Author: Denise Whitehead

The 2022 WTUN Student Competition is now closed.

We received 26 entries this year from students across the world who came up with new ideas to combat WTUN’s 5 chosen priority UN SDGS:

– Affordable and Clean Energy
– Climate Action
– Clean Water and Sanitation
– Sustainable Cities and Communities
– Gender Equality

This year the teams have the opportunity to win cash prizes and present their winning ideas at the upcoming WTUC 2022 at Suranaree University of Technology in Thailand.

Best of luck to all of our entrants and remember to check back for the winners.

We aim to have informed the winning team(s) and all applicants by 11 August.

For more information about the activity, please visit the Student Competition page.

WTUN have now closed their second annual student competition.

We received 24 entries this year from students across the world who came up with new ideas to combat WTUN’s 4 priority UN SDGS:
– Climate Action
– Clean Water and Sanitation
– Affordable and Clean Energy
– Sustainable Cities and Communities.

This year the teams will have the opportunity to win cash prizes and present their winning ideas at the upcoming WTUC 2021!

Best of luck to all of our entries and remember to check back for the winners.

For more information about the activity, please visit the Student Competition page.

WTUC 2021 is almost here and we are open for registrations.

Once again, WTUC will be held online but this year our members will be hosting different sessions across the week commencing 18 October 2021.

Sessions will include presentations and discussions around:
– Climate Action
– University Social Responsibility Practices and Strategies
– UN SDGs – how is the progress going in your country?
– International Student Collaboration projects

and more.

For more information check out the WTUC 2021 page.

This year only registered delegates will receive meeting links so please register before Friday 15 October 2021 to receive the Zoom links.

WTUN are running a series of 3 webinars over July 2020 to share how technology universities have been working during a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has had huge impacts on how we function.

For more information on dates, times and speakers visit the July Webinars page.

The annual WTUN exchanges programme is now open for applications.

Each member institution is welcome to submit up to 2 proposals for assessments.

This year WTUN would like to encourage two-way and multi-way exchanges. For the further information please visit the exchanges page.

We also welcome applications that are continuations of impact that has come from the previous rounds of exchanges.

We look forward to your submissions.

The Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT), in Japan and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH Upper Austria), are the latest institutions to join the World Technologies University Network (WTUN).

They join Koforidua Technical University, in Ghana, which also joined WTUN during 2019, to form a thriving network of 25 technology-focused institutions from every continent. Each member is committed to working collectively and collaboratively to develop pragmatic and sustainable solutions to global challenges.

In particular, both SIT and FH Upper Austria are firmly focused on the benefits of international networking to provide the best-possible opportunities for students as well as delivering world class research.

Benefits to WTUN membership include opportunities to take part in exchanges and collaborative research, as well as making links between institutions, industry, NGOs and SMEs. Our annual congress, hosted by one of the member institutions, offers valuable opportunities to keep up-to-date with WTUN activities and acts as a springboard for new collaborations.

Professor Brian Cantor, Chair of WTUN, said: “We’re delighted to welcome these three new members to the WTUN network. Each of them will bring distinctive strengths that will enable us to pursue our overall aims of bringing together the collective technology research power of our members to address some of the worlds most complex and systemic challenges.”

Shibaura Institute of Technology, in Japan, is one of the country’s top global universities, focusing on  nurturing practical engineers to lead Japan’s industrial development. Founded in 1927, SIT has three campuses, two in Tokyo, and one in Saitama, about 30 km to the north of the capital. The Institute’s philosophy of ‘learning through practice’ informs teaching and research across its four faculty with a firm emphasis on developing competent, skilled and creative individuals capable of making a sustainable contribution to society.

Shibaura’s president, Professor Masato Murakami, “WTUN draws together like-minded institutions with an emphasis on global exchange programmes and partnerships. As well as opening up opportunities for students, we hope that, through our membership of WTUN, we will be able to extend our research capabilities – this is key for increasing our ranking both globally and regionally. We’re also very pleased that SIT’s emphasis on gender equality is also a priority for the WTUN and we’re looking forward to joining with WTUN’s initiatives in this important area.”

The University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH Upper Austria) is the country’s strongest university of applied sciences in terms of research. It has 6,000 students studying at campuses in Hagenberg, Linz, Steyr and Wels and brings in research grants worth around €20M per year. The university’s strengths in technology, including AI, energy and renewable energy, medical engineering and food technology, make it an important partner for companies both in Austria and neighbouring countries.

The University also has a strong focus on international collaboration, fostering a large network of around 250 partners across all five continents. Membership of the WTUN will enable the University to further strengthen its collaborations in technology and engineering research.

Dr. Günther Hendorfer, co-ordinating WTUN activities at FH Upper Austria, said:  “We’re very much looking forward to engaging in joint research programmes across all of our areas of research expertise. We’re also keen to invite WTUN specialists to come and talk to our students in our new PhD college that is currently under construction and to taking part in the WTUN Student Competition.

“A priority for FH Upper Austria is to ensure that we have sufficient qualified engineers – intiatives such as WTUN could be really valuable in developing a common approach to bringing new young people into the field of engineering.“

We are happy to announce that Professor Shirley Congdon has taken up her post as Vice-Chancellor at WTUN’s Network Host, University of Bradford.

Shirley, who has been an active member of the Operational Board and will now sit on the General Board, is the first female Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford. She was previously DVC (Academic) and she has over 28 years’ experience in the higher education sector. During that time, she has worked at several universities and undertaken a number of significant strategic leadership roles, including Head of Department at Teesside University and Dean of School and Director of Academic Delivery at Liverpool John Moores University.

Read more about Shirley’s appointment.