„I came back to Hungary twice in order to learn”

The Iranian engineer came to Budapest to study at BME. There are very few female aeronautical experts and she is one of them.

„I am very grateful for the theoretical and practical knowledge that I received at BME. The MSc program opened the world for me, and I got to know my profession from several points of view. That is why I decided to continue learning, because I did not settle for that” – said Foroozan Zare just some days after her PhD final examination at BME. She is an Iranian PhD student at the Faculty of Transportation Engineering and Vehicle Engineering Department of Aeronautics, Naval Architecture and Railways Vehicles of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. She said: “I can learn here what I love so much!”

“After the BSc programme I started to think where I want to continue to study my favourite but special theme, aeronautics, which is not a typical “housewife job”, recollected the researcher, who examined extensively the available programmes of European universities at time of her career choice, and finally she chose the aeronautical education programme of BME. “I read gorgeous feedbacks about the institute, the high level of education here, and the prestige of the degrees of BME”, she shared the facts that influenced her decision besides the master programme of the Hungarian institute. The Iranian student deals with the design and development of jet engines, turbines and rotors within her aeronautical research. “I chose Hungary and BME because of the high level of education and the high value of engineering creative work”, added Foroozan Zare.

She thinks that it is a huge success that she could try her theoretical model in practice thanks to the profession-oriented Hungarian education, and with that she got deeper knowledge about her field of research. After the master’s programme she went home, spent a year in Iran and taught mathematics to BSc students. She enjoyed that work, but as she explained, something was missing. She felt she had to return to the scientific milieu. “I got such good experiences, that I wanted to continue. I wanted to expand my perspectives, know more about my profession and continue the work I had started at BME”, told the PhD student of the BME, who has been interested in airplanes and flying since her childhood, and she early decided to be an engineer. “It is a family tradition at us. My father, who is the head of the airport in Shiraz, sometimes took me to his workplace. As a little girl I went to sleep hearing the noise of the turbines, and when I was awaken, I wanted to know how the airplanes work, how they can take off and land, what is that loud thing inside them. I ‘fell in love’ with this theme, which has became my profession by now”, shared the Iranian student, who thinks that the scientific knowledge and the added value is very important. She has a dream: she wants to work as a development engineer at huge industry stakeholders. “The academic career gives the opportunity to discover several new things, but I also want to experience how it works in the “market”, in large scales” she said. She develops not only her theoretical, but her practical knowledge too. She is going to finish her PhD education in a year’s time, and she is planning to work in Hungary or in Germany. “BME gives me an excellent basic to fulfill my dreams.”

As she said her academic supervisor, Árpád Veress, assistant professor at the Department of Aeronautics, Naval Architecture and Railways Vehicles helps her a lot in her education. “I have learnt a lot from my consultant, he supported me to cope with the upcoming challenges, we discussed professional dilemmas, and he helped me to consider and include several new viewpoints in my research. Moreover he encouraged me to continue my education and not be satisfied with the knowledge I had got during the bachelor and the master’s programme”, shared Foroozan Zare, who admires the professional knowledge concentrating in the different departments of  BME, and she also respects the professors at the university, whose profession is the same as their hobbies. And this is also true for Foroozan.

“I came to Europe not only for the professional knowledge: I wanted to know new cultures and new people too. I have been in several countries from Asia to Europe, but I have visited only a few exciting countries like Hungary” – said the Iranian student. “Hungarian people are very kind, honest and helpful. Many times we do not speak the same language, but they always help me when I ask for some information for example about traffic, or get directions. In other Western-European states the local people expect me to speak their own language, as a tourist too” – added the PhD student, who has been living in the Hungarian capital city for 5 years. “I love Budapest! It is a beautiful place with gorgeous buildings, energetic life and with an adorable rythm of life.” The only difficulty for Foroozan is the language. She said Hungarian is a very melodious, but a very hard language, especially because of the pronunciation and the affixes. “I am incapable to recognize the affixes and its vowels. For me Hungarian is a very interesting, but a strange language” – told the student of the BME, who does not hide her love for Hungary in her country too. One of her friends comes to learn in Budapest just for the influence and suggestion of Foroozan.

The Iranian PhD student hopes that she is going to get the chance to teach at BME besides her research, in case new foreign students come to her graduate degree programme. Foroozan spends the summer with her family, but she cannot wait for September when she comes back to the Hungarian capital city again for the new semester.

- TZS -

Photo: Ildikó Takács