The University of Debrecen's Faculty of Engineering changes its focus: a major development is underway

The renovation and expansion of the building of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Debrecen (DE) has begun; during the investment, the complex will be extended with a new wing and its area will increase by almost 4,500 square metres, the press centre of the institution told MTI on Monday.

The development of the Faculty of Engineering will increase the current area of the complex on Otemető Street to more than 12,000 square metres. The modernisation is part of the development of the Debrecen Automotive Centre, which is part of the BMW Debrecen factory construction project, and will be implemented with almost HUF 11 billion of government funding, which is being provided in a phased manner to help the project progress.

They wrote that the aim of the modernisation of the educational unit in Ótemető Street is to provide the university with the highest level of infrastructure for the practical and theoretical education of technical engineers, in line with Debrecen's leading role in the automotive industry.

According to the announcement, the modernisation of the DE's Faculty of Engineering will be carried out in four phases: the first phase of the development will start within weeks, after the ongoing survey and relocation of utilities. A new teaching wing will be built on Virág Street and a new main entrance block will be constructed.

The building will mainly house teaching units, laboratories, student common spaces and offices. However, the galleries planned for the mechanical engineering and civil engineering labs will be completed by the start of the next academic year, they said.

In the second phase of the project, a bridge structure will connect the faculty's six-storey "U" shaped building "A" and the three-storey mechatronics engineering building. The latter will be completely renovated and its floor area will be significantly increased thanks to the addition of new floors and an extension.

In the third phase, Building A will be renovated, while the final phase of the modernisation will include a complete renovation of the southern wing of the building on Old Baptistry Street.

Géza Husi, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, was quoted as saying that the expansion was also justified by the significant increase in the number of students: when the expansion of the educational palette started in 2006, the institution had 2,000 students, now it has more than 3,000.