Unite! Seed Fund: Versatile Engineers of the Future
How should we educate engineers who are ready for the challenges of today’s world? Students from 4S – Soft Skills Support Squad at Wrocław Tech are convinced that technical expertise alone is not enough.
Modern engineers need soft skills, the ability to work in teams, manage projects and navigate international environments. With this in mind, they created the project “Versatile Engineers of the Future”, funded by the Unite! Seed Fund and carried out in cooperation with three universities in the alliance: Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino and Universidade de Lisboa.
Three countries, three camps, one goal
The project consisted of three training camps. The first stop was Lisbon (27 February – 3 March 2025), where 24 participants were introduced to entrepreneurship, business ideation and project management. The highlight of the week was a hands-on workshop in which international teams developed start-up concepts addressing real social challenges.
In Turin (18–23 March 2025), the programme took a more technical turn. The host, H2Polito – a student club specialising in low-emission vehicles – opened its garages to participants, who tested a hydrogen-powered vehicle simulator and attended lectures delivered by engineers working on the mobility solutions of the future.
The final stage took place in Wrocław (2–6 April 2025). Here, students from 4S led workshops on personality types and team roles, helping participants better understand their strengths and how they function in groups. The programme continued with practical project-management training – from scheduling to risk analysis – and concluded with sessions on leadership and team dynamics, including delegation models and the “Five Dysfunctions of a Team.”
To round things off, each international group developed a case study proposing a project that could extend the initiative. The concept that gained the most recognition was “ReUNITE!” – a mobile team of students visiting Unite! partner universities and supporting them in implementing good practices developed during the programme.
Collaboration that leaves a mark
The project showcases how technical education is evolving:
“It’s not enough to be good with numbers; you also need to know how to work well with others. I think we proved that, with encouragement and support from Unite!, students can build their own learning space that responds both to market needs and to our own ambitions"
The next call for the Unite! Seed Fund will be announced in a few weeks, with applications open until mid-March.