Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem (BME, Hungary), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU, Germany), İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi (ITU, Turkey), Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS, Italy), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA, Italy), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
(UPM, Spain), Universitatea Politehnica din București (UPB, Romania) and three French graduate engineering schools -École des Ponts ParisTech, Mines ParisTech and Chimie ParisTech (both affiliated to Université PSL)-, together with our associated partner ENAEE (European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education), have joined forces to build a new European University Alliance under the name “European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance (EELISA)” – an alliance of institutions that represent more than 180,000 students and 50,000 graduates each year, 16,000 faculty members and 11,000 administrative staff.
Founded in ancient times with some landmarks that have lasted until our present times, modern engineering was born as an energetic sibling of Enlightenment and was, for three centuries, the best synonym for innovation. Engineering applies scientific progress to private and public needs and has been a cornerstone for the consolidation of our social contract. However, today, while technology opportunities and problems evolve faster than ever, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) vocations are in severe recession. European engineering education often struggles with innovative creation processes and does not fully connect to society:
We are all willing to bring European engineering education to its full potential.
EELISA is driven by a common understanding and motivation to overcome these challenges. As European higher education institutions in a rapidly changing world, we are all willing to bring European engineering education to its full potential – to democratize engineering by disseminating an engineering mind-set.
Universities should understand that their role within a society of “learners” is to guarantee valid scientific knowledge, to engage in transferring and rounding out this knowledge with practical skills, to become “curators” of a learning path for each person while protecting the wealth of diversity. Together, with excellence and effectiveness, EELISA partners are committed to inclusiveness, connectivity, knowledge transfer and sustainability. All core principles that will lead European Higher Education to the world’s stage.
Extract of EELISA MISSION STATEMENT. Enlargen, January 2020.