"Technical Visits for Aerospace Engineering students"

In this service learning project, students are given the opportunity to participate in a series of company visits with companies, organizations, and institutions in the area of Aerospace Engineering.

A proven method for sparking a student’s interest in aerospace engineering careers is to connect them with individuals and workplaces that best embody the career possibilities. By immersing students in an aerospace environment, we are giving them the opportunity to imagine their potential future.

The program aims at giving students, who will soon enter the workforce, direct exposure to the company, its business culture, the working environments, the different departments and its employees and managers.

By visiting companies, students are able to get direct exposure to companies that are leading their industries. Students hear from the employees that are developing and executing innovative management strategies and tour the companies’ facilities. At each visit, students have extensive interactions with company representatives.

Students gain great insights into how each business works, their unique cultures, and how different roles and functions work together within companies.

The organizing and implementing committee is formed of 3 students, and the benefits that we have gained from this experience are:

  • Going through the whole organizational cycle (planning, research questions, implementation, contacting companies);
  • Working with professional teams from companies;
  • Understanding the importance of aerospace industries;
  • Experience the high energy of aerospace business environment.

During a typical company visit, students will have the opportunity to:

  • Engage with potential future employers;
  • Experience the high energy of aerospace business environment;
  • Gain an in-depth understanding of aerospace-related job opportunities.

A standard visit lasts 2-4 hours, but each company and student group has the opportunity to customize the visit based on the needs of both parties.

The structure of the event is flexible but may include a company overview presentation, job shadowing, student/employee interaction and a question and answer session.

"Blood Donation"

In This service learning project, students are given the opportunity to be part of a large-scale project focused on an information and public awareness campaign regarding the importance of blood donation (concentrated on students as target audience), followed by a 5-day event - “Blood means Life” (in partnership with Blood Transfusion Center), during which the students and the university professors alongside any other willing people donate blood.

The main objective of this campaign is to improve the blood supply by mobilizing students as public sensitive to a message of this type; also, winning new supporters for the campaign is important as well. The project has a tradition of almost 10 years; it started in 2006 and ever since, 2 editions are organized each year. The main target group are students from University Politehnica of Bucharest and their teachers; a secondary target group is represented by the entire population (with the help of journalists);

The organizing and implementing committee is formed of 25 students, they benefit from this experience by:

  • Going through the whole organizational cycle (planning, research questions, implementation, contacting partners and sponsors, disseminate information);
  • Working together with a professional team from Blood Transfusion Center (doctors, nurses);
  • Having to argue why donating blood is a vital practice nowadays;
  • Saving lives through their commitment and dedication;
  • Training skills in presentations (presentation design, participant observation, oratorical skills);
  • Training soft skills (communication, teamwork and collaboration, adaptability, positive attitude, flexibility) when interacting with the other team members and also with the students (during the informing campaigns or during the donation event).

All in one, the project raises awareness of the importance of blood donation and information about EU rules, by creating a significant media impact and PR (the campaign mobilized many people and the volume of dedicated materials distributed increases with every edition); nevertheless, the number of people donating blood increased by 5% with every edition of the event.

Benefits can be drawn also for the students (and not only) from the target group:

  • Donors benefit of a set of blood tests, measurement of blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate;
  • For working donors, a day off will be granted; also, everyone receives vouchers to compensate for the lost blood;
  • Donors become heroes and they can save up to 3 lives, since their blood is decomposed in the main components.
  • Typically, students have a lack of awareness about the importance of blood donation; they will learn and understand the necessity of this practice and they will disseminate information to friends and family.