Current international projects

Project Information Project Short Description The Role of UKIM/FEEIT in the project

INITIATE is a project that aims to empower higher education institutions to develop R&I through institution transformation. INITIATE, in its widening dimension, seeks to raise excellence in science and knowledge valorisation of Europe’s universities through cooperation and knowledge circulation. The project lasts 36 months and has 13 partners from 11 countries. Through stakeholder inclusion and co-design approach, INITIATE will design an approach for institution transformation that will reflect on the current needs and resources of the institution, external elements such as policy barriers, good practices from other initiatives and identification of possible collaboration areas with other institutions including local ecosystems. Through iterative process and R&I Labs supported by online tools such as Knowledge Hub, INITIATE will generate policy recommendations for helping stimulate R&I development and scientific excellence in Widening countries, in addition to research outputs and creation of joint applications for other funding sources (e.g. Horizon Europe). The approach will be demonstrated in Croatia, Portugal and North Macedonia. This will finally result in a roadmap for long term uptake of R&I in widening countries with identified replication cases and forming of the Alliance for green energy transition that will assure the long-term sustainability of INITIATE results.

UKIM/FEEIT is responsible for implementing one pilot project aimed at demonstrating an institutional transformation by following the INITIATE approach. The transformation should contribute to improving the scientific excellence of UKIM/FEEIT, strengthening its research capacities, enhancing its international networking and advancing its position in the innovation ecosystem.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Prof. d-r Dimitar Tashkovski

 

 

Supporting European R&I Through stakeholder collaboration and institutional reform (INITIATE)
Duration:

01.02.2024 – 31.07.2027

 

Programme:

Horizon Europe HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-03-01: European Excellence Initiative

The goal of the EvolvEV project is to raise the technical and entrepreneurial capacities of students and young engineers in the field of electric vehicles, by developing free, flexible, modular and goal-oriented courses that will direct students to the development of new business ideas. The project comes in the wake of the European Union’s commitment to the decarbonization of the transport sector, established by the adoption of the ban on the production of cars and vans that have exhaust gases after 2035. At the same time, the project aims to contribute to reducing the knowledge and skills gap between Europe and Asia, on the one hand, and between Southeast Europe and Western Europe, on the other. In addition to the e-learning platform, a contribution to raising technical and entrepreneurial capacities will also be made through workshops by international experts. The knowledge imparted through the e-learning platform and workshops will serve students as a basis for developing innovative business plans. Within the framework of the project, teams will be formed which, in consultation with an international panel of experts, will work on developing business plans. At the end of the project, national and international competitions will be organized where the teams will present their ideas to a panel of experts. Through these activities, the project addresses one main goal of combating climate change and two specific goals: stimulating innovative learning and teaching practices and supporting digital green skills in the field of higher education. UKIM/FEEIT is responsible for developing part of the materials for the educational platform and is also responsible for coordinating the activities related to dissemination and exploitation of the project results, including organization of workshops, promotional events and developing of a sustainability strategy.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Assist. Prof. d-r Vladimir Gjorgievski

 

Supporting the evolutive expansion of technical and entrepreneurial knowledge sets for electric vehicle technologies – EvolvEV
Duration:

01.12.2023 – 30.11.2025

 

Programme:

ERASMUS+ Programme, Key Action 2-Cooperation Partnerships

The goal of the project is to develop materials and tools to support the education related to renewable energies, circular economy and sustainable development for various target groups. The study materials for the classical education will be based on the common experiences and good practices of the project partners. The process will include innovative approaches in teaching, using the benefits of new technologies and following the principles of open access for all developed materials. Project partners will also work on developing teaching materials for engineers and other professionals working in the energy sector with the aim to prepare them for active participation in the energy transition.  Furthermore, the project partners will develop materials for the wider community, aiming to raise the awareness of the need for the energy transition and the European Green Deal goals.

The project envisages organization of trainings for various target groups. The trainings will be based on the developed education materials, but at the same time, the trainings will serve to provide feedback from the participants on the effectiveness of the trainings. The sustainability of the process is an essential requirement, so all the tools and materials shall remain available throughout and after the end of the project.

 

UKIM/FEEIT team plays a key role in this project, leading one Work Package and several project tasks and participating in almost all project Work Packages. Considering the traditional cooperation with the industry, our team is responsible for development of materials for upgrading knowledge and skills of engineers and other professionals working in industry. The team is also responsible for development of packet of learning materials for higher education as well as materials for the project trainings.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Assoc. Prof. d-r Petar Krstevski

TRANSITion to sustainable future through training and education (TRANSIT)
Duration:

01.10.2022-30.09.2025

 

Programme:

HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-02-02

Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply –

Sustainability and educational aspects for renewable energy and renewable fuel technologies

The aim of the project is to develop and implement tools and measures that will contribute to increased reliability, resilience and defence of Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES) against a growing number of natural and man-made threats. The experiences related to operation, control and maintenance of EPES indicate increased need for implementation of advanced tools and measures that would minimize potential risks, especially the ones related to transmission and distribution systems operation. The integration of dispersed generation into distribution systems imposes additional strain on operation and maintenance of these systems and increases the need to implement real-time control measures. To address these issues, R²D² develops 1) Multi-risk assessment framework for power system (C3PO), 2) Resilience suite for TSO and DSO (IRIS), 3) Prevention system for energy infrastructures security (PRECOG) and 4) Enhanced Assets Maintenance and Management (EMMA). These tools are developed and tested in cooperation between technology providers, operators of transmission and distribution systems and a regional security centre. Using this approach, the project creates tools that are applicable in all EPES parts. Furthermore, the process of tools development considers the existing regulatory frameworks, standards and business models, aiming to facilitate their wide-scale use. The UKIM team is comprised of a number of FEEIT researchers. The team has an important role in the project, especially in setting the foundations for the research and development of the project tools and in development of relevant recommendations that will facilitate the wide – scale implementation of the project tools. These activities include identification of the challenges and limits emerging from regulatory frameworks in the power and energy sector, relevant normative documents, operational practices and technical standards.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Prof. d-r Aleksandra Krkoleva Mateska

Reliability, Resilience and Defense technology for the grid (R2D2)
Duration:

01.10.2022-30.09.2025

 

Programme:

HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-02-07 Innovation Action

In the IDEA-East Hub project, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany, together with Universities from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and N. Macedonia proposes a concept for an International Innovation Center for Data Science and Renewable Energy – East (IDEA-East Hub). This center would add an impetus to the internationalization of the partner universities, which can ensure the stabilization of the capacities and the international visibility of the universities through intensive digital cooperation through mutually coordinated training programs, study programs and increased exchange of students and teaching staff, in order to effectively and to effectively promote innovation in education and research activities.

 

Innovation competitions and forums, innovation training and accompanying continuing education measures will sustainably involve all target groups at the universities in the internationalization process and increase the university’s competitiveness. The aim is also to anchor the measures of the program in the internationalization strategy 2025-2031 of the universities and thus to transfer them sustainably into the breadth of the university. The IDEA-EAST Hub project offers the opportunity to attract future young scientists and researchers to the universities and to bind strong partners to the universities in order to increase competitiveness in international academic and research projects. The leader of the project HSA has maintained intensive contacts in the target regions since its founding and regularly conducts student and academic exchanges. This is realized, among other things, with funds from the ERASMUS+ (KA 107), Eastern Partnerships and Study Internships (both DAAD) programs, as well as from various research funds in the areas of renewable energies, data science and IIoT. The use of digital media in innovation processes and in international collaboration is already used, for example in language training using the Rosetta Stone platform. The digital collaboration platforms Zoom and Webex are used intensively for transnational seminars and conferences as well as for the organization of innovation competitions with Ukraine. The IDEA-East digital collaboration platform will take these to a new dimension and bundle them with other digital offerings for all partners.

The project foresees great mobility of teaching and research staff (doctoral students) and students, educational, as well as trips for acquaintance and exchange of cultural values. Within the framework of the project, German and English language courses would be made available through the Rosetta Stone online platform, with the possibility of obtaining a corresponding language certificate (supported by Anhalt University). These courses would be available to invited researchers and students involved in the project or to the joint study programs of second cycle studies.

 

Organization and participation in conferences, workshops, joint preparations of digital platforms for collaboration, as well as preparation of digital publications and reports.

Mobility of teaching and research staff (doctoral students) and students, educational, as well as trips for familiarization and exchange of cultural values.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Prof. d-r Marija Kalendar

 

IDEA-East Hub: International Innovation Hub for Data Science and renewable Energy – East (IDEA-East Hub)
Duration:

01.01.2022 – 31.12.2025

 

Programme:

DAAD-Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Germany, Internationalisierung der Hochschulen für angewandte wissenschaften/ Fachhochschulen (HAW/FH) HAW.International (Module A und B), Germany

Space technology is any advanced technology used in space, including space vehicles, such as spacecraft, satellites, space stations and orbital launch vehicles; deep space communication; space propulsion; and a wide range of other technologies such as appropriate equipment and procedures for use in space. Although space technology has advanced rapidly in recent years, European countries still lack the human, technical and financial resources needed to carry out even the most basic space-related activities, such as meteorology, communications and natural resource management. Therefore, European higher education should develop the possibility of access to “space education” to its students.

The SpaceEdu project offers an opportunity for the development of innovative, inclusive and sustainable “space education” throughout Europe. It aims to form a partnership that will encourage and support the use of space technologies as an inspiring context for teaching and learning by addressing the necessary skills in the European space sector and improving awareness for the EU space program.

The project will develop and deliver teaching materials needed for space education at any level of the education system. The collaboration of four European partners working in different fields will bridge the gap between the different disciplines of space science. Professors and senior researchers will apply their teaching and research experiences and practices to reshape space education in Europe. One of the main results of SpaceEdu is to incorporate innovative educational methods and materials based on EdTech for space studies. Annual conferences in the field of space science and technology will be organized in order to promote and adapt space studies at all levels of national education systems.

The UKIM/FEIT team primarily focuses on introducing satellite and deep space communications into the space education platform. It will identify potential topics in the field of satellite and deep space communications and develop appropriate courses to reshape space science and technology education in the educational space of UKIM and other partner institutions/universities. The UKIM/FEIT student community will be involved in space science and space technology courses by participating in the Summer School “Space and Technology 4All”.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Prof. d-r Zoran Hadzi – Velkov

Reshaping the future of space education via multidisciplinary, inclusive, and sustainable learning and teaching activities (SpaceEdu)
Duration:

28.02.2022-27.02.2025

 

Programme:

Erasmus+

Stimulating market acceptance and action towards increasing demand for energy skills in construction through an innovative 3B approach (activities to increase Visibility, Validation and Value of skills).

North Macedonia has harmonized its energy efficiency policy with European legislation and has established national energy saving targets by 2030. In the construction sector, preparatory activities have been undertaken within the first and second project cycles: BuildUpSkills I, where the current situation and needs for qualified construction workers were defined, and the priority measures that need to be implemented identified; while in Build Up Skills BEET, new qualifications related to EE and the application of RES in buildings were introduced. The following TRAINEE project, in addition to construction workers, also included construction professionals with a higher level of qualifications.

The SEEtheSkills project is a continuation of the previous projects of the initiative. The main goal of the project is to act towards stimulating the demand for energy skills in the construction sector through an innovative 3V approach. Using previously developed and new or upgraded energy skills, the project aims to increase their visibility and availability in the market, as well as to enable their mutual recognition in partner countries and beyond. The 3V approach includes the visibility of skills through the formation of an integrated database of energy skills; validation of energy skills making them comparable in the project area for knowledge and skills management and through transfer and replication of training schemes between project partners; and increasing the value of skills by expressing the benefits of using energy skills to achieve building sustainability.

Specific project objectives are:

1) Increasing the visibility of skills through the establishment of a register of energy skills that will contain data from various sources;

2) Validation of the relevance of skills through linking and ranking of skills and their connection with national and European qualification standards, in order to enable mutual recognition;

3) Expressing the value of energy skills to certified professionals and companies.

 

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies is part of an international consortium with 10 partners, which has an active role in all phases of the project:

– the preparation and application phase,

– transfer of the methodology for recognition of previous learning,

– definition of procedure and criteria for mutual recognition, comparison and ranking of energy efficiency skills, based on defined qualification standards,

– putting into use an electronic tool for recognition of previous learning,

– formation of a concept for valuing sustainable energy skills through individual digital badges.

 

FEEIT Project Leader:

Prof. d-r Hristina Spasevska

 

 

Sustainable EnErgy Skills in construction: Visible, Validated, Valuable (SEEtheSkills)
Duration:

01.06.2021-31.05.2024

 

Programme:

Horizon 2020. Secure, clean and efficient energy LC-SC3-B4E-2-2020

Duration:

21.10.2021 -20.10.2024

Programme:

NATO SPS

Advanced UAV Based GPR Imaging Techniques for Explosive Detection

 

Prof. d-r Venceslav Kafedziski