NEWSLETTER

Nr. 18October

2013

Florin-Bogdan Năstase, master student at the Faculty of Wood Engineering, is not just a mountaineering buff; his sporting achievements are always associated with nobler goals: he has run two charity marathons on behalf of the Casa Speranţei Hospice, and his latest success – conquering the Kilimanjaro Peak in Tanzania – has been dedicated to Transilvania University.

'Life with the mountaineering “heavyweights” is very demanding' says Florin-Bogdan Năstase, 'and Kilimanjaro - one of the “7 heavyweight challengers” in the world (The Seven Summits) - is the most difficult climb in Africa. This makes you think twice before facing a competitor that can knock you down right when you thought you were about to KO him. When I finally decided to take on the giant I had already won several rounds, encouraged by my supporters and my best “coach”: the heavyweight of Europe, Elbrus in the Caucasus Range, and its younger brother, Mont Blanc have trained me physically and mentally to give my best, to hold fast to the last second, to sweat out the final drop, to win. And I did win, after putting up a hard fight, but more easily than I had anticipated, and eventually, on the

thmorning of September 19 , I was able to raise the victors' flag, which allowed me, once more, to feel gratified and elated. Both peaks of Kilimanjaro were conquered, and I could proudly watch our University's flag stand tall above the summits. I thought the fight was over but I was wrong. Hardly did I wave Kilimanjaro good-bye when I embarked on the rescue operations of a young Irish climber.’

Dr. Liliana Rogozea, Florin-Bogdan Năstase

th stBetween the 20 and the 21 of September, the Braşov Branch of the Romanian Academy of Scientists in partnership with Transilvania University

and the County Council of Braşov organized “The International Conference of the Romanian Academy of Scientists – ECO-ECONOMY AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT”.The six conference panels assembled 120 participants and 87

papers in all major fields of interest of the Academy members. Among the attendees were members of the Romanian Academy of

Scientists, representatives of Romanian universities, and academics from the Republic of Moldova and from Bulgaria.

The proceedings focused on the ECO topic, and put forward solutions, proposals and ideas regarding the

ecologization of various economic and social systems in Romania, as well as proposals for administrative and

political measures required to boost Romanian research, a rather underfinanced and “brain drained” area which,

because of the financial instability, is less and less appealing to the younger generation.

The conference proceedings were published in the “Scientific Bulletin”, and the volumes were offered to attendants and guests. The next conference of the Romanian Academy of Scientists will be organized in April 2014 by members of Constanța branch.

Overall, the quality of the papers together with the discussions and ideas they fostered turned the ASOR Conference into a successful event, which is consistent with the good professional reputation of the local academic community.

Dr. Ivan Cismaru

ECO-ECONOMY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTTHE ASOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY'S FLAG ON

KILIMANJARO

TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY'S FLAG ON KILIMANJARO

THE ASOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

MEETING WITH THE ARACIS EVALUATORS

PT-CONF 2013

HELP PROJECT

AWARD WINNING STUDENTS AT THE NATIONAL COMPETITION OF VANGUARD FURNITURE DESIGN

RESEARCHERS' NIGHT 2013 AT BRAȘOV

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS SEMINAR

LOCAL AND NATIONAL MODERNISATION

BUSY SCHEDULES AT THE FACULTY OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCES

BLUESTREAMLINE TEAM IN CATALUNYA 2013

MEETING OF FORMER MEMBERS OF DIASON CHORAL GROUP

PROFESSORS WE TAKE PRIDE IN SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI

OPPORTUNITIES OPENED BY THE ERASMUS PROGRAMME

THE NIKOLA TESLA AWARD AT TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY

Transilvania University of BraşovWhat purpose does the university serve if not to pave the way for the society of wisdom?

(Paolo Blasi)

It is not the walls that make a school, but the spirit that reigns within.(Regele Ferdinand I)

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Initiated by the European Commission, Researchers' Night is a popular event which targets the general public and aims to allow for easy and playful interaction with science. In Brașov, Researchers' Night took place

thon the 27 of September and was organized by Target Active Training and the Invenio Association in partnership with Transilvania University.

From among the highlights, mention could be made of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering displaying the hybrid-hydraulic vehicle, noise maps to illustrate the road traffic impact on environment, as well as inherent devices for data acquisition.

The Faculty of Technological Engineering and Industrial Management introduced modelling and simulation of production systems, technical, economic and financial analysis and diagnosis of industrial corporations, marketing issues and economic forecasts, design and optimization of production systems, and issues pertaining to strategic management.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering stand showcased state-of-the-art models of light structures, novel construction techniques and materials, as well as researchers' feedback on “the passive house”.

The “Student Show” team from the Faculty of Sociology and Communication ensured the media coverage of the event, and the Faculty of Food and Tourism allowed the public a glimpse into latest research on

biochemistry and healthy gastronomy.Through their representatives, the Braşov Police Department demonstrated the operation of the robot used in pyrotechnical interventions

and presented their crime laboratory. The Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences hosted debates on sundry topics, in a dedicated informal space.

The Faculty of Letters tested the linguistic skills of future researchers by means of various games and contests. The contest winners were awarded prizes - flags, badges, T-shirts, memory sticks and spy sun glasses.

The Faculty of Music closed the event on a high note, with a beautiful recital by their talented string quartet.

Transilvania University was granted, for the second time running, the High Degree of Confidence rating, as a result of the periodical external evaluation of academic quality by The Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education

th(ARACIS). During the University Senate meeting held on the 11 of September, Dr. Adrian Miroiu, Vice-President of ARACIS, and Dr. Mihai Aristotel Ungureanu, Secretary General of ARACIS presented their Evaluation report.

In the course of their three-day visit, the ARACIS evaluators analysed the self-assessment report drafted by our University, together with the assessment carried out by students' representatives, with a view to ensuring that the national quality standards and criteria were fully met. Among the ARACIS team members were an international evaluator and two students' representatives. The evaluation procedures involved inspections of the teaching, learning and research facilities, and the students' areas (residence halls, dining halls, recreational areas), as well as meetings with representatives of employers, alumni, and students.

The data collected by the evaluators led to a positive report including also a set of recommendations to be carefully analysed by the University management and duly shared with the entire academic community, with a view to finding the best ways to enhance the quality of all ongoing academic processes.

Similarly to the previous external evaluations (in 2007 by ARACIS, and international evaluations in 2011 and 2013), the conclusions formulated in this report will be instrumental in the ongoing process of quality improvement as well as in empowering quality culture at Transilvania University.

Dr. Simona Lache

TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY RATED AS 'HIGH DEGREE OF CONFIDENCE INSTITUTION' AGAIN

CELEBRATING SCIENCE AND RESEARCH THROUGH INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

RESEARCHERS' NIGHT 2013 AT BRAȘOV

th th Between the 18 and the 20 of September Braşov was the host of the 4th edition of the “International Proficiency Testing Conference”, organised by CEPROCIM S.A. Bucharest and the Association of Capability Trial Schemes Providers (AFSIC) together with Transilvania University of Brașov and Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu.

The event was a professional forum particularly useful for the exchange of knowledge, expertise, ideas and initiatives between academics, scientists, engineers, managers of trial scheme providers organisations, testing laboratories managers from all over the world and all fields of scientific research, with an interest in the exploration of the many challenges that lie ahead in the area of proficiency tests.

The main issues dealt with were: Proficiency test schemes (PTS), Reference materials and proficiency tests (RM), Validation of testing methods and proficiency tests (VTM), Measurement uncertainty and proficiency tests (UM), Internal quality control and proficiency tests (IQC), Metrology, traceability and proficiency tests (MT), Accreditation of quality management and participation in proficiency tests (AQM), Development of analysis methods in testing laboratories (DAM).

The turnout consisted of around 90 specialists from 24 countries who presented 43 papers or posters by 110 authors; participants from Great Britain, the USA and Germany exhibited equipment, instruments, chemical products, etc.

The organisers also set up activities such as “Work groups” and “ISO 13528 Statistical methods: Present and Future”, “TrainMiC: Metrology training in chemistry” coordinated by CE-JRC-IRMM and “Setting up of a live proficiency scheme”.

Virginia Graziela GuslicovthPresident of Proficiency Testing Conference, 4 edition

FOURTH EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL PROFICIENCY TESTING CONFERENCE

PT-CONF 2013

MEETING WITH THE ARACIS EVALUATORS

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Dr. Radu Muntean

IGIP - Internationale Gesellschaft für Ingenieurpädagogik – awards annually prizes to well-known personalities from the domain of engineering education. The prizes were awarded during the international conference Interactive Collaborative Learning - ICL 2013

th th which took place between the 25 and the 28 of September 2013 at Kazan National Research Technological University, Russia. The conference was organised by Carinthia Tech Institute, Villach, Austria and National Research Technological University, Kazan, Russia supported by renowned sponsors.

This interdisciplinary conference aimed at generating a framework for the debate of significant trends, research results and practical experience in the domain of interactive collaborative learning (ICL). Besides their research papers the participants also presented pilot projects, applications and representative products.

Transilvania University participated with three papers: “Remote experiment – a workplace for intangible knowledge” (authors: Dr. Doru Ursuţiu and Dr. Cornel Samoilă, both members of the university's Centre for Competence Valuation and Transfer), “Creative Educational Tools and LabVIEW” (authors: Dr. Doru Ursuţiu, Dr. Cornel Samoilă, Dr. Mircea Dăbăcan, Technical University Cluj-Napoca) and “Student Educational Device for Electronic Applications – StudentEDEA (authors: Dr. Doru Ursuţiu, Dr. Cornel Samoilă and Eng. Ionuţ Dumitru, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Transilvania University).

In recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of “Remote Engineering”, Dr. Cornel Samoilă was awarded the most important distinction of the de IGIP – the “Nikola Tesla - Golden Chain”, and Dr. Doru Ursuţiu received the ”Honoris Causa“ title of IGIP.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD

OF “REMOTE ENGINEERING”

THE NIKOLA TESLA AWARD AT TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY

Health care professionals interested in the increased number of overweight patients, members of the HELP project, met in Brașov this September to discuss the current stage of the project Healthy Europe through Learning and Practice (HELP).

The aim of the project is to transfer to European partners and to develop the programme for the management of cardiovascular risk factors, currently running in Great Britain. This programme is meant to become an accredited training resource for medical staff in the European Union.

A web portal and online training resources are two of the achievements of this project. The former will include course materials for physicians, nurses and European health care staff, and the latter, course materials for the trainers in this domain. These materials are offered free of charge in six languages.

Thus the important results of the project consist in the resources offered in six European languages and in the development of a training platform for health care professionals by means of previous experience transfer.

For the past two years, partners from six European countries contributed to the development of training materials in the domain of public health care. They are: the University of Gloucestershire, England (coordinator), In2Health Education and Training Limited (England), Palacký University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), Transilvania

University of Braşov, University of Castilla - La Mancha (Spain), Technische Universität Chemnitz (Germany), Universidade do Porto (Portugal), Miscode – Communication, Design and Information Systems (Portugal).

We estimate that these resources will be available to thousands of European medical staff and will be highly relevant for future professional developments in clinical practice.

thOn the 4 of September, National Instruments Romania organised, in collaboration with our University, a special seminar devoted to Industrial Measurements. The main issues under discussion were Measuring linearity – acquiring high-speed analogue data, Embedded applications, Distributed measurements and movement control –EtherCAT communication, Standard industrial communication protocols –Modbus connectivity, etc.

During the event, the National Instruments engineers developed a complete measurement system, presenting ways of obtaining scalable solutions.

On this occasion, Dr. Sorin Moraru highlighted several aspects concerning the collaboration between our University and National Instruments company, such as the idea of founding LabVIEW Academy, the collaboration with Grigore Moisil National College of Computer Science (represented by Mr. Dan Chirilă and Ms. Gabriela Deliu, teachers who attended the event) and launched, together with Mr. Petru Epure from EPI SISTEM company, the renewed campus licence for a wider range of National Instruments software.

Therefore, starting this semester, our University's students and teaching staff will be able to access, from the GREEN Data Centre at the Research and Development Institute of Transilvania University of Braşov (ICDT), the entire range of software provided by National Instruments, as part of the campus licence.

LEARNING AND PRACTICE FOR A HEALTHIER EUROPE

NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS SEMINAR

AWARD WINNING STUDENTS AT THE NATIONAL COMPETITION OF VANGUARD FURNITURE DESIGN

HELP PROJECT

RENEWED CAMPUS LICENCE FOR NI SOFTWARE

The National Competition of Vanguard Furniture Design organized in partnership by the Association of Romanian Furniture Producers, Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest and Transilvania

thUniversity of Braşov reached its 11 edition this year. For the 'Project' panel of the competition, over 100 projects were submitted mainly by professional

designers. The ZIG-ZIG shelf table, a project by Ioana Loredana Dinoiu, second year master student at Eco-design of Furniture and Restoration, (Faculty of Wood Engineering), was rewarded with a well-deserved honourable mention. Ioana Loredana Dinoiu was a 2011 and 2012 prize winner in the National Furniture Design Competition organized by KRONOSPAN Romania.

In September, upon having faced fierce competition in the 'Prototype' stage, the ZIG-ZIG shelf-table scooped up another honourable mention. Another item, the table, bench and chandelier assembly by Alexandru Druțu, third year Industrial Design student (Faculty of Product Design and Environment) was awarded a Merit Diploma.

The awards were presented by Ms. Aurica Sereny, Chair of the Association of Romanian Furniture Producers, and by Professor Marius Marcu Lăpădat, Dean of the Faculty of Interior Architecture (Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest) at the International Furniture Fair (BIFE-SIM 2013) in Bucharest, where the stand of the Faculty of Wood Engineering, designed by Eng. Ioan Muscu, was greatly appreciated by the public.

We commend our students and hope they will be able to prove themselves as professionals in the highly sophisticated and competitive field of contemporary design.

TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY REPRESENTED

AT THE INTERNATIONAL FURNITURE FAIR IN

BUCHAREST

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Dr. Cornel Samoilă, Dr. Andrea Deaconescu

Dr. Marina Cionca

Dr. Doru Ursuţiu, Dr. Cornel Samoilă, Dr. Sorin MoraruMircea Emil Stremtan, National Instruments

Dr. Liliana Rogozea

th thBetween the 27 and the 29 of September 2013, the local Public Library hosted the “Local and National Modernisation” conference. Initiated by the Romanian Order of Architects (the Braşov-Covasna-Harghita chapter), as part of the “Memorable Town” cultural project, the conference was organised in partnership with our University and its Multicultural Centre.

The presentations targeted various aspects of the historical process of urban modernisation in Romania in general, and in Braşov in particular, and were delivered by Ruxandra Nazare (“Dumitru Voina Factory, Braşov”), Miruna Stroe (“Housing and town for workers?” combined

thwith the screening of “Still nature, 20 century”, a film by Călin Dan), Toader Popescu (“Bucureşti-Berlin via Mizil: railway and urban modernization in the Old Kingdom of Wallachia”), Ştefan Ungurean (“Medieval Braşov in a visual sociology application”), Adrian Lăcătuş (“Braşov in literature: parallel cities in 1900”) and Vintilă Mihăilescu (“The city and Romania's modernisation”).

The event was attended by students, teachers, architects, artists, who found out about how the history of an interwar factory is relevant for Braşov, how the socialist ideology shaped the city, the impact the railways had on urban modernisation, how the process of modernisation in Braşov was influenced by historical archetypes, why multi-ethnic communities generate different cultural representations of the city and of its modernisation process, as well as about the urban differences between the various regions of Romania from an anthropological perspective.

The astuteness of both the public and the contributors allowed for interesting and vivid interdisciplinary debates during each of the three evenings devoted to the event, which holds the promise of a lively platform for convergent theoretical interactions.

Dr. Adrian Lăcătuş

LOCAL AND NATIONAL MODERNISATION

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE

At the close of the summer break, the members of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences were involved in a host of activities among which examinations for the Basic Teacher's Certificate, tenure examinations, the examination for substitute teachers and for teacher certification Level Two in pre-university education, and attending specialized conferences.

The month of September began with a conference which brought together teachers involved in pre-university education. In front of the almost 200 local headmasters who attended the conference, Dr. Toader Pălăşan, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, approached problems related to teachers' training, higher education admissions procedures, continuous training programmes, the topics of periodical teachers' meetings during the next school year, possible research topics in the field of education, and mutual education services.

The conference of pre-school and elementary school teachers (attended by over 250 participants) included presentations on highly topical issues, e.g. design of integrated activities, the individual learning plan, assessment tools, etc. which were delivered by Dr. Toader Pălăşan, Dr. Mihaela Voinea, and teaching assistant Oana Alina Bota. As a result, a common operational frame for the school year 2013 – 2014 was initiated with the support of the inspector general and the specialty inspectors from the local School Inspectorate.

All these activities make us hopeful of a new school year during which academic and epistemic performance will combine with the professional and civic deontology of a teaching staff who strongly believes that sustainable development can be achieved in and through education.

Dr. Toader Pălăşan

BUSY SCHEDULES AT THE FACULTY OF PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION SCIENCESTHE RELATIONSHIP

WITH PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION:

PARTNERSHIP AND GUIDANCE

After BlueStreamline, our University's racing team, represented Romania and Braşov for the fifth year running at the Silverstone circuit, it went on to take part in Formula Student Spain 2013, following tests and training sessions on the Prejmer circuit.

thThe tenth edition of this motoring competition for students took place between the 29 of August stand the 1 of September, on the Formula 1 Catalunya Circuit, Montmeló. Forty vehicles, from Croatia,

Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain and Switzerland, with both combustion and electric engines, lined up for the start. The competition was organised according to the FSC (Formula Student Combustion) and FSE (Formula Student Electric) Regulations for the two categories of vehicles.

Number 111 in the competition, the BlueStreamline single-seater - our most competitive model so thfar in terms of design and dynamics – proved its potential once more. The team came in 11 in the

thcompetition, and occupied the 8 place in the most difficult event of the competition - endurance.We are happy that the BlueStreamline team, with new members, but its old desire to win intact, had

another chance to successfully represent our University and our City abroad, at an event considered this year's most important formula 1 race for students. This success could not have been possible without the continuous support of our University and sponsors who believed in us and to whom we would like to extend our gratitude.

TRANSILVANIA UNIVERSITY STRENGTHENS ITS REPUTATION IN FORMULA STUDENT

THE BLUESTREAMLINE TEAM IN CATALUNYA 2013

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Dr. Mihai Comşiţ, Dr. Andrea Deaconescu

Actually, the choir was initially called ELECTRO Choir. It later boldly took the name DIASON ('Through sound'), a unanimously accepted emblem as the choir had become the main promoter of musical and cultural education, of friendship and joy.

The times were hard, but the moments we spent together were rewarding and we enjoyed the total support of our conductor, associate professor Nicolae Țurcanu, as well as that of colleagues from the Department of Music. Our stage debut took place in October 1977, at the local Students' Art Centre, soon followed by the student art festivals at Iași (1979), Cluj-Napoca (1981), Timișoara (1983), Bucharest (1985), Brașov (1989) and many other concerts, recordings and filmings, which involved many students from the faculties within our University.

So, after all these years, Transilvania University graduates – former members of Diason Choir – convened this September in remembrance of the times spent together. The 50 alumni were accompanied by the conductor, associate professor Nicolae Ţurcanu, Dr. Daniel Munteanu, Vice-rector, Dr. Liliana Rogozea, Vice-rector, Dr. Carmen Gerigan, Dean, and supporters of Diason: Dr. Gheorghe Bobescu, Dr. Maria Antonoaie, Dr. Livia Sângeorzan, as well as academics who used to be choir members: Dr. Elena Helerea, Dr. Mihai Romanca, Dr. Gheorghe Pană.

And the walk down memory lane was taken singing the songs of our youth.

Dr. Elena Helerea

WHAT BEING A DIASON-ist USED TO BE LIKE

BETWEEN 1976-1996

MEETING OF FORMER MEMBERS OF DIASON CHORAL GROUP

Professor Ion I. Florescu dedicated his entire professional life to the educational and research activities within the field of forestry. After graduation (in 1957), he was involved in production and research activities for nine years, following which he took on teaching at the Faculty of Forestry where, in the course of time, he occupied all the positions of the academic hierarchy. Professor Florescu earned his doctoral degree in 1969, and became a doctoral advisor in 1990, supervising 24 theses since. In 1990 he became a corresponding member of the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and of which he gained a full membership in the year 2000.

Professor Florescu played his part in shaping generations of forestry engineers, and authored and co-authored over twenty textbooks, treatises and monographs. The results of his research work were published in almost 200 papers. Additionally, he conducted over 40 research projects and contributed to formulating instructions and regulations for practice and design in his area of expertise.

Besides his teaching and research work, Professor Ion I. Florescu also acted as Dean of the Faculty of Forestry (1990-1992) and was a member of several professional bodies: member of the Executive Board of the National Forestry Enterprise ROMSILVA (1990-1992), the Superior Attestation Board of the Ministry of National Education (1990-1994), the editorial board of the specialist journal “Revista Pădurilor” (1991-2007)

and deputy editor-in-chief (2001-2005), the Scientific Council of ICAS (1992-1997). He has been Vice-president of the Association “Progresul Silvic” since 2001.

thIn recognition of his entire professional contribution, Professor Florescu was awarded, on his 80 birthday an anniversary plaque and a diploma of excellence by the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences.

Dr. Ioan I. Clinciu

PROFESSORS WE TAKE PRIDE IN

PROFESSORS WE TAKE PRIDE IN

PROFESSOR ENGINEER ION I. FLORESCU, PhD

Professor Ilie Oprea is an outstanding specialist with an impressive record in research and teaching in the field of forestry. A 1967 graduate of the Faculty of Forestry, he further prepared for professional life by taking specialized courses in prestigious European research centres (CTBA Paris, for instance) and by taking study trips to England, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany - countries renowned for their tradition in forestry.

He earned his doctoral degree at Transilvania University of Brașov in 1984 by defending a thesis on “Determining the optimum technical solutions for wood collection in mountain tracts”, which became a milestone in the field of forest exploitation and a foundational work for further original treatises, such as “The Design and management of wood exploitation sites”.

Professor Oprea's research activity is impressive: 52 works based on research contracts, 91 articles, many of which published in international journals or conference proceedings. He is the author of twelve treatises, monographs and university textbooks and took active part in the training of 44 classes of engineers. Professor Oprea is a founding member of the Romanian Forestry Association, and has held, in the course of time, the positions of Counsellor at the Faculty of Forestry and, respectively, Head of the Forest Management and Engineering Department. His contributions to the field of forestry, have been rewarded with awards for excellence granted by the “Progresul Silvic” Association. In recognition of his professional accomplishments, Professor Oprea has been included in the Encyclopaedia of Romanian Personalities.

Dr. Stelian Alexandru Borz

PROFESSOR ENGINEER ILIE OPREA, PhD

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

I have been assigned a difficult task: to write objectively about a successful alumnus who also happens to be my son.

Ovidiu took a liking to Mathematics as a child. As high-school student, he won prizes at the national Mathematics contests. Later on, he chose to become a student at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science in Brasov, despite voices urging him to enrol at the University of Bucharest. In 2002 he graduated as valedictorian and took up a Master's course, upon the completion of which he was admitted as a doctoral student. In 2003, while taking part in a Finsler Geometry conference in Debrecen, he was noted by a reputed geometrician, D. Bao, who recommended him to an important geometrician at the University of California - Irvine. Thus, he became the doctoral student of Peter Li and, in 2008, defended his PhD thesis entitled: “The structure of complete manifolds with positive spectrum”, for which he was awarded the “Kovalevsky Award - Outstanding PhD Thesis”.

He went on to take a postdoctoral position at Columbia University of New York as Ritt Assistant Professor, and continued his research in a highly modern direction of Geometric Analysis, the Ricci flow and its various applications.

Several American universities offered him tenure in 2011, and he finally decided on the Department of Mathematics, University of Connecticut, where he became an Assistant Professor. Currently he is the author of over fifteen articles in ISI indexed journals, including the Journal of Differential Geometry. He is winner of two NSF grants, and in 2012 he was among the seventeen invited speakers (four of whom were Fields prize winners – the equivalent of the Nobel prize for Mathematics) at the Conference on Geometric Analysis, University of California - Irvine. Ovidiu returned to his alma mater in July 2013, where he delivered two conferences on Ricci flow to an audience consisting of specialists from all over the country.

OVIDIU MUNTEANU

SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI

Rodica Curtu is a 1995 graduate of an exceptional class which also included a number of prominent future specialists in Mathematics and Computer Science, among whom Mihai Pascu and Bogdana Pop (Stoianovici). After graduation, Rodica Curtu enrolled in a MA study programme and became an Assistant Lecturer at the Air Force Academy of Brașov. She started her doctoral studies in 1998 at the University of Pittsburgh where, in 2003, she defended her doctoral thesis supervised by Professor George Bard Ermentrout. In addition, she earned a PhD degree in Romania in 2002, under the supervision of Professor Adelina Georgescu. This double specialization led Dr. Curtu's way to interdisciplinary research: Mathematics and Biology.

A few years later she became Associate Professor at our Faculty, and in 2007, she took the position of Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Iowa, where she is granted tenure in 2012, and where she now works as an Associate Professor. Rodica Curtu has an impressive professional record. She has published books and a significant number of scientific articles, some of which she co-authored with highly reputed researchers in the field. The domain she has embarked upon has proved highly rewarding, research-wise; worth mentioning here is one of the NSF grants she obtained, amounting to over 1.1 million USD. She has been an invited key-note speaker at several conferences and has already supervised a doctoral

thesis. Together with three doctoral students, she is currently exploring some of the research venues she opened. Her projects are concerned with applications of non-linear dynamic systems, bifurcation theory in biology, modelling and numerical simulation of neural networks. We are hopeful that one of her interesting ideas may soon be put into practice: an international summer school on Neuroscience at our Faculty.

Dr. Gheorghe Munteanu

RODICA CURTU

Due to the Erasmus practical placement programme, this summer we had the opportunity to visit Publicis Poland, one of the biggest advertising agencies in Poland, based in Warsaw. This made us very excited from the start, as we felt that an internship there represented the right step forward on the road towards establishing the course of our future careers.

thSo, on the morning of the 29 of June we set off for Poland and found ourselves in Warsaw one day later. The city was as expected: big, a mix of old and new, imposing. The sound of the language was perhaps the strangest thing for us, but the people are friendly and – luckily for us – many of them can speak English pretty well.

At Publicis Poland we found out many things about advertising and had a chance to put theory into practice. We interacted with our colleagues from the agency in English, which in itself was an opportunity for everyone to practice this language, an essential medium in the field of advertising. We were able to find out, first hand, how it is to work on actual projects against strict deadlines, in a big and reputed advertising agency.

We were integrated into existing project teams, we contributed to drafting briefs, asked many questions and received illuminating answers, and discovered how important good communication between the different departments within an advertising agency was.

All in all, this was an exciting and extremely useful field trip which we are happy to have taken as students.

Ioana-Cristina Buzaru and Ioana-Alexandra MoașaFaculty of Sociology and Communication

OPPORTUNITIES OPENED BY THE ERASMUS PROGRAMME

THREE MONTHS IN WARSAW

SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

Dr. Gheorghe Munteanu