14.06.2018. MF UNZE: NEW STUDY PROGRAM APPROVED AT THE GOVERNMENT ZDK

The new study department "Design and technologies in wood processing - DTD" which is planned to be opened at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Zenica was presented at the meeting of the ZDK Government on June 14, 2018. After the opening address of Minister Sinanović, who gave the basic indications of the work on this Elaborate, it was presented by the head of the team for its preparation, Prof. Dr. D. Petković. The appointee emphasized that the future study program at UNZE is based on the long-standing tradition of this study in Switzerland and Germany, that is, at the universities of Rosenheim and Bern. For many years, there has been a lack of highly skilled personnel in the field of wood processing in BiH who would be able to develop this sector on the new basis as it is developing in the world today (design and production of energy-efficient houses, design and production of interiors, furniture, floors and Ph.D.). Modern processing technologies based on CNC basics, the global trend of shortening the time from development to product placement, new design solutions, are just some of the determinants of today's furniture industry and the woodworking sector in the world. Numerous studies have shown that BIH has a more than solid basis for the development of this production when it comes to natural conditions. The raw material base is there and it should be processed in an adequate way with the aim that as little as possible goes as a raw material base for the industries of other countries. However, in all these studies, the lack of personnel with the required competencies for today's wood processing and production of a varied range of products is almost always mentioned, which, in addition to professional competencies in the field of wood processing, also includes a number of generic competencies (active knowledge of foreign languages, ICT technology, teamwork, multidisciplinary knowledge, etc.). The target employment market for future graduates of woodworking engineers are production companies in the field of woodworking and the furniture industry. As pointed out by the Prime Minister of ZDK M. Galijašević, the region of Central Bosnia alone has almost 200 SMEs with almost 3000 employees engaged in wood processing, and the number of systems that employ hundreds of workers in this area is also increasing (Tamex, Secom, FIS Ambienta, Artisan , MS Wood et al.). The furniture industry and the woodworking sector in BiH, after the post-war stagnation, is developing intensively today and has already reached exports of almost 1.5 billion KM, and ZDK participates significantly in this value. In this sense, further growth in the number of employees is expected in this sector, which suffers from a chronic lack of the most qualified personnel with modern knowledge for production. It is important to emphasize that this study department was also supported by the EU through the Pro_local program and the RIPEUD project - Development of an innovative process of education and networking in the field of wood processing in Central Bosnia. The plan for the coming years is for this study program to be the first study program that will follow the dual education model preferred by the most developed EU countries (Germany, Austria and Denmark) and Switzerland. In this sense, UNZE plans to launch one of the international projects with ZDK that will legally regulate this area in ZDK as one of the first cantons in FBIH that clearly accepts the importance of vocational education fully adapted to the needs of the labor market. The draft for launching the DTD study was unanimously adopted and referred to the ZDK Assembly for further procedure.