological counselling and experiential psychotherapy centred on adult‐child‐couple‐family issues (Dr Laura‐Elena Năstasă) or in the area of clinical psychology (Dr Laura Teodora David) and graduates of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences specialised in psychological counselling and experiential psychotherapy of unification (psychologists Artemiza‐Luminiţa Gheorghiu and Dana Liliana Militaru).

Dr Marcela Rodica Luca presented the book, introduced its authors and highlighted the productive way in which the teaching staff work on projects together with their practitioner graduates. She also emphasised both the usefulness of a worthy book, a real guide for a professional approach to issues that can affect a family and its usefulness for the average reader.

Finally, the coordinator of the volume and the members of her team shared their psychological and educational experience in helping families in trouble and enjoined the audience to read the book and think about their own families and the best ways to discover personal resources in the most critical moments of their lives.

Dr Laura‐Elena Năstasă

RESEARCHING, DOCUMENTING, AND PRESERVING HIGHLAND TRADITIONSBetween 6 and 9 October the Faculty of Letters played host to the international conference

Appalachians/Carpathians: Researching, Documenting, and Preserving Highland Traditions. The event was attended by almost 60 researchers and academics from the USA, India, and Europe who introduced the audience to their research. According to the organizers, the conference format emulates that of Appalachian Studies, an annual American conference where participants from a variety of fields convene in order to discuss about mountain life and culture, and about the environmental issues that local communities are often faced with.

Among the participants were Mr Ronald E. Hawkins, press and cultural councillor at the USA Embassy in Bucharest and Ms Rodica Mihăilă, Managing Director of the Fulbright Commission, Romania.

The conference also highlighted the efforts of foundations interested in the preservation of biodiversity and in supporting the small local businesses. The keynote speaker was Dr John Akeroyd, representing the Adept foundations based in Saschiz, Mureș County. One of the topics in his presentation tackled the problem of the connection between the preservation of cultural heritage and the Carpathian landscape, an idea promoted in the Appalachian area, as well.

The researchers who attended this year exchanged ideas and expertise about the history, literature and development of communities in the Appalachians and the Carpathians, managing to bring together two similar albeit geographically remote regions.

Dr Georgeta Moarcăs

THE APPALACHIANS /CARPATHIANS CONFERENCE

COUNSELLING FAMILIES IN TROUBLE – A PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL APPROACH

BOOK LAUNCH

On 7 October, Transilvania University hosted the welcome meeting for the incoming Erasmus+ students.

This semester, our University welcomes 85 foreign students from 9 European countries: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Greece, Latvia, Poland and Turkey. The event was organised by the University's Erasmus Office together with the Erasmus coordinators in the host faculties and student members of the Erasmus Student Network Brașov.

The foreign students were introduced to our University's educational offer, they received informative printed material and had a chance to interact with the programme coordinators and Romanian volunteer students. One student from every foreign group introduced the other members and their university, allowing everyone else to become familiar with the specifics of every zone represented.

Once more, Erasmus mobilities prove to be an opportunity for valuable exchanges in the participants' educational background thus developing their cultural experiences.

Dr Laura DavidErasmus Incoming Coordinator

OUR UNIVERSITY WELCOMES 85 STUDENTS FROM 9 COUNTRIES

WELCOME ERASMUS + INCOMING

STUDENTS

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

One of the most challenging collaborative editorial projects, the book “România Noului Val” (New Wave Romania) was launched at Transilvania University on 23 October.

The event is part of the “Duster Caravan – New Wave Romania” programme which includes the launch of the volume and debates in the most important university centres in the country. The book was presented by Marius Stoian și Bogdan Gavrilă in their capacity of editorial coordinators.

Published under the auspices of the prestigious journal Foreign Policy , “New Wave Romania” is a collection of views of the future belonging to 77 successful young people: businessmen, emergent leaders of Generation Y, elite representatives of the young generation whose vision and consistent approach to their field of work or study may lead a modern Romania. The book is a clear signal that Romania is able to produce young elites connected to the world's flow of ideas and to knowledge.

The debate that followed the presentation of the volume had a special guest, Nicolas Maure, General Manager of Renault Group Romania and President‐general manager of Dacia. Mr Maure talked about his company's contribution to three major areas of young people's life, i.e. the relationship between labour market demand and educational offer, facilitation of young people's access to the labour market and securing their future by developing talents and competences.

Dr Luminița Pârv

NEW WAVE ROMANIA ‐ TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION

On October 15 the first international C. S. Lewis Symposium was organized by Transilvania University's Faculty of Letters, in collaboration with Al. Ioan Cuza University of Iași, and Engage Brașov. The lectures presented at this symposium were dedicated to the life and work of this talented author and respected professor at both Cambridge and Oxford, the man behind the “Chronicles of Narnia.”

The conference was opened by Dr Adrian Lăcătuş, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, David Cato, Director of Engage Brașov, and Dr Daniela Vasiliu, Lecturer in English at Al. Ioan Cuza University. Dr Joel D. Heck, Professor of Theology at Concordia University Texas and Executive Editor of Concordia University Press, and Dr John Lotz, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, delivered a comprehensive overview on the life and beliefs of C. S. Lewis.

Dr Rodica Albu, Professor of English language and linguistics at Al. Ioan Cuza University, presented the challenges of translating and understanding the works of C. S. Lewis in Romanian. Natan Mladin, PhD candidate in Theology and the Arts at Queen's University of Belfast, uncovered

Lewis' worldview as it transpired from Alister McGrath's massive biography that he recently translated in Romanian for Newordpress Arad. The keynote speaker was Dr Steven Prickett, Regius Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Glasgow, Honorary Professor of the University of Kent, at Canterbury, and Doctor Honoris Causa at University of Bucharest, with an address on the inherent difficulties of Lewis' criticism, given his particular outspoken beliefs and the coded nature of his fiction.

Dr Cristian Pralea

On 22 October Professor Ephraim Suhir from the USA gave the lecture Challenges in the engineering profession within the “IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Distinguished Lecturer Program”. Details can be found at http://cpmt.ieee.org/distinguished‐lecturer‐program.html.

Ephraim Suhir is professor at Portland State University (Oregon, USA) and researcher at Bell Laboratories, Physical Sciences and Engineering Research Division. His scientific activity resulted in 300 publications and several important international awards.

The large audience consisted of high school students, university undergraduates and teaching staff. The topics of the discussions focused on engineering with examples of representatives whose achievements changed the world and reasons for which young people would chose this field of study. The lecture was pleasant and the audience appreciated both its scientific quality and the occasional anecdotes meant to keep everyone's attention focused. At the end of the lecture, some of the young participants talked with the presenter and asked for details on the issues under discussion. Professor Ephraim Suhir's competence and modesty helped in his interaction with the participants and this showed that his message was fully transmitted. The point that he made on students' need for through study of mathematics in order for them to become engineers led to most of the commentaries. A student from the IT National College “Grigore Moisil” found the presentation both “inspired and inspirational”.

After the lecture, Professor Ephraim Suhir took a very short stroll about the city and admired the beauty Brașov.Dr Petre Lucian Ogruțan

THE INTERNATIONAL C.S. LEWIS SYMPOSIUM

CHALLENGES IN THE ENGINEERING PROFESSIONPROFESSOR EPHRAIM SUHIR'S LECTURE AT

THE FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE

FICTION BETWEEN BELIEF AND CODIFICATION

OUTSTANDING VIEWS OF ROMANIA'S FUTURE

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

The outcome of a long and efficient cooperation with Transilvania University of Braşov, the series of Curious Minds programmes has become the educational trademark of Siemens Industry Software characterized by consistency and high standards in training students in this field from all over the country. The fifth edition of the Curious Minds Summer School reconfirmed these values through the results of three months of interactive workshops and mentorship, and through the participant team's feedback.

The aim of Curious Minds Summer School is to create the framework needed to implement the theoretical knowledge gathered at university. The interaction with the economic environment affords students a clearer perspective on a career in IT, on the globalization of this industry, on the necessary level of knowledge, and especially on the passion for the profession of software development engineer.

The dynamic nature of Curious Minds Summer School results from the accelerated pace of technological innovation, which influences the students' development needs. Thus, the workshops adopt a flexible, informal approach, constantly adapting to the team's feedback collected at the end of each meeting. The students take part in real exercises, are familiarized with teamwork as well as with the techniques for stimulating creativity, research and innovation. The individual projects at the end of Curious Minds Summer School reflect the level reached during the three months of this programme.

Continuity in education is the fundamental concept of the Curious Minds programmes. Consequently, at the end of the Summer School, the best participants receive a six‐month scholarship within the company, where they can benefit from mentorship in writing their diploma project.

Simona ŞandruSenior Technical Author, Siemens Industry Software România

ABOUT INTERVIEWS, PRESENTATIONS, FIELDWORK AND EDITINGOn 28 November, the team of the Student Show programme put together by students from

various faculties of our university organized an event targeted at young people interested in a career in television.

While recruiting the new members of the show's team, we organized a training session for students eager to learn how to conduct an interview and what is the right attitude in fieldwork. Those interested in finding out more about how a TV programme is prepared and presented had the opportunity to ask our guest, Cornelia Crevean, presenter and producer of “Stories from Brasov” on the local station Nova TV.

In a relaxed atmosphere, with tea, music and a lot of smiles, Media Training by Student Show intended to supply the fundamentals of the audio‐visual domain that those passionate about it can use in their volunteer, personal or professional work.

The journey of the material collected in the field to the small screen, the job of the editor and that of the camera operator were presented by Adelin Cepoiu, a professional in this field. With patience and passion, he shared basic professional knowledge with the participants.

We were very happy to see that the students who attended the training session remained attentive and interested up to the end, although the event took longer than we expected as our guests had to answer many questions from the audience.

Mihaela Predoi, Carmen Alexandra StoichinăStudents in Communication and Public Relations

MEDIA TRAINING BY STUDENT SHOW

SIEMENS INDUSTRY SOFTWARE IS TRAINING A NEW GENERATION OF STUDENTS FOR A CAREER IN IT!

CURIOUS MINDS PROGRAMMES AT TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY

OF BRAŞOV

At the end of September, I had the honour of being invited by professor Park, the Head of the Department of Romanian Studies at Hankuk University, Seoul where I am currently employed as a Romanian lecturer, to attend the semi‐finals and the final game of the Korea Tennis Championship, where the star of the day was our tennis player, Irina Begu. As the professor is a keen tennis player himself and, as he confessed to me, in his heart he feels “half Romanian”, we both went to the tennis court to cheer Irina Begu on, accompanied by the Romanian flag. While she was playing, we kept shouting encouraging words and waved the flag. It seems that our efforts were not in vain, because Irina came out the winner.

I was very much impressed by her fair attitude, friendliness, and modesty. When she was interviewed on the tennis court, immediately after the match was over, she praised the way her opponent had played and also admitted to some of her errors. To reward the audience for their patience she sent a couple of tennis balls with her signature on towards the stands. I myself got her autograph on the paper bracelet I had received for the VIP grand stand and many thanks for having spent two extremely warm days on the tennis court for her sake.

I can only thank the professor and the famous Romanian tennis player for offering me this wonderful experience.

� � � � � � Dr Elena Buja

THE FIRST AMBASSADOR OF OUR UNIVERSITY AT THE DEPARTEMENT OF ROMANIAN STUDIES

PARTNERSHIP WITH HANKUK UNIVERSITY OF

SEOUL

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Between 22 and 24 October, our University organized Days of Clusters 2015 at the Research‐Development Institute (ICDT), in partnership with Cluster House, the Cluster for Innovation and Technology of Braşov, ClusteRO and UEFISCDI. The event was attended by almost 250 researchers, representing the private environment and public institutions from 18 European countries.

The main aim of this event was to increase the competencies and the technological level in the Information and Communication Technology sector, by consolidating and promoting the partnership in the field of research, development and innovation, both at national and international level, by disseminating the research results, by training sessions and transfer of know‐how. The stronger Romanian participation in European Union funding programmes, such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+ and Creative Europe, was the topic of extensive presentations in a session dedicated to the challenges of cluster management.

Other important presentation topics were related to developing clusters to incorporate innovation and technology as platforms for regional creative industries, and to integrating the Romanian research community in the activities of the international one in the field of innovative clusters.

The conference was also the occasion to launch Design Driven Romania, a debate platform which promotes the development of design policies and of the concept of design thinking in the business models of SME. The presentations and workshops gathered among others guests from Birmingham City University and the Danish Design Centre.

The organization of the fifth edition of the Days of Clusters conference in Brasov represented an opportunity to introduce our town as a pole of research and creative industry at national and international level. At the end of the conference, the participants expressed their commitment to implementing Smart Cluster Policies in order to maximize the exploitation of the concept of cluster in the countries targeted by the EU Strategy for the Danube Region.

Dr Florin Nechita

LAUNCH OF THE DEBATE PLATFORM DESIGN DRIVEN ROMANIA

“SIITME – IEEE 21 International Symposium for Design and Technology in Electronic Packaging” was a high‐scale event organized, between 22 and 25 September, by the Politehnica University of Bucharest, in partnership with Transilvania University and Miele Tehnica Brașov Company.

On behalf of our University, the organizers were faculty staff from the Department of Electronics and Computers. Acting as co‐organizer first in 2008, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science had the privilege to co‐organize this event for the second time in 2015.

Besides its high‐profile academic status, SIITME has gradually managed to throw a bridge between our University and the electronic industry. The symposium format allows for face‐to‐face interactions between academics, researchers, doctoral students and representatives of the industries.

The industry contributed with demo stands, oral presentations and discussions on subjects of mutual interest: student training and collaboration in research projects. Particularly noteworthy is the workshop “Strategic Partnership between the University and the Electronic Industry” organized and hosted by Miele Tehnica Company. Present at the workshop were prominent representatives from universities around the country, electronic companies, and the political milieu. On this occasion, the discussions were aimed at laying the foundations of a strategic partnership for education.

The success of SIITME 2015 is shown not only by the large numbers of participants, but, more importantly, by the important steps taken towards bringing the University and the industry closer together.

Dr Carmen Gerigan

Dr Petronel Bîgioi is Senior Vice‐President of Engineering and general manager of the FotoNation company (Galway, Ireland) within the international holding Tessera Technologies, Inc. He leads a team of over 100 engineers who develop image processing solutions with applications in digital cameras, mobile phones and other commercial products. The FotoNation technology is implemented in more than 2 billion devices that run worldwide.

Born in 1974, Dr Petronel Bîgioi graduated High School in Râmnicu Vâlcea and until 1997 he studied electrical engineering at Transilvania University of Braşov. After graduation he worked as teaching assistant in the Department of Electronics and Computer Science. In 2000, he completed a Master's degree in network and communications at the National University of Ireland, Galway, where he is currently lecturer and part‐time teacher in the Computer Architecture and Operating Systems. In 2005 he earned his PhD from Transilvania University with a thesis on “Camera connectivity to data networks” (scientific coordinator Prof. Gh. Toacșe). On the basis of his thesis, the standard "Picture Transfer Protocol over IP networks" CIPA DC‐005‐2005 was developed six months later, in Japan. The Romanian Academy awarded Dr Bîgioi's PhD thesis the George Cartianu prize.

Petronel Bîgioi is IEEE Senior Member, he published over 35 articles and he is holder of more than 250 US and international patents. He is co‐founder of several successful companies (including FotoNation) and one of the pioneers in the domain of camera connectivity, being actively involved and co‐author in the development of protocols for the transfer of images (PTP) and of the communication standards in networks (PTP‐over‐IP).

Dr Petronel Bîgioi continues to be a member of our team through collaborations of the Department of Electronics and Computer Science with the FotoNation subsidiary in Brașov.

SUCCESSFUL ALUMNIPETRONEL BÎGIOI

DAYS OF CLUSTERS 2015

ST21 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM FOR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY IN ELECTRONIC PACKAGINGSIITME‐IEEE

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Dr Gheorghe Toacșe