Radivoje Mitrovic, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade – Introductory lectures and mentorship new features for students

(Radivoje Mitrovic) This year, 1034 candidates applied for the admission to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. The entrance exam was taken by 914 of them and 540 freshmen will find themselves in the faculty's amphitheaters this autumn. The new students will start attending lectures as early as September 19, a week before the official beginning of the school year at the faculty. The reason for this are introductory mathematics and physics lectures, which the faculty is organizing for free for students who wish to enhance their knowledge with lessons important for being able to follow the subject in the winter semester. This year, the faculty is introducing mentorships as well, to which end 56 mentor-teachers will be giving support, encouragement and motivation to freshmen .

– The idea is to make it easier to freshmen to follow the lectures and to improve their results in the course of the studies that way – professor Dr Radivoje Mitrovic, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, says in his interview for eKapija.

– We don't need formal, repetitive knowledge. What we need instead are students who can use their mathematics knowledge as a tool for solving engineering problems: determining resistance, support points and so on, and then to apply this in performing construction calculations for train cars, rocket launching, airplanes and helicopters taking off... We insist on such content and activities which will turn high school students into engineers, which are in great demand in the country and Europe. A representative of several large Italian companies has paid me a visit recently, looking for top quality experts. This is a message to all – we need to leave mediocrity behind.

Mentors will work with groups of 10 to 20 students and will strive to raise the efficiency of the studies through laboratory exercises and other study programs in the first two semesters, which is when most students drop out. The organizational structure of the faculty now contains a Center for Quality, which consists of professors who will define the criteria and norms for the evaluation of these reform processes. The first signs show that it is to be expected that exam pass rates will increase by 20-30%.

To what extent are the innovations introduced by the faculty connected to the reindustrialization, which Serbia is striving for?

– To a great extent. We are trying to form generations of engineers which will be innovative and whose way of thinking will be along those lines. New materials are appearing, the 3D technology is practically performing miracles, things that were impossible to imagine in the production process are now feasible and the development enables the production process to become quicker and more efficient. We can't afford to wait. Scientific and technical advancement has enabled small and undeveloped countries to catch up with the rest of the world if they're inventive, and we claim we are, and that's why we need to act that way.

(Photo: PHOTOCREO Michal Bednarek/shutterstock.com)

How much practical teaching does the faculty provide and how does it cooperate with the economy?

– During its golden age and the 1980s, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering had a well developed cooperation with the economy. For every dinar received from the state, we earned an additional dinar from the economy. The aspect of solving economic problems was more than important, and professors were developing professionally and implementing their knowledge in the curriculum, raising the quality of knowledge through solving concrete problems and this is why nobody ever asked our engineers to verify their diplomas. The ratio is now far smaller, as we earn only 30-35% above the amount we receive from the state, as the economy is much weaker than it used to be at the time.

– We are trying to compensate for this through a much stronger internship program and by placing the focus on cooperating with the economy as much as we can, wherever we can. We have signed agreements on business and technical cooperation with a large number of companies – from the Belgrade Airport and Air Serbia, to EPS, NIS and Serbian Railways. We have established a special course in cooperation with Masser Tehnogas, called Welding and Welded Constructions in order to educate the students for the needs of the economy. Our professors have, together with the Institute for the Improvement of Education, established such courses in vocational secondary schools, which are already being taken in several cities in Serbia, and this is a true example of successful cooperation between the state, the academic community and the economy. In addition to that, we are also stimulating our students, through supporting their entrepreneurial skills, to implement their ideas and initiatives in forming startups, whether through the Business Technological Incubator of Technical Faculties, located in the old premises of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, or through the Science Technology Park Zvezdara. Our Innovation Center employs 67 people, and we are also thinking of forming the Innovation Center 2 or an R&D center which would cater to arms production exclusively, as this is one of Serbia's most productive export industries. Digitalization and the emerging fourth industrial revolution will also create new prospects for the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Experts agree that HR education is one of the key factors which will enable Serbia to catch up with Industry 4.0. What will the faculty's response to these new technological development tendencies be?

– We need more education when it comes to information and communications technologies. The department of Mechanical Engineering and Information Technologies has existed for years, but hasn't been developed that intensively. This is why we will turn much more attention to it in the years to come, and to biomedical engineering as well. The focus will be placed on futurism and seeing whether it's possible, through dedication and investing in the latest technologies, to increase the GDP growth rate, provide a better life for citizens and prevent our experts from leaving and encourage them to stay instead and start their own businesses. Our dream is to increase the newly created value in new products, behind which stands a lot of scientific research, to a large extent and no to be shortchanged in the international work distribution.

To what extent will this contribute to the increase of demand for mechanical engineers?

– To a very large extent. Europe, especially Germany, needs tens of thousands of mechanical engineers at the moment. Our ambition is not to send them over there, but to start a new industry and industrialization process here.

Does Serbia have the HR for reindustrialization at the moment?

– Of course. There are lots of people in all faculties in Serbia who follow and understand world trends, and it's also positive that the country is becoming increasingly more open. We are getting contacted by foreign companies which are asking us to recommend experts to them. According to the National Employment Service records, there are no new unemployed mechanical engineers and our graduates are finding jobs in various areas. I've spoken to Italians whose house appliance factories are seriously considering the possibility of moving to Serbia. This, however, doesn't depend on the Faculty, but on the conditions provided by the state. The faculty has initiated the project and we have been negotiating for six months with people from the ministries, the economy, the Serbian Development Agency, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia and the Chamber of Commerce of Belgrade, as well as with people who represent the interests of small and large enterprises, about formulating a new industrial policy for the new reindustrialization and I expect that this will continue after the new Government has been formed and that we will enter the negotiations about the chapter 20, which deals with industrial policies towards the EU, with full awareness of who we are and what we want.

What should Serbia focus on when it comes to production?

– This is another topic that is being discussed intensively. We are using the SWOT analysis to look for products and technologies, which should be the driving force of the development in our estimation. Whether it's an electric car, a hybrid vehicle, agricultural mechanization or something else, this I can't say at the moment. We shouldn't deal in predictions but act as serious scientists which are aware of how far the world has gone and where there's room for Serbia's new industry. I'd place the focus on successful small and medium companies with their own development which place the focus on innovations. I promote the renaissance of scientific research, which entails much larger investments in not only science and education, but in culture as well. We can't make this step in an uneducated environment.

Road Arrow

Students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering have made the fifth Road Arrow vehicle this year, which is taking part in Formula Student competitions. The vehicle is the result of the students' work from the initial design to the realization of the project, and it's been created as part of practical teaching and learning.

Road Arrow 2016 has improved features – better aerodynamics, innovations in the steering system, the geometry, the suspension system, the ergonomics and electronic systems... The new formula involves 50 different materials, a thousand individual parts and 50 thousand work hours.

The students of the Faculty of mechanical Engineering have been assisted by their colleagues from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy and the Faculty of organizational Sciences at the University of Belgrade in creating the vehicle, and experts estimate that Road Arrow will place among the first five in the upcoming competition.

Numbers

1034 candidates applied for the admission to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 2016/2017
57% applicants came from high schools
4.31 was the average grade of the applicants
540 students received their student I.D.s (520 financed from the budget, 20 self-financed)
21 study programs are currently available at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Ivana Bezarevic

Mašinski fakultet Beograd

Inovacioni centar Mašinskog fakulteta Beograd

Naučno-tehnološki park Beograd

Messer Tehnogas ad Beograd

Radivoje Mitrovic

mentorship at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Innovation Center of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

mechanical engineers

educating mechanical engineers

Industry 4 0

fourth industrial revolution

Business Technological Incubator

Road Arrow