On 11 March, the Hungarian Ambassador to Vienna got acquainted with the international activities of Széchenyi István University, the Innovation Park in Zalaegerszeg and the ZalaZone test track, which is part of the Széchenyi University Group. The diplomat believes that the research and development activities there represent new opportunities for Hungarian-Austrian relations.

Széchenyi István University has a state-of-the-art infrastructure at ZalaZone in Zalaegerszeg, where the construction of its innovation park was completed last year. During their visit on 11 March, Hungary's Ambassador to Vienna, Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi, and Balázs Jávori, the Embassy's diplomat for science and technology, were briefed by the institution's staff, visited the university's facilities and one of the world's most modern automotive test tracks, and took part in a drone demonstration.

Participants of the meeting, including Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi, Hungary's ambassador to Vienna (fifth from right) at ZalaZone. (Photo by András Adorján)

Dr. Eszter Lukács, the university's Vice President for International Affairs and Strategic Relations, said that the 14 thousand students of the institution, which offers its courses in Győr, Mosonmagyaróvár, Zalaegerszeg and Budapest, now come from nearly eighty countries of the world. The university, which offers around 200 Hungarian and more than 40 English-language courses, is also included in six international rankings. It is ranked in the top 400 universities in Europe by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and in the top 5% of universities in the world by Times Higher Education (THE), both of which also rank the institution in their sustainability rankings. "In the last three years, we have tripled our scientific publication activity in the Scopus database, which is one of the reasons why we are on THE engineering list," she underlined.

The Vice President also highlighted the international study opportunities open to students, including the Pannonia scholarship programme and the dual courses offered with five partner universities abroad. She stressed that their students can engage in research in a wide range of disciplines, from self-driving vehicles to infocommunications and health technologies.

The Innovation Park of the University in Zalaegerszeg was presented by Dr. Zoltán Weltsch, Head of the Centre. "ZalaZone is not only a test track, but also an industrial ecosystem, of which the Innovation Park is an integral part. The actors of the ecosystem are interconnected like pieces of a puzzle and multiply the potential of ZalaZone", he said. He stressed that the three pillars of their operation are the industrial base, the scientific knowledge of the university and the complementary local knowledge. He mentioned that the research and development that takes place here serves both the economy and the practical training of professionals.

Dr. Ferenc Szauter, Director of the University's Automotive Industry Research Centre, presented the Centre's activities in Győr and Zalaegerszeg. He presented their achievements in the fields of electromobility, self-driving vehicles and autonomous transport. He added that young people can participate in these research activities and improve their practical skills in successful student teams. Among them, he mentioned Arrabona Racing Team, a European leader in the Formula Student series, the engine development team SZEngine, which he works closely with, and SZEnergy Team, which broke its own world record last year in Europe's biggest energy efficiency race.

The drone developments of Széchenyi István University were presented at the meeting by Barnabás Kiss, PhD student (Photo: András Adorján)

Balázs Lukács, Head of the Infocommunication Technologies Development Division of the University's Digital Development Centre, spoke about further developments with industrial partners and students. "We are working on digitalisation projects, including drones, wireless communication, artificial intelligence, among others. A significant number of our employees are graduates of our university, most of whom have been involved in our work since their undergraduate studies," he explained. He presented a spraying drone developed in collaboration with ABZ, various IoT devices such as tracking devices, and healthcare developments such as an eye movement instrument. "The purpose of my visit to ZalaZone was to learn about the potential of this unique test environment and the Innovation Park of Széchenyi István University in Zalaegerszeg. I gained a lot of new information and positive impressions about the activities taking place here. Based on what I have seen during the professional presentations, I think that we can exploit new potential in the Hungarian-Austrian relations, and my goal is to see this translated into concrete cooperation as soon as possible" - Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi ambassador shared her experiences.

Ambassador Edit Szilágyiné Bátorfi spoke positively about the activities of Széchenyi István University (Photo: András Adorján)