EU Strongly Supports and Finances Innovative Capacities Strengthening at UNSA Faculty Of Mechanical Engineering and 4 other Regional Universities

Implemented under the EU Erasmus+ program and worth over 900 thousand euros, the KnowHub project was presented at the University of Sarajevo the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering on Thursday, 12 March 2020. The KnowHub project aims to develop innovative capacities at Western Balkan universities.

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Dean, Prof. Dr. Izet Bijelonja emphasized that through the linking of the university with the economy, innovative and entrepreneurial capacities will be developed, both at the university and in business entities. “The project will establish five centers in the Balkans to support the development of innovative activities. These centers will serve as a liaison between universities and businesses as they will provide the knowledge and skills as well as the modern technologies needed by entrepreneurs, especially new knowledge-based companies, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises” said Dean Bijelonja.

The centers will be equipped with technologies for rapid prototyping, as well as lean manufacturing (with optimized and therefore the cheapest processes), which are necessary tools in the process of ensuring the competitiveness of each company. The centers will also serve as development models for the commercialization of research at universities. Utilizing knowledge, equipment and connections with industry will provide students with significant hands-on experience and education in line with labor market needs.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Sarajevo is implementing this project as part of the strategy for the development of innovative capacities of the University of Sarajevo. Through the KnowHub project, a new set of innovative, entrepreneurial-oriented, training modules will be developed that will be integrated into existing curricula.

The project consortium consists of the University of Applied Sciences (FH JOANNEUM) - Austria, the coordinator, University of Girona (Spain) and the University of Vaasa (Finland), together with the World University Service (WUS, Austria) and the National Center for the Innovation Development and Entrepreneurship Learning from Macedonia. From the Western Balkans, the project includes the University of Sarajevo, the University of Mostar, the University of Montenegro, the European University of Tirana (Albania) and the University of Vlore (Albania), as well as the Foundation for Innovative, Technological Development - INTERA from Mostar.

For more information on the KnowHub project and its implementation, visit the project’s website www.knowhub.eu.