As part of the HTWK project "Concentrate", a milestone was reached with the opening of the "Contact and Career Centre" at the partner university ENETCOM (Sfax, Tunisia).
Eröffnung Contact and Career Center an der ENETCOM (Sfax, Tunesien): Prof. Ahmed Fakhfakh von der ENETCOM (links), Prof. Faouzi Derbel von der HTWK Leipzig © Orbeats Radio ENETCOM
Konferenz AI im Quality Management, ENETCOM (Sfax, Tunesien): Sarah Ouerghemmi (Doktorandin bei Prof. Derbel) am Empfang © Orbeats Radio ENETCOM
In the SDG partnership project "Concentrate" of the Faculty of Engineering at HTWK Leipzig and the partner university ENETCOM (École Nationale d'Electronique et des Télécommunications de Sfax, Tunisia), a workshop in Leipzig and a conference in Tunisia on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence in Research & Practice" were realised this year. With the opening of the "Contact and Career Center" on 12 November 2024 in Tunisia, the team led by project manager Prof. Dr.-Ing Faouzi Derbel and the Tunisian team also reached a milestone.
As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the UN, funding for Concentrate was approved by the DAAD for the period from 2023 to 2026, for example to promote quality education, gender equality and economic growth in other regions.
In the "Concentrate" project, Derbel and his team from HTWK Leipzig have set themselves the goal of intensifying cooperation with the Tunisian partner university ENETCOM and establishing a joint "Contact and Career Centre (CCC)" at ENETCOM in Tunisia.
The Contact and Career Centre (CCC) is intended to act as an interface that brings together future graduates, industry partners and researchers in a freely configurable framework. In order to be able to establish the "Contact and Career Centre" beyond the end of the funding phase, Prof. Derbel and his team will accompany and continue to support its development during the project period.
As part of "Concentrate", the first workshop on "Artificial Intelligence in Research & Practice" took place in Leipzig in March 2024. At the workshop on AI-based indoor localisation, Tunisian students from Sfax were given the opportunity to present their research results from their final-year internship at HTWK Leipzig. The three final-year projects thus continued a tradition that goes back to the close collaboration between Prof Derbel and the Tunisian universities. As project leader, Prof Derbel has maintained stable connections to North Africa for years, which have repeatedly provided impetus for the research projects of his large working group and benefited students on both sides. Year after year, new students find their way to Leipzig and often come into contact with the practical approach at the HTWK for the first time after a lot of theory in their engineering training in their home country. The space that is then open should not only have an individual impact, but also gradually optimise the opportunities at the local partner institutions through exchange and evaluation of the collaboration. In order to remain in line with local preferences, the long-term exchange is used to find the right solution for the target country.
In mid-November 2024, Prof Faouzi Derbel and his team visited the partner university ENETCOM in Sfax as part of the project. The conference entitled "AI in Quality Management" took place there on 12 November 2024, highlighting the various aspects of research and implementation for industry. Scientists and industry partners alike were invited to attend. Prof. Derbel from HTWK Leipzig and Prof. Ahmed Fakhfakh from ENETCOM jointly opened the conference and the new "Contact and Career Centre". The programme also included presentations on the Cyber Resilience Act, artificial intelligence in project management and the Deep Vision Lab based at the Sfax Research Center.
During the conference on 13 November 2024, the Leipzig project team took part in a lab tour through the Digital Research Center of Sfax as well as a workshop for students on the topic of "Artificial Intelligence in Project Management". Sarah Ouerghemmi, Florian Strakosch and Maike Vorwald were also able to meet some of the interested students.
On 14 November 2024, the Leipzig team took a tour of the Technopark in Sfax to find out about further opportunities for the project. In addition to the university buildings and the research centre, the Technopark site in Sfax is also home to a makerspace with company involvement. Among other things, the makerspace works to provide graduates and students with spaces where they can develop their ideas or found start-ups. Other companies also have a location at the Technopark, whose employees were already involved in the kick-off of the "Concentrate" project in 2023. This year, further ideas for potential joint projects were developed in discussions with industry partners.
The crowning glory of the visit to Tunisia was the defence of Rihab Souissi's doctoral thesis, who has now been awarded a doctorate by ENETCOM as part of a cooperative supervision programme between Tunisia and Germany - with distinction! Over the past three years, Rihab Souissi has been involved in research at Prof Faouzi Derbel's Smart Diagnostics & Online Monitoring Chair and has recently supervised and guided several students.
Vice-Rector Prof Faouzi Derbel:
"Reaching the milestone of opening the CCC marks the start of a new phase in our cooperation with ENETCOM. The close collaboration is intended to make it easier for students to enter the labour market and, with the help of existing collaborations, to strengthen links with industrial partners in the long term. The field of engineering, which is very popular in Tunisia, can be specifically promoted here. We also want to create a larger framework for teamwork and equal opportunities from the advantages of individual students. We are happy to be able to achieve these goals within the project with a partner like ENETCOM. With the CCC, we have found a solution that offers ENETCOM, the Research Centre and the industry partners a platform to better link science and business. The supervision of students at the HTWK helps to sustainably promote all levels from the ground up."
