History
It is a common goal for all the leaders and professionals of companies working in the field of energy, people interested in energy and students having the goal of becoming an energy engineer, that the future generation of engineers would possess an overview – both on theoretical and practical level – of the past, present and the probable future of this complex and diversified discipline.
It is prominently important to facilitate the connection of theoretical and practical knowledge, to improve the communication between industry and universities and to support partnership. These ideas are proposed as its goals by the Student Association of Energy.
The Student Association of Energy was founded on 17th October 2002, with the support of the Hungarian Electrotechnical Association (MEE), the Hungarian Scientific Society of Energy Economics (ETE) and the Hungarian Energy Society (MET), and with the cooperation of students of electrical and mechanical engineering of Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Since 4th April 2008 we are operating as an Association with recognized public benefit, with the direct support of the founding organizations.
The Association is operating on the campus of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, with the support of the Department of Electric Power Engineering (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics), the Department of Energy Engineering (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) and the Institute of Nuclear Techniques.
To strengthen our international relations, in 2006 we have founded the “Hungarian Student Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE)”, an international organization in the field of energy management.
Our Association organizes lectures, panel discussions and technical visits every week, to provide a chance for all the people interested to acquire knowledge exceeding the curriculum of university and college qualifications, or to get acquainted with the standpoint of experienced and practicing professionals. We are inviting lecturers who are great authorities of their field, and are up-to-date with technical developments and economic trends.
We facilitate new contacts between students and leading companies in the field of energy, and we take part in organizing summer internships, and provide an opportunity for companies to introduce themselves and hold lectures. Also, the Association, in cooperation with professors, organizes the elaboration of practical tasks within the confines of independent student assignments. Only in 2013, the Association could mediate more than 40 internship opportunities in connection with the compulsory educational internship program. We help our members to get a more profound knowledge of the discipline of energy engineering and connecting fields, by covering participation costs at conferences, consultations based on personal demands, and inviting applications for Scientific Conference of University Students and MSc thesis awards. The internal professional courses started in the Autumn semester of 2010 are continued, in the previous semesters we offered courses for our students: one that helped students get familiar with the practical knowledge of firing technologies by a local industrial company, and another that let students know about the consequent steps and tricks of tenders. We are planning to continue starting such courses in the future in co-operation with leading companies, offering practical knowledge that is beyond the standard university curriculum, but is essential for future experts of the industry.
The Student Association of Energy has organized the first „International Youth Conference on Energetics” in 2007 to establish a series of conferences celebrated biannually. The Association was also proud to present the establishment of the „IEEE Budapest University of Technology & Economics Joint Student Branch Chapter of the Industry Applications and the Power & Energy Societies” in 2009 during the IYCE’09 conference. In 2017, Hungary again hosted the "6th International Youth Conference on Energy 2017" (IYCE'17). The specialty of the event is that the conference was held for its 10-year jubilee 2017 June 21-24. The prestige of the conference is well illustrated by the fact that we were able to welcome a total of 131 guests from 29 countries, showing a total of 74 publications.
The Student Association of Energy has been also organizing a summer academy called SAE2. It is an event which attracts atendees from many foreign countries, and it consists of site visits, plenary sessions and project tasks - all concerning one single up-to-date topic. The last SAE2 was held in 2018.
The Association – with the aim of creating a new tradition – started its contest on energy in 2009, which attracted the attention of over 1200 secondary school student participants in 2010. Our main goal was to familiarize these students with the world of energy, and to popularize the energy and electrical engineering fields. Since 2011, students of institutions outside of Hungary that conduct their studies in Hungarian have also been welcomed to run teams for the contest. It is always held in the period between November and February (of the coming year), adapting to the higher education admission deadline. We firmly believe that by presenting the profession’s essential tasks, topics and other university courses, we are able to facilitate the students’ decision making process before the higher education admission.
