The Vehicle Industry Research Centre of Széchenyi István University has moved up a level this year
Source: SZE News – Gábor Hancz
From autonomous transport systems to e-mobility, the Vehicle Industry Research Centre of Széchenyi István University has achieved important results this year in a number of areas that are considered to be the most up-to-date. And the success of its talent management is demonstrated by the exceptional international achievements of the student teams it mentors.
The Vehicle Industry Research Centre of Széchenyi István University, which is ten years old this year, is looking for answers to the most topical challenges of future mobility, and has become a leading Hungarian player in the field in recent years. A ceremony was held to celebrate the achievements of the department in 2022.
At the event, Professor László Palkovics, Head of the Board of Trustees of the Széchenyi István University Foundation, outlined the university’s vision for the future to the audience. He explained that the automotive focus will be further strengthened by the new assets – the Automotive Test Track Zala Ltd., the ZalaZONE Industrial Park Zrt. or the HUMDA Hungarian Automotive-Motorsport and Green Mobility Development Agency Zrt. – which will be transferred to the Foundation as a property benefit under the decision of the Parliament. He added:
“Széchenyi also wants to focus on other areas such as health technologies, energetics, agricultural technologies and research related to the defence industry.”
The head of the Board of Trustees has pointed out that they can only be successful if they involve excellent Hungarian and international partners in this work. In particular, he emphasised the importance of expanding training and research links in Asia and Germany, as well as cooperation between universities in Hungary.
Dr. Ferenc Szauter, Head of the Vehicle Industry Research, said that their centres dealing with artificial intelligence, e-mobility, autonomous transport systems, industry 4.0 and automotive testing at ZalaZONE have done successful work this year, supported by a number of projects alongside their partners. The research results have also been published in prestigious international journals. He pointed out that a decade ago, the Vehicle Industry Research started its work with 14 colleagues, which has now grown to nearly 200. The fact that they now have colleagues working for ZalaZONE is a sign of progress, and they have contributed significantly to this year’s results. He added that their activities are supported by excellent infrastructure and high-tech testing equipment.
It was reported that the Vehicle Industry Research Centre organised six workshops and two conferences this year, and carried out eight demonstrations at the ZalaZONE test track. Three of its colleagues – Dr. Szabolcs Kocsis Szürke, Dr. Dániel Pup and Dr. Krisztián Horváth – have received scientific degrees, while István Szalay, Dr. Dénes Fodor and Zoltán Pusztai have won the best scientific paper and presentation awards at international conferences.
The ceremony also recognised the unparalleled performance of the student teams mentored by the Vehicle Industry Research this year. The Arrabona Racing Team was unbeatable on the podium in the prestigious Formula Student series this summer: a second place in Austria was followed by a bronze medal at the Hungaroring and then, to crown the season, another second place overall in Germany. The institute’s independent engine development team, SZEngine, played a major role in this success. SZEnergy Team, the student team developing energy-efficient vehicles at Széchenyi University, also had an impressive year, winning Europe’s biggest energy efficiency competition, the Shell Eco-marathon, with a world record, beating teams from major engineering universities such as Munich, Toulouse and Milan. This was followed by another international success in Nogaro, France, where the Shell Eco-marathon Autonomous Challenge for teams developing self-driving cars saw members take second place on the podium.
Many of the The Vehicle Industry Research Centre’ s colleagues played an important role in supporting talented students. Three of them – Péter Kőrös, Dr. Ernő Horváth and Dr. Dániel Pup – received the “Best Mentor” certificate from Professor József Bokor, President of the JKK.
The ceremony was attended by Zoltán Szujó, President of the Hungarian National Automobile Sports Association (MNASZ) and former sports commentator, who said that it is extremely important that the student teams of Széchenyi István University are so active and successful.
“As President of the MNASZ, I have made it my flagship project to reach out to engineers and students working in or leaving technical higher education, offering cooperation. With their help, we can also ensure the supply of new colleagues in the technical fields of motorsport.”
– he said.
