From autonomous transport systems to e-mobility, the Automotive Research Center of István Széchenyi University in Győr has achieved important results this year in many areas that are considered the most timely. The success of talent management is indicated by the unparalleled international results of the student teams he mentors.

The István Széchenyi University’s Automotive Research Center (JKK), which is ten years old this year, is looking for answers to the most current challenges determining the mobility of the future, becoming a dominant domestic player in the field in recent years. The organizational unit evaluated its achievements in 2022 in a ceremony.

Professor Dr. László Palkovics, chairman of the board of trustees of the István Széchenyi Foundation for the University, which maintains the university (Photo: Márton Horváth)

At the event, Dr. Professor László Palkovics, chairman of the board of trustees of the István Széchenyi Foundation for the University, which maintains the university, outlined the future vision of the university to those present. He explained: the focus on the vehicle industry will be further strengthened by the new assets – Autóipari Próbapálya Zala Kft., ZalaZONE Industrial Park Zrt. or HUMDA Magyar Autó-Motorsport és Zöld Mobilitás-fällzeszi Ügynökség Zrt. owned by the foundation. He added that the goal is not only for Széchenyi to be one of the best automotive universities in Europe, so they also want to put a lot of emphasis on other areas – such as health technologies, energy, agricultural technologies and research related to the military industry. The chairman of the board of trustees emphasized: they can only be successful if excellent Hungarian and international partners are involved in this work. He particularly emphasized the expansion of Asian and German training-research relations, as well as domestic university cooperation.

Dr. Ferenc Szauter, head of JKK’s center, spoke about the successful work of their centers dealing with artificial intelligence, e-mobility, autonomous transport systems, industry 4.0 and vehicle industry testing at ZalaZONE this year, which, together with their partners, many projects also helped. The research results were also published in prestigious international journals. He pointed out that a decade ago, JKK started work with 14 employees, whose number has now grown to nearly two hundred. The development is also indicated by the fact that their colleagues are already working on ZalaZONE, who have effectively contributed to this year’s results. He added that their activities are supported by excellent infrastructure and high-tech testing equipment.

It was announced at the event that JKK organized six workshops and two conferences this year, and performed eight demonstrations on the ZalaZONE test track. Three of his employees – dr. Szabolcs Szürke Kocsis, dr. Dániel Pup and dr. Krisztián Horváth – obtained a scientific degree, István Szalay, dr. Dénes Fodor and Zoltán Pusztai won prizes for the best scientific article and presentation at international conferences.

At the ceremony, the student teams mentored by JKK were also recognized for this year’s unparalleled performance. The Arrabona Racing Team was unstoppable from the podium in the highly prestigious Formula Student series in the summer: second place in the Austrian competition was followed by a bronze medal in Hungaroring, followed by second overall position in Germany to crown the season. The institution’s independent engine development team, SZEngine, played a big role in the successes. The SZEnergy Team, the student team of Széchenyi University that develops an energy-efficient vehicle, has also had an impressive year, as it won Europe’s largest energy efficiency competition, the Shell Eco-marathon, with a world record ahead of teams from major technical universities such as Munich, Toulouse or from Milan. This was followed by another international success in Nogaro, France, where the members were able to stand on the second step of the podium at the Shell Eco-marathon Autonomous Challenge announced for teams developing self-driving cars.

Many employees of JKK played an important role in caring for talented students. Three of them – Péter Kőrös, dr. Ernő Horváth and dr. Pup Dániel – “The best mentor” received a certificate of recognition from dr. From Professor József Bokor, the president of JKK.

The ceremony was attended by Zoltán Szujó, president of the Hungarian National Motorsport Association (MNASZ), former sports commentator, who said: it is extremely important that the student teams of Széchenyi István University are so active and successful.

“As president of MNASZ, I have made it my goal to contact engineers and students working in technical higher education or those who have graduated from it, offering cooperation. With their help, we can also ensure the supply of colleagues working in the technical fields of motorsport.”

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