Széchenyi István University is taking part in an international project created by a Bavarian-Hungarian intergovernmental cooperation incentive, where students and staff of the institution are working on the development of self-driving vehicles in partnership with four Bavarian universities. As part of the programme, the German colleagues visited the University of Győr, where they took part in a project opening workshop held over several days.
The Széchenyi University is participating in a project set up by the Hungarian-Bavarian Intergovernmental Committee to create cross-disciplinary student programmes to promote research cooperation. In this context, the development of self-driving vehicles has been identified as a priority for both parties. Four universities in Bavaria (Munich, Regensburg, Landsberg am Lech, and Coburg) together with the Széchenyi István University in Hungary have joined the project. The programme recently included a workshop at the Győr institution.
“The secret of the fruitful cooperation between us is that the knowledge and experience of our students and lecturers complement each other perfectly, and with such a realisation of synergistic cohesion we are committed to work together at the present and in the future. We have found an excellent partner in Széchenyi István University, which has an outstanding automotive research program and laboratory infrastructure.
„One example of such excellent research and laboratory infrastructure is ZalaZONE, which provides a unique location for testing and development,” underlined Nikolas Djukic, Head of the Bavarian Academic Centre for Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (BAYHOST) at the University of Regensburg.
In addition to the technical aspects, the international cooperation on self-driving vehicles also focuses on the legal and legislative aspects of the technology which has opened an opportunity for two dedicated law students as part of our joint work effort. The project provides an excellent opportunity to build international contacts and exchange and/or transfer knowledge and experience to each other.
“Our aim is to continue this in the future with more partner universities in Hungary as well as other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. As part of this, we are also planning to have our students participate in prestigious international competitions in cooperation, thus strengthening cooperation,” emphasised Dr. Barna Hanula, Associate Professor at the Audi Hungaria Faculty of Automotive Engineering at Széchenyi István University.
The Vehicle Industry Research Centre (JKK) of Széchenyi University, whose staff participated in the organisation of the workshop, also plays an important role in mentoring the programme in Hungary. “JKK places great importance on nurturing young talent from secondary school to doctoral school, where they can participate in developments that address real industrial needs. The international leg of this is the current workshop, which is the first large-scale German cooperation in the field of autonomous, i.e. self-driving vehicles. It is a great pleasure to work with our Bavarian colleagues and an honour to add new partners to our existing collaborations in Texas and Italy,” said Dr. Dániel Pup, JKK’s technical coordinator.
“I consider it an excellent opportunity to participate in this project, as I can expand my expertise in self-driving vehicles and meet new people. I particularly enjoy doing it in such a modern university environment that Széchenyi University provides” said one of the Bavarian participants, Daniel Wanner, a vehicle engineering student from Munich.
“We think it is very important that the young people, while facing exciting professional challenges, also get to know a teaching style that is new to them and students from other nations,” said Dr Markus Krug, Professor at the Munich University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule München), mentor and coordinator of the German students. A renowned expert in software development for self-driving vehicles, he added that both German and Hungarian students are so enthusiastic about the collaboration that the project, originally planned to last only one year, will continue into its second year in 2024!