NEWSLETTER

No. 51July

2016

The 2016 Valedictorian Gala was held on 22 June at the university's Aula Magna. The top ranking senior student in each faculty, the award-winners in this year's student conferences, as well as students with remarkable achievements in national and international competitions were commended in a festive public event organized by the university. The awards and grants offered by the university's management were intended to acknowledge these students' efforts while also encouraging their peers to aim for top performance.

Besides the 19 prizes awarded to t h i s y e a r ' s valedictorians, another 151 prizes rewarded the results that our students obtained in professional, cultural or sports competitions held in Romania and abroad. The winners were introduced to the

public by the deans of their respective faculties. The Gala concluded on a high note, literally, with the music of Chopin performed by a student at our Faculty of Music, Szöcs Botond, hailed as one of the most talented young pianists in Romania.

We congratulate the 2016 winners and wish them good luck in their future endeavours.

Dr Daniel Munteanu, Vice-Rector

THE VALEDICTORIANS' GALATHE CELEBRATORY CONCERT OF THE

ASTRA CHOIR

THE SYMPOSIUM CREATIVITY IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: INVENTICS AND NIKOLA TESLA

ŞTEFAN ŢÎNŢ – HUSQVARNA CONTESTA STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING

TRANSLATION, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATIONTHE FESTO EXHIBITION

THE PROJECT MY FACULTY, “BE SMART, CHOOSE LETTERS”CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POETRYECONOMIC ENGINEERING STUDENTS' RESULTS

STA DIFFERENT KIND OF 1 OF JUNEDESCENT INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE HUMAN MINDCONNECT A PROJECT AT ITS ENDEMIL CIORAN, AS PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROGELIO CUÉLLARvibrate!fes�val DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCHPROFESSORS WE TAKE PRIDE IN EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS

THE VALEDICTORIANS' GALAAWARDING STUDENT

ACHIEVEMENTS

The celebratory concert took place on 7 June as part of the university's concert season. Prefaced with an introduction by the organizers, ASTRA's recital

was a genuine musicfest which included pieces representing a variety of styles and epochs. Each musical piece was performed in keeping with the

specificities of the temporal frame during which it was composed, in a mix created with artistry and origiality by the choir's conductor, professor

Ioan Oarcea from the Faculty of Music.Approaching the music of the Renaissance and the musical

Baroque, as well as religious pieces and beautiful Romanian folk songs, the ASTRA Choir handled brilliantly an eclectic repertoire.

Soloists Angela Gibă and Orsolya Lovenberger, with the piano accompaniment of Raluca Ștefoni, gave an elegant

performance which testified to their considerable vocal talent; pianist Lucian Nireșteanu's accompaniment was as

creative as it was well-inspired.During its 30 years of existence, the

outstanding performance of the choir was appreciated by large audiences in national and

international artistic events, and was validated through collaborations with high profile

conductors and soloists from Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK. In light of their international recognition, it would not be amiss to say that the ASTRA Choir and its conductor, a member of the executive board of the Internat ional Choir Federation A Coeur Joie and of the Balkan Cultural Forum, are the real ambassadors of the Romanian choral art.

Dr Marius Băhnean

THE CELEBRATORY CONCERT OF THE ASTRA CHOIR

It is not the walls that make a school, but the spirit that reigns within.

NEWSLETTERTransilvania University of BraşovWhat purpose does the university serve if not to pave the way for the society of wisdom?(King Ferdinand I)

(Paolo Blasi)

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

ŞTEFAN ŢÎNŢ – HUSQVARNA CONTESTOn 31 May, the Faculty of Silviculture and Forest Engineering organized, in collaboration with the

company Husqvarna Pădure & Grădină S.R.L., the contest Ştefan Ţînţ – Husqvarna Scholarships, which included two parts: a written test and a practical component.

The written test entailed answering 50 questions relating to the disciplines Forest Engineering, Logging technology, Forestry Mechanization and Silviculture, evaluated by our faculty staff.

� The practical test took place out in the field, in Poiana Braşov, and involved changing the cutting chain, combined cutting and precision cutting. The practical test highlighted the contestants' abilities to work with the mechanical saw. The performances were evaluated by Husqvarna specialists, experienced in the organization and assessment of such competitions. Fifty four undergraduate and master students took part in this years' competition, which proved to be very tight.

The winners were Anton Guşă – first year Master student, Management and Technical Systems in Forest Engineering – first place; Ioan Moldovan – first year Master student, Management and Technical

Systems in Forest Engineering – second place; Marius Vlad Capotă – fourth year undergraduate student, the Wildlife study program – third place.

We would like to thank eng. Ştefan Ţînţ and Husqvarna for the scholarships granted to future forestry specialists.

Dr Răzvan Câmpu

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SILVICULTURE

STUDENTS

On 11 June our university hosted the symposium Creativity in Science thand Technology: Inventics and Nikola Tesla, an event dedicated to the 160

celebration of the inventor's birthday. The audience consisted of members of the Romanian Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technics, members of the IEEE Society , academics and students.

The lectures delivered highlighted the breadth of Tesla's thinking and his impressive ability to act on a global scale, providing sustainable solutions for the transport of electrical power, electrical motors, wireless equipment conveying power, as well as for the use of renewable power sources.

The debates went beyond Tesla's work, to wider issues related to creativity in science and technology, and to ways to promote inventics seen as a means to train the human resources.

The input by Ms Aurelia Florea, HR Manager at Miele Tehnica Braşov, and by Dr Paul Svasta from Politehnica University of Bucharest spurred the discussions on the role of industry in developing the students' practical skills.

The conclusions arrived at highlighted the need to attune the engineering study programs to the needs of industry, as well as the need to instill in our students a more goal-driven approach to their work and a more focused thinking in reasearch in their respective domains.

Our guests from other university centres - Craiova, Cluj, Iaşi and Bucharest – were impressed with the organization of this event, with the sizable turnout and the high level of competence shown by the participants.

Dr Elena Helerea

INCREASING THE FOCUS IN THINKING FOR RESEARCH AND

TECHNICAL PURPOSES

For the past two years, our university has organized My End of Study Project, a funding competition for our students' bachelor and dissertation projects. The Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences approved the participation in the contest of several bachelor projects and won funds for two dissertation papers submitted by Roxana Beleaua and Vasile Preda, coordinated by Professor Elena Cocoradă, and a bachelor paper submitted by Mihai Constantin, coordinated by Professor Aurel Ion Clinciu.

Vasile Preda, master's student at Educational Psychology, School and Vocational Counseling, presented an innovative topic: Therapeutic Use of Romanian Fairytales to Improve the Relationship between Parents and Children and Their Wellbeing. The funds received allowed him to buy psychological instruments adapted to the Romanian population and to implement a psychological intervention for parents and children using psychologically loaded fragments extracted from Romanian fairytales. The counseling activities, very much appreciated by the participants, took place in a group of parents, children, but also in the child-parent dyad. Because of the considerable improvement of the research validity and of his involvement in challenging activities, the student obtained the highest grade at the dissertation exam, and one of his articles was accepted at the international conference Psychology and the Realities of the Contemporary World - PSIWORLD-2016, Bucharest. We also hope that other results of his project will be presented at the conference From Individual to Society – Applied Psychology for a Sustainable Community, APSC-2016, Braşov.

� Asked about what he learned about himself from this project, the student replied: “I have learnt that I can do things I haven't even dared to think of!” Just like in many Romanian fairytales, the ending of this story is a happy one.

Dr Elena Cocoradă

FINANCING BACHELOR PROJECTSA STORY WITH

A HAPPY ENDING

THE SYMPOSIUM CREATIVITY IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: INVENTICS AND NIKOLA TESLA

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

The students enrolled in the masters' program Translation and interpreting from French into Romanian at the Faculty of Letters benefited from an intensive training seminar organized between 9 and 10 May by Dr Liliana Alic.

Under the title “Traduction, recherche, documentation” (Translation, research, documentation), the seminar included lectures delivered by teachers from similar study programs at foreign universities. Thus, the students were presented aspects related to their future career, i.e. translator, namely: Comics, Humour and their Translation, Legal Translation: Principles and Steps, Literary Analysis for Translation Purposes: A Case Study of Music on the Hill by Saki (Berrin Aksoy, University of Ankara, Turkey), La terminologie dans l'administration: l'exemple de France-Terme, Les thésaurus une aide à la traduction: l'exemple d'Eurovoc, La recherche d'information et la traduction technique (Maryse Ivern, University of Lorraine, France), La traduction, de l'enseignement au métier: problèmes méthodologiques et pratiques, La traduction aujourd'hui, De la traduction littéraire à la traduction scientifique (Vincent Giroud, University of Franche-Comté, France). This intensive program was also attended by professional translators, who shared some of their experiences in this field with our students. Thus, Liliana Comănescu, the representative of DGT Romania, talked to students about the employment opportunities in the field of translation in Europe, while Veronica Popa discussed about the interpreters' need to constantly develop their skills.

The guest teachers were delighted by the high level of our students' training and their openness to new knowledge horizons, and expressed their interest in a future collaboration of this kind.

Dr Georgiana Burbea

INTENSIVE COURSES FOR MASTER STUDENTS

On 13 June, the FESTO National Training Centre from the Department of Engineering and Industrial Management of the Faculty of Technological Engineering and Industrial Management within Transilvania University joined forces with FESTO SRL București to organize a showcase of the latest technical breakthroughs of the FESTO AG&CO KG company. Quin România SRL generously allowed the presentation to take place on its premises.

The exhibition consisted of live demonstrations of state-of-the-art pneumatic components (linear and rotary pneumatic engines, valve terminals, programmable logic controllers - PLCs), as well as electrical axle components (servo-engines, stepper engines, engine control units - ECUs). The dynamic displays simulating the industrial applications were installed in the Festo Expotainer, the fully autonomous show vehicle used as a proof of concept means for the latest equipment related to industrial

automation. The target of this exhibition was to popularize the state-of-the-art in the field of pneumatic and industrial automation.Representing major companies in the region of Brașov, the over one hundred participants identified the proper solutions tailored to

their specific needs and technical issues. The success of this meeting prompts the organizers to plan a new exhibition, as soon as possible, to promote the FESTO products and philosophy, all focused on the 4.0 Industry.

Dr Tudor Deaconescu

Transilvania University Library proudly announces the initiation of the collection Contemporary American Poetry, which includes volumes of contemporary poetry by young American authors. Initiated by by Prof Tara Skurtu (Boston University), poet, translator and Fulbright Assistant at the Faculty of Letters, the authors involved gave free copies of their work to the university library.

The 60 volumes received so far are already available either for on-site consultation or for borrowing.

Violeta Cororiu, Transilvania University Library

On 14 and 16 June, the Multicultural Centre of Transilvania University hosted two workshops, part of the project that won the contest My Faculty, “Be Smart, Choose Letters!” of the Faculty of Letters. Supervised by Dr Rodica Ilie and Dr Mihai Ignat, several student teams from the Cultural Innovation MA program came up with exercises on drama role-play reading, composition and dramatic creativity, and were joined in these activities by pupils from two local high-schools, under the supervision of their teachers, Evelina Cârciu (Dr Ioan Meșotă College) and Raluca Prahoveanu, Elena Grigoraș and Loredana Aliman (Nicolae Titulescu College).

The workshops aimed at getting high-schoolers acquainted with several drama techniques (applied to the Romanian dramatic repertoire), as well as to promote the specializations offered by our Faculty to future students. On this occasion, several promotional materials were either displayed or distributed: posters, bookmarks, textile bags and notebooks, all printed with our faculty logo and with quotes excerpted from Romanian playwrights.

Dr Mihai Ignat, Faculty of Letters

THE FESTO EXHIBITION

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POETRY

WORKSHOP ON DRAMA, ROLE-PLAY READING, COMPOSITION AND DRAMATIC CREATIVITY

DEMOS WITH STATE-OF-THE-ART PNEUMATIC COMPONENTS

A VALUABLE NEW COLLECTION IN OUR LIBRARY

TRANSLATION, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION

THE PROJECT MY FACULTY, “BE SMART, CHOOSE

LETTERS”

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS VISIT SOCIAL RISK CHILDRENstThis year, on International Children's Day, some of the 1 year undergraduates at the Faculty of

Psychology and Education Sciences, social work study program, took part in creative and recreative activities for children in social risk situations. These children go to the Astra Day centre which belongs to Brașov Social Services Department.

The event was aimed at celebrating this day in a special way, in order to bring joy to the children. In the first part of the event the children, together with the students, made flower crowns and bookmarks. The second part was dedicated to pair competitions at the end of which all the children were awarded prizes. The activity ended with songs and all the participants enjoyed the festivity in which the students surprised the children with a cake, fizzy drinks and baloons.

� Marked by expressions of delight and amazement on the part of the children, the activity is likely to make a long lasting impression on all those involved. Organizing it showed what being a volunteer really

means: giving up some of one's free time, doing one's best to achieve the intended goals and, finally, being rewarded with smiles and hugs.

stElena Bularca, 1 year student

A DIFFERENT KIND ST

OF 1 OF JUNE

The Multicultural Centre of Transilvania University hosted, between the 26 June and 1 July, the art exhibition Circuit. Produced by Emilia Păunescu, this collaborative art project introduced the visitors to the universe of Circuit, a site-specific installation signed by nineteen young artists selected by competition: Albert Kaan, Ana Țăran, Alexandra Zaiț, Andreea Vlăduț, Cosmin Maria, Andrei Dudău, Diana Lemnaru, Cosmin Maria, Claudiu Dosaru, Elena Vanghelici, Denis Simion, Miruna Sandu, Oana Vasile, Raluca Gheorghe, Mihai Popescu, Nicoleta Vede, Roxana Ardeleanu, Raluca Baciu, Valentin Teodorescu and Sebastian Viscol. Of these, seventeen are students at the National University of Arts in Bucharest, and two of them are writers.

� The exibition told the story of a character who goes through several emotional states: depression, confidence, confusion, uncertainty, ecstasy, hope, innocence and daydreaming. All these states were represented not only through exhibits, but also in the form of monologues corresponding to each state, the voice of the whole installation belonging to Marius Ursu. Besides Bucharest and Brașov, the other cities hosting the site-specific exhibition are Sibiu (3-7 July) Cluj-Napoca (9-13 July) and Timișoara (22-28 July).

Iuliana- Gabriela Răducan, MA Student

THE SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION CIRCUIT AT THE MULTICULTURAL CENTER

DESCENT INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE HUMAN MIND

DIPLOMA OF EXCELLENCE AND AWARDS AT THE STUDENTS' CONTEST

Within 2 and 4 June, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacău hosted the thpanel sessions of the 38 Consortium of Economic Engineering. Founded in 1996

by representatives of Economic Engineering study programs from eight universities including Transilvania University, the Consortium is a hub for exchanging ideas and expertise on the future of economic engineering in Romania.

One of the annual events organized by the Consortium is the National Contest of Economic Engineering Students Scientific Session in Engineering and Management - Prof. Moise Țuțurea. The event is targeted at students from universities with study programs in the field of Engineering and Management, and is organized on two panels - marketing and management. This edition included 25 presentations.

The Department of Engineering and Industrial Management of the Faculty of Technological Engineering and Industrial Management from our University was represented by

thLaura Andreea Lal and Eliza Al-Radi, 4 year students of the study program Industrial Economic Engineering.

Laura Andreea Lal was awarded the Second Prize in the Marketing panel, with the paper entitled Study on the opportunity of implementing the aquaphonics system in Romania, coordinated by Dr Cristina Găvruș. Eliza Al-Radi won the Third Prize in the Management panel, with the study on The quality of industrial products manufacturing – a pre-requisite of performance. Case study: investigating the quality of manufacturing in machine-building industry, coordinated by Dr Georgiana Limbășan.

Dr Cătălin Gheorghe, Dr Cristina Găvruș

ECONOMIC ENGINEERINGSTUDENTS’ RESULTS

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

PREVENTION OF AND COMBAT AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Between 6 and 21 June, the Multicultural Centre of Transilvania University of Braşov hosted the Exhibition Emil Cioran photographed by Rogelio Cuéllar, a cultural event co-organized with the Embassy of Mexico, in celebration of 80 years of diplomatic relations between Romania and Mexico.

The opening took place on the 6 June. It occasioned the unveiling of a portrait in black and white, composed of hypostases of the writer's portrait captured, in January 1990, in the privacy of his home. Opening speeches were delivered by Dr Adrian Lăcătuș, Director of the Multicultural Centre of our university, Dr Caius Dobrescu, Professor at the University of Bucharest, by Dr Virgil Borcan, critic, and by Adrian Timar, visual artist.

The visitors of the exhibition seemed unanimous in their opinion that it was the simplicity of the photographs that enhanced their beauty.

Georgiana Argăseală, doctoral student

Between 19 and 26 June, Braşov hosted the second edition of the International Festival of Chamber Music and Arts vibrate!festival, in which Transilvania University was a major partner. The festival kicked off at Aula Magna and consisted of a series of classical music concerts, exhibitions, and conferences by Dr Greg Radu, psychiatrist, on the benefits of letting music into our daily lives.

A novelty of this edition was the upright piano vibrate!, donated by pianist Diana Ionescu and stylized by the artists of the Depot of Urban Art. The instrument was placed in Enescu Square – the festival square, offering the passers-by the chance to play the piano. Another special moment was the concert given at the Black Church by the soprano Leontina Văduva, who celebrated at Brașov, 30 years of artistic career on international stages.

vibrate!festival afforded us a chance to meet again with several young artists who participated in the first edition, such as the violin player Vlad Maistorovici, the director of the festival, the pianist Diana Ionescu, the artistic director, the violin player Valeriy Sokolov (Ukraine) – all three of them winners in the International Competition George Enescu. Likewise, we had the opportunity to see again artists like Pau Codina (Spain) and Francesco Sica (Germany) or first time performers such as Dana Zemtsov (Netherlands), Antoine Francoise (Switzerland), Shiry Rashkovsky (UK), Colin Alexander (UK), Harry Cameron Penny (UK), Robin Green (UK).

� vibrate!festival – a celebration of classical music and arts, was also an opportunity to promote our city, the concerts taking place in alternative, unconventional spaces within the Historical Centre of Brașov, such as the Synagogue, the Black Church, the Weavers' Bastion. The teahouse Tipografia and the club Rockstadt were two other venues imbued with the vibrate! spirit.

Adina Chirvasă, press adviser for vibrate!festival

AN UNCONVENTIONAL FESTIVAL OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

80 YEARS OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN ROMANIA AND MEXICO

vibrate!festival

EMIL CIORAN, AS PHOTOGRAPHED

BY ROGELIO CUÉLLAR

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA

On the 28 June, Transilvania University hosted the press conference and the final conference of the project CONNECT - CONstruct Network in Counselling for Trauma.

The aim of this project was the prevention of and combat against domestic violence and was jointly supported by Transilvania University of Brașov, Faculty of Sociology and Communication together with its partners: Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, the Centre for the Prevention of Domestic and Societal Violence, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, the Centre for Psychological Research, Artemis - Women Against Violence Association and The Foundation Tisip from Norway.

The conference was dedicated to the presentation of the results of the project as well as of the experiences of the partners and specialists involved. The objectives were staged over a time span of three years and established according to the National strategy for the prevention of and combat against domestic violence for 2013-2017.

By creating and implementing a training program for professionals in fields such as psychology, social work or medicine, the project will generate long-term effects in the area of preventing and combatting domestic violence.�

This final conference represents the last stage in a large and complex project which started in April 2015. The project manager, Dr Diana Cristina Bodi, stated that the main aim of the project was “the training of specialists working in the field of prevention of and combat against domestic violence on the basis of a unitary vision and conception focusing on regional partnership and networking in order to develop and consolidate services related to domestic violence”.

Mihaela Predoi, Cristina Tudosend2 year students

CONNECT A PROJECT AT ITS END

PROFESSORS WE TAKE PRIDE INIoan Lupu was born on May 3, 1925 in Râşnov, Brașov County. He graduated the Academy of

Superior Commercial and Industrial Studies in 1948 and pursued a career in teaching at the University of Braşov ever since.

Besides being Head of Department for 30 years and a well-respected researcher in his field, Professor Lupu was an active participant in the economic and cultural life of the city of Braşov. In 1966 he co-founded the cultural magazine ASTRA, being its first editor until 1972. In 1990, he was one of the

promotors of the newly established Faculty of Economics, making it possible to resume, after four decades, the tradition of the higher economic education at Braşov. In the period 1993-1996 he was senator in the Romanian Parliament. In 2000 Transilvania University of Braşov awarded him the title of Honorary Professor, and in 2004, the faculty honored him for his entire activity.

Member of the Writers Union of Romania, Professor Ioan Lupu was a complex personality - poet, writer, translator, connoisseur and lover of music and painting.

Dr Gabriel Brătucu

PROFESSOR IOAN LUPU

On the 16 June, Okian Bookshop hosted the Evenings at the Faculty of Letters. On this occasion, there was a double book launch of Dr Ovidiu Moceanu's volumes Sens Unic – a collection of interviews – and the novel Ordinul Bunei Speranțe, second edition. Father Gheorghe Dănuț Benga, high official of Brașov Orthodox church, Dr David Pestroiu from the Faculty of Theology at Bucharest and Dr Adrian Lăcătuș, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and organiser and moderator of the event, gave talks about the personality of Ovidiu Moceanu.

Sens unic is a collection of interviews given by Ovidiu Moceanu to friends, colleagues and students. The author presents the interviews in chronological order and states they are: “my journey throughout the years as a chronicle of my life in its one-way evolution, the one way of the confession of my faith in God, people, creation”.

In his presentation of the novel Ordinul Bunei Speranţe, Dr Adrian Lăcătuş spoke about the universe of the novel, a world over which “something evil seems to hover”, a world that is noxious and weird but also normal and trite. The moderator of the event also highlighted the importance of the second edition of the novel at Tracus Arte publishing house 26 years after its first publication. The complexity of the novel, its originality and the craftsmanship of the novel made its re-reading an absolute must.

At the end of the event, Ovidiu Moceanu read out from the interview volume and signed books for the audience.

Valentina Iliescu, doctoral student

WRITER OVIDIU MOCEANU AT THE EVENINGS AT

THE FACULTY OF LETTERS

My name is Bianca Ioana Bucur Brînză and I am a second year student at the Faculty of Law at Transilvania University of Brașov. As a student at this faculty, I can say that perseverance is the key to success. I think it necessary for every student to get involved in an as wide as possible range of activities, in order to broaden their views and expand their practical abilities.

With this in mind, I participated in the student conferences organized at our university and at other university centres. This experience earned me a prize at the scientific conference organized by the Braşov Bar Association this year. The mock trials and the practicum that are part of our training enabled me to see how theory fits into practice and help me pave the ground for my future career as a legal professional.

ndBianca Ioana Bucur Brînză 2 year student

EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS

BIANCA IOANA

BUCUR BRÎNZĂ

DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH: SENS UNIC AND ORDINUL BUNEI SPERANȚE

FIDES ET EXCELLENTIA