Take students from different universities, randomly put them into mixed teams, solve a problem given by an industrial company in three days and present it in front of a jury of academics - this was the International Student Conference on Mechanical Engineering at Széchenyi István University. However, the event means always much more than just a competition: it connects companies from the Western Transdanubian region with students, gives insight into real projects and forges a real community.

The realisation that there is a huge demand from companies to involve students in their current projects, and that they are happy to join if they can gain experience from real industrial tasks, led to the creation of the International Student Conference of Mechanical Engineering at Széchenyi István University years ago, where participants are required to solve a complex technical problem in randomly selected teams in just a few days.

The original concept of the event, laid down back in 2006, has not only stood the test of time, but is becoming increasingly important in the 21st century: apart from providing a hands-on training in the form of an engineering student competition, the companies providing the tasks can benefit from the useful solutions and, more importantly, they gain talented students.

This year, eight companies from the Western Transdanubian region joined the event as task sponsors: Dana Hungary Kft, Eaton Manufacturing Hungary Kft, KNISS Kft, Motherson Hungary, Rába Járműipari Holding Nyrt, Schaeffler Savaria Kft and Velux Magyarország Kft. Jankovits Engineering Kft. also supported the event. Some of the companies got prepared with two tasks, making a total of 13 teams out of the 77 participating students from the host Széchenyi University, the University of Debrecen, the University of Miskolc and the Neumann János University of Kecskemét, the University of Nyíregyháza, the University of Pannon in Veszprém, the University of Pécs and the University of Óbuda, in addition to young people from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra and the Technical College of Subotica The Automotive Research Centre of Széchenyi István University and the PRACTING Foundation based at the University also provided professional support in the organization of the event.

The companies set tasks in a way to be both achievable and challenging enough for the students. There were some tasks where the students had to design a completely new product and others where the aim was to automate or optimise an existing process.

An example of the latter is the task set by the Eaton Manufacturing Hungary Kft., where the students were asked to design an automatic assemble machine for fuses. Mechanisation does not completely eliminate human intervention, but it does significantly reduce assembly time and radically reduces the possibility of operator error, thus guaranteeing product quality. KNISS Ltd. also asked the students to design a special-purpose machine: the students were required to design the head unit of a paint robot of their own development with the criterion of being able to work without masking (i.e. without the need to mask its corners).

The students worked at an intense pace, sometimes until dawn, in the lounges of the dormitory (Photos: Dániel Seesink, Tian Yubo /Helix Event Management Office/)

"My business partner and I bought the company in 2022, and since then we have been designing custom bodywork. We started with three colleagues and now we have a team of seventeen.  Last year we joined the conference for the first time, and this year we have already brought a task," said Richárd Kovács, the managing director of KNISS Ltd., who holds a bachelor's and master's degree from Széchenyi University and is currently a student at the institution's doctoral school. He said that, as a former conference organiser, the event is close to his heart.

"It was great to see how prepared and creative the students were. We were able to put the original idea of the spray-paint head unit designed by the students into practice with only small alterations. In the other assignment, they designed the casing of the machine, which also gives us a great basis in the future.  We were very satisfied with the solutions presented and we even offered one student an internship," said Richárd Kovács.

Richárd Kovács (centre) with the KNISS Ltd. team.  (Photo by Tian Yubo /Helix Event Management Office/)

The teams of students coming from different courses and different year groups successfully overcame the obstacles and produced a high-quality product after three days of intensive work. This was confirmed by the reports of the participants, who commented positively on their experience.

"I felt like I had been at a four-day festival while I was learning something new," said Nándor Kelemen, a mechanical engineering student who came to the conference with two other students from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania. He said that the assignments were just set enough to be challenging, but at the same time they were given plenty of room to develop their creativity. In response to a question, he said that he saw that the students from Győr are practical, which he considered to be the success of the dual training and the existence of student competition teams. "At the basement of the dormitory there are workshops where they can do their work. I would be happy to have such facilities in Cluj-Napoca," he said.

István Bulzán also joined him, saying he envied the compact nature of the Győr campus with its own café, pub and club. "Student life is superb in Győr compared to ours, the relationship of students is much tighter, which I think is also due to their physical coexistence," added Alpár Krivosik, who is attending the conference for the third year in a row. He is studying transport and logistics, so he took on the task of managing the team and giving the presentation. "Some of us are strong in drawing, others in documentation, or in management. The conference is also useful because it simulates real projects. It's an excellent opportunity for future engineers and it would be a mistake to miss it," he said.

Alpár Krivosik, Nándor Kelemen and István Bulzán, participants of the conference in Transylvania (Photo: Máté Dudás)

The successful conference was closed by Prof. Dr. Ferenc Friedler, Vice-Rector and Vice President for Academic Affairs of Széchenyi István University. "Our mission at the university is to prepare students for a successful career. But for being successful, it is not enough to master the curriculum: you must be motivated, creative, a team player and you need to prove it. At the conference, everyone demonstrated their skills, which is the best preparation for a career in engineering," he said.

Dr. Zoltán Horváth, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical, Computer and Electrical Engineering, explained that this is the 16th conference, but the event itself cannot be taken for granted. "If students from different universities hadn't decided to visit Győr for this event in the spring, we wouldn't be here now. I also thank the companies for their support of not only bringing tasks, helping us with their time and professional mentoring, but also providing financial sponsorship. I also thank the organisers for the realization of the conference year after year in the spirit of the founders," he concluded.

Dr. Zoltán Horváth underlined that students are welcome to next year's conference (Photo: Máté Dudás)

The closing event of the conference took place in the grand hall of the Management Campus (Photos: Máté Dudás)

Results

The best technical solution award in the Design and Technical Development section was given to the team Schaeffler 2, the most innovative solution award to the team Motherson 1 and the audience prize to the team Eaton 1. In the Production Optimisation and Automation section, the best technical solution was presented by the Mothersons 2 team, the most innovative solution was presented by the Kniss 1 team and the audience award went to the Velux 2 team.

Awarded teams. (Photo: Máté Dudás)

The event kicked off with a vibrant open car show, which proved to be a popular family event for the people of Győr.  (Photos by András Adorján, Máté Dudás)

On Monday, not only the conference participants, but all the students of the Széchenyi István University had the opportunity to take part in the social gathering (Photos: András Adorján)