The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca in Romania bestows honor upon Dr. Jonathan Loeffler
The Technical University in the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca has awarded Dr. Jonathan Loeffler, director of Steinbeis 2i, an honorary professorship (Prof. Honoris UTCN). The university announced the award in recognition of his commitment and personal contributions to the setting up of Danube Transfer Centers in Romania and other countries along the Danube region. The aim of this Steinbeis initiative is to bolster the competitiveness of economic players along the Danube region based on the Steinbeis model.
The professorship honoris causa was awarded in the presence of a large audience at the Technical University by Prof. Dr. Nicolae Burnete, President of the Senate, on October 9. “I am proud that our efforts are bearing fruit and this is now receiving strong recognition,” said Jonathan Loeffler at the award ceremony. “And I’m particularly pleased at the way the support provided by the professional team at the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum over the years has enabled us to acquire numerous European projects – measures that go hand-in-hand with our collaboration in the Danube region. It’s thanks to their dedication that we have succeeded in hauling European funding on board, plus lots of other initiatives.”
SOURCE OF IDEAS FOR TRANSNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
As part of the “Less Developed Regions” initiative in Romania, Jonathan Loeffler also provides expert support to the General Director of Regional Policy and Urban Development on behalf of the European Commission. Since 2012, he has been working to bolster the competitiveness of companies in the Danube region and is a source of ideas for many transnational partnerships.
One example is in Cluj-Napoca, where the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum (SEZ) and Steinbeis 2i offer a number of programs to foster knowledge sharing and technology transfer.
Both Steinbeis Enterprises are members of a variety of networks including the Transylvania IT Cluster and Cluster Mobilier Transilvan. They also provide support on submitting EU applications for research projects in Cluj-Napoca and form a close partnership with the Danube Transfer Center in Cluj-Napoca (DTC), particularly thanks to its director, Professor Sorin Popescu. For example through their involvement in an Interreg project called Made in Danube, the project partners have enabled stakeholders in the area to gain access to research results in the field of bio-economics. They have, also introduced measures to support business startups as part of the Danube-Chance 2.0 project.
TRANSFER CENTERS IN THE DANUBE REGION: LOCAL ONE-STOP SHOPS
Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum first initiated the setting up of Danube Transfer Centers in 2012 with the aim of bolstering the competitiveness of business stakeholders in the Danube region. The experts were initially backed by the State Ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The network now includes members in Cluj-Napoca und Bucharest (Romania), Nitra (Slovakia), Novi Sad (Serbia), Maribor (Slovenia), Gyor (Hungary), Ruse and Sofia (Bulgaria), and Vukovar and Zagreb (Croatia). The one-stop shops set up through the partners allow industry and stakeholders in innovation to gain better access to know-how and the resources offered by the scientific community.
Contact
Anette Mack (author)
Senior Manager Public Relations
Steinbeis 2i GmbH (Stuttgart)
https://www.steinbeis-europa.de/dtc
http://dtcnetwork.eu/