The University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (UPB) is the largest technical university in Romania. UPB has a strong background in project management and has actively participated as coordinator in ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership and H2020 projects.
UPB has a long tradition in information technology education and a strong connection to big ICT companies that contribute to permanent update of the study programs, to ensure specific learning outcomes at European level. UPB was included in the highest category for advanced research and teaching and up to date equipment/laboratories. It organizes bachelor and master study programs, continuous education/LLL and joint master programs with European universities. All study programs were accredited by the National Agency for Quality Assurance in higher Education. The mission of UPB is a mix of education, research and innovation, towards a knowledge-based society. Creating knowledge by scientific research, giving it out by education and professional training, disseminating it by information technologies, as well as the use of technological innovation define the university distinctive profile.
In the Faculty of Engineering teaching is conducted integrally as a subject language using in English, French and German, within two departments: Department of Engineering (taught in Foreign Languages) and Department of Communication (taught in Foreign Languages) with additional foreign language programs in English, French, German, Russian and Romanian. FILS forms multilingual specialists, capable of filling the needs of companies in their international partnerships.
FILS has developed multilateral ties with engineering schools of foreign universities, for exchange of vocational pedagogy and specialized knowledge and of creating conditions for recognition of diplomas. It has implemented several international projects and our teaching staff has expertise in the methodology of pedagogical abilities using modern communicative approaches and ICT and development of curricula and modern teaching materials. DILS is part of the strategic partnership project for a Joint European Academic Competence Framework and Curricula for the Training of Technical Communicators.
UPB is the leading and coordinating partner of EXTEND and responsible for project management and overall coordination of the consortium partners. UPB supplies documents and information to the Agency which may be required under the agreement or in the event of audits and holds responsibility for the administration and financial management of the grant involving daily management, coordination and monitoring and including financial guarantees, payment requests and timely payments to the co-beneficiaries. As project manager UPB is responsible to ensure the involvement of all consortium partners and the delivery of a high standard result. UPB plans and leads all PMB meetings, contribute to all QA activities.
Apart from the management, UPB leads the Preparation phase, host introduction training seminar, participates in including tuning of the monitoring methodology of PC universities practices in teaching engineering disciplines. UPB also offers consultations during development of teacher competence descriptors, development of training programs for PhD students and staff, participates in course book preparation, coordinates piloting of training program for PhD students and experienced teachers, contributes to piloting with guest lectures in PC universities.
Maria-Iuliana Dascalu is senior lecturer/associate professor for data structures and algorithms, programming languages (Java), semantic web technologies, systems engineering and management information systems within the Department of Engineering in Foreign Languages at University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest (UPB) and currently the vice dean of the Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages, UPB.
She is also a researcher in the field of applied computer science. She was a postdoctoral fellow at UPB between May 2014-October 2015, researching on collaborative e-learning on multidisciplinary groups. She defended her PhD thesis on July 2011 in the field of applied computer science (economic informatics), at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies (ASE). Her thesis title was „E-Assessment in E-learning Platforms, with Applications to Project Management”. She has a Master Degree in Project Management, from ASE (2008) and a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from the Faculty of Computer Science, Alexandru-Ioan Cuza University (UAIC), Iasi, Romania (2006). Before teaching, she also also worked as a software developer in international companies and she is an IPMA Certified Project Management Associate (2008). She conducted a mobility stage at Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel, Belgium and a research stage at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. She was a program committee member in more than 40 scientific conferences and she was awarded several national research prizes for papers published in highly relevant journals, as well as an Elsevier Certificate of Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing in 2015. In 2016 Maria was the recipient of Danubius Young Scientist Award (international award) and in 2017 she obtained an Excellence Award in Informatics at Young Researchers in Science and Technologies Competition – Rada Mihalcea Award (national award). She published 12 books and book chapters and more than 80 scientific papers: see her Google Scholar profile (https://scholar.google.ro/citations?user=VBaTZrMAAAAJ) and website (https://mariaiulianadascalu.com/). In 2019, Maria was General Chair of The 6th European Conference on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems, while in 2019 and 2020 was co-organiser of Workshop on Excellence in Engineering Education through e-Learning and ICT Tools (EXTEND) at The eLearning and Software for Education Conference – eLSE.
Doctor in Educational Sciences (2002, University of Bucharest), Master in Educational Management and Institutional Communication, (2009, SNSPA, Bucharest) with interests in teacher development, educational projects, cultural studies and translation. In the 1990-2020 interval and as member of the Department of Communication in Modern Languages (DCLM), UPB: author/main author of three books; co-author of two academic textbooks; coordinator and/or participant in five EU projects and a British Council sponsored national project as a; author of a range of papers in the educational and cultural fields and workshop trainer. In the 1996-2006 interval: part time work as expert with the National Agency for the Leonardo da Vinci Programme and later, ANPCDEFP.