The Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Debrecen's Faculty of Engineering (DE MK) and Krones Hungary Kft., a manufacturer of beverage packaging and bottling machines in Debrecen since 2019, have been in close cooperation for quite a few years. The German company has actively supported education at DE MK, while the company's experts regularly participate in the BSc and MSc courses in mechanical engineering and also offer internships. The optional course Krones – Bevezetés az élelmiszeripari gépek világába [Krones - Introduction to the World of Machines in the Food Industry] has been taught since 2022, which gives the students the opportunity to gain insight into the everyday life of a real-life large company and the basics of individual machine and production line design.
The latest stage in their cooperation has been the establishment of the lab named Krones Hungary Machine Design Laboratory to support the training of mechanical engineers, in which, among other things, a digital smartboard, ergonomic workstations, computer-aided design stations, special measuring tools for machine design and hand drawing tools are installed. Thus, students can now learn in an almost industrial environment, which provides them with the opportunity to study mechanical drawing, computer graphics, computer-aided design, machine structures and elements and engineering simulation by using state-of-the-art tools and software. All this will bring the training of up to 120 students per semester up to date.
At the opening of the laboratory on Tuesday, Chancellor of the University of Debrecen Zoltán Bács said that a close contact had been established between UD and the local industries, made possible by the model shift of the university on the one hand and the industrial development of Debrecen on the other hand. He also noted that both our university and the industrial companies that now operate in Debrecen are fully open to cooperation.
“Thanks to the recent model shift, Hungarian higher education has become free from the trap it used to be stuck in after the change of the political regime. Now, the university as well as the industrial companies collaborating with us can behave in a completely different way,” said Zoltán Bács.
The Chancellor added that the University of Debrecen is expecting to receive applications for as many as 8600 state-funded places before the February 15 deadline, compared to 6400 places available last year. Altogether, with fee-paying students and international students added, our institution plans to enroll more than 10,000 students this year.
Managing Director of Krones Hungary Zoltán Kocsis said that a successful company needs qualified professionals and experts, while the basis for their expertise can be acquired in educational institutions, in which Krones Hungary would wish to actively participate.
“The Faculty of Engineering of the University of Debrecen is particularly important for us, because there are 40 unique machines designing engineers working for us, most of whom have graduated from this faculty. Our experience is that they come to us with a strong knowledge base which we can further build on,” said Zoltán Kocsis. He also added that the aim of the new laboratory would be to enable instructors and students to learn by using high-quality, modern equipment.
Mayor of Debrecen László Papp said that Debrecen is now going through historic changes, as the past 10 years have brought economic development to our city on a scale that is perhaps unparalleled in an entire century, if it occurs at all.
“Krones was the first ‘swallow’ in our city's Déli Gazdasági Övezet [Southern Economic Belt]. It was a great responsibility for us to make the decision for turning a couple of hundred hectares of pasture into an industrial park. When we started negotiating with Krones, there were still cows grazing on that stretch of land. Today, there are more than 700 people having jobs and prospects there,” said László Papp.
According to Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Géza Husi, Debrecen used to be mostly an agricultural and market town, whereas the technical and manufacturing industries are catching up now.
“Therefore, this inauguration today is a very important milestone for us because, if Krones can develop its products at a world-class standard, that means that our students can also learn world-class product development here. This lab is very, very similar to the one used in the factory,” said Géza Husi.
He underlined that the faculty he is the head of has an excellent infrastructure now that serves all the three levels of education that have been established, including undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs.
Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at DE MK Tamás Mankovits recalled that when he had joined the faculty in 2007, his task was to introduce CAD software into teaching. At that time, a program was chosen whose biggest user was Krones. So, when he learned in 2019 that Krones was to come here to invest, he was very happy as he was quite confident that, thanks to them, education would be even more successful.
“What I hoped for then has been fulfilled since. For example, the company has set up an off-site department for machine designers, they have joined a dual training program and they also support various events organized by our faculty,” said Tamás Mankovits.
At the inauguration event, it was also announced that the cooperation between the faculty and the company would continue, and Krones would be the chief sponsor of the 37th Országos Tudományos Diákköri Konferencia Műszaki Tudományi Szekció [Technical Sciences Section of National Student Research Conference], which will be held at our Faculty of Engineering between April 23 and 25, 2025.
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