The internationally renowned Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Transport Sciences of Széchenyi István University offers high-quality courses, excellent research results and close cooperation with companies. The outgoing Dean, Dr. Balázs Horváth, and his successor, Dr. János Szép, reported on the successes and milestones.

When it was established in 2015, the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Transport Sciences of Széchenyi István University comprised three well-established faculties (Architecture, Civil and Transport Engineering) and six departments with experienced staff. "The biggest challenge was to bring together the experience of the past with the needs of the present in a new organisational structure. We have succeeded brilliantly: over the past nine years we have undergone a major transformation, but the stability of the faculty has remained unchanged - credit to the joint achievement of our colleagues. We are proud of the fact that our faculty is recognised at home and internationally, and is extremely popular with students year after year," said Balázs Horváth, who was Dean of the Faculty for two terms until the end of last year.

The management of the faculty has been working in close partnership since its establishment, which guarantees continuity of management even after the change of dean, said the current dean of the faculty, Dr János Szép, and his predecessor, Dr Balázs Horváth. (Photo by András Adorján)

Over the years, the range of courses has continuously been expanding with high-quality bachelor and master courses, as well as post graduate specialised training course. The master's degree in infrastructure engineering was one of the flagship courses in English, followed later by the master's degree in architecture and the bachelor's degree in civil engineering in English. Two years ago, a unique dual degree programme in civil engineering was established with Jiaxing University in China. In addition, a Hungarian-language master's degree in structural engineering was launched, completing the faculty's training portfolio to meet the high demand of students. Meanwhile, the number of postgraduate courses have been increased to six, and four more are planned. Thanks to the long tradition of its departments, the faculty has a wide range of stable economic-industrial relations, which it can also use in teaching. "Many national and international companies are represented at our professional events and project weeks. Our partners also contribute to education by providing practical tasks to raise the quality of our training. This gives students the opportunity to work on solving everyday challenges, which, in addition to professional experience, can also provide rewards and even a job opportunity later on," added Dr. Balázs Horváth.

"In the future, we will strive to strengthen cooperation between our three disciplines in the field of education and research, to act as a true Faculty. We also aim to strengthen and expand our links within the university, nationally and internationally, and to develop multidisciplinary collaborations, including with teaching and research institutions in the fields of digitalisation and information technology for construction, sustainability and environmental protection, traffic simulation and safety, and autonomous vehicles. It is essential to continuously review and improve our education and curricula, to maintain and raise the standards achieved, to launch joint international training courses, to achieve international accreditation of our English language courses, and to nurture the talents of our students. In addition, an important task for the coming years will be to value our colleagues, to ensure the next generation of teachers and researchers, and to make university careers attractive" - said Dr János Szép, the new Dean of the Faculty.

The faculty offers a range of opportunities for students who want to gain professional experience beyond the university curriculum. "We are proud to have a team of more than ten years of civil and architecture students who have won first prizes in numerous national and international competitions. One of their boats was also exhibited in the Győr Innovation Park. Transport engineers can also take part in the SummerSchool, a German cooperation project, and in the City and Traffic urban and transport planning exercise involving five partners. These are all excellent opportunities for our students to improve their professional skills, as well as their communication and teamwork skills," the deans stressed.