With the title "Milestones at Our Research University, 2012 - R&D, Technology and Knowledge Transfer at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics", Budapest's renowned university (with its Hungarian acronym BME) hosted a conference to discuss the related results of the past two years.

The meeting was funded by the country's R&D grant "New Széchenyi Program".

Called the "University of the Future", the institution set a strategy to elevate the relationship between students, professors and partners to a new level that would foster successful innovation. In order to facilitate implementation, the major directions of HR and infrastructure development have also been established.

The program consisted of two parts: a research university block and a technology/knowledge transfer block. The first one was covered by the morning session of the conference. Rector Gábor Péceli and Dean Gábor Stépán presented the achievements and the vision of the university. Then Dean László Vajta led a discussion of knowledge and technology transfer in the given areas. The last item in the research university section was a panel discussion of the future of engineering knowledge.

After a press conference in the afternoon, the technology/knowledge block was attended, among others, by József Kürtös (Deputy Head of Department, Hungarian Intellectual Property Office), Sándor Ormándi (Managing Director, MFB Invest Plc.) and István Vetési (President, Central Office for Administrative and Electronic Public Services).

The following section discussions included presentations and roundtables on the results and opportunities in the major fields of research, the development of the innovation environment, as well as the utilization of intellectual resources.

Presentations covered five topic groups:

  1. Sustainable energy
  2. Vehicle technology, transport and logistics
  3. Biotechnology, health and environment protection
  4. Nanophysics, nanotechnology and material science
  5. Intelligent environments and E-technologies

The investor roundtable was attended by István Alpek, the (CFO, Primus Capital, a venture capital company operating successfully since 2008), Elek Straub, (President, Day One Capital, Hungary's first angel capital fund) and Péter Pál Szalai (Department Head, National Development Agency, Hungary).

The discussions provided an opportunity for both investors and university staff members to introduce themselves. We are confident that such events will promote the cause of Hungarian innovation.