Prof. Dr. István Bíró, who is well known to those involved in technical education - mainly teaching mechanics - entered the bloodstream of engineering education in Szeged in August 2009. He is also responsible for the accreditation of the bachelor's and master's degree courses in mechanical engineering, mechatronics engineering, industrial product and design engineering and the master's degree course in technical management. Under its guidance, the dual training programme was launched at the Faculty of Engineering in September 2015, followed by the cooperative training programme from 2018.
Education and beginnings
After graduating as an agricultural mechanical engineer, Okleves worked as a development engineer at an agricultural technical college in Mezőtúr. Here he was involved in the design and development of small agricultural machinery, the conversion and design of hydraulic machines and the design of lifting machinery. At the beginning of his career, he was 100% sure that he did not want to teach. However, students came to the training plant regularly.
- I would see the students coming and going, some colleagues would give them lessons and I would watch them until I thought I would give it a go and after 3 years, in '87, I joined the Technical Fundamentals Department. I taught mechanical engineering for 7 years. I really liked it, it's a very good synthesizing subject, building on mathematics, mechanics, technical representation. The students loved it. It was closer to them, much more hands on than mechanics. I had really nice experiences teaching mechanical engineering here, but then I got tired of checking the drawings, and when a colleague retired 7 years later, I took over teaching mechanics, which became my main subject here in Szeged, too," said Prof. Dr. István Bíró, lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering of the SZTE and President of the Archenerg Cluster.
The Archenrg Cluster and Prof. Dr. István Bíró
Prof. Dr. István Bíró, as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged, has accepted the position of President of the Archenerg Cluster. During his re-election, he stressed that he will work to repay the vote of confidence and do his best to achieve success. He stressed that his faculty leadership programme already focuses on business partnerships and that he is pleased to be able to work for the broadest and closest possible cooperation not only in academia but also with cluster members and businesses in the market.
As the Dean's experience has confirmed, the most important objective is to ensure that the cluster runs smoothly. The head of the Archenreg cluster believes that engineering education in Szeged offers a good basis and a wide range of career opportunities for students and those about to enter higher education. He sees the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged as a steadily developing institution, and the number of its corporate partners is also steadily growing. Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that more and more large companies are setting up sites and production units in Szeged and its surroundings. This attitude is also marked by cooperations, such as the recent meeting with the representatives of Beijing Wingain Machinery & Electronics Co. Wingain Europe Machinery and Trade Ltd. Ltd. is also preparing for production and wholesale sales in Hungary and has registered its headquarters in the industrial park of Csongrád. The industrial park aims at "the establishment of industrial activities representing advanced, environmentally friendly technological processes, as well as large and small companies". The company also manufactures important components for solar panels but also, for example, automatic control equipment. Important issues such as academic knowledge transfer, scientific research and professional cooperation were also discussed. These, of course, cannot work without engineers, nor can a sustainable vision of the future.
Prof. Dr. István Bíró was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Szeged from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2024. During his career as Dean, Prof. Dr. István Bíró had to face difficulties such as the introduction of online teaching during the COVID-19 epidemic and the resulting online final examinations and online engineering education. His experience during the pandemic has been rewarding and as the leader of the Archenerg Cluster, he will always be able to draw on this experience.
National powerlifting champion
Few people may know that the president of the Archenerg Cluster picked up a barbell at the age of fifteen and went on to the national championships.
- I was 15 when I first picked up a dumbbell and I liked it. Then, in very humble circumstances, a former classmate and I started pulling and pushing the iron and then I was 17 when we founded a club in my home town. It was a club then, later it became an association - we also learned that the organisation has been running ever since and will be 50 years old in 3 years. I also competed until I was 26. I was national champion twice, in 1983 and '86. Then I decided to stop competing because my back was hurting regularly, but only when I squatted more than 270 kg. My best grip was the squat. In competition my best result was around 300 kg. In training, I once did 305 kg. I did tolerably well in the deadlift, with a best of 320 kg, and 210 kg in the bench press. I went to the gym for another 10 years or so until work and family took me away from training. But maybe in retirement," said the Archenrg Cluster President with a smile.