The theme of this year’s conference was “Engineering Education for Humanity in Challenging World.” Today, many problems are complex and interdisciplinary in nature, and the solutions often require not only technical expertise but also an understanding of social and ethical contexts, so that they are socially responsible and sustainable in the long term. It is therefore important to prepare future engineers for this dimension of their work already during their studies.
Record attendance and fresh inspiration for engineering education
The conference offered participants inspiration for their own teaching. “The SEFI Conference contributes to improving engineering education primarily by building a community of experts that enables intensive sharing of experience and best practices on what is essentially a global scale,” says Dr Patrik Mottl, Vice-Dean for Development at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU and one of the conference organisers. More than 700 participants from 43 countries attended the conference, and a total of 407 contributions were accepted. These comprised 172 research papers, 151 practice papers, 23 Idea Market presentations and 61 workshops.
This year’s conference at CTU in Prague thus recorded one of the highest numbers of both contributions and participants in SEFI’s history. In addition, it succeeded in supporting the involvement of early-career professionals through a new active presentation format known as the Idea Market presentation. This format allowed participants to present research still in progress or practical prototypes in the field of engineering education, enabling those who are only beginning their professional careers to join the expert discussion and discuss their research or prototypes with more experienced specialists.
The academic programme included four major keynote presentations and panel discussions with experts in engineering education. The speakers included Sasha Nikolic from the University of Wollongong in Australia, whose long-term work focuses on the role of generative artificial intelligence in education. At the conference, he spoke about how AI can be incorporated into teaching so that students use it constructively, ethically and with an active approach of their own. Another speaker was Gillian Saunders-Smits from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, whose work focuses on the competences and skills of future engineers. She presented her findings and practical examples in her keynote address, during which she and her fellow editors also unveiled the first edition of the SEFI Handbook. More than 140 authors from five continents contributed to the handbook, which contains examples and practical guidance on approaches to engineering education.
Leonardo da Vinci Medal awarded to a CTU professor
Several awards were also presented at the conference. Among the recipients was Professor Zbyněk Škvor from the Department of Electromagnetic Field at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU, who received the Leonardo da Vinci Medal for lifetime achievement. Professor Škvor was one of the founders of the Czechoslovak section of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), thereby helping Czech technical universities establish relationships and cooperation with universities around the world after the Velvet revolution. He also initiated CTU’s membership in the EuroTeQ alliance. Among other roles, he served the academic community as Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU and as CTU’s Vice-Rector for Research and Doctoral Studies.
"The award was, above all, a surprise to me in several respects. First, because I was the one selected from among so many outstanding people. Second, because it is a lifetime achievement award, and I had not realised how quickly the time had passed from my first year at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU. And finally, because of the journey I had taken, from training as an electromechanic all the way to receiving this medal. An award like this also always belongs to the recipient’s institution and confirms that CTU is regarded as a major educational institution across Europe,” says award recipient Professor Zbyněk Škvor, who received the award at the conference gala dinner from the SEFI President, Prof. Emanuela Tilley.
“I would like to express my great thanks to Professor Jan Vrba, who chaired this year’s conference, and Dr Patrik Mottl, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU, who both organised the conference. Because I was not involved in organising it, I was able to enjoy the conference and find time for inspiring conversations with long-standing members of SEFI committees,” Professor Škvor explains. The next SEFI Annual Conference will take place in September 2027 at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.
All photos from the whole conference can be found here. When using the photos, please give the credits to "Petr Neugebauer, FEE CTU".
Photo credits: Petr Neugebauer, FEE CTU
