Awards

Leonardo Da Vinci Medal

The Leonardo da Vinci Medal is the highest distinction SEFI can bestow. The Medal is awarded by the SEFI Board of Directors to living persons who have made an outstanding contribution to engineering education, which has had an international significance.

Since its institution in 1983, the Medal has been awarded to:

  • Mr. Jacques Delors (France)
  • Prof. Heinz Zemanek (Austria)
  • Sir Monty Finniston † (United Kingdom)
  • Prof. John P. Klus † (USA)
  • Prof. Antonio  Ruberti † (Italy)
  • Prof. James C. I.  Dooge † (Ireland)
  • Prof. Hubert Curien † (France)
  • Sir Robert Telford † (United Kingdom)
  • Mr. Jean Gandois (France)
  • Prof. Fritz Paschke (Austria)
  • Prof. Olgierd C. Zienkiewicz † (United Kindom, Poland)
  • Prof. Teuvo Kalevi Kohonen (Finland)
  • Prof. Niklaus Wirth (Switzerland)
  • Senator Pierre Laffitte (France)
  • Prof. Niels I. Meyer (Denmark)
  • Mr. Santiago Calatrava (Spain, Switzerland)
  • Prof. Joaquim A. Ribeiro Sarmento (Portugal)
  • Prof. Giuliano Augusti (Italy)
  • Prof. Gulsun Saglamer (Turkey)
  • Prof. Ingemar Ingemarsson (Sweden)
  • Mr. Paul Soros (Hungary)
  • Prof. Ole Vinther (Denmark)
  • Prof. Jean Michel (France)
  • 2009 – H.R.H. Prince Friso van Oranje-Nassau (The Netherlands) †
  • 2010 – Prof. Dr. Konrad Osterwalder (Switzerland)
  • 2011 – Mr. Luis Ingnacio Lula da Silva (Brazil)
  • 2012 – Prof. Joseph Sifakis (Greece/France)
  • 2013 – Dr. Franck De Winne (Belgium)
  • 2014 – Dame Julia King (United Kingdom)
  • 2015 – Mr. Charles Champion (France)
  • 2016 – Mr. Markku Markkula (Finland)

Fellowship Award

The SEFI Fellowship Award recognises meritorious service to engineering education in Europe. Award recipients may use the expression “Fellow of SEFI” (F.SEFI) as a postscript to their name. The nominees are individual members of SEFI who have worked in the field of engineering education for at least five years.

SEFI Fellows are

2016 (Tampere)

  • Prof. Wim Van Petegem, KULeuven (B)
  • Prof. Burkards Alpers, Aalen University of Applied Sciences (D)

2015 (Orléans)

  • Dr. Kolmos, Aalborg University (DK)
  • Prof. Oliver Moracvik, Technical Univeristy of Bratislava (SLO)

2014 (Birmingham)

  • Prof. Borri, University of Florence (I)
  • Prof. Dominguez, University of Valladolid (E)
  • Prof. Radcliffe, Purdue Univeristy (USA)

2013 (Leuven)

  • Prof. Jones, Imperial College London (UK)
  • Prof. Avdelas, Aristotle University of Technology (GR)

2012 (Thessaloniki)

  • Prof. Boev, RAEE, Tomsk Polytechnic University (RU)
  • Dr. Korhonen, Director Education and Employment at TEK (FI)
  • Prof. Steinbach, President of TU Berlin (D)
  • Prof. Zandvoort, TU Delft (NL)

2011 (Lisbon)

  • Pierre Padilla, Ecole Nationale des Ingénieurs de Metz (F)
  • Michael Auer, IGIp (A)
  • Bohdan Macukow, Warsaw University of Technology (PL)

2010 (Trnava)

  • Frank Huband, ASEE (USA)
  • Prof. Gyula Patko, University of Miskolc (H)
  • Prof. Federico Flueckiger (CH)
     

2009 (Rotterdam)

  • Prof. Steffen Bohrmann, University of Applied Sciences Mannheim  (D)
  • Prof. Norbert Kraker, IGIP, (A)

2008 (Aalborg)

  • Prof. Victor de Kosinsky (B/UK)
  • Prof. TU Weck, Helsinki University of Technology (FI)

2007 (Miskolc) 

  • Dr. Ivan Gibson (IER)
  • Prof. Iacint Manoliu ,Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest (RO)
  • Prof. Leslie Mustoe, Loughborough University (UK)

2006 (Uppsala)

  • Dr. Jack Lohmann, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
  • Dr. Franz Reichl, Vienna University of Technology (A)
  • Prof. Alexander Van den Eijnde,Technical University of Eindhoven (NL)

2005 (Ankara)

  • Prof. Hans Kaiser, Vienna University of Technology (A)

2004 (Valencia)

  • Prof. Marinela Garcia, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES)
  • Dr. Otto Rompleman, Delft University of Technology (NL)

2003 (Porto)

  • Prof. Robert Gobin, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (B)
  • Prof. Gaston Wolf, University of Applied Sciences Winterthur (CH)

2002 (Florence)

  • Manfred Horvat, BIT Vienna (A)

2001 (Copenhagen)

  • Prof. Horst Hodel †, Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs NTB (CH)
  • Prof. Günter Kurz, University of Applied Sciences Esslingen (D)

2000 (Paris)

  • Dr. Guy Haug, CRE/EU Consultant, former SEFI Secretary General (F)

1999 (Winterthur/Zürich)

  • Dr. Kruno Hernaut, Siemens AG (D)
  • Prof. Brian Mulhall, University of Surrey (UK)
  • Dr. Joseph M. Steiner, Swinburne University of Technology (AUS)

1998 (Helsinki)

  • Prof. Andrzej Filipowski, Warsaw University of Technology (PL)
  • Prof. Auguste Laloux, Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (B)
  • Prof. Evan Petty, University of Limerick, (IRL)
  • Dr. Maria-Fernanda Ramalhoto, Instituto Superior Tecnico Lisboa (P)
  • Prof. Øle Vinther, Engineering College Copenhagen (DK)
  • Prof. Paavo Uronen, Helsinki University of Technology (FIN)
  • Prof. Zenon Waszczyszyn, Cracow University of Technology (PL)

1997 (Cracow)

  • Prof. David Jenkins, Oxford University (UK)
  • Mr. Vernon John, formerly University of Westminster (UK)
  • Mr. Edward Prosser, European Commission, former SEFI Secretary General (UK)
  • Prof. Peter Nüesch, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (CH)
  • Prof. Huib van Oort, Twente University, Enschede (NL)

1996 (Vienna)

  • Prof. Guliano Augusti, Università di Roma La Sapienza (I)
  • Prof. Alfred Hansen †, Danmarks Ingeniørakademi Lyngby (DK)
  • Prof. Torbjörn Hedberg, Luleå University of Technology (S)
  • Dr. Markku Markkula, Helsinki University of Technology (FIN)
  • Mr. Alan Smith, European Commission, former SEFI Secretary General (UK)

1995 (Compiègne)

  • Mr. Claude Comina, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
  • Mr. Gabriel Fragnière, former Rector European College, Bruges, first SEFI Secretary General (B)
  • Dr. Günter Heitmann, Technical University of Berlin (D)
  • Prof. Jean Michel, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris (F)
  • Prof. Philippe Olmer †, formerly INA Paris (F)
  • Prof. Niels Krebs Ovesen †, Danmarks Ingeniørakademi Lyngby (DK)
  • Prof. Lennart Råde †, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg (S)
  • Prof. Walter Schaufelberger †, ETH Zurich (CH)
  • Prof. Dieter Seitzer, University Erlangen-Nuremberg (D)
  • Prof. Georges Van der Perre, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (B)

Best Papers Awards

The Best Papers Award is selected by the attendees of each Annual Conference. There are two best paper categories, best paper for academics, and best paper among students. It is awarded the following year at the conference gala dinner.

Since its institution in 1983, the Medal has been awarded to:

2016

  • Best paper: Australian Indigenous Cultures in Engineering Education and Challenges of Minority by Goldfinch, Thomas; Jolly, Lesley; Leigh, Elyssebeth; Juliana Kaya, Prpic
  • Best paper written by students: A phenomenography of lecturing by Daniel, Scott; Mann, Llewellyn; Mazzolini, Alex

2015

  • 1st best Paper:  “Breaking the Habit—new approaches in Engineering Education” by L. Steuer, T. Berg and C. Leicht-Scholten from GDI/RWTH Aachen University in Germany
  • 2nd best paper ” Professors’ Perception of How Men and Women Students Experience Engineering Education Differently… Or Not” by K. Beddoes from Oregon State Uni-versity in Oregon, USA.

2014

2013

2012

  • 1st Best Paper Award: P. Hockicko
  • 2nd Best Paper Award: J. Chandran – A. Stojcevski
  • 3rd Best Paper Award: G. Spinelli – J. A. Perez


2010

  • 1st Best Paper Award: Aura Tuulia Paloheimo – Pirjo Helena Putila – Piija Simpanen
  • 2nd Best Paper Award: Gudrun Kammasch – Susanne Ihsen – Brent K. Jesiek – Kacey Beddoes
  • 3rd Best Paper Award: Ellen Sjoer – Arne Kullbjer – Ingrid Nyman – Adrienne Horan – Emma O´Brien – Eva Perez
  • Best Student Paper Award: Christel Heylen

2009

  • Innovative practice: Anita Thaler and Isabel Zorn – Austria and Germany: “Attracting teenagers to engineering by participatory music technology design”
  • Research and Reflection on Practice: Eddie Conlon and Henk Zandvoort – Ireland and The Netherlands: “Broadening Ethics Teaching in Engineering: Beyond the Individualistic Approach”
  • Research in Engineering Education: Deborah Tully and Betty Jacobs – Australia: “Effects of single gender mathematics classrooms on self perception of mathematical ability and post secondary engineering paths: an Australian case study”

Award for the best PHD Thesis in Engineering Education

The SEFI has launched a competition for thesis at PhD level. The aim of the competition is to stimulate and reward initiatives leading to improvements of Engineering Education.

In order to be accepted, the subject of the thesis must be capable of being classified under the topic: ‘Engineering Education’. The thesis must have been officially accepted or approved by the applicant’s teaching establishment, member of SEFI, during the three academic years previous to the year of the competition.

The winners so far:

2013 – “Socially Competent Leadership – predictors, impacts and skilling in engineering”, Dr. Pia Lappalainen, Aalto University

SEFI Francesco Maffioli Award

The Award is to commemorate 37 years of outstanding support and major contributions to the Society of the late Professor Francesco Maffioli, reflecting his passion for cooperation with engineering students and ensuring they had a voice in the development of engineering education in the future.

The winners so far:

2014 – Board of European Students of Technology—BEST, represented by President, Mathieu Vandenberghe