Sprungbrett Innovation School
Six European universities from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bihac University), Macedonia (University of St. Cyril and Methodius), Switzerland (Bern University of Applied Sciences), Serbia (Belgrade University), Slovenia (Ljubljana University) and Russia (St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University). Within the framework of this project, annually, three times a year, conferences and seminars are held in one of the countries, aimed to developing the innovativeness and creativity of students in the forestry and woodworking industry.
Every year, the Swiss Economic Fund for the Promotion of Training in the Technology of Wood Processing conducts one business day in cooperation with the BFH-AHB. At the same time they want to create a special platform to improve the employment and exchange of knowledge and experience of students in European and Russian enterprises.
Many well-known Swiss and international companies present their activities and offer problems for solving by international groups of students under the guidance of a coordinating professor, and also talk with students interested in finding a job.
Conference of the international project Sprungbrett Innovation School
The conference “Innovative School Sprungbrett” is held in parallel with the business day. Thus, participants get an opportunity to listen to an additional range of industry reports. Its goal is to present the best student reports on the topic of forestry and woodworking industry in the economy and society, as well as the exchange of experience between students and young scientists from different countries. During the conference “Innovation School Sprungbrett” scientific theses of the best students from six universities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany and two universities of Switzerland are presented.
Within the framework of the seminar, entrepreneurs offer case studies / or problems / or formulated questions. Students develop specific solutions in international groups, in which they contribute knowledge of the specialty and experience from their country. Through group work and the exchange of experience, students together learn the organization of a small international project. At the end of the workshop, each group presents the results to enterprises, and enterprises assess their performance. Based on the results of the work of students, the results of the seminar are published in special professional journals of the participating countries. As a result, this activity is becoming known at the international level.
In addition to the seminars, industry excursions and cultural events are organized. “The innovative school” Sprungbrett “, which is part of the training (students receive ECTS [1] ‑points and a certificate of attendance), is held annually and 4 students from each country participate in it.
Project Coordinator from Russia:
Varankina Galina Stepanovna,
Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences
e‑mail: varagalina@yandex.ru
Project meeting
The last international student scientific — practical conference “Innovation School” SPRUNGBRETT “, supported by the Stiftung Mercator Schweiz Foundation, was held in Skopje (University of St. Cyril and Methodius) from 29.10.2017 to 04.11.2017.
At the conference, students presented their projects in the field of furniture design. The project is aimed to supporting young scientists and engineers, developing skills of international cooperation, promoting professional and cultural interaction, and introducing research results into production. The project results are the opportunity to receive new developments and projects for the furniture industry and to increase the entrepreneurial potential of young professionals. The result of this project was an unusual development in the form of a transformer, which can be used as an entrance hall of a residential building or an office building.
