Electrical Engineering Students' European Association
 | |
| Founded | 1986 |
|---|---|
| Type | Pre-professional Organization |
| Focus | Students |
| Location |
|
Area served | Europe |
| Method | Conferences, Exchanges, Workshops, Internships |
Members | 4000[1] |
Key people |
Board of EESTEC:[2] |
| Slogan | Power Your Future |
| Website | www.eestec.net |
The Electrical Engineering STudents' European assoCiation (EESTEC) is a non-profit student organization for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) students in Europe with 53 branches[3] in 28 countries. EESTEC is a pre-professional organization that emphasises a more general skill-set (e.g. Soft skills and presentation skills); by comparison the IEEE is an organization entirely devoted to professional skill development (e.g. RF antenna design, publications).
History of EESTEC
The idea of creating a European student organization for electrical engineering students was born in 1958, but preparation meetings started in 1963 in Paris, France.[4]
EURIELEC
EURIELEC was founded in Berlin on the 14th of December 1964. Its goals were promoting contacts and practical work between foreign Electrical Engineering students, as well as exchanging information for study possibilities and excursions with other EE faculties. The official language of EURIELEC was French, but it was changed to English in 1968. In 1971 the organization of the EURIELEC Congress failed. After a second attempt no congress was held and no further initiatives taken.[5]
EURIELEC Congresses
1965 Delft, The Netherlands
1966 Paris, France
1967 Berlin, Germany
1968 Madrid, Spain
1969 Eindhoven, The Netherlands
[6]
EESTEC
In 1984 the EESTEC idea was born. The boards of EUREL, IEEE and KiVI saw the need in strengthening social connections with other European students. Personal contacts were considered a crucial point in a better understanding of a nation, its culture and technology. One year later, in 1985, representatives of three Dutch student guilds ETV (Delft), Thor (Eindhoven) and Scintilla (Enschede), forming the Committee for International Contacts (CIC), wrote a letter to the old EURIELEC Committees: "From 1966 until 1971 there has existed a European Association of Electrical Engineering Students (EURIELEC). During this time the student movement changed. The association died, according to the statutes. Your student association was a member of this Eurielec." They claimed in that letter to set up a new association with EURIELEC formers, "under the umbrella of an existing association like IEEE or ERUEL". They said they were thinking about an annual meeting in one of the associated countries.[7]
EESTEC Congresses
In 1986 the first EESTEC Congress was organized in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. 50 participants coming from 33 different cities in 17 different European countries attended. The countries most represented were West Germany, Finland, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands. EESTEC was founded on this congress.
- 1986 LC Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- 1987 LC Nova Gorica/Ljubljana
- 1988 LC Lisbon and LC Aveiro
- 1989 LC Budapest
- 1990 LC Zurich
- 1991 LC Vienna
- 1992 LC Madrid
- 1993 LC Budapest
- 1994 LC Aachen
- 1995 LC Zurich
- 1996 LC Aachen
- 1997 LC Tampere and LC Helsinki
- 1998 LC Reggio Emilia
- 1999 LC Ljubljana
- 2000 LC Delft
- 2001 LC London
- 2002 LC Budapest
- 2003 LC Cosenza
- 2004 LC Belgrade
- 2005 LC Madrid
- 2006 LC Sofia
- 2007 LC Budapest
- 2008 LC Ljubljana and LC Rijeka
- 2009 LC Belgrade and LC Sarajevo
- 2010 LC Athens
- 2011 LC Craiova
- 2012 LC Riga and LC Tallinn
- 2013 LC Munich
- 2014 LC Athens
- 2015 LC Madrid
Structure of EESTEC
The Electrical Engineering STudents' European assoCiation is an organization of and for electrical engineering and computer science students from universities, institutes or technical schools in Europe that award an engineering degree. It was founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1986. 1995 it is a recognized association first seated in Zürich, Switzerland and reseated 2002 to Delft, Netherlands.
The Members of the Association are associations of universities, institutes and schools of technology.
Hierarchy
EESTEC is divided into four tiers, which are:
- Observer is a status granted by the International Board for a student group that is interested in EESTEC. It is the first step in joining EESTEC as an official member.
- JLC (Junior Local Committee) status can be granted by the International Board after the Observer successfully organized at least one official EESTEC Event.
- LC (Local Committee) is a full member of EESTEC International.
- EESTEC International, is the head organization assisting and overseeing all LCs, JLCs and Observers.
Bodies[8]
- International Board is elected at every Congress and takes care of the administration of EESTEC. There are usually 5 resorts: Chairman, Vice-chairman for Internal Affairs, Vice-chairman for External Affairs, Vice-chairman for Publication & Administration and Treasurer.
- International Bodies are international teams and coordinators responsible for various tasks in EESTEC.
- International Board Assistants support the International Board by carrying out their tasks. Each resort has its own team of Board Assistants.
- Local Committee Boards are elected by the members of a Local Committee. Their tasks are to administrate the LC and communicate with the International Board.
Aim
The primary aim of EESTEC is to promote and develop international contacts between students and professionals. The exchange of ideas and experience among Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students is made possible through the activities of the associations. EESTEC is also promoting international career and job opportunities for students.
Activities
Workshops
The Electrical Engineering and Computer Science aspects of EESTEC are expressed through workshops, the most important activity of the association. During a project week, lectures are presented by specialists from the industry and universities. Discussions are also held in small group sessions. Topics for workshops are mainly chosen based on technologies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, economics or soft-skills. An EESTEC Workshop is a professional event combined with social activities.
Exchanges
During an exchange students from several Local Committees visit each other for a week. During these multilateral meetings the participants gain awareness of the foreign university life, industry and cultural aspects.
Lykeion
Lykeion is an EESTEC online portal, connecting students, companies and universities directly. Its aim is to give students the opportunity to easily search for internships, jobs, Bachelor, Master and Phd study programs.
Training
EESTEC has its own training system aiming at developing soft skills of its members. For this, members are coached in becoming official EESTEC Trainers.
ECM (EESTEC Chairpersons' Meeting)
ECM is a meeting where the chairpersons of all LCs, JLCs and Observers participate in order to share experiences, contribute to the future development of EESTEC and be coached on how to run a Local Committee. ECM lasts for five days, offering working sessions and discussions about organizing events and cooperation on the international level. The meeting has around 50 participants.
Congress
EESTEC has an annual meeting with approximately 110-150 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science students representing their local EESTEC group. It's the most important event in the year. Its main purpose is the discussion of current internal and external affairs, as well as the goals and plans for the upcoming year. An important part of the congress is the election of the new board and bodies of the organization. Aside from the general meeting, workshops and trainings are also held.
Open Day
Since 2009 an important part of the Congress has been the Open Day event. It's a fair where students represent their own city and give information on Master and Phd study programs of their university. Companies have their own booth with information on jobs, internship and technology, which they are offering.
References
- ↑ EESTEC What is EESTEC
- ↑ EESTEC People
- ↑ EESTEC LCs
- ↑ ETV Yearbook, 1966, Kees Wittebrood
- ↑ EESTIC 1986 report
- ↑ Report of the Fifth Congress of EURIELEC (July 6-12, 1969, Eindhoven)
- ↑ History book of EESTEC International 25th Anniversary, April 2011, p.9
- ↑ EESTEC Bodies