ERASMUS CHANGING LIVES OPENING MINDS fOR 25 YEARS

Ion
Visa
‘It has been very important in changing the mindset in our universities’
Home institution:
Transylvania University of Braşov,
Romania
Field of study/job title:
Mechanical Engineering/Rector
Year became active in Erasmus:
1997
There was a certain scepticism in Romania when the Erasmus programme was
introduced, but Ion Visa was in no doubt as to its benefits. ‘Some people didn’t
agree with sending students abroad. They were afraid that they wouldn’t come
back to Romania. I told them it was a good opportunity for all of us to open our
activity, our minds and our universities; and that we had no other solution.’
The professor of mechanical engineering coordinated – and promoted – student
and staff exchanges at the Transylvania University of Braşov from 1997 before
becoming rector of the institution in 2004. He set up numerous partnerships and
Erasmus projects, as well as designing degree courses to foster international
mobility and research, most notably in the fields of industrial and product design
and renewable energy systems. ‘It was thanks to the Erasmus programme and
our staff and student exchanges that we developed our own curriculum,’ he says.
Over the years, his aim has been to ‘open new collaboration opportunities for our
students and staff members’, to enhance teaching, cooperation and research.
The international dimension provides crucial training for his students, he says.
‘In our field we now work in complex teams that are geographically spread out.
We need to prepare young people to work in this new environment.’
‘Eight years ago, we received maybe three to five students each year. Now we
receive around a hundred. It’s a real pleasure to cooperate and creates a very
good dynamic. It has also been very important in changing the mindset in our
universities.’
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