THE RAILWAY AND THE TRANSPORTS DEPARTMENT KEEP UP THE RAILWAY TRADITION
TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGY
Continued from the previous issue
The emergence of higher education in transportation has
required, over the years, the establishment of departments specifically for this domain.
While in the last issue we have talked about the Transportation Department in general,
today we will remind you the essential characteristics of that give a special importance
to other two departments - Transportation Technology, and Remote Control and Electronics
in Transportation - as part of the Transportation Department.
The Transportation Department has had many names over the years:
Railway Exploitation (1948-1959), Organisation of Railway Transportation (1959-1963),
Railway Transportation Technology (1963-1972), Technology and Transportation and Railway
Remote Control (1972-1990). After February 1990, the faculty returned to Transportation
Technology, until 1992/1993, as part of the Electromechanical profile, and starting with
this year the profile will be called Transportation Engineering. Professors coordinate
specialisation activity of post-university classes - in-depth specialisation - masters and
doctors degrees (founded in 1968).
Specialists in transportation engineering are offered in the first two
years a general and fundamental technical training, in accordance with international
practice. The principle of credits can earn student promotion into the second cycle of
study (years III - IV). If the student does not accumulate 120 points, he completes the
studies and receives a cycle 1 graduation certificate.
In the third year, studies continue on the general disciplines, but
separation toward two branches of study is accomplished:
a) technology, traffic, management of transportation logistics;
b) economic engineering in transportation.
Once they complete the 4th year, students who do not qualify for passage into
the next year (those who do not have the average grade in the first four years above
seven) and do not pass the graduation test can obtain a graduation certificate - C2, but
not an engineering degree.
If students obtain the required credits and the average grade in the
first four years above or equal to seven, they obtain the license diploma and the engineer
title - D Diploma, and in case their fail license examinations and the diploma project,
they receive a C3 engineer certificate.
Long-term courses are meant to form specialists both for the
transportation area and for perspective studies fundamenting the process of restructuring
and development in transportation. They can be good managers in basic units, as well as in
companies or national companies that have transportation as the fundamental objective.
Of course, obtaining an engineer’s diploma does not end organised
study entirely. On the contrary, those willing can undergo specialisation classes -
Transportation Logistics - where they receive knowledge about: the strategy of
restructuring in transportation infrastructure; management of logistics and transportation
engineering; operational research; computer simulation of traffic flows; and communication
science. On request, post-university classes are organised for the Management of
transportation logistics, and to establish specialists with a high scientific standing,
the Doctorate degree in Transportation Technology is organised.
Short-term courses train specialists for execution/operative levels,
where they can lead various groups. They undergo courses in fundamental disciplines,
general techniques and technologies. Amplified by specialised knowledge on transportation
systems, transportation technology, commercial exploration, transportation terminals, etc.
After graduation, they can be hired by national and commercial companies specialised in
transportation. They can also work as agents of transport operators or as customs
operators.
At the Urban Traffic specialisation, training is specific, and
graduates can be hired as traffic inspectors, traffic dispatchers and in other positions
specific to urban transportation.
In the end, we can say that the mission of the Transportation
Technology engineer is very delicate, since he has to make decisions that are not based on
the easiest solution, but on valid ideas in a long-term perspective, with positive
outcomes in the future.
REMOTE CONTROLS AND ELECTRONICS IN TRANSPORTATION
Year 1954 brought about the historic debut of the
Remote Controls and Electronics in Transportation chair. As part of the Electronics and
Telecommunications Department, in that year is founded the Railway Centralisation and
Signalling section, which would include the Railway Remote Controls section, which existed
since 1948 within the Railways Institute. Of course, reorganising higher education, when
the Railway Institute was dissolved and the Transportation Department was founded at the
Polytechnic Institute, has concentrated everything here. This is how the former Remote
Controls Section gained in 1990 the name “Remote Controls and Electronics in
Transportation”, and trains electronics engineers, in day courses (5 years) and
evening courses (6 years).
In 1996, along with the changes in the education plan, three in-depth
directions are established: A - railway and road transportation, B - air and naval
transportation, and C - data transmissions. After 1997, students are granted the
opportunity to enlist to masters/in-depth studies (day courses, 6th year).
The restructuring of the education plan last year has benefited the
graduates and has given them a greater chance to adapt to the requirements of this sector.
At the same time, the students can accumulate basic knowledge in all transport types, as
the three in-depth directions of study have widened the spectrum of their activity -
software engineering, computer networks, data transmission - with applications specific to
transportation. Thus, in the first two years (cycle I) and partially in the 3rd
year, the education plan includes general and fundamental disciplines in the electronic
profile. This cycle ends with a C1-type certificate. Years 3 and 4 (cycle II) are for
specialised training. At the end of the 4th year, the student can opt for a C2
certificate, and after passing a diploma project, the D1 diploma. The 5th year
includes mandatory, optional and facultative disciplines along the three directions of
in-depth studies. Cycle II can be completed after the license examination with the C3
certificate, and after passing the D, 
diploma project, with the title of diplomat engineer.
The 6th year, with in-depth studies (with admittance by
contest), gives the graduate a specialisation at post-university studies level.
It must be pointed out that diplomas of the graduates of Remote
Controls and Electronics in Transportation are appreciated and offer many job
opportunities in the country and abroad. The education plan is based on similar systems to
those in prestigious technical universities abroad, and teachers have a high qualification
and specialisation. Another fact worth mentioning is that these graduates can work with
various attributions both in high school education and in higher education, as managers.
The chair has more than 50 positions, with 25 titular professors and
more than 10 associated teachers, as well as improvement for doctorate degree (since
1990).
We can say that the graduates’ performances
are owed to the quality of the teachers, who have undergone specialised courses in
England, Canada, France, Italy, Greece. We made this remark because it is related to the
graduates’ estimation, who are catalogued as specialists in transportation, but are
able to work in other sectors - telecommunications, automation, army, industry, etc. Some
of them (of which seven former teachers) are working abroad in the USA, Canada, France,
South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, etc. The average age of chair members is 35 years, and
of the 25 professors, ten are Doctors.
The chair’s material base is permanently developed with equipment
coming from scientific research contracts.
In parallel with the efforts taken by the teachers to elaborate
teaching materials (courses, laboratory instructions, problem books), scientific materials
and patents, this has dictated the orientation to other lines of specialisation, such as:
the shift to static switching and the development of remote control and traffic control
based on computing equipment.
Of course, all of this has left a mark in the professional training of
the Remote Controls and Electronics specialisation, which enjoy great appreciation
everywhere.
Oana Bran
