Business is not a 'terra incognita' for future engineers at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch
"If our student has an engineering idea, can they turn it into their own business? How? This is what we want to teach future engineers right here at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch. Moreover, there is a need for new knowledge in entrepreneurship among our colleagues – lecturers, as well as other specialists working with us." – says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikola Shakev – Director of the Technical University Plovdiv Branch. He is leading the project B-KINETIC (Bridge Knowledge to Innovation: Entrepreneurial Training into HEI Communities), which started on April 1, 2025, and is funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. The project work will last for 3 years. Paulina Chotrova – Expert "Projects and Integration" at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch explains: "We have focused on 'igniting' the entrepreneurial spirit of our students. We support the creation of their own companies already at the university by providing mentorship and assisting them throughout the entire process of implementing their decisions. This is a project we are developing in two stages. The first stage is until the end of this year. One of the key elements in it are mentorship programs for various groups of people from the university."
Sometimes a little humor is not out of place even in entrepreneurship, as long as the desired result is achieved, believes Paulina Chotrova. Therefore, meetings for students interested in business are held every Wednesday from 18:00 to 21:00 and are called... "Pizza Evening". The motto of the evenings is: "Come for the pizza, stay for the people, and leave with the idea". Students like these meetings because they share ideas, successes, and difficulties in an informal setting. Guests from business, as well as lecturers and students from other universities, attend. The first part of the program will conclude with the presentation of business proposals to a jury and fellow students. The idea will also be evaluated by people from business. The goal is not only to assess the potential business but also to create a network of entrepreneurial and innovative people connected with the university. And there is already a result. This is the newly created company "Para Waste". It is owned by three students who study not only at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch. The subject of activity of "Para Waste" is waste management through artificial intelligence. In addition to waste management, they create a commercial space for companies – where waste can be processed, used in other production, or recycled. In the next stage, they want to create their own machine for waste processing. It is labor-intensive to find a market where to hand over or, even better – sell the waste, or find a partner. The three founders of the company have created an internal logistics system in which they turn things around – instead of the company looking for a company to come and pick up the waste, they give the opportunity for logistics companies to give the best offer if there are 10 tons of a certain waste available.
Other projects are related to robotics, to the so-called urban games, to the creation of a "Fish Primer" at the Technical University - Plovdiv branch, which will provide information about student life. Paulina Chotrova summarizes: "In a sense, our project is a maternity ward for ideas. But whether they will grow or remain only in the "womb" of the university laboratories, this depends most of all on the students and their teachers. The environment here minimizes the consequences of unsuccessful attempts to such an extent that young people can repeatedly try out their ideas."
During the second stage of the B-KINETIC project, students, teachers, and companies participating in it will work together on the issue of protecting intellectual property. The Technical University - Plovdiv branch has already received positive feedback from the European Intellectual Property Agency, which will provide its support with free information and courses for Bulgarian students. Paulina Chotrova shares that there are also students who do not want to share their ideas with everyone, but only with their mentors. Therefore, the developments and inventions of our students must be protected, and here they will learn how to do it, she says.
Each of the students participating in the seminars at the university will receive a guide on how to patent an idea and whether it is worth doing it from the very beginning of implementing their project. They will also learn how to create their own trademark. On this topic, the Technical University - Plovdiv branch is organizing an online workshop, to which it will invite students from other universities in Plovdiv and in Bulgaria.
plovdivnews.bg
"If our student has an engineering idea, can they turn it into their own business? How? This is what we want to teach future engineers right here at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch. Moreover, there is a need for new knowledge in entrepreneurship among our colleagues – lecturers, as well as other specialists working with us." – says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Nikola Shakev – Director of the Technical University Plovdiv Branch. He is leading the project B-KINETIC (Bridge Knowledge to Innovation: Entrepreneurial Training into HEI Communities), which started on April 1, 2025, and is funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. The project work will last for 3 years. Paulina Chotrova – Expert "Projects and Integration" at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch explains: "We have focused on 'igniting' the entrepreneurial spirit of our students. We support the creation of their own companies already at the university by providing mentorship and assisting them throughout the entire process of implementing their decisions. This is a project we are developing in two stages. The first stage is until the end of this year. One of the key elements in it are mentorship programs for various groups of people from the university."
Sometimes a little humor is not out of place even in entrepreneurship, as long as the desired result is achieved, believes Paulina Chotrova. Therefore, meetings for students interested in business are held every Wednesday from 18:00 to 21:00 and are called... "Pizza Evening". The motto of the evenings is: "Come for the pizza, stay for the people, and leave with the idea". Students like these meetings because they share ideas, successes, and difficulties in an informal setting. Guests from business, as well as lecturers and students from other universities, attend. The first part of the program will conclude with the presentation of business proposals to a jury and fellow students. The idea will also be evaluated by people from business. The goal is not only to assess the potential business but also to create a network of entrepreneurial and innovative people connected with the university. And there is already a result. This is the newly created company "Para Waste". It is owned by three students who study not only at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch. The subject of activity of "Para Waste" is waste management through artificial intelligence. In addition to waste management, they create a commercial space for companies – where waste can be processed, used in other production, or recycled. In the next stage, they want to create their own machine for waste processing. It is labor-intensive to find a market where to hand over or, even better – sell the waste, or find a partner. The three founders of the company have created an internal logistics system in which they turn things around – instead of the company looking for a company to come and pick up the waste, they give the opportunity for logistics companies to give the best offer if there are 10 tons of a certain waste available.
Other projects are related to robotics, to the so-called urban games, to the creation of a "Fish Primer" at the Technical University - Plovdiv branch, which will provide information about student life. Paulina Chotrova summarizes: "In a sense, our project is a maternity ward for ideas. But whether they will grow or remain only in the "womb" of the university laboratories, this depends most of all on the students and their teachers. The environment here minimizes the consequences of unsuccessful attempts to such an extent that young people can repeatedly try out their ideas."
During the second stage of the B-KINETIC project, students, teachers, and companies participating in it will work together on the issue of protecting intellectual property. The Technical University - Plovdiv branch has already received positive feedback from the European Intellectual Property Agency, which will provide its support with free information and courses for Bulgarian students. Paulina Chotrova shares that there are also students who do not want to share their ideas with everyone, but only with their mentors. Therefore, the developments and inventions of our students must be protected, and here they will learn how to do it, she says.
Each of the students participating in the seminars at the university will receive a guide on how to patent an idea and whether it is worth doing it from the very beginning of implementing their project. They will also learn how to create their own trademark. On this topic, the Technical University - Plovdiv branch is organizing an online workshop, to which it will invite students from other universities in Plovdiv and in Bulgaria.
plovdivnews.bg
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