„It has reaffirmed that this is my path” – The 7th Duna Group Szabadegyetem has come to an end

The 7th Duna Group Szabadegyetemet was held to a full house between 24 and 26 September. The three-day programme began in Budapest and continued in Mohács. Once again this year, the focus of the event was on ensuring that students did not merely learn about infrastructure construction through lectures, but could see it in action.

On the opening day, the Duna Group’s domestic and international operations, the GED Africa project, the potential of the InfraBIM, and the company’s technological solutions.

At the opening of the event, Attila Kerékgyártó, Chair of the Board of Duna Aszfalt, drew the students’ attention to the fact that it often takes years to truly grasp the vast scope of opportunities offered by the engineering profession. From this perspective, the Open University aimed to convey as much as possible over the course of three days.

From presentations to reality

On the second day, the lecture theatre was effectively replaced by the workspace. During the construction of Mohácsi Duna-híd, students were able to familiarise themselves with the engineering, technological and organisational tasks required to implement an infrastructure development project of this scale.

As well as introducing road construction tasks, the InfraBIM was presented to them not merely as a presentation, but as a real-world tool. This allowed the students to see first-hand how digital modelling, on-site data collection and the construction work itself are all interconnected.

In the bridge-building section, the students were set an engineering challenge of their own: 

They had to design and build a self-supporting bridge with a span of at least three metres within 45 minutes, which the team members then had to cross.

The technology is just as interesting as the construction work itself

It was also clear from the experiences of the three days that, for the next generation of engineers, infrastructure construction means much more than simply construction in the traditional sense.

The InfraBIM course, 3D modelling, drone technology and digitalisation all generated considerable interest throughout. In student feedback, alongside the BIM course, artificial intelligence featured amongst the most sought-after topics for the future.

All of this paints a picture in which young engineers are interested not only in what is being built, but also in how it is being built; what digital tools, technologies, engineering decisions and people are involved in bringing each project to fruition.

A professional programme that also builds a community

There is no need to dwell on the value and importance of networking; accordingly, from the very beginning, the Free University has been about more than just lectures and project visits.

Students from various universities spend three days together, during which they have the opportunity to meet the experts from Duna Group in person. The professional programme is therefore deliberately complemented by social events, team activities and evening programmes.

The importance of the connections formed over the three days is clearly demonstrated by the fact that almost all of the students interviewed after the event returned home having made new student or professional contacts.

Face-to-face discussions also provide an opportunity to talk not only about specific technologies or projects, but also about what an engineer’s work looks like in practice, the different career paths available to those starting out, and the professional opportunities currently offered by infrastructure construction.

„It confirmed that this is my path”

At the end of the Open University programme, one participant said that the three days had confirmed that this was the right path for them and that they wanted to work in this profession. Perhaps we can say that, from the perspective of a career guidance programme, there is little feedback stronger than this.

One of the key issues regarding the next generation of the construction industry is, in fact, how to introduce the next generation of engineers, in good time, to the industry in which they are likely to be working in a few years’ time.

This does not necessarily require more presentations, but rather that they stand, for example, on the Danube bridge currently under construction, or see the BIM and the digital devices in action. It is equally important that they are able to ask questions of the engineers who are actually working on these projects, and to understand the engineering challenges and decisions that lie behind each spectacular development.

Experience is something you cannot avoid. The Free University aims to highlight that infrastructure development is not just about concrete, steel and machinery, but also about technology, innovation, people and community.