As part of its mission to bridge academic disciplines and connect students with real-world challenges, EELISA Community SusBCC hosted a unique international activity in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). Centered on Facility Management, sustainability, and innovation of built environments, the programme brought together students from diverse academic backgrounds to explore how buildings and infrastructure can be designed and managed more effectively, even in extreme contexts like space.
Among the participants were Mónica del Río, an architecture student from ETSAM-UPM, and Balázs Fürtön, a PhD candidate from BME.
In their own words, they share what it meant to step out of the classroom and into an interdisciplinary and intercultural challenge where curiosity, creativity, and collaboration were the tools of choice.
Mónica del Río (ETSAM – UPM)
“At university we are often unaware of the many paths architecture can lead us to.”
“This June, I decided to enroll in an EELISA activity at the ESA. The word that caught my attention was Facility Management, as at university we are often unaware of the many paths architecture can lead us to.
At first, I wasn’t exactly sure how the course would be, but once I entered the campus, I felt it was going to be a truly different experience. I had the opportunity to connect with international students who, unlike me, were not studying architecture. At first, I thought this would be challenging, but in the end, we became a great team.”
The experience of working across disciplines was a highlight for Mónica:
“We had a lot of fun tackling the challenges presented by the experts, and I also had the chance to look at the building process through an engineering lens, since all my teammates were engineers.
The masterclasses allowed me not only to learn about the science behind Facility Management, but also to meet professionals working in the field. They shared their personal perspectives with us, and I had the chance to speak with them more deeply about the future career paths for an architect.
“The visits were also very inspiring — especially those at ESA, which sparked our natural human curiosity about space, innovation, and all the systems that support life beyond Earth.”
Her group’s final Hackathon proposal addressed one of the ESA campus’s greatest needs: outdoor comfort.
“We proposed a large-covered garden with a closed water cycle and solar panels to generate energy sustainably. To our surprise and pride, we were awarded the ESA Prize, the Most Trusted Building Award, and First Prize in the Hackathon.
Overall, this experience was incredibly rewarding for me. I connected with international students from different academic backgrounds… It was inspiring to step out of my comfort zone and work alongside people with such different perspectives.
But what I value the most is how this experience reminded me to stay curious, open-minded, and ready to embrace new opportunities in the future.”
Balázs Fürtön (BME)
“It was like picking up an ongoing conversation.”
“I have participated in this workshop before, and it was a memorable experience. This year I arrived a few days early, which gave me time to explore the city with my peers, walk through Retiro Park, and visit the Caixa Forum and the Prado.
The heat was striking… and it naturally led to conversations about urban summers, the heat island effect, and what could be done at home to address it. In a way, those early exchanges set the tone for the week ahead.”
When the program began, familiar faces greeted him:
“I was greeted by the same organizing team from two years earlier, Sergio and Carolina. Their familiar, warm welcome made it feel like picking up an ongoing conversation.”
Highlighting the Energy workshops:
“On Tuesday, I co-led a session titled Net Zero Energy Buildings, working with a group of students from Madrid, Istanbul, and Budapest. I shared ideas, but also learned from the varied perspectives of architecture and engineering students. Their engagement reminded me why I value these exchanges so much.”
Visits to IBM and UPM labs added further depth:
“While much of the latter’s work was familiar to me, the visits reinforced how shared themes are approached differently across institutions.”
During the Hackathon, he worked with Team 8:
“We earned third place overall and, to our surprise, won the audience award by a wide margin.”
But for Balázs, the biggest takeaway was the need for sustained, linked efforts:
“One week is too short to develop truly deep solutions to complex problems. Perhaps the future lies in linked programs, where the same project continues across different locations and times.
That change of pace is vital — it keeps me motivated in my teaching and research, and prevents the routine of everyday work from settling in and swamping me.
We also discussed the future of EELISA, and I truly hope the program continues. It shows how structured international collaboration can leave a lasting impact — not only on the projects themselves, but on the people who take part.”
About Mónica
Mónica Del Río is a Spanish Architecture student at the Universidad Politécnica Madrid (UPM). She is passionate about urbanism and heritage, exploring how memory and place can shape resilient, people-centered cities.
About Balázs
Balázs Fürtön is a Hungarian architect and PhD student at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
He has extensive professional experience with designing and visualising environmentally conscious buildings and heritage renovation.
His research is investigating Hungarian building typologies with a novel energy performance assessment method, spanning the fields of architecture, BIM, building physics and architectural visualisation.