ICEM Jorma Luomi Best Poster Student Forum Award for Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio, INTERACT young researcher

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Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio, INTERACT young researcher  and recently awarded with the PhD degree of Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, received The ICEM Jorma Luomi Best Poster Student Forum Award[1] for his poster “High-frequency modelling of Rotating Electrical Machines” presented at the XXVth International Conference on Electrical Machiines, held in Valencia, Spain, between 5th and 8th of September 2022.

[1] The ICEM Jorma Luomi Best Poster Student Forum Award is to be presented biennially (once every even year) for up to three technical posters (in no order), for outstanding technical competence displayed in a poster presented at ICEM.

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Paper at ICEM 2022, 5-8 September 2022, Valencia, Spain

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Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio attended the XXVth International Conference on Electrical Machines in Valencia, Spain and presented a paper entitled „Sensitivity Analysis of a Numerical High-Frequency Impedance Model for Rotating Electrical Machines”, with research results of his activity in the frame of INTERACT project. The paper is open access at: https://zenodo.org/record/7067254#.YxzCK3ZBybg

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Public defense of the doctoral thesis of Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio

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The first INTERACT PhD thesis, entitled „High frequency of rotating electrical machines”, was defended by Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio, on 19th of July 2022 in a public session, at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Jose Enrique Ruiz Sarrio, one of the seven young researchers recruited and trained in the frame of INTERACT project, was coordinated during his research activity by professor Claudia Martis, from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania and by Fabien Chauvicourt, PhD Research Engineer Advanced at Siemens Industry Software Leuven, Belgium.

The full content of the work can be consultad at: https://zenodo.org/record/7075314#.YyCL43ZBybg

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UTCN event @ Mariselu Campus

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The event was organized in the frame of a boot camp dedicated to bachelor, master and PhD students on Electrical machines for renewable and automotive applications. The UTCN Electromechanical Systems group organized a two-days camp (27th and 28th of May 2022) at the UTCN Mariselu Campus. The event was open to up 70 attendees and the registration was done via the TEAMS platform (for the students of UTCN), the INTERACT website and mail lists.

The goal of the campus was to present and discuss on specific electrical machines for renewable energies conversion systems and automotive applications.

INTERACT Event@Mariselu Campus
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INTERACT Last Event

The last INTERACT event was organized in the frame of a bootcamp dedicated to bachelor, master and PhD students on Electrical machines for renewable and automotive applications. The UTCN Electromechanical Systems group organized a two-days camp (27th and 28th of May 2022) at the UTCN Mariselu Campus. The event was open to up 70 attendees and the registration was done via the TEAMS platform (for the students of UTCN), the INTERACT website and mail lists.

The main goal of the bootcamp was to present and discuss on specific electrical machines for renewable energies conversion systems and automotive applications from different perspectives: young researchers enrolled in a PhD program, engineers working at Mariselu power plant and young assistant professors from UTCN.

The first half day was dedicated to Mariselu powerplant visit and the meeting with the engineers and technicians working there.

During the second part of the first day, the INTERACT workshop was organized. A short presentation of the project was done by prof. Claudia Martis, the coordinator of the project, followed by the INTERACT young researchers, which presented their experience with working in the frame of a European project and the results of their research work. The presentations were followed by informal discussions between the INTERACT young researchers and the participants.

INTERACT Event@Mariselu Campus

A resume of the young researchers presentations can be consulted here.

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INTERACT Horizon 2020 – 6th event presentation and agenda

INTERACT PROJECT SHORT DESCRIPTION

(www.interact.utcluj.ro)

In today’s economy, more than ever, the need to implement the sustainability principle in designing new products has become of utmost importance. Sustainability represents nowadays innovation’s new frontier. Becoming environmentally friendly through the development of sustainable products, the industrial actors end up by reducing inputs they use and, thus, lower the costs. Moreover, with better “greener” products, additional revenues are generated. As the automotive industry is one of the most technologically interesting domains to face the societal challenges, the automotive manufacturers are accelerating the development of new sustainable technologies for products to comply with the most stringent standards of efficiency, reliability, safety and sustainability. The trend for more electrified automotive applications (MEAAs) asks for a new generation of automotive electrical actuation systems, allowing for a more efficient and environmentally friendly mobility and enhancing the driving experience, making it safer, more comfortable and sustainable.

INTERACT’s overall objective is to answer the further enhancement of the next generation of high-performance sustainable automotive electric actuators (SAEAs) by combining high-level scientific research and training activities in a joint academia-industry doctoral programme, focused on solving critical issues (see Section 1.1.2) of the automotive electrical actuation Research & Development (R&D) cycle.

The project is a natural continuation of a fruitful collaboration between the beneficiaries: two universities (UTCN and ULB) and three industrial actors. What started as staff exchange collaboration for technological know-how and transfer of knowledge in the field of electrical machines (EMs) and drives (EMDs) for automotive applications[1],[2] [2] has now developed, through INTERACT, into a joint doctoral programme, based on common interests and goals, in the field of R&D of the next generation of SAEAs. More specifically, INTERACT takes advantage of the well-established intersectoral collaboration achievements and of the solid research and training competences and facilities at the beneficiaries for: (i) giving new career perspectives and increasing the employability of six young researchers, by enhancing their creative and innovative potential; (ii) pushing forward and/or extend the industrial partners’ portfolio with new technological developments to be integrated into the R&D process such that they remain and/or enter as an important player in the automotive industry ; (iii) strengthening innovation capacity of UTCN and ULB with commercial exploitation of the research.

It is clear that energy-efficient, reliable, robust, low-cost and low-noise electrical machines, along with highly-integrated, energy-efficient power electronics and control modules, are required in order to reduce the impact of automotive electrical actuated powertrain and/or auxiliaries on the overall performance and cost of vehicles, no matter if they are fuel- (fossil or alternative), hybrid- or electric-powered. INTERACT aims at the development of R&D and engineering specialists and services to deal with the design and development of advanced electrical actuation technologies for sustainable automotive applications.

EVENT SHORT DESCRIPTION

A final event will be organized as a one-day boot camp for young students and researchers in 27th of May 2022 at Mariselu UTCN Campus. The target of the event is two-fold: presentation and discussion of the research achievements and established collaboration made by INTERACT fellows and providing information on different types of electrical machines used in automotive applications and renewable energy. The event is open to the bachelor, master and PhD students of UTCN, but also to young researchers from outside the consortium.

For registration please send a message to anca.nicu@ethm.utcluj.ro with your contact data (name and surname, title, affiliation, position, email address) by 6th of May 2022.

 

AGENDA OF THE EVENT

27th of May 2022 – Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Mariselu Camp

8.30 Leaving from Cluj-Napoca
9.30     Arrival to Mariselu Camp
10.30 – 12.00

12.00 – 13.30

13.30 – 15.00

 Mariselu Hydroplant visit organized for three groups – discussions on the electromechanical concersion systems for hydroplants
12.00-14.30 Lunch  
14.30 – 19.00 INTERACT Workshop  
–          Project presentation C. Martis
–          ESRS work and results Jose Ruiz, Sebastian Ciceo, Konstantinos Ntontis, Abdolmajid Abedini Mohammadi
–          Open discussions between the members of the INTERACT project and the participants Electrical machines for automotive applications
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FALLING WALLS LAB MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS 2022

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FALLING WALLS LAB MARIE SKŁODOWSKA-CURIE ACTIONS 2022 WITH A DEADLINE ON 21 MARCH 2022 (12H CET, BRUSSELS TIME).

Falling Walls Lab is a world-wide pitch competition and networking forum. It provides a stage for break-through ideas from the worlds of science, business, arts and society. Academic and research organisations around the world organise their own competitions at local and regional level under the supervision of Falling Walls Lab.

Our own competition Falling Walls Lab Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions 2022 will take place on 24 May 2022 as part of the MSCA conference organised in the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU in cooperation with Université PSL – Paris Science & Lettres. Falling Walls Lab MSCA showcases the quality and diversity of the most innovative minds taking part in MSCA projects.

Through a three minute pitch, MSCA fellows will get the opportunity to present their research work to peers, a high-calibre jury made up of experts from academia and business, and to the general public. They also answer questions from the jury and the audience in a live session.

Who can participate?

This year, we are looking for 15 MSCA excellent communicators from all disciplines, with exciting research topics, new ideas and discoveries. This is an excellent opportunity for fellows passionate about science communication.

Fellows from all Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are encouraged to apply. Applicants must be MSCA fellows taking part in an MSCA project by the deadline (including early-stage and experienced researchers and staff working in research and innovation from all actions).

 What’s the prize?

Selected participants will take part in coaching sessions to practise their communication and storytelling skills in advance of the competition and will be offered the chance to attend the event in Paris.

Falling Walls Lab MSCA will nominate 3 finalists plus an audience prize. All 4 finalists will receive a prize.

 The winner will win a trip to attend the Falling Walls Grand Finale and Science Summit in Berlin between 7-9 November and compete to become one of the ‘Breakthrough Winners of the Year’ at the finale.

The full participation conditions are available here: https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/news/falling-walls-labs-msca-2022

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INTERACT 5th School event

1. ORGANIZER AND LOCATION

The fifth school event was organised by UTCN online via Teams, on 10-11 February 2022. The organizing committee was composed of Claudia Martis (UTCN) and Anca Constantinescu Dobra (UTCN). It is important to note that the fifth school event was organized online due to the Covid Pandemic situation at the time of the event which prevented the organisation at UTCN, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was made such that external people outside INTERACT consortium could join through a request to be sent via the project website.

2. AGENDA OF THE SCHOOL EVENT

The fourth school event was organized in two modules preparing fellows to (i) Career development initiatives and to (ii) Management of technology transfer & innovation and entrepreneurship.
The first module was split into several sub-modules:
1. Career development initiatives

2. Management of technology transfer & innovation and entrepreneurship

3. CAREER DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

The aim of the training was to train the researchers to identify and plan the key steps for shaping their career path. The activities provided the attendees with practical guidance regarding the professional experience required when applying for positions in academic/non-academic institutions. The workshop focused on the participants’ own work. The moderators worked with participants to address their concerns and the specificities of the individual situations.

From the beginning, the participants received useful tools designed to gain benefits from higher self-awareness. After they applied them, they were encouraged to share their thoughts, competencies as employees and they were able to identify (and had to think about) measures to overcome self-limiting beliefs. They were coached to learn more about their emotional and thought patterns.

In this part, the interaction was very good, even though the online training could be sometimes a real burden. They also should explore in depth their competencies, skills, talents and talk first in pairs with their mates and after with the groups all the findings, the differences in perceptions about the appropriateness of a specific skills for a job. The experimented coaches concludes the discussions after each theme, by emphasizing on the main concepts, or important issues. Also, they made the participants to feel comfortable in a safe environment and every techniques conducted the participants to the next content (new/additional experiments) that organized and prioritized the next steps to be done in order to apply for a new job.

In the second part, the organizational environment was assessed. The participants were split in two groups an each groups had to discuss a specific study case (the company game). The interaction was very good and they were highly involved in this task.

The CV and intention letter was discussed and some good and wrong example were presented. The participants should made they own document and pitch them to the others, but in this specific moment the engagement was average, maybe because this part was at the end of the day.

Therefore, the main teaching technique was „learning by doing”.

In conclusion, it can be considered that the aims of the training was achieved, the participants being more prepared to plan their carrier path in an organized manner. The session was moderated by Maria Dofeldt and Codruta Badea from Coach Connect Romania, a coach training institute and has been in the coaching space for more than 15 years. They offer ACTP accredited programs Made in Sweden by CoachCompanion. Delivered in Sweden, Finland, South Africa and Romania.

4. MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER & INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

The specific aims of the training was to instil the essential characteristics of the entrepreneurial mindset: the ability to confront self-doubt, accountability, resilience, and a willingness to experiment. Through entrepreneurship education and these characteristics can be developed just like the other skills and traits.

The first module challenge the PhD students to discover and analyze the existing entreprenorial competencies of their best manager in order to raise the awarness. They should categorise their skills according to the behavoiur of a leader, manager and coach. This discussion offered the opportunity for the trainers in the end to stress out the caracteristics of efficient and resilient entrepreneurs. It was a very fruitfull discussion with  a very high involvment of the participants.

The technology transfer exemples conducted the participants to think about thair business that can be launch on the market. The trainers helped the PhD students to shape their ideas, craft them with a repeatable process, and move them forward with capital. In this area, practice being decisive,  the participants “entrepreneurs” had to set specific goals, make decisions, from dealing with minor issues that arise to big-picture strategy and growth questions.

The teaching method was based mainly on study cases, projection, co-creation for clarifying some issues of an entrepreneurial process and “learning by doing”. The students worked in teams and they had to pitch their business idea in the end. A quiz on kahoot platform was implemented in order to assess the most appropriate questions for validate the business idea. The students keep their engagement at higher level: they put a lot of questions, pay attention on colleagues’ teams and gave advices.

For the last part, entrepreneurial mindset, the involvement decreased a little maiybe due to the fact that they were tired or the teaching method was lecturing.

Assessing the final pitch, it can be considerd that the PhD students improved ther entreprenurrial skils and set correctly the business plan.

5. CONCLUSIONS

The 5th event organized in the frame of INTERACT provided insights on carrier coaching and entrepreneurial mindset. Specialists from well-known companies like Coach Connect presented different techniques and methods for personal development in order to identify and plan the key steps for shaping the PhD career path. The trainings’ activities provided them practical guidance regarding the specific skills and competences required when applying for a job. Participants improved also their writing and oral communication competencies by focusing particularly on the specificity of each domain. The participants learned critical skills required in today’s work environment that they can put into practice immediately. The coaches addressed their concerns regarding individual situations. The good and wrong examples of engineers who applied worldwide for an academic or non-academic job shade a light on how to organize and properly plan the carrier development process for a long period of time. The self-discovery techniques brought a higher level of acknowledgement of their thinking mindset and enhanced emotional intelligence. The students got acquainted to HR headhunting procedures and their skills to pitch themselves were improved.

The second module made important contributions in entrepreneurial mindset. Developing and using entrepreneurial skills in their professional lives, will improve their performance in research activities along with their performance and potential for themselves and their teams. The presence of specialists in the field of entrepreneurship, experimented entrepreneurs form services or IT field from Entrepreneurial mindset and Linnify contributed to expand the participants’ knowledge in terms of how to approach research in order to transfer the results into the business environment. The entrepreneurial study cases help them to see the opportunities and to solve the problems of specific target market. Also, the customer discovery techniques support them to gain awareness of how they are in a leadership role. The role play exercises assist them to discover a healthy and effective leadership model. This knowledge, skills and competences are important elements in the training of young researchers who become more employable and efficient in their work.

FULL REPORT ON SCHOOL EVENT 5

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INTERACT 5th SCHOOL EVENT ONLINE (MS TEAMS) 10-11 February 2022

In our days training the researchers to identify and plan the key steps for shaping their career plays an important role in career development. The activities will provide them with practical guidance regarding the professional experience required when applying for positions in academic/non-academic institutions. Participants will be offered opportunities to meet and discuss about their work with a panel of academics and other professionals.  Guest speakers will work with participants to address their concerns and the specificities of the individual situations. The second part of the event is developed for entrepreneurial knowledge, competences, and skills. In an ever-changing world with merging economies, the marketplace has become truly global. Savvy entrepreneurs see new opportunities and are preparing to capitalize on changing demands. The workshop will prepare PhD students to be active in the marketplace at the right time. They will evaluate entrepreneurship for their research topics and investigate business feasibility and concept development. Their entrepreneurial style will be revealed by practical exercises.

INTERACT Horizon 2022 5th event presentation and agenda

*If any changes occur, the final agenda will be published prior de event

The training event will be organized online, using TEAMS platform. For registration please send a message to anca.nicu@ethm.utcluj.ro with your contact data (name and surname, title, affiliation, position, email address) until 5th of February 2022.

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INTERACT 4th School event

The fourth school event was organised by UTCN online via Teams, on 8-9 December 2020. The organizing committee was composed of Claudia Martis (UTCN) and Fabien Chauvicourt (SISW). It is important to note that the fourth school event was organized online due to the Covid situation at the time of the event, which prevented the organisation at UTCN, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was made such that external people outside INTERACT consortium could join through a request to be sent via the project website: https://interact.utcluj.ro/final-agenda-interact-4th-school-event-online-8-9-december-2020/

The fourth school event was organized in two modules preparing fellows to (i) industry state-of-the-art testing instrumentation and technologies and to (ii) understand the challenges associated to sustainable mobility and automotive industry.

Both modules were split into several sub-modules:

  1. Testing and instrumentation for automotive applications
    1. MBST for Electric Vehicles (Siemens Industry Software Leuven, Belgium)

Real-time solutions  – Motorcycle testing

Real-time Hybrid Simulation – Motorcycle testing

  1. Digital Twin for efficient validation of subjective vehicle performances (Siemens Industry Software Leuven, Belgium)

Model-based system testing of E-powertrains

The OBELICS project

  1. From Simulation to Reality: the XiL journey (National Instruments, Romania)
  2. Aero thermal test bench description (Renault Technologie Romanie)
  3. EMC simulation for power electronics (Brose, Wurzburg, Germany)
  1. Summer school on Sustainable mobility and automotive industry
    1. Sustainable urban mobility as a critical element for planning, designing and managing cities based on the principles of sustainable development (URBASOFIA, Italy)
    2. Product lifecycle management benefits, challenges and opportunities (UTCN, Romania)
    3. Product development process in the scope of product life cycle (Brose, Wurzburg, Germany)

The recorded presentations can be followed at:
Presentations SUMMER SCHOOL ON SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY AND AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Second part TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS

First part TESTING AND INSTRUMENTATION FOR AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS

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