As the chairman of the examination commission for state final examinations at the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) FME BUT acted this year Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marcus Reppich of the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). He also is the current coordinator of the international cooperation of the University’s Faculty of Mechanical and Process Engineering (FMPE).
His several day long visit to the IPE FME BUT had been prepared by both partner universities for a long time and included, in addition to chairing the examination committee, other equally important activities aimed at developing mutual international cooperation in education and research between FMPE AUAS and IPE FME BUT.
The first of these activities was the signing of a joint "Memorandum of Understanding" which was, with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marcus Reppich, signed also by the director of IPE, Prof. Ing. Petr Stehlík, CSc., dr.h.c., with the assistance of Assoc. Prof. Ing. Zdeněk Jegla, Ph.D., IPE coordinator for cooperation with FMPE (see Fig. 1). The signing of the Memorandum enables both partner workplaces to start intensive cooperation in the intersecting areas of research and education.
Just a few days later, the opening of a first joint international partnership activity in the field of education and research covered by the signed Memorandum – the so‑called "International Engineering Project Weeks" (IEPW) – was held. The document for the official opening of this activity was signed on the premises of IPE by the coordinators of both partner workplaces, Prof. M. Reppich and Assoc. Prof. Z. Jegla (see Fig. 2).
The IEPW will contribute to the intensification of the joint research and education of students, PhD students, and young professionals in process engineering through specialized several weeks long intensive meetings of students, teachers, and industry experts on specific research projects. The most notable research topics will be the reduction of energy intensity of processes and their negative impacts on the environment and process equipment design optimization. The nearest specialized „project weeks" are planned for the autumn of this year, while the next ones will be held in the spring of the following year.