PUBLIC MAGAZINE OF BEST New Working Group/AD-HOC Projects BEST’s Contributions to the World Projects of Year How Did It Start
3rd EDITION
2020/21
INDEX
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XXXIII INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF BEST THE VOYAGER
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BEST INTRODUCTION
WELCOMING WORDS FROM OUR BOARD Dear Reader, We are very glad to welcome you to this version of the Public Magazine. Through these uncertain times that the entire world is facing, BEST has been able to persevere and show the willpower and great spirit of european technology students. Throughout this process, everyone had the chance to reflect on what is truly important and to what extent the rapid technological advancements of the 21st century are necessary and useful. Now looking forward to the new post-pandemic era, BEST is focusing on its relevance to its stakeholders and paying more attention to important issues regarding mental health, quality education, and climate action. All of that with respect to our volunteers and their safety, as well as everyone who is eagerly expecting for our events and services to return to their live formats. BEST has continued quite meticulous look activities. We would the organisation this
to strive back to love to year, but
for improvement and will be taking a its roots, purpose and the pillars of its elaborate more on the development of we would be spoiling your experience.
Therefore, we warmly invite you to go through the pages of this magazine with as much enthusiasm as all of the volunteers that worked for it had, while creating it for you. We hope that you enjoy!
XXXIV International Board
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EDITOR’S ARTICLE
Dear Reader, Welcome to the third edition of Public Magazine of BEST. We made a brave move two years ago when we replaced the Annual Reports of BEST with the Public Magazine of BEST in order to increase our visibility in the STEM world, particularly among our stakeholders. As every member of the organisation, we also came a long way, and today, we are honoured to announce that the third edition of the Public Magazine is now available! The goal of our publication is to bring volunteers and companies together. By turning the pages of our magazine, members of our organisation may observe how we perceive BEST, what makes us so unique, remember the outstanding things we have accomplished and be motivated to do even more. It is essential to remember that every issue of our issues aims to vocalise each member of BEST. So please remember to enjoy each word written in this magazine. Thank you all for supporting and believing in us on this path. Special thanks to the Public Magazine Crew, who worked hard and made it possible to have this edition: Coordinator: Ayça Yaren Yavuzer Content Director: Wiktoria Szaj Partner’s Responsible: Mariia Kovalchuk Designers:Neşe Sevgi Alkanlı & Elif Nur Çalışkan
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HOW DID IT ALL START?
A small group of technology students gathered together in Stockholm back in 1987 to attend an exchange which was called “International Week”. There the idea to create an association of technology students was born. Two years later, what we today call BEST was founded and the first General Assembly of the organisation was already part of our history. Throughout the years a lot of changes have been made. The logo has changed from a sinusoid combined with the map of Europe to the current “Star Concept” that represents our stakeholders. The identity of the organisation was set up in a document in 2006 and evaluated ten years later. Our services have evolved and innovative ideas like the European BEST Engineering Competition have emerged and been established as BEST’s bigger brands. Our internal working methods and knowledge have improved as well. The systems we use to manage the organisation are developed year by year and we always look forward to implementing new and advanced ways to structure our work. From working groups and international teams to committees to today’s department the efforts to evolve are evident. The growth of the organisation, the need to create regions to better handle the knowledge sharing in the network and the evolution of those regions is also a part of our history worth mentioning. From 47 Local BEST Groups and the first attempt of forming regions in 2001 to the 59 LBGs and the official initiation of 8 regions in 2005 to finally the 11 current regions for the 92 LBGs currently active, there have been numerous rearrangements to better serve the diverse involvement of our volunteers and the exchange of experiences. All of the above have made BEST what it is today, serving as a link between European technology students and always focused on their development.
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WHAT IS BEST?
The Board of European Students of Technology, also known as BEST, came into existence in April 1989. For the past 31 years, BEST has been connecting students of technology from all over Europe. Currently, we are composed of 92 Local BEST Groups (LBGs) from 33 countries. BEST works to ensure that students are able to apply their full potential in a culturally diverse environment and, to achieve this, we constantly strive to find new and disparate opportunities for the development of students of technology. The focus of the organisation has revolved around three main areas. Firstly, we provide complementary education integrating the one that our universities already provide, bringing knowledge ever closer to the students in need from all over Europe. Our most notable services on this are BEST Courses, gathering students from several different backgrounds but also the huge pyramid of the biggest Engineering Competition of Europe (EBEC). Secondly, BEST offers itself to be a platform for educational involvement. To do this, we gather students, academy and industry’s input on how education should be improved, so that solutions can be proposed to higher education institutions. Every year we focus on different issues and we are proposing solutions through our papers to big conferences.
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Thirdly and lastly, BEST acts as a network between the industry, academy and students, so opportunities for collaboration can be found and also provides career support to our students so they can get closer to their future careers. Following the vision of “Empowered diversity”, we provide complementary education, educational involvement and career support through our services, adding value to formal education and creating a unique opportunity to learn through experience. That’s how the mission of our organisation, “Developing students’’, reaches its full meaning, by giving students the chance to study and gain both practical knowledge and self-improvement, all in a multicultural environment. Through international involvement, students lower their cultural barriers and learn to respect and understand different ways of thinking. All of our work is done for students and by students. Through the engagement of our members, we provide services that aim to broaden the horizons of European students of technology. Our actions are inspired by our values. Through flexibility, we are open to quickly responding to changes. We always aim for improvement by continuously raising the standards in everything we do. We value friendship through building good personal relations and supporting teamwork. We strive to help students become more internationally minded by learning and having fun in every area where we exist. That, however, is not where we stop, since we believe in continuous improvement and growth. We will, for the years to come. Providing BEST services to over 1.200.000 students from all around Europe wouldn’t be possible without highly motivated and devoted BEST members. By organising events and actively participating in the organisation, our members are able to gain all these skills that are relevant for students of technology. We are trained to be able to take decisions on the spot, manage projects efficiently and work under pressure with strict deadlines. However, the most important things we gain as members are the memories and experiences while working in a multicultural environment. For us, the members, every single corner of Europe is our home, and we are a huge family because of the unlimited memories we are creating with every single member of this organisation.
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BEST Strategic Plan 2021-2024 The XXIV International Board created the first BEST Strategic Plan, following the observation that the mandates of different International Boards in the years before them needed more continuity. Every year, the International Board changed and built its own strategy, resulting in BEST also changing its direction of development too frequently. This lead to a slow development of the organisation and limited the initiatives that needed several years to be achieved. Therefore, since 2012, A new BEST Stategic Plan was created and approved every 3 years. ın June 2021, the BEST Strategic Plan 2021-2024 was approved. The plan was built on the mission of BEST: “Developing Students”, which means: “BEST helps students to achieve an international mindset, to reach a better understanding of cultures and societies and to develop the capacity to work in culturally diverse environments. BEST creates opportunities for personal development of students and supports them in reaching their full potential.”. This strategic plan starts by providing an overview of the current state of BEST and its environment. It includes a summary of trends in BEST’s environment, primarily in Europe, but also globally, and it includes an analysis of the state of BEST at the time. The summary and analysis are included to serve as a point of reference when evaluating the progress in the plan’s execution, and to inform future BEST volunteers of the context in which the plan was created. This overview is followed by the strategic focus areas, which serve primarily as the direction for the content of BEST’s activities. These focus areas are based on trends observed in BEST’s environment, and are a way for BEST to use the external momentum to strengthen its services, to maximise its impact, and to make a contribution to the world. The focus areas of the strategic plan are titled “Health and wellbeing”, “Quality Education” and “Climate Action”, and are inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. BEST can contribute to the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals by focusing its activities on raising awareness among technology students, on educating them and on developing their skills and competences. In addition, by improving its own practices, as well as by adopting new sustainable practices, BEST can contribute not only through words, but also through actions. “Health and wellbeing” aims to pay extra attention to the working and daily habits of volunteers in student associations, as learning to manage their own health and well-
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being is of paramount importance for young people. Therefore, BEST aims to focus on developing healthy habits, and including and promoting them in events. Furthermore, BEST will incorporate these habits in, and promote them through, its everyday work. Through “Quality education”, BEST aims to accommodate for the evolving needs of its partners towards technology students, and to adapt its services’ content to prepare technology students for the evolving expectations towards them. In addition, by providing professionals delivering the content in our services with a testing ground, as well as through its research on education, BEST aims to serve as a feedback loop for the educational system, aiding universities in developing the programmes they offer. Recognising the importance of “Climate Action”, BEST, as one of the biggest international associations of technology students, aims to raise awareness among technology students and to provide them with opportunities to learn about climate change. In addition, BEST aims to do its part by developing the capacity of technology students to take part in combating climate change in both their professional and personal lives. Finally, as actions speak louder than words, BEST aims to contribute by making its own internal practices more environmentally friendly. Next to leveraging external trends to advance itself, BEST also recognises the importance of looking inward and considering the improvements it needs to make in its network. For that reason, the BEST Strategic Plan also includes an improvement plan. One of the main objectives of this improvement plan is to make sure that BEST conducts market research and that its services and service delivery processes are data-driven. Furthermore, the improvement plan aims to re-evaluate whether the identity of BEST and the activities it provides are contemporary, and it aims to bring all parts of our network closer together. Finally, the authors wished to avoid a scenario in which the BEST Strategic Plan would only be worked upon by the top management of the organisation. For that reason, paragraphs detailing how every Local BEST Group, and every volunteer, can contribute to the BEST Strategic Plan are included throughout the entire document. Hence, it was written in such a way that any LBG can build upon it through its own planning practices, and so that every volunteer can impact its fulfilment, if they choose to do so. This way, BEST aims for the entire organisation to work towards the same goals.
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DEPARTMENTS
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BEST’S CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD DEVELOPMENT Do you think what we do is needed? If so, why? What we offer has been quite necessary for many years, for many people and has opened a lot of paths for them. Through our activities, people build experience and are able to reflect on what they are passionate about. Therefore, I feel what we do is of great importance and should adapt to our stakeholders’ needs throughout the years.
What has BEST given to you? What has it taught you? Personally, BEST has given me a space to work with different people from different backgrounds, understand where they are coming from and try to improve my skills. It has served as a platform to test my limits and expand my abilities and my intrinsic urge to lead. One of the biggest learning points of my journey in BEST has certainly been to listen to myself, my body and mind and understand where I stand and what I want my role to be in society.
How long have you been in BEST and why did you decide to join? I joined BEST in October 2018 after I participated in a BEST Course, where I was astonished by the spirit of both organisers and participants. I wanted to experience similar feelings and moments again, so the only route I saw was joining the organisation as a volunteer.
What do we give to others and companies as an organisation? Through our core services and our internal work, we are able to provide our stakeholders with opportunities to develop in ways that fit their aspirations and future endeavours. For students, we are giving opportunities to learn and practise skills which they would find useful in the future, not only in a work environment but also in life. For our partners, we provide an immediate connection to a selection of technology students that have already developed a set of skills and will be useful immediately. For universities, we serve as a feedback loop for the educational processes around Europe by sharing the opinion of the students, the recipients of education.
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LOCAL EDUCATION INVOLVEMENT ACTIVITIES Local Education Involvement Activities (or LEI Activities for short) are local events where LBGs give a voice to the students of their university in order to tackle the issues that affect higher education. This year, LEI activities happened despite the pandemic, even though they happened in an online format.
“The feeling after it was done was so amazing, everybody was happy to have been a part of the event: students, teachers from our university and others as well, company representatives, guest associations and of course all organisers. Even though it was online, you could feel that special kind of vibe that comes from talking about education.”
TESTIMONTIAL TESTIMONTIAL TESTIMONTIAL TESTIMONTIAL
An interview with Arnaldo Neto LEI Team Coordinator How was the work for you? The work was quite fun and overall rewarding. I got to contact LBGs throughout Europe and I got to lead an amazing team that helped me with everything! I recommend anyone to apply for the position!say for sure is that BEST really made my students days memorable and that after 3 years being here, I can confirm that “it doesn’t matter how much time/energy you gonna give to BEST, BEST will give you back 100% more things experience, people, unforgettable memories and much more!”
How did the communication look like with the LBGs? The communication with the LBGs felt different at first since I had to communicate simultaneously with several LBGs and maintain this contact to support them throughout the organisation of the LEI activity. However, it was definitely an amazing experience! If your LBG is still wondering whether or not they should organise an LEI Activity, feel free to contact the LEI Team. We are here to help you and guide you every step of the way!
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INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS’ FORUM
International Projects’ Forum International Projects’ Forums (IPFs) are the second largest internal event in BEST. They gather over 60 people that come from all over BEST International Board, Coordinators, International Team Members and people from LBGs just beginning their journey on the international side of BEST.
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These 60 people come from different countries, have different levels of experience and different backgrounds; in order to work together on planning, solving pressing issues and creating new ideas. Summer IPF (sIPF) exists to finalise the work on the Annual Action Plans of the organisation, but it is also the first opportunity to meet with the International Board and the Coordinators in one place. Unlike previous years, sIPF happened online as a relaxed 10-day event. Regardless of it happening online, it was filled with activities that provided opportunities for the participants to meet and get to know each other outside the working hours. With so many people involved at the same time, everyone felt just a few steps away. Unlike sIPF, Winter IPF (wIPF) is there to see how close we are to reaching the goals in the Annual Action Plans and to revise the scope of what is achievable by the end of the year. This year, wIPF was an intensive 5-day online event filled with discussions of the work done during the previous months. The new shorter format proved to be more effective than the 10-day format of sIPF and it provided an almost in-person experience. Some might say the experience was out of this world.
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EBEC
What is EBEC? For this year, Team Design was a challenge to adjust. At the beginning of the mandate, we worked very intensively to adapt it and became more focused on the design aspects of the prototype rather than the prototype itself. In the majority of rounds, such a thing was complemented by CAD modelling, although it didn’t necessarily have to be like that. Case Study was easier to preserve since it can be done online the same way as life.
How was the experience of organising the event online for Local BEST Groups? Some of them encountered an amazing success, while some others struggled to organize it. They usually required more help adapting things to an online environment and ideas to solve some problems. Applications, in general, were lower, but in the end, the quality was very much preserved and online rounds managed to happen successfully.
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EBEC Final in Madrid The Final was a big challenge to organise. We, unfortunately, could not make a live event due to the situation, and, despite our experience, creating a new hybrid event was a challenge for BEST. So this journey had to be, so the journey had to be developed from scratch for all of us. However, we gathered in Madrid and conducted some activities live which were broadcasted to participants instead of having everything entirely online. It was an interesting experience and the event had a better quality as compared to online lectures. You can check the live stream of the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the presentations of the tasks on the YouTube channel of BEST and the Facebook page of EBEC. To find out more about the event, please visit ebecfinal.bestuc3m.es. We had, for the first time in the history of EBEC Final, training sessions for participants during the Official Opening Day to help them prepare for the competition, as well as one open Case Study which anyone from Europe could solve to feel a bit of the spirit of the event.
Any other information that you want to share about EBEC is useful to us? It would be interesting to mention the number of people involved in making EBEC a reality, which goes from the LBGs organising EBEC Rounds to the international teams making it happen. That means having over 40 persons involved directly in the service plus all the organisers and NRR/LRs core teams around BEST. It is the biggest service we offer in terms of stakeholders (especially the number of participants) taking part in it and requires a lot from the organisation to maintain and develop. Moreover, during this year we introduced the testing of Innovative Design to keep the competition fresh and adapted to the current needs of our stakeholders and cannot wait to see how it goes for the upcoming edition!
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BEST Courses are events that gather 20-30 participants from all over Europe in a European city where they complement knowledge in different fields of study but also get in contact with the culture of the city they are in and increase their international experience. The pandemic forced the organisation to adapt and overcome the new obstacles and BEST Courses were no exception. The restrictions in travelling and the insecurities that come with going to a foreign country and meeting new people under these circumstances made it impossible to organise these events as we know them for now. In order to keep at least a bit of the oldest service of BEST, Vivaldi Department came up with a new alternative: BEST Online Courses. These events are also designed to provide complementary education to students from different nationalities and backgrounds, just in an online environment. In this way, the participants can attend online lectures and other academic activities from specialists of the topic and learn about a new topic on technology, career-related skills or develop a project as applied engineering. Additionally, they also have the opportunity to communicate with students all over Europe.
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BEST ONLINE COURSES This change was a big challenge for us, having to radically adjust what we knew in a completely new format. We had months of trial and error, adapting our view of courses and trying to provide the best experience we could to the participants. After all, the concept was forced to change but we got through it and managed to organise successful events! Up until this moment, we’ve had 8 events in this format. There were events related to sustainability, applied sciences, chemical engineering, computer science, robotics, 3D printing, but also economics, marketing, leadership and project management. Overall, these events were organised smoothly and they were fruitful both for the organisers and the students. In total, we had over 100 European students attending these courses. All in all, our students still prefer BEST Courses and that is very clear if you compare the number of applications for BEST Courses and BEST Online Courses (Both in Spring Season ‘21 and BEST Online Courses). As this is a brand new service, its relevance for the students of technology today will have to be assessed by the members of the organisation. The future is very uncertain, but only time will tell what the future holds for BEST Online Courses and BEST Courses. What we know is that we have amazing volunteers ready to provide incredible services and develop our students.
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GENERAL
ONLINE ASSEMBLIES Online General Assemblies The General Assembly is BEST’s highest decision-making body. Twice per year, it gathers representatives from all Local BEST Groups to discuss the state of our association as well as to take important decisions. Such decisions include the election of a new Board, the approval of the association’s budget, changes in membership and changes in our regulations. Given their size (150-300 delegates gather for an event that lasts over a week), organising such an event in a live format is very challenging. Local BEST Groups setting out to host such an event typically spend years on the organisation of the event.
Over the past year, unfortunately, BEST was unable to gather its representatives in person. Therefore, we opted to organise our General Assemblies online, determined to offer the attendees as many opportunities to contribute to BEST, to develop themselves and to network, as they would have had in the case of live events. And we’re happy to share that, at least for us on the organising side, it was a very fulfilling experience, and it was very motivating to see the engagement and drive of all attendees.
R&D WG and the BEST Programing Bootcamp R&D Working Group research on and
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aims to support the organisation facilitating the development
in conducting of services.
PANDEMIC
The pandemic for sure affected the work of our partner NGOs just as it did for us. Up until now, all events of the past year have been happening online. Now that vaccinations are going smoothly, most NGOs are carefully planning their first live event after the pandemic. Of course, an online alternative is still kept in mind in case the infections rise too quickly. In order to be able to deal with the dynamic character of the pandemic, some NGOs have developed tools to make the organisation of live events easier. For example, ESTIEM has developped a COVID-19 dashboard that allows the local groups to assess the situation in the different countries before they plan a live event. This way, the NGO can gather all relevant statistics in one place.
NEW WORKING GROUP Research & Development At the start of the year, the XXXIII International Board decided that the time had come to establish a Research & Development (R&D) Working Group within BEST. This Working Group comes from the position of Marketing Officer, which aimed to identify the needs and wishes of European STEM students so that BEST could better address them with our services. With the new Working Group, this information can be used in a more structured, consistent and continuous way when developing existing services or even creating new ones During this year, the group worked on the development of training services, the BEST Virtual Summit (BEST’s own online conference) and on the introduction of a new ‘Innovative Design’ category for the engineering competition EBEC. Additionally, they created guidelines on how to conduct market research, such that other BEST
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AD-HOC PROJECTS
This year, BEST had no less than running. They were the following:
Public Website Reconstruction Project: A project with the aim to recreate our website, such that not only the information on it was up-to-date, but also such that its layout focuses on improving the user experience of the website, and its visual appeal.
Strategic Plan Creation Project: A project with the aim to analyse the state of the organisation and to create a strategic plan that would guide the organisation over the next 3 years.
Separation of Powers Projects: A project with the aim to separate the judicial branch of BEST from its executive branch. Furthermore, it aims to redefine how financial auditing is done in BEST.
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PROJECTS OF THE YEAR
New Hackathon Concept Project: A project with the aim to test a new concept of hackathons, the BEST Programming Bootcamp, and to support the Local BEST Groups wishing to organise said hackathons.
Safe People Project: A project with the in BEST and to of having a safe
aim to introduce so-called ‘Safe people’ increase awareness on the importance and inclusive environment within BEST.
Social Media Strategy Project: A project with the aim of creating an up-to-date social media strategy in order to increase the engagement of our stakeholders through social media.
Event Recognition Project: A project with the aim to create a database of events that local BEST groups are organising for the students at their university. With this, we hope to better understand what events local BEST groups are organising, and to give recognition to the value they are creating locally.
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PARTNERS OF BEST
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PARTNERS OF BEST
ATOS Atos is the global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of €12 billion. The company is the European number one in the cloud, digital security and high-performance computing, the group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data analytics, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. With over 30 years of experience and expertise in major events, the company is also proud to be the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games. Atos is ambitious in SCR targets and aims to pioneer in decarbonisation for the benefit of all its stakeholders and society at large, by transforming the way digital technologies are designed, developed and used. In addition, Atos embraces diversity and inclusion and has put in place several dedicated programmes to drive D&I strategy. The purpose of the company is to help design the future of the information space. With the company’s expertise and services, they support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its clients and employees, and citizens generally to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.
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PARTNERS OF BEST
SKOLKOVO TECH
GEBERIT
The Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) is a private graduate research institute in Moscow, Russia. Established in 2011 in collaboration with MIT, Skoltech cultivates a new generation of researchers and entrepreneurs, promotes advanced scientific knowledge and fosters innovative technology to address critical issues facing Russia and the world. Skoltech applies the best Russian and international research and educational practises, with particular emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation. Skoltech’s model leverages the integration of basic and applied research and education. The Institute’s close link with the industrial and business ecosystem fosters frontier research and generates a flow of innovative solutions for the benefit of the Russian economy.
The globally operating Geberit Group is a European leader in the field of sanitary products. Geberit operates with a strong local presence in most European countries, providing unique added value when it comes to sanitary technology and bathroom ceramics. The production network encompasses 29 production facilities, out of which 6 are located overseas. The Group is headquartered in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland. With around 12,000 employees in about 50 countries, Geberit generated sales of CHF 3.1 billion in 2019. The Geberit shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and have been included in the SMI (Swiss Market Index) since 2012.
HP HP is a $58+ billion fortune 100 company with 50,000+ employees worldwide across 170 countries. Reinventing since 1939, HP is one of the leading Print and Personal Systems technology companies in the world and its vision is to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere.
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LUXOTTICA Luxottica is a leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of fashion, luxury and sports eyewear. Its portfolio includes proprietary brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Arnette, Costa del Mar and Alain Mikli, as well as licensed brands including Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Bulgari, Chanel, Coach, Dolce&Gabbana, Ferrari, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Valentino and Versace. Luxottica’s international expansion has developed its geographic footprint worldwide. The Group’s global wholesale distribution network covers more than 150 countries across five continents and is complemented by an extensive retail network of approximately 9,200 stores, with LensCrafters and Pearle Vision in North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Australia and New Zealand, Spectacle Hut in Singapore, GMO and Óticas Carol in Latin America, Salmoiraghi & Viganò in Italy and Sunglass Hut worldwide. One of the Group’s competitive advantages is the vertically integrated business model built over the years, covering the entire value chain: design, product development, manufacturing, logistics and distribution. Product design, development and manufacturing take place in Luxottica’s seven manufacturing facilities located in Italy, one facility in Germany, three facilities in China, one in Brazil and one facility in the United States devoted to sports and performance eyewear. Luxottica also has two small plants in Japan and India serving the local market. Luxottica also has produced sun and ophthalmic lenses for more than 20 years. The Company has increased its manufacturing capacity with the recent addition of three new laboratories in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific which are completely integrated with their logistics hubs.
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PARTNER NGO’s
AEGEE is one of Europe’s biggest interdisciplinary student organisations, striving for a democratic, diverse and borderless Europe. As a non-governmental, politically independent, and non-profit organisation AEGEE is open to students and young people from all faculties and disciplines. Founded in 1985 in Paris, today AEGEE has grown to a Network of 13 000 AEGEEans, present in 161 cities in 40 countries all over Europe. Through their activities, they empower students and young people in Europe to take an active role in society. They create a space for dialogue and learning opportunities as well as act as their representative towards decision-makers. AEGEE strengthens mutual understanding among young Europeans and brings Europe closer to young people.
ESTIEM is the organisation for International Emergency Medicine (iEM) students who combine technological understanding with management skills. Founded in 1990, their goal is to foster relations between IEM students and support their development. They are striving for each IEM Student to have a connection not only with other students all over Europe of the same field, but also to other companies and universities, to ensure each student has a voice as well as the opportunity to make a difference, and to allow each outstanding innovative idea to become a reality.
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The Canadian Federation of Engineering Students is a bilingual national student organisation representing Canadian engineering students. Their goal is to enhance the student experience through opportunities fostering the development of leadership, professional and ethical qualities, engineering identity, technical proficiency, and communication. Each year, they host a number of annual engineering conferences to foster leadership and networking, engineering competitions to inspire innovation and work with external partners to provide education and outreach opportunities.
Electrical Engineering STudents’ European assoCiation is an apolitical, nongovernmental and non-profit organisation for EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) students at universities, institutes and schools of technology. EESTEC aims to develop international contacts and to encourage the exchange of ideas among EECS students through professional workshops, cultural student exchanges and publications. With various activities that EESTEC provides, it creates opportunities for students to develop in their academic, professional and social lives.
Bonding is a German student association focused on providing undergraduates as well as graduate students insights into the working life and giving opportunities to get in touch with employers of all kinds. A wide portfolio of events – all being free of charge for students – enables them to pursue these goals. For instance: They form the market leader for job fairs in Germany. You can find a bonding local group at thirteen university cities, mostly technical universities, in Germany. As a registered association all their members work on a voluntary basis and, as mentioned, their services are offered to fellow students for free.
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ATTENDED EVENTS IFISO Autumn Meeting and IFISO Spring Meeting
CFES Canadian Engineering Leadership Conference (CELC)
The Informal Forum for International Students Organisations (IFISO) is a non-political and non-profit forum for international organisations run by students and working for the benefit of students in different fields of study. The purpose of this forum is to offer these NGOs an opportunity to network, share knowledge and encourage pursuing new possible collaborations. Both meetings were held online due to the pandemic. In different online discussions spread over three days, topics such as climate change advocacy, tackling the pandemic, code of conduct, judicial bodies and more were covered. Also, the new management team and the host for the next IFISO Spring Meeting was elected here.
BEST attended the CELC of CFES in January. Due to the pandemic, the event was organised online. This meeting serves as the Annual General Meeting of the CFES, it is their largest event with the aim of providing a platform for students to collaborate and learn from their industry partners, sponsors and fellow students. Furthermore, CELC acts as the setting of an International Summit with the rest of its International Partners.
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AEGEE Autumn Agora
ESTIEM Autumn/Spring Council Meeting
BEST was represented during AEGEE’s Autumn Agora (their general meeting), which took place in October 2020 (online). The Autumn Agora is an event typically gathering around 700 attendees. This was a great opportunity to learn about several of AEGEE’s projects such as Europe on Track and Y Vote.
BBEST was represented during ESTIEM’s Autumn Council Meeting (their general meeting) in October 2020 and the Spring Council Meeting in May 2021. It was great to experience first-hand how similar BEST and ESTIEM are in terms of aims, methods, structure and spirit.
EESTEC Autumn/Spring Congress
CFES Presidents’ Meeting
EESTEC Congresses are the general assemblies of EESTEC. BEST was invited and represented at the Autumn Congress in November 2020 and the Spring Congress in May 2021. The event gathers delegates from every local committee of EESTEC and many other people involved in the international level of the organisation.
BEST attended PM in September 2020. The Presidents’ Meeting takes place every fall and is attended by the National executives, the Board of Directors and the 53 members associations’ delegates. This meeting’s purpose is to offer an opportunity to the socially implicated engineering students across the country to discuss and share ideas to improve Canadian students’ university experience.
EESTEC Annual International Meeting EESTEC organised the second version of the Annual International Meeting online in March 2021. The event revolved around the development of EESTEC’s internal working methods, the improvement of knowledge in organisational matters, and the creation of innovative ideas for the future of EESTEC. BEST’s contribution was focused on providing input based on previous experiences through BEST’s activities.
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INTERV
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VIEWS
INTERVIEWS
Dunja Olbina EBEC Programme Coordinator 2022 Industrial Management University of Belgrade
What does BEST change in your perspective? Which skills have you gained from BEST and how? From the moment I joined BEST, I got the opportunity to develop myself in many ways - I had the opportunity to start the whole journey while being part of many teams as a Team member, to be the one coordinating projects and leading others, being a boardie and leading the whole LBG with my fellow boardies.... and after experiencing all of that on the local side, I got the opportunity to experience even more internationally! One thing I can say for sure is that BEST really made my students days memorable and that after 3 years being here, I can confirm that “it doesn’t matter how much time/energy you gonna give to BEST, BEST will give you back 100% more things - experience, people, unforgettable memories and much more!”
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One thing I can say for sure is that BEST really made my students days memorable.
The answer is one single but at the same time very powerful word - people. People that BEST brought to my life, that I had the opportunity to work with, to meet at different events... But what I am most grateful for are people that right now I can call my friends and that I am always super excited to meet again somewhere in Europe. One quote I really can relate with is: “You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place!”
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What made you stay in BEST and evolve inside the organisation? There are always many sources that keep me motivated to stay active in BEST starting from people, an unending list of opportunities and challenges that can help me develop myself and get out of my comfort zone... And yes, sometimes I was exhausted from being active in BEST. I wanted to leave, but the energy I constantly get from the people I work with always brought me back and told me that the journey should not end yet. That energy is the main thing that will always make a special place in my heart for BEST and all the people that BEST
What I am most grateful for are people that right now I can call my friends and that I am always super excited to meet again somewhere in Europe.
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What is your favourite thing in BEST?
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INTERVIEWS
Anja Macan
Vice President for Services in XXXIVth International Board Chemical Engineering University of Zagreb
It’s almost magical how BEST changes a person from the moment they join the organisation. When I joined BEST, I didn’t know anything about planning, teamwork or even how to communicate effectively with people I work with online. In BEST, I’ve faced a lot of challenges and being a BESTie helped me understand the value of volunteering and get to know new dimensions of my personality. Because of this experience, I am now more capable of problem-solving, even in the most stressful situations, and I became a more self-aware person who has a wide range of knowledge - from sales, public relations and marketing to leadership and project management and much more.
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In BEST, I’ve faced a lot of challenges and being a BESTie helped me understand the value of volunteering and get to know new dimensions of my personality.
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What does BEST change in your perspective? Which skills have you gained from BEST and how?
What is your favorite thing in BEST? There is a lot to choose from, but I would say the bittersweet feeling when an event is ending. The mixture of feeling proud of seeing the outcomes created by everyone’s work and effort put into organising an event, the satisfaction of participants and everyone involved in the project, the fact that you see how much your contribution matters in the large scheme of things. All of that mixed with the feeling that one part of your life is finishing, the feeling of reaching the last part and that you are about to experience a major change. I believe that this feeling is one of the most rewarding and motivating things to experience as a volunteer, and many times when not only I experienced it, but also others from my team, we felt excited for new challenges that are awaiting us.
What made you stay in BEST and evolve inside the organisation? When I was still a newbie in BEST, I talked with a friend about how BEST is like a gentle plant, and that with great care, it has huge potential to grow and evolve, and with it, you grow as well. This was, and still is how I see BEST. I see it as an enormous pool of opportunities, where at first you gain so much from BEST, and then at one point, you realise you are now starting to give back to the organisation and it feels even more rewarding. In my 3 years of being a BESTie, I learned a lot, I evolved, I grew, but most importantly, I met a lot of people from all around Europe that I can now call my friends. People who I worked with shaped my path in BEST and I believe I wouldn’t have grown as much if it wasn’t for all those amazing, inspirational people who I met along the way. We are built out of the opportunities we grasp, whether they are just within our reach or further away. I believe that the extent we are willing to go to in order to fulfil our passions and desires is what eventually ends up being the ultimate result of our energy and time investment, and all of those complement the result positively.
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INTERVIEWS
Pawel Lejman
President of LBG Wroclaw 2020/21 Control Engineering Wroclaw University of Science and Technology What does BEST change in your perspective? Which skills have you gained from BEST and how? Of course, several years in BEST have developed my soft and hard skills in various aspects - many of them are useful to me on a daily basis in my work. However, it seems to me that much more important is not specific skills, but very early awareness of two things: 1) In many cases there is not always one right answer and one best solution, and even if it exists, decisions often have to be made with the uncertain information or lack of information. 2) People are not perfect and there is no point in requiring them to be so, but you should decide whether you can do certain things with them (whether it will be a job, hobby, private relationship etc.) and then deal with this imperfection. I have never really come across these two things at the stage of school or university, and I am glad that I could find out about it through my own mistakes in BEST, where what we do is important enough to take our tasks seriously, and failure have real impact on us, but at the same time it is not a place where failure can threaten me in any way that’s why BEST is a great place to learn.
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What is your favorite thing in BEST?
What made you stay in BEST and evolve inside the organisation?
Nothing more than BEST has shown me that life is full of possibilities that I never realised exist. It is an organisation full of incredibly passionate people, and at the same time often very different from each other. Together, these two things create an environment of unbelievable people who drive each other to do
For several years, I have been taking up new tasks all the time and thanks to that I was learning new things: at the beginning, I was just driven by my fascination with the organisation and the people with whom I worked. After that, the local board was a huge challenge, but at the same time, I had the opportunity to do really big things there that I couldn’t initiate in a different position. Then I took on a completely new function, not related in any way to what I had been doing before. My last year allows me to focus only on acting in a place that interests me, and I have no possibility to do it out anywhere else in my life. I tried everything BEST had to offer me, and everywhere I wanted to challenge myself. I just wasn’t afraid that I would start from an amateur level and tried to use my previous experience in these new aspects.
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It is an organisation full of incredibly passionate people, and at the same time often very different from each other.
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different and new things. Once, while promoting our recruitment, I wrote, “It is comforting to see how many undiscovered opportunities are still ahead of us, but terrifying how easy it is to miss them. Don’t miss a chance!” and learning what it means in practice with my friends in BEST was an amazing experience.
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INTERVIEWS
Daniel García García Educational Involvement Department Cordinator 2020/21 Aerospace/Aeronautical Engineering Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
What does BEST change in your perspective? Which skills have you gained from BEST and how? After having graduated, I can say that BEST taught me some key skills for life and work that, if only attending university lectures, I wouldn’t have learned. On a personal level, BEST helped me discover I’m way more sociable and extroverted than I initially thought, by providing a great environment to step out of my comfort zone. Professionally, BEST allowed us to develop fundamental skills such as project management (planning, reporting, evaluating, etc) and teamwork (feedback, expectation settings, etc.), but also other key skills such as persuasion, public speaking, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence. Surprisingly enough, for a few months, I have been working as a consultant. I can say that in my day to day life I’m using roughly 90% of skills I learned in BEST, and 10% of skills I learned at university!
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What is your favorite thing in BEST? The best of BEST, have no doubt, is what we (ambiguously) define as the “BEST spirit”. For me, it summarises the young and open-minded atmosphere of our volunteers, their will to develop other students through non-paid (and most of the times non-recognised) projects, and the hospitality and welcoming attitude towards young people across Europe.
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BEST allowed us to develop fundamental skills such as project management, teamwork, but also other key skills such as persuasion, public speaking, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence.
What made you stay in BEST and evolve inside the organisation? My path in BEST was a bit unusual. In 2018, I joined looking for an opportunity to make a change in the European higher education system and evolved inside the organisation following that drive. I found in BEST a great chance to advocate for better education, both locally and internationally, something I wouldn’t have been able to do if I was on my own or with a group of friends. As a European-wide organisation, BEST offers both strong legitimacy to back up analysis and proposals, as well as people with different knowledge and expertise to make education projects a reality. This combination truly motivated me to walk the path from local to international, leading bigger projects and eventually, the Educational Involvement Department. After 3 years in BEST, I am happy to share that the main reason I joined and evolved in BEST was the will to make European universities a better place to learn and develop yourself. I know educational involvement is not for everyone but, if you feel like making a difference in education, you can do it BEST.
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CREDITS
BEST PUBLIC MAGAZINE WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT TH
Antonios Bikas BEST Athens
Liisi Raudväli BEST Tallinn
Anja Macan BEST Zagreb
Panagiotis Lampsidis BEST Thessaloniki
Ana Reis BEST Coimbra
Alexander Kadoglou BEST Thessaloniki
Evelina Samineli BEST Chania
Mina Mitrovic BEST Belgrade
Nishtha Tiwari BEST Brussels
Iosif Tsekos BEST Athens
Luka Koscak BEST Zagreb
Suzanna Michailidi BEST Athens
Mariia Kovalchuk BEST Kyiv
Jasper Rots BEST Leuven
Codrin Valentin Rusu BEST Iasi
Arnaldo Neto BEST Porto
Francesco Marino BEST Messina Simon Petit BEST Liège
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Johannes Spaas BEST Ghent
Clara Höll BEST Erlangen
Stathis Vezyris BEST Chania
Leonor Gomes BEST Porto Vladica Pasic BEST Novi Sad
HEIR INPUT. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR INVOLVEMENT, TIME AND EFFORT!
Dunja Olbina BEST Belgrade
Pawel Lejman BEST Wroclaw
Petra Výbohová BEST Brno
David Gregorio BEST Madrid Carlos III
Simon Laureys BEST Ghent
Anna Redkina BEST Saint Petersburg
Daniel García García BEST Madrid Carlos III
Sandra Karner BEST Vienna
Eymen Gökkaya BEST Istanbul Yildiz
We are the BEST Public Magazine Team - 3rd Edition Mariia Kovalchuk - BEST Kyiv Wiktoria Szaj - BEST Wroclaw Ayça Yaren Yavuzer - BEST Ankara Neşe Sevgi Alkanlı - BEST Istanbul Yildiz Elif Nur Çalışkan - BEST Istanbul Bogazici
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