UC-CROWD

"The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsi­ble for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."

Is comming soon

www.uc-crowd.iscte-iul.pt

If you want to receive more information about the project, please contact the project coordinator:

Marina Ventura - uc-crowd@iscte.pt

Teaching Learning - Students

European Business Case Study - Companies

Teaching Learning - Professors

Partners

Academics Workshop

1st edition – August | 2014 – in Ljubljana

• Target group:
• Academics and companies representatives from partnership.
• Evaluation:
• Platform improvement;
• To adapt the manual to partners needs;
• The manual didn’t need to be translated to national languages.

The University of Salford is a friendly, vibrant and pioneering University. We continually invest in our campus, facilities and industry partnerships to enhance our student experience and provide opportunities to develop the skills students need to succeed in their career.

We are also an ambitious University, with our 20,000 students contributing enormously to the local economy and our expertise transforming individuals and communities through excellent teaching, research, innovation and engagement. We are leading in areas, including health, energy, media and the built environment and have completed impressive work with business and industry partners.

Salford Business School and Student Life are working together to deliver the UC-Crowd Project on behalf of the University of Salford.

Salford Business School has a long history of working with companies locally, nationally and internationally on projects that are linked to the curriculum. Whether it is a PhD, an MBA Live Project or Undergraduate Live Team brief, students always have numerous opportunities to learn from real experience.

Student Life Careers and Employability department continually develop innovative and up to date programmes to ensure students have the skills to succeed in gaining employment and excelling within it once they have completed their studies. Student’s receive careers advice for life and can use our facilities long past graduation.

The UC-Crowd Project is an exciting new initiative which will extend existing opportunities and open up new frontiers by presenting real world business challenges from across Europe to our students and academics, we are proud to be involved.

AceOn Group is a vibrant organisation specialised in solar and portable energy products. Our companies are specialised in research, development, manufacturing of intelligent battery systems and solar products. We have a highly dedicated, skilled team to meet worldwide needs.

AceOn Group has in house manufacturing capabilities in Telford, Solihull and through our vision are expanding operations in Dubai.

Our Business Philosophy:

• AceOn Group is customer focused, balanced by a clear understanding that value and quality guides our decision making.
• AceOn Group is a motivated innovative and forward thinking company.
• AceOn Group challenges its priorities, policies, rules, procedures, regulations, and laws to ensure that we are providing efficient and effective services to our customers.
• AceOn Group is honest, forthright, and encourages their staff to demonstrate flexibility in servicing customers needs.
• AceOn Group continually evaluates our businesses processes to support employee satisfaction and encourage their input into improving the company's performance.
• AceOn Group is motivated to devout our talent to inspire others.

The University of Wolverhampton has an excellent reputation for engaging with and supporting businesses in the region, particularly small to medium sized enterprises and has significant experience with successfully delivering projects that are linked to curriculum, both regionally and internationally from various funding streams, including those from EU sources. We are recognised as one of the most entrepreneurial, business-facing Institutions in the West Midlands region, providing business support, consultancy, skills development and research, which contribute significantly to the economic regeneration and prosperity of those living and working within the West Midlands communities.

The University of Wolverhampton provides business growth and improvement services to over 1000 businesses and employers each year.

The University of Wolverhampton Business School is at the forefront of employability development. We support both our undergraduate and postgraduate students by offering employability initiatives and business engagement opportunities.

As an Educational Hub supporting the economy through employee entrepreneurship, creativity, Knowledge Transfer, research and development, we are currently engaged in a very innovative European project to link universities and industry through a crowdsourcing platform. This new initiative will extend these existing opportunities and open up new frontiers by presenting real world business challenges from across Europe!

Artesis Plantijn University College is a brand new university college, originating from Artesis University College and Plantijn University College. AP or Artesis Plantijn University College Antwerp stands for Antwerp and Province, Arts and Professional, Ambitious and Passionate, ... In short, AP is the perfect name for our new university college.

AP’s 9000 students, 23 vocational educations and 8 art programmes, are clustered into 4 faculties and 2 schools of arts. Even though AP University College is very young, its schools of arts have a long history: the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp was founded in 1898, and the Royal Academy of Fine arts is 350 years old.

AP puts students at the heart of everything. Thanks to personal coaching and intensive study career counseling, we help our students in making the right study choice and finishing their studies successfully.

AP is characterized by unity in diversity. It is a university college in which different faculties are not limited by their fields of study and expertise, a university college with a focus on interdisciplinary networks and transfers, a university college offering everyone, staff and students, the opportunity to grow and develop their talents. AP is a university college putting trust into and respecting each individual.

The University of Humanities and Economics in Lodz was established in 1993. It is one of the largest non-public institutions of higher education in Poland. The university has eleven faculties and provide bachelor, master, postgraduate, PhD studies and courses for various target groups. UHE focus on educational research, innovative teaching and e-learning.

The key fields of study and research there are: educational science, psychology, innovative teaching and learning methods, quality assurance in higher education.

Before the UC-CROWD project started, UHE had implemented project-based method that helps student to work with real-life problems and develop solutions that could potentially be applied in the business world.

Cofely Fabricom boasts over 60 years of experience and specialized installations know-how in Electrical & Instrumentation, Piping & Mechanical and Automation & Process Control

Our staff of over 5000 employees offers expert solutions in a variety of technical fields covering five major markets: Infrastructure, Tertiary, Industry, Energy, and Oil & Gas.

As part of GDF SUEZ Energy Services we offer you the strength of Europe’s leading energy services company. Quality, safety and a sustainable approach rank among our top priorities in all your projects.

Next Steps

2nd edition – October| 2014 -> maximum 10 participants

3rd edition – January | 2015 -> maximum 20 participants

• Portugal – ISCTE
• UK – Salford
• Italy – Marconi
• Slovenia – IRSA
• Bulgaria – Varna
• Poland – AHE
• Belgium – AP

The Institute for Developmental and Strategic Analysis - IRSA is a private, non-profit research institution, oriented to the academic research as well to the policy relevant studies specific for the "think-tank" organisations and knowledge transfer. It was established as a small and mobile research unit oriented to perform basic, applied projects and expertise in the social sciences and (partially) the humanities. Besides the purely theoretical research (inter - and trans-disciplinary based but with strong sociological background) – such as system theory, institutional economics and modernisation theory – the IRSA is also increasingly engaged in empirical and applied, policy oriented research, expertise (in the sense of “Mode 2 production of knowledge”) and consultation commissioned by governmental bodies and civil society organisations.

The IRSA seeks to include young, promising and ambitious researchers in its work and helps them to develop into social science researchers with an interdisciplinary scientific vocation. The IRSA is oriented towards the international academic environment and includes in its projects and publications social scientists from other countries. Apart from being present in the international scientific community, members of the Institute are also present in the local (national) research and cultural space where they advocate an open (knowledge-based) society and public discussion of actual aspects and problems of social development and civil society.

Institute IRSA has developed a specific thematic and methodological research profile. The emphasis is on a multi-level and holistic orientation backed by the use of quantitative as well as qualitative methods and data (triangulation) including meta-analysis and case studies. Comparative, cross-national approach is specific feature of IRSA style of researching.

Institute IRSA as the publisher creates annually scientific and professional monographs and other publication, during the last two years for example: 2014 - High-tech companies - the impact of organizational culture and social networks on knowledge transfer (Frane Adam, Uroš Gojkovič, Ana Hafner, Toni Pustovrh, Jožica Zajc); 2013 - How to find a good job? Graduates at times of social crisis (Darka Podmenik); Measuring National Innovation Performance - The Innovation Union Scoreboard Revisited, Springer (Frane Adam).

Institute IRSA has ten employed associates - five professors and five researchers (nine of them with the PhD); seven associate members (three PhD, one Master) and three honorary members who occasionally cooperate on the IRSA projects.

We’re born ten years ago with already ten years of experience in electronics and telecommunications. It was this background that allowed us to do greater things: today we are a major player in the renewable energy market, with more than 700 projects implemented from north to south of Portugal.

We believe in a sustainable future and that is what we work for. We are pioneers in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) in Portugal. We are one of the first qualified energy services companies (ESCOs) in our country. We are promoters of over 10 MW of photovoltaic power in national parks. We are PME Líder 2013.

But more than these quality evidences, we are a company on your side. We use an integrated process that involves consulting, engineering and energy. Thanks to a multidisciplinary staff, we study, design and implement solutions.

In ten years, Futursolutions have contributed to the welfare of families and with them we’ve contributed to the country's development. Our commitment is to contribute to a more sustainable future. What’s yours?

Chernorizets Hrabar Free University of Varna was established in 1991. On 21 July 1995, by resolution of the 37th National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria, the University was officially granted the status of Higher Education Institution. The University provides full-time and part-time education in all academic degrees regulated by the Bulgarian Act on Higher Education, i.e. BA, MA, and PhD.

Currently, the University provides education for over 12 thousand students in 67 B.A. and M.A. programmes, as well as in 20 accredited PhD specialities.

The Bulgarian Black Sea Capital’s youngest university is a dependable partner preferred by any academic institution in Europe, the USA and Asia. Among VFU’s well-established academic traditions are the exchange programmes and partnerships with numerous offshore universities and institutes.

The University is among the initiators and most active members of the Black Sea University Network. VFU’s lecturers and students take an ever more significant part in diverse international projects, such as Tempus, Erasmus, Leonardo, and other research and education dedicated programmes funded by the EU.

VFU’s long-term partners, which include numerous research, economic and business organisations, are always ready to provide their facilities for the practical training of our students and applied scientific needs of our lecturers, and above all, with regard to our active involvement in different national and international public projects, in response to the challenges of an ever-globalising information society.

ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) is a high-quality public university institute and one of the most dynamic and innovative in Portugal, mainly in the areas of Management and Economics, Sociology and Public Policy, Social Sciences and Humanities, Information and Communication Technologies and Architecture. ISCTE-IUL consistently aims for higher levels of excellence, innovation, internationalization and entrepreneurship. It has established national and international cooperation with a large number of Higher Education Institution’s and research institutes as well as public, private and third sector organizations. The Institute has a strong link to and impact in science, economy and society.

Currently ISCTE-IUL has about 8000 students, a half of them in doctoral and master programs, and 400 professors. ISCTE-IUL is a research university with a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approach, including nine research units that conduct excellent research and continuously run more than 200 scientific projects.

To strengthen the image of the ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon in the highly competitive environment and business community, the alumni commitment and support it’s very important. The ISCTE-IUL is a brand well recognized by their alumni. It is also an institution of reference with high impact on the recognition of their training and/ or professional background in the labor market and consequently on their employability. It is for this reason that ISCTE-IUL believes that all their alumni will join the university all over the world and support the pursuit of their goal. The university has strong links with the countries of Portuguese language throughout their alumni network.

ISCTE-IUL aim to create a strong relationship between companies (private, public or non profit) in order to accomplish three main wishes: - to contribute to the world sustainability; - To contribute for the employability of young graduates and, - to encourage the link between research and companies real problems. This is the main reason why we coordinate these amazing team.

Guglielmo Marconi University is a world-class academic institution with significant international engagements which promotes the use of innovative learning methodologies merging advanced technological solutions with traditional activities (lectures, workshops and seminars). It looks beyond the traditional model of academic knowledge setting ambitious goals for research and innovation. Since its foundation in 2004, Guglielmo Marconi University has been implementing an intense internationalization activity in order to actively contribute to the global progress and innovation in higher education.

The Research and Development Area of Guglielmo Marconi University is the branch of the institution specifically committed to research and development initiatives, international cooperation and experimentation of training innovative methodologies. Since its creation, the R&D Area has successfully designed and managed more than 60 international projects that have allowed to showcase and increase the presence of Guglielmo Marconi University worldwide.

The R&D Area is engaged in many research projects and activities conducted at both European and global level. Its mission is to advance and promote opportunities for developing and globalizing innovative tools and methodologies. The R&D Area established many partnerships with HEIs and education institutions all over the world thanks to the implementation of several projects based on creative ICT educational solutions.

For the UC Crowd project, the main members of the project team are: Mr Arturo Lavalle, head of the R&D Area; Mr Marco Ciarrocchi, project manager; Ms Michela Ornis, administrative; Mr Luca Galassi, technical support.

Enertecna was born in 2006 and operates in the field of sustainable energy by project activities, realization and construction of plants for energy production from renewable sources and innovative systems aimed to increase the energetic efficiency of private costumers, companies and public administrations on national and international bases. Enertecna is a young company, constituted by young people. It was established in 2006 by fusioning academic, operative, commercial and financial skills, giving birth to the right mix between technical-scientific background and know how always framed by an accurate economic-financial and environmental evaluation of each initiative. The fact of producing the energy on our own makes us free and g proceeding towards the Hubbert’s peak (beginning of the end of oil), this aspect will become increasingly compelling. To produce clean energy is a moral duty for people living in this age. That’s why Enertecna is committed to spread the model for the future, the generation of distributed and sustainable energy, making technological solutions of excellence feasible for any customer.

Enertecna operates through working groups constituted by experts in the several fields and specializations required for the development of each energy initiative.

The spirit which keeps them linked and moves them is the passion for the clean energy generation through intelligent technologies and the awareness of being part of project which looks at the future and generates wellness for our society and for the mankind. After the first period of the company life, one of the most important sphere of action is becoming the R&D field.

Between 2011 and 2013 Enertecna built in partnership with University La Tuscia of Viterbo (northern Lazio) - in the ambit of a 1,2 M€ ministerial funded project - a solar trigeneration system and is now testing the integrated energy system based on low temperature solar thermal collectors.

In 2013, Enertecna won a regional grant of 250 k€ to develop and build an innovative Biomass gasifier aimed to via-syngas clean energy production which is going to be ready in the first half-year of 2015.

Enertecna is participating at the UCCROWD PROJECT in order to give the S.M.E. vision to the project and to make the project enter the company network.