Conference

From Learning to Thinking: Techno-Pedagogical Design and Open Educational Resources at the Age of AI

Digital solutions play a key role for enabling blended learning in higher education, where the acquisition and the appropriation of core competences and transversal skills require engaging learning experience and value-adding interactive resources. Hence, it is essential to help educators in the process of designing and implementing digital resources, considering both their pedagogical and their technological dimensions, as well as the generative AI trend. In this talk, we will discuss adaptation of learning scenarios and the design of rich and intelligent open educational resources to strengthen the transversal skills required by the current sustainability and digital literacy challenges. Ongoing experiments on supporting collaborative design and critical thinking with intelligent agents will also be discussed.

The speaker

Dr. Denis Gillet leads the Interaction Systems Group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), where he is also a board member of the Center for Learning Sciences. He is a member of the IEEE Education Committee. Dr. Gillet was the technical coordinator of a series of European initiatives in technology enhanced learning on STEM, such as Go-Lab. He is currently leading the Swiss Digital Skills Academy, a national initiative promoting open educational resources and platforms in higher education. Dr. Gillet is the co-founder and the President of the Swiss EdTech Collider and the President of the Graasp.org Association promoting digital education and open science solutions for social impact.

AI, the Future of Work, and Higher Education’s Defining Moment: Beyond Skills to Impact

AI is no longer on the horizon—it is actively reshaping industries, automating workflows, and redefining professional roles. Yet, the true disruption isn’t just about automation—it’s about how work itself is evolving and what it means to be prepared for this transformation. Higher education is at a defining moment: Will it take the lead in preparing learners for an AI-powered world, embracing the opportunity to shape the future of work and learning? The challenge goes beyond AI literacy or technical skilling—it’s about equipping learners to augment work with AI, make AI-enabled decisions, and reimagine their roles in evolving industries. This talk explores key trends in AI-driven workforce transformation, barriers to translating AI’s potential into real-world impact, and higher education’s pivotal role in shaping a future-ready workforce. Beyond AI skills, the focus must shift to human-AI collaboration—developing adaptability, ethical reasoning, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Through key framing questions, this session invites educators and researchers to rethink learning models, strengthen academia-industry partnerships, and take bold steps toward preparing learners—not just for AI skills, but for AI’s broader impact on work and society.

The speaker

Junghwa (“Sam”) Lee is an experienced learning and development professional with over 15 years of experience designing innovative learning solutions that drive business impact. As Senior Learning Manager at Microsoft, she leads initiatives that empower business leaders and professionals with AI-driven, future-ready skills to transform their work. Previously, Sam led impactful skilling programs at McKinsey & Company, Udacity, and Columbia Business School, focusing on scalable learning solutions for digital and tech leadership. A graduate of Columbia University with a master’s degree in international educational development, she is dedicated to helping professionals thrive in a tech-driven world.

Lifelong Learning: The Continuous Pursuit of Knowledge and Skills in Engineering Education

The keynote will focus on the importance of lifelong learning, with a special emphasis on professional development. This theme addresses critical issues in higher education such as enrollment challenges in academia, increased focus on micro credentials as a complement to traditional degrees, alternative delivery of education methods and the need for early- career professionals to embrace lifelong learning.

The speaker

Michael K. J. Milligan is the CEO of ABET, the global quality assurance organization with over 4,700 accredited college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and technology. Prior to joining ABET, Milligan was a systems director at the Aerospace Corporation, leading a team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center developing the next generation environmental satellites for NOAA. Milligan served over 24 years as a career U.S. Air Force officer working in operations, engineering education, international R&D and technology acquisition. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Business Administration.

SEFI – The European platform for engineering education, current challenges and opportunities

The presentation will detail the most recent advancements in engineering education as approached by SEFI, the European Society for Engineering Education. The main mission of SEFI is to contribute to the development and improvement of engineering education and to strengthen the understanding and knowledge of engineering education by bringing relevant stakeholders together through the sharing of ideas, good practices, common goals, and experiences. The challenges around skills gap, the wide spread of AI, technosociety, increasing energy demand and in general the UN sustainable development goals are key drivers of the engineering education transformation. The SEFI perspective and activities in this transformation aim to engage educators and institutional leaders along with various groups of interested partners in order to develop further engineering education for the current and future needs.

The speaker

Balázs Vince Nagy - associate professor, Mechatronics Engineering programme lead, former vice-rector for international affairs (2018-2021) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). PhD in mechanical engineering, post-doctoral fellow (2010-2014) and visiting scientist (2015-2016) at the Institute of Psychology of the University of São Paulo. Main research fields are optics, optomechatronics, illumination, visual perception and visual electrophysiology. President of the European Society for Engineering Education - SEFI (2023-). Chair of the EELISA European University Alliance Executive Board (2023-). Division 1 representative from Hungary in the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).

Students´ Attitudes Towards AI in Teaching and Learning

„Technical innovations are hardly acceptable unless accepted by their users“.
J. Biggs

Large-scale research explores students´ opinions on generative AI technologies, especially ChatGPT, and their use in teaching and learning. A total of 2346 undergraduates from 8 technical faculties provided their answers on following topics:

Familiarity and Usage: How familiar are students with GenAI technologies like ChatGPT? What is the prevalence and purpose of its use?

Pros and Cons: What are the potential pros and cons associated with using AI in teaching and learning?

Ethical Considerations: To what extent are ethical principles considered by students while using AI tools in education? Should universities set guidelines for ethical/unethical behaviors while using AI tools in education?

Teacher Perspectives: To what extent do the teachers believe AI technologies have potential to enhance teaching and learning? How open are the teachers to improving their understanding or skills regarding the use of AI technologies during teaching and learning?

The speaker

Dana Dobrovska graduated in psychology from Charles University in Prague in 1973, earned her PhD there in 1986, and was appointed as an associate professor in 1996. Her entire career has been intertwined with the Czech Technical University in Prague, where she dedicated 50 years of service. She served as the head of the Institute of Engineering Pedagogy for two decades, during which she played a pivotal role in establishing a bachelor's degree program tailored for teachers with technical backgrounds. Actively engaged with the International Society of Engineering Pedagogy (IGIP) since 1993, she held the position of the elective head of the International Monitoring Committee. Dobrovska has authored numerous publications on technical teacher education, with her primary research focusing on student academic instruction. Currently, her research interests lie in exploring the psychological dimensions of employing Al in teaching and learning contexts.

BME GTK: Pioneering Sustainable Education for the Future

The growing urgency of sustainability is no longer a distant concern – it is actively reshaping industries, influencing consumer behavior, and redefining the responsibilities of organizations. Higher education stands at a pivotal moment: Will it effectively equip future leaders with the knowledge and, crucially, the transversal skills necessary to navigate and drive this profound transformation? The Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences (GTK) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) recognizes this defining moment and is proactively integrating sustainability principles into its educational framework through innovative approaches, particularly within the context of management education in an engineering environment. This presentation will showcase the BME GTK's pioneering initiatives and pedagogical advancements aimed at fostering graduates who are not only aware of sustainability challenges but are also equipped with essential transversal skills to develop and implement impactful solutions. Moving beyond traditional economic and social science curricula, we will highlight our efforts in embedding environmental and social responsibility, and circular economy principles across various disciplines, while also fostering key transversal skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, all within the unique framework of management education embedded into an innovative engineering environment. Furthermore, we will explore our collaborations with sustainability-focused organizations and our commitment to experiential learning, ensuring our students gain practical insights and the ability to translate sustainability concepts into real-world action, leveraging their transversal competencies in this specific educational context. This talk will delve into specific examples of how BME GTK is fostering systems thinking, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration on sustainability issues, and nurturing entrepreneurial ventures with a strong sustainability focus, all while emphasizing the development of vital transversal skills within management education in an engineering environment. Through examples and a vision for the future, we aim to demonstrate how BME GTK is taking decisive steps to educate a generation of professionals who will champion a more sustainable and resilient future, equipped with both domain-specific knowledge and crucial transversal abilities in this integrated educational setting.

The speaker

Dr. Mária Szalmáné Csete is currently holding the position of habilitated Associate Professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) within the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, at the Department of Environmental Economics and Sustainability. Demonstrating her leadership and commitment to international engagement, she also serves as the Vice-Dean for International Affairs at the same Faculty. Her comprehensive academic background includes an MSc in Engineering and Management (BME, 2004), an MSc in Spatial and Settlement Development (BME, 2007), a Master 3 degree in Regional- and Urban Development (Sorbonne-Paris IV, 2007), and a PhD in Business and Management from BME (2009). Notably, she served as the Head of Department between 2013 and 2016 and leads the Regional and Environmental Economics MA Programme since 2013, in addition to being a Core Member of the Doctoral School of Business and Management at BME GTK.

Dr. Csete's research interests are wide-ranging, encompassing sustainability management, environmental economics, sustainability and climate education, sustainable regional and urban development perspectives, climate innovation, digitalization, and mitigation and adaptation-oriented evaluations. Her primary research delves into the critical interlinkages between climate change and sustainability, with a specific focus on the feasibility of integrated solutions across diverse sectors, territories, and enterprises in the digital age. Her expertise is further demonstrated by her involvement as a leader or participant in numerous national and EU-funded research projects, including Horizon 2020, Climate-KIC, Erasmus+, FP7, ESPON, Interreg, Grundtvig, and NKTH initiatives.

Beyond her academic and research endeavors, Dr. Csete actively contributes to the scientific community and has received notable recognition for her work. She was twice awarded the prestigious János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) (2012-2015, 2020-2023). Her past contributions include serving as the Secretary of the HAS Presidential Committee of Environmental Sciences, Future Earth Subcommittee (2014-2020). Currently, she is a member of the HAS Committee on Regional Sciences (since 2023) and the Interdepartmental Committee on Logistics (since 2021). She was also a founding member of the Sustainable Regional Development Subcommittee in 2018 and the Sustainabilty Management Subcommittee in 2024.