“For me, BME is not a workplace but a way of life”

A three-part interview with Hassan Charaf, the newly appointed Rector of BME, was published in ITBUSINESS, the online platform of a leading publication in the Hungarian IT market.

“The Goal is for BME to Soar”

The newly elected Rector of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics has set renewal as his primary objective, trusting that “the majority of the university community will be partners in this endeavour.”

In the first part of the interview, Hassan Charaf shared his views on the dilemmas of the university model change and internal (leadership) cooperation within the institution. Alongside his comprehensive goals, he also spoke about his relationship with BME.

“I want to focus on one thing: building the university, bringing in resources, opening new doors for colleagues, and enhancing industrial relations. I consider BME a national treasure, and I am committed to making this treasure as accessible as possible for the country and the economy. “For me, BME is not a workplace but a way of life.”

The first interview can be read in full at the following link.

“We need closer cooperation and a clarification of the relationship between higher education and industry and the market”

In the second interview, the Rector explained that the BME, as an institution with a wide range of expertise, should become an integrator of the higher education system.

He believes there is a need for an independent asset management company, 100% owned by BME, responsible for managing industrial programmes, overseeing university spin-offs, operating transparently, and reporting to the Senate. Additionally, it is necessary to clarify the system of industrial relations and collaborations, and to strengthen the innovation ecosystem surrounding the university.

The second interview can be read in full at the following link.

“I View Higher Education as a Service Industry”

In the final part of the interview series, BME Rector Hassan Charaf shares his views on the relationship between university teaching methods and the new generation. He anticipates the need to renew all levels of education: he sees the solution in applying new methods and technologies for bachelor's programmes, the need to harmonise education with job opportunities for master's and doctoral programmes, and the potential of introducing a system of micro-certificates. 

“I view higher education as a service industry, and when it comes to service, the supply must be tailored to demand.” Hassan Charaf's goal is for “successful engineers to emerge from the university,” and to achieve this, “the focus should be on 'discovery-driven' and 'discovery-enabling' managed knowledge acquisition instead of one-way knowledge transfer, always considering the spirit of the times.”

The third interview can be read in full at the following link.

Source of images: IT Business

Rector's Office, Department of Communications