Annual Report 2013-2014

ANNUAL
R E P O R T2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4
board of european students of technology

Board of European Students of Technology
Avenue Roger Vandendriessche 18
1150 Brussels
BELGIUM
BEST.eu.org
info@BEST.eu.org
facebook.com/BESTorg
flickr.com/photos/BESTorg
twitter.com/BESTorg
linkedin.com/company/best
Ricardo Nuno Oliveira
Coordinator
Patrícia Pires
Designer
Cenk Savaşçıoğulları
Photography Selection
Writers
Alejandro Sánchez Medina
Alexia Spyridonidou
Ana Rita Gonçalves
Ana Rosa
Çağrı Başaran
Corina Stirbu
Harald Rupprechter
Ioana Jivet
Javier Martin
João Pacheco
Judit Gyenese
Katerina Koutsonikoli
Klemen Krulecˇ
Libor Šeda
Majd Mekouar Ouazzani
Mathieu Vandenberghe
Michele Damato
Mihai Cepoi
Mihai Tociu
Natalia Mazur
Olcay Sarı
Oscar Marginean
Oya Merve Duman
Patricia Diaconu
Pedro Cardoso
Raili Vunk
Tiago Monteiro
Vicente Mauricio Quintana
Vlad Gliga
Yasemin Baran
ANNUAL
R E P O R T2 0 1 3 | 2 0 1 4

A WELCOME WORD FROM THE BOARD
It is 1987, an event called International Week takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, having
as purpose to support the exchange of students between several universities. Sadly, the
meeting had no clear conclusion.
It is 1988, the second International Week takes place in Grenoble, France, where the idea
of creating a European Association that will strengthen the relations between European
Universities emerges. This association would be called BEST.
It is now one year later in the late 80’s, 1989. BEST has its most important meeting in
Berlin, Germany, where the statutes and the strategy of the organisation were created.
Exactly 18 founding members participated to shape the core and identity.
Far into the future, 25 years later. Twenty five years! An important milestone for BEST. For
25 years BEST has grown exponentially and beyond the dreams of the founding members.
Starting from 18 local groups and reaching 95 this year, BEST has had a huge impact not
only on its members but also on its stakeholders.
The past year has been an adventurous journey with new dreams, projects and challenges.
It was a year of reflection where often we would question our working methods and take a
look at the big picture to see if our structure was aligned to our services which we provide
to our stakeholders. Our organisation has managed to have a true impact on the lives of
students of technology via our services and we continually try to live up to their expectations.
It was a visionary year, where we re-evaluated what our aim are and what should BEST
focus on the upcoming years. Lastly, it was a year of celebration, where each member felt
proud to be part of the biggest European organisation of students of technology as we
looked back upon our accomplishments and celebrated our achievements during our 25th
anniversary of BEST.
For 25 years the organisation has remained true to its values and they have guided its
members to reach for the stars and create a bigger impact for our stakeholders: companies,
universities, and of course, students!
We would like to acknowledge everyone who has contributed in making the past year
a great one for BEST. Thank you for your support and believing in us. We hope you will
enjoy reading this Annual Report, where every part reflects upon the daily work done by
passionate students’, for students.
Yours faithfully,
The XXVI International Board of BEST
Mihai Tociu – President
Patricia Diaconu – Treasurer
Katerina Koutsonikoli – Secretary
Klemen Kruleč – Vice-President for External Services
Javier Martin – Vice-President for Internal Support
Vicente Maurício – Vice-President for Local Group Support

ABOUT BEST
SERVICES
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
INTERNAL ACTIVITIES
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
PARTNERS OF BEST
WHAT IS BEST? 7
STRUCTURE OF BEST 8
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT 10
PROFILE OF BEST MEMBERS 12
MEMBERS AND STATISTICS 12
RELATIONS WITH ALUMNI 14
GROWTH OF BEST 15
BEST ANNIVERSARY PROJECT 17
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 18
MARKET RESEARCH 19
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF BEST 20
PUBLIC WEBSITE 21
BEST COURSES 23
EBEC PROJECT 24
BEST CAREER SUPPORT 26
BEST CAREER DAY 27
BEST CAREER CENTER 28
EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT 29
EVENTS ON EDUCATION 30
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 33
TRAINING SYSTEM 36
QUALITY ASSURANCE IN TRAINING 37
IT SYSTEMS 38
INTERNAL EVENTS 40
YOUTH IN ACTION 45
SEFI 46
FEANI 47
PARTNER NGOS 48
YOUTH FORUM JEUNESSE 50
ROUND TABLE 50
PROMOTING VIRTUAL MOBILITY IN PLACEMENTS 52
INTEL BUSINESS CHALLENGE 53
WEEF 54
INTERNATIONALENGINEERINGCOMPETITION 55

6
A B O U T B E S T
ABOUT
BEST

7
A B O U T B E S T
WHAT IS BEST?
The story of BEST (Board of Euro-
pean Students of Technology) dates
back to April 1989, when the idea of
an international, non-political stu-
dent organisation was born with the
aim to connect Europe. Twenty five
years later, we are far more than the
sum of our 95 Local BEST groups
(LBGs). Our work impacts students,
universities and industrial partners in
33 countries across Europe.
Although over the years our members
have come and gone and our activ-
ities have matured and developed,
the vision of BEST has always been
the same: Empowered diversity. By
providing complementary education
through BEST Courses and Compe-
titions, we bring added value to for-
mal education. We provide a struc-
tured way for engineering students
to give input on their education and
therefore give them the chance to im-
prove their learning. Students have
the opportunity to develop their ca-
reer prospects by using the BEST Ca-
reer Support (BCS) services and learn
skills relevant to their professional
development and reach their full po-
tential. These activities are all about
developing students, giving them an
insight to different mindsets, there-
by reaching a better understanding
of cultures and societies. Our events
give students the opportunity to de-
velop the capacity to work in a cul-
turally diverse environment so as to
improve their soft-skills.
BEST is a constantly growing organ-
isation always seeking improvement
and achievements. All of the work is
done for students and by students
and we aim to broaden the horizon of
students of technology. Our actions
are inspired by our values. Through
flexibility, we are open to quickly re-
spond to change. We always aim for
improvement by continuously rais-
ing the standards in everything we do.
We value friendship through build-

8
A B O U T B E S T
ing good personal relations and sup-
porting teamwork. We strive to make
our activities enjoyable to everybody
who is connected to them and value
everything we learn through the ex-
perience of being involved in our ac-
tivities where we have the freedom
to share and develop ideas. After 25
years, BEST is still challenging per-
ceptions related to the development
of technical students. What we have
accomplished so far is only the begin-
ning of our story.
STRUCTURE OF BEST
Covering 33 countries and reaching
1.300.000 technical students, BEST
has grown into a substantial Europe-
an organisation. There are 95 Local
BEST Groups, spread around Europe,
forming the core of the organisation.
Each group is present at exactly one
university, has its own local board, its
own practices, traditions and culture.
Like pieces of a puzzle, each of them
has its own shape and place in BEST.
The groups are connected with each
other by the common values of BEST
which every BEST member endorses
as their own. This connection em-
powers BEST as a strong organisation
providing services for European stu-
dents of technology.
Built on the basis of the local groups,
several international teams work to
provide support to the groups. Spread
over international teams of diverse
size and aim, approximately 15% of our
active members work in all sorts of
domains - from marketing to IT, from
educational involvement to career
support, training and competitions.
The biggest international teams, the
BEST Committees, can be seen as an
equivalent to corporate departments.
There are six committees of BEST
and each has a distinct area of ex-
pertise. These areas are Educational,
Financial, External Events, Training, IT
and Marketing. Each of these is led by
a coordinator who ensures the coher-
ence of the activities with the other
bodies of BEST.
Another indispensable aspect of the
international work in the organisation,
are the BEST projects. Various proj-
ects take place every year and involve
members of different committees as
well as local group members who are
not otherwise internationally involved.
The need to move towards a structure
with a bigger focus on projects than
committees was highlighted among
the outcomes of the Structure Eval-

9
A B O U T B E S T
uation project which took place this
year.
At the top level, BEST has an Inter-
national Board that represents the
organisation, coordinates the differ-
ent bodies of BEST, ensures good
communication between them and
facilitates the global development of
programmes and activities. It consists
of the President, Secretary, Treasurer,
Vice-President for External Services,
Vice-President for Internal Support
and Vice-President for Local Group
Support.
EBECfT
INTERNATIONAL
BOARD
ITC
TiGro EduCo mT MR PWS KM
BAP
GWG
COMMITTEES
SMALL
PROJECTS
PROJECTS
fT Financial Team
EEC External Events Committee
ITC Information Technology Committee
TiGro Training Group
EduCo Educational Committee
mT Marketing Committee
MR Market Research
PWS Public Website
BAP BEST Anniversary Project
KM Knowledge Management
GWG Grants Working Group
EBEC European BEST Engineering Competition
LBG
Local BEST Group
RA
Regional Advisor
(11 in total)
EEC
LBGs

10
A B O U T B E S T
At General Assembly Valladolid 2013, the International Management of BEST was
elected for the year 2013/2014. The team prepared and ensured the execution of
the Annual Action Plan of BEST for the respective mandate. The work of the In-
ternational Management was highly inter-connected with intense joint efforts and
cooperation to ensure the accomplishment of their respective responsibilities. Addi-
tionally, each coordinator had responsibilities and teams related to their respective
field of work.
INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF BEST

11
A B O U T B E S T
President
Mihai Tociu
Treasurer
Patricia Diaconu
Secretary
Katerina Koutsonikoli
Vice-President for External
Services
Klemen Kruleč
Vice-President for Internal
Support
Javier Martin Zamora
Vice-President for Local Group
Support
Vicente Maurício
Educational Committee
Coordinator
Mikhail Tikhonov
External Events Committee
Coordinator
Pedro Cardoso
Financial Team Coordinator
Andreea Nicu
Information Technology
Committee Coordinator
Alejandro Sánchez Medina
Marketing Committee
Coordinator
Judit Gyenese
Training Group Coordinator
Harald Rupprechter

12
A B O U T B E S T
PROFILE OF BEST MEMBERS
MEMBERS AND STATISTICS
Internationally Minded
Proactive & Creative
Succesful in
Project Management
Experienced in Managing
Local and International Teams
Undergraduates
or Recent Graduates
Trained in
Soft-skills
Work and Study Experience
in International Environments
Comfortable with Travel
throughout Europe
Experienced in Working
in Virtual Teams
Team Players
BEST
by
COUNTRIES

13
A B O U T B E S T
58
%
42
%
GENDER
2011
BEST
MEMBERS
2014
2013
2012
2011

14
A B O U T B E S T
RELATIONS WITH ALUMNI
The Alumni Network of BEST is aimed
at maintaining and developing con-
nections between former members.
This network serves as a platform for
professional networking for the thou-
sands of alumni based throughout
the world. Moreover, the Alumni Net-
work also provides a medium through
which the former members can pro-
vide support and keep in contact with
the current members.
The Alumni of BEST use several on-
line channels to keep in touch: mail-
ing lists and dedicated groups on so-
cial networks. Additionally, multiple
events are organised throughout the
year where former members meet to
discuss and network. Alumni Meetings
took place in parallel to the General
Meetings in November 2013 in Brno,
Czech Republic (20 participants) and
April 2014 in Bucharest, Romania (55
participants). In October 2013, the 3rd
edition of the Alumni Business Camp
was held in Brussels, Belgium and
gathered 89 participants at the event
itself and 117 people at the official
dinner.
This year the alumni world embarked
on a journey to create more value out
of the network. New initiatives to-
wards creating a new Alumni Directo-
ry, initiating a mentoring programme
and maybe even incorporating the
Alumni Network as a non-profit entity
are currently being developed.

15
A B O U T B E S T
GROWTH OF BEST
BEST has always strived for diversity
and sustainability and therefore has
always welcomed new groups while
simultaneously ensuring the stabili-
ty of our existing groups. New groups
bring fresh perspectives and new
ideas to the organisation.
In 2014, BEST established a second
group in Germany, extending its reach
in the country, providing its services to
an even wider audience and develop-
ing further relationship with German
universities.
9546 64 80
1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
LOCAL BEST GROUPS
COUNTRIES
3318 20 26 3012
3114

16
A B O U T B E S T
HIGHLIGHTSOF THE
YEAR

17
H I G H L I G H T S O f T H E Y E A R
BEST ANNIVERSARY PROJECT
The year 2014 is a very special one
for every BEST member. BEST is ce-
lebrating 25 years of existence. Since
1989 we have had various and signifi-
cant achievements which established
us the role of one of the most im-
portant youth associations in Europe.
During this year we celebrate precise-
ly this. We celebrate our growth, evo-
lution and our strong belief in our val-
ues; mission and vision of BEST.
Together with this important mile-
stone, we also celebrate five Editions
of EBEC Final and 10 years of Engi-
neering Competitions, has led us to
create the BEST Anniversary Project
to recognise all these achievements.
In terms of events, we have organised
to celebrate the five editions of EBEC,
an evening dedicated to our accom-
plishments, where we invited EBEC
participants and company partners.
During General Assembly Bucharest
2014, we celebrated our 25th Anni-
versary with representatives from all
our Local Groups, alumni and special-
ly invited guests.
We have had many things worth cel-
ebrating lately, both live and virtual-
ly. Virtually, through social media, we
are well-known across Europe for our
accomplishments in all our organisa-
tion’s focus areas; namely Education
and Career Support. We have also
published three booklets dedicated
to our services in order to promote
them and also thank our stakehold-
ers for their support. These booklets
focus on: Educational Involvement,
EBEC and Seasonal Courses.
During the last two years, we have
strengthened the bonds between the
members of our organisation, alumni
and our stakeholders. Without all of
these people, BEST would not be the
vibrant and special organisation it is
today and we would like to thank all
of you for all your support over the
years.

18
H I G H L I G H T S O F T H E Y E A R
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
One of the focus areas of the Long
Term Strategic Plan 2012-2015 (LTSP)
is Knowledge Management. The ob-
jectives of this focus area include
having a well-structured, sustain-
able, and easily accessible Knowl-
edge Management System, as well as
promoting a culture of documenting
our work, sharing knowledge, in addi-
tion to using and developing existing
knowledge.
In March 2013, the Knowledge Man-
agement workshop took place in Riga,
Latvia, as a first step towards achiev-
ing the goals of the Knowledge Man-
agement focus area under the current
LTSP. This workshop had a very direct
impact on how BEST members work,
in any scope of their activity - from
new members joining LBGs to train-
ers, committee members and interna-
tional management.
The concrete outcome of the work-
shop is a set of 24 projects that are
planned to be implemented in the
final two years of the current LTSP
under the Knowledge Management
Project. For the previous year, ten
projects were selected. Several of
the projects address the Knowledge
Management infrastructure on our
internal database Private Area (PA): a
design of a page dedicated to Knowl-
edge Management in BEST, a map of
all the knowledge of BEST, the de-
velopment of a tool to facilitate easy
access to all of our knowledge (the
BEST Library) and the redesign of our
committee pages. Other projects are
aimed at improving the social aspect
of Knowledge Management, including
the redesign of our knowledge man-
agement training for BEST members,
the introduction of Knowledge Fairs
as a sharing platform during BEST
events and a redefinition of the pur-
pose of our common sharing mail-
ing lists. Most of these projects are
planned to be finalised by the end of
the current BEST year.

19
MARKET RESEARCH
In a diverse and evolving environ-
ment, adapting to changes is the key
to maximising our contribution to-
wards our stakeholders. BEST, aim-
ing to evolve and meet challenges
efficiently, places the Strategy of
External Services as a major focal
point. We initiated this effort in or-
der to observe how the needs of our
stakeholders change and how our
services align to these new needs.
BEST Market Research is the proj-
ect through which we reach our
stakeholders, get insights regarding
their needs and our role in fulfilling
them. It is our way of transmitting
the voice of the external world to
the relevant bodies and support-
ing the decision making process re-
garding the strategic planning pro-
cess of BEST as an organisation.
This project is structured according
to our three different stakeholders:
students, universities and compa-
nies with all three reached through
three individually designed surveys.
Regarding students, BEST Student’
Survey was launched in February
2013 with the goal of gathering in-
sight concerning their experience
and expectations towards comple-
mentary education, educational in-
volvement and career support. In
total, 2.900 students were reached
throughout Europe. Universities
were reached through interviews to
assess their perceptions on the im-
pact student organisations should
have towards universities, to inves-
tigate what services such organisa-
tions should provide and to seek
out opportunities for future col-
laboration. Finally, companies were
approached through phone call in-
terviews with the intention of as-
sessing the contribution student
organisations have and to seek po-
tential cooperation in other fields.
“Research is to see what everybody
else has seen, and to think what no-
body else has thought”, as Albert
Szent-Gyorgyi once said. BEST Mar-
ket Research represents the begin-
ning of a beautiful status, a status
no one else has thought of.

20
H I G H L I G H T S O F T H E Y E A R
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF BEST
In 2009, ten years after establishing
a defined identity of BEST, we decid-
ed to develop an advanced Market-
ing Strategy and since 2006 no ma-
jor changes were made. However, the
Marketing Strategy Project was star-
ted by the XXI BEST Board and since
then it has had several outcomes
such as the BEST Brands Book and
the Communication Plans and Mar-
keting Strategy Guidelines.
In 2010, there was an Identity Work-
shop in Ghent, Belgium, to evaluate if
the identity we had was appropriate
for our organisation. As we became
more enveloped in the digitised era
and surrounded by digital bits, once
again, the Marketing Strategy proj-
ect came back again in the BEST big
picture in 2013. The purpose was to
create an advanced marketing plan
for BEST that clarified its image and
served its needs and it became part
of the Long Term Strategic Plan of
BEST.
During the Marketing Strategy Short
Intensive Meeting Vienna, Austria, all
the BEST services were re-analysed.
European BEST Engineering Competi-
tion (EBEC) got more atten-
tion and during International Projects’
Forum Lisbon 2014 the five services
of BEST were defined. These services
were: BEST as an organisation, com-
plementary education, career support,
educational involvement and EBEC.
For each service, a defined message
for each stakeholder was developed,
selling points were evaluated and the
communication channels for the cur-
rent situation were adapted.
The marketing side of BEST made a
step forward and adapted all its ac-
tivities to this new market in order to
clarify the BEST image.
As Robert Rose said: “Marketing is tell-
ing the world you’re a rock star. Con-
tent marketing is showing the world
that you are one.” Nowdays, BEST is
a rock star and we showed it during
these 25 years by sharing the same
values and mission, organising ten
years of competition and five years of
EBEC. In the end, challenges will drive
the teamwork across borders and a
rock star will never stop showing its
success.

21
PUBLIC WEBSITE
The World Wide Web started in the
early ‘90s by being a simple set of
hypertext documents accessible by
browsers; now websites have a sub-
stantial impact on the institutional
image of an organisation. In BEST, the
website serves as the primary plat-
form for students to interact with the
services we provide. Due to these fac-
tors and the feedback from our stake-
holders, creating a new website for
BEST has been considered a strate-
gic priority for the organisation for the
period 2012-2015.
For this endeavour, we have decided
to stick to our culture of develop-
ing projects in-house by harnessing
the technical knowledge we possess
along with our network of alumni with
professional experience in the area of
web design.
During this year, we focused on as-
sessing the technical feasibility and
creating the structure of one appli-
cation, as well as developing a top-
notch Content Managing System. In
order for this process to go as smooth
as possible we have assembled a
team which is responsible for imple-
menting everything we planned to do.
After this step is completed, the only
thing remaining is the launch of the
new website between April - May.
www.BEST.eu.org

23
S E R V I C E S
BESTCOURSES
One of the complementary education
activities BEST provides to students
are BEST Courses. Courses, organised
by the 95 LBGs all over Europe, give
students the opportunity to com-
bine traditional lectures with alterna-
tive forms of education. Furthermore,
with the social and cultural activities
courses provide, students can experi-
ence a multicultural environment and
gain new and wonderful friendships.
Every year, more than 2.000 students
take part in BEST Courses.
Applications for BEST Courses are
submitted through the BEST website.
Participants are chosen based on their
motivation letters, interest on the
topic of the course and the culture of
the country. Cultural diversity is one
of the most important aspects when
selecting participants. At the end of
the course, participants are evaluated
on their knowledge or skills acquired
during the course. Participants, who
successfully pass evaluation, obtain a
BEST Course certificate and a Course
Information Form (CIF). CIFs can be
recognised by the participant’s home
university and used towards to stu-
dent’s degree.
With over 20 years of experience,
BEST has developed course stan-
dards. All LBGs follow these in order
to sustain and constantly improve the
quality of their courses. Both these
aspects make BEST courses widely
recognised by students, universities,
companies and partner associations
across Europe. After every course,
students are asked to fill an evalua-
tion form which BEST gets a chance
to control the development of our
courses. BEST is always striving to im-
prove the services offered to Europe-
an students of technology.
Above all, BEST Courses bring stu-
dents unforgettable memories and
unique experiences of interacting with
people from different backgrounds,
cultures and traditions; all while
learning and developing themselves
through complementary and atypical
university education.

24
S E R V I C E S
EBEC PROJECT
European BEST Engineering Com-
petition (EBEC) Project is one of the
biggest real-time based engineering
competition organised by students
in Europe. It brings its main stake-
holders: companies, universities and
students together under a competi-
tive environment where participants
present and develop their skills, thus
not only practicing their theoretical
knowledge, but also developing their
role as a member of European society
thanks to tackling real world prob-
lems. In the past years, EBEC has been
very successful due to its sustainabil-
ity and permanently increasing stan-
dards. Having started as an initiative
in 2008, the project has reached a
strong position among the services
that BEST provides towards technol-
ogy students.
The EBEC project has two competition
categories: Case Study and Team De-
sign. The project welcomes teams in
groups of four, who are currently en-
rolled in an educational programme
where an EBEC round is present.
Complementary education is the
main focus of the EBEC project. The
application of theoretical knowledge
into practice is expected by involving
participants in real life problems with
time-limited conditions.
The EBEC Project is kicked-off by a
local round in all participating Local
BEST Groups; the winners of local
rounds are invited to national or re-
gional rounds. The winners of these
secondary rounds qualify for the EBEC
Final event where they compete for
the title: “BEST Engineers of Europe”.
Last year, EBEC Final 2013 was held
in Warsaw, Poland. The event itself
was supported by Warsaw University
of Technology, as well as several im-
portant institutions such as the Min-
istry of Science and Higher Educa-
tion, the Copernicus Science Center
and leading industry partners such as
Procter & Gamble, GSE, IVECO, Deut-
sche Bahn, GE and the European Pat-
ent Office.
After the accomplishment of EBEC
Final 2013, BEST has set its sights to
EBEC Final 2014. This year EBEC Final
2014 was held in the European Cap-
ital of Culture, Riga, Latvia. The proj-
ect has enjoyed its largest number of
participants; with Local EBEC Rounds

25
S E R V I C E S
held at 87 leading technical univer-
sities in 32 countries where BEST is
present.
EBEC Final 2014 has been supported
with interest by several institutes such
as Riga Technical University, UNESCO
Latvian National Commission and the
International Federation of Engineer-
ing Education Societies (IFEES).
The EBEC Project serves as a platform
for technology students and is vo-
luntarily organised by BEST members
who are also technology students of
European universities where BEST is
present. The project strives to bring
its stakeholders closer and to enable
further interaction among them so
that future engineers - the citizens of
Europe - will benefit the most.
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
LOCAL ROUNDS
NATIONAL/REGIONAL ROUNDS
1313 151310
71 78 83
7150

26
S E R V I C E S
BEST CAREER SUPPORT
One of the features that makes BEST
a really unique non-profit organisa-
tion is being a wide-spread one, uni-
fied under a common mission and
vision. Established in 95 European
technical universities, BEST ensures a
broad range of students.
Since one of the purposes of BEST is
to connect students with companies,
several international bodies of this
organisation, helped by LBGs, have
developed many services to reach
this goal: one of which is BEST Career
Support (BCS).
On the one hand, BCS is a service that
every student can take advantage of,
the only prior requirement is that the
student attends or attended a univer-
sity in which there is an LBG.
The procedure to use this service is
really simple: firstly there is the sub-
scription to BEST website; then, there
is the filling of Curriculum Vitae with
personal data and relevant work in-
formation according to the European
standard model and finally there is
the subscription to the BCS service.
On the other hand, BEST engages in
partnerships with companies, provid-
ing them high quality services. These
companies cover all engineering fields
and this is because of the broad range
of students reached through BEST.
Companies can present themselves
and job offers to all the students who
subscribed to BCS. Furthermore, com-
panies can have access to the BEST
CVs database to recruit students who
fill their criteria and interests.
Student diversity is also clearly ob-
servable during live events. Over one
year, BEST takes care of the organisa-
tion of several job fairs and engineer-
ing competitions around Europe. The
most important ones are organised
during the three biggest BEST events
during an academical year: Presidents’
Meeting (PM), BEST Career Day (BCD)
during General Assembly (GA) and
EBEC Final. In these kind of events,
companies have the opportunity to
meet talented engineering students
who likewise have the chance to in-
teract with top companies in the en-
gineering field.
In conclusion, BCS is divided in two
main categories. The first one is repre-
sented by our online tools and takes
the name of BEST Career Centre
(BCC). The second one consists of the
in-person events with students such
as job fairs and engineering compe-
titions.

27
S E R V I C E S
BEST CAREER DAY
After the success of inviting exter-
nal students to participate in Official
Opening Day in GA 2013, we provid-
ed this opportunity again this year.
Following the rapid uptake of these
events, we have developed this ser-
vice into a new brand: BEST Career
Day. Recent or graduating students
from 95 top engineering universities
can apply for this event. After pre-se-
lection, a list of the most promising
applicants is delivered to partners,
who can select the participants they
want to meet during BCD..
BCD allows students to personally
discuss their career with top manag-
ers and international recruiters. They
get the chance to learn about the
lastest industry trends and most lu-
crative career opportunities. The first
part of the day includes presentations
and workshops for students held by
partners. During the second part of
the day the job fair and personal in-
terviews take place, so partners can
interact directly and personally with
over 400 future engineers who match
their participants’ profile. The CVs
of all participants were available for
partners before the career fair, thus
enabling access to a large and de-
tailed database of potential appli-
cants. At the end of the day there is
a cocktail party, allowing networking
with a selected group of engineers.

28
S E R V I C E S
BEST CAREER CENTER
BEST Career Center is the collection
of all the online recruitment oppor-
tunities BEST Career Support offers.
Here, students can find detailed infor-
mation about our partners including
job and internship opportunities they
provide. Such information is available
to anyone who visits the BEST web-
site.
In order to be up to date with all the
opportunities our partners offer, an
account on the BEST website and
subscription to BEST Career Support
is needed. This account also serves
as the CV of the students as it col-
lects information regarding their ca-
reer, educational and extra-curricular
activities. This year, more than 6.200
CVs were created.
This tool not only makes it easier
for our partner companies and uni-
versities to have an overview of the
students in our database, but also
enables us to define the appropriate
target groups for our services, so that
relevant opportunities can reach only
interested subscribers.
The most apparent function of BEST
Career Center is through BEST Ca-
reer Newsletters. These are target-
ed e-mails that we send out to our
37.000 subscribers which include ca-
reer opportunities of a partner. Since
these e-mails are targeted, our sub-
scribers receive the newsletter only
if they have the necessary qualifica-
tions such as language proficiency or
educational background.
All of the aforementioned online ser-
vices form the BEST Career Center
and through these BEST is able to of-
fer valuable opportunities to students
and recent graduates to start their ca-
reer in their home country or through-
out Europe.

29
S E R V I C E S
EDUCATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
In collaboration with Thematic Net-
works and Higher Educational Insti-
tutions, BEST provides technical stu-
dents with opportunities to express
their opinions about European Engi-
neering Education (EEE). We believe
students have an essential impact on
their own education, therefore BEST
transmits students’ opinions to the
key players for EEE.
The Educational Committee of BEST
provides students every year with op-
portunities to express their opinion
on EEE topics through surveys and
by gathering students in live events
named Events on Education (EoEs).
By attending conferences in the field
of Higher Education, BEST is able not
only to network with experts on ed-
ucational matters, but also to pres-
ent the outcomes of the aforemen-
tioned EoEs. This year, topics related
with BEST engineering competitions,
interdisciplinarity, virtual mobility and
employability were presented.
During this year, BEST cooperated
with EUROEAST and PROVIP as edu-
cational institutions. Via social media,
BEST promoted mobility programmes
provided by EUROEAST. Through col-
laboration with PROVIP, members of
the Educational Committee partici-
pated in partner meetings in order to
express the students’ point of view on
the topic of virtual mobility. Moreover,
the Educational Committee collabo-
rated with PROVIP in an Event on Ed-
ucation in Timisoara, Romania.

30
S E R V I C E S
EVENTS ON EDUCATION
Besides Courses and Engineering
Competitions, BEST also organises
Events on Education (EoEs). These
are seminars that last approximate-
ly six days, gather up to 25 students
with different nationalities and focus
on evaluating and contributing to the
development of higher engineering
education in Europe. During these
events, students can gain knowledge
and share their opinions on the latest
trends in the field of European Engi-
neering Education (EEE).
There are two types of EoEs: BEST
Symposium on Education, which
gathers students and academic repre-
sentatives and BEST Academics and
Companies forum, that in addition to
students and academics includes in-
dustry representatives. During EoEs,
participants exchange opinions and
share experiences via discussions,
workshops and case studies.
In summer 2013, three EoEs were or-
ganised around the Europe and each
of them tackled a different topic.
‘Next station, sustainable education’,
organised by BEST Madrid, was a fol-
low-up event to an earlier symposium
organised by BEST Vienna in 2012. The
main goal of this event was to discuss
the effect of EEE on Sustainable De-
velopment as well as catalysing ideas
for projects that will be run by stu-
dents of technology in the future.
“Bringing education and entrepre-
neurship under students’ scope”, or-
ganised by BEST Timisoara, dealt with
the topics of virtual mobility and en-
trepreneurship. The main objective of
this event was to introduce students
to the topic of virtual internships
and gather input for PROVIP, one of
BEST’s partners.
“EdYOUcation - Raise your hand,
make a change”, organised by BEST
Aveiro, gathered both international
and local students who approached
the topic of accreditation and attrac-
tiveness of EEE. At the event, among
other stakeholders for EEE, Attract,
a European project on engineering
education, presented their ideas and
gathered information on the topic of
student retention in higher education.
In order to reach the desired out-
comes, the atmosphere during an EoE
tends to be more informal than in a
lecturing hall which encourages stu-
dents to speak their mind and share
their opinions. It is of great impor-
tance to us to establish a dialogue
between our partners and find a solu-
tion to common challenges.

” IT IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO US TO
ESTABLISH A DIALOGUE BETWEEN OUR
PARTNERS AND FIND A SOLUTION TO COMMON
CHALLENGES.”

33
I N T E R N A L A C T I V I T I E S
FINANCIALOVERVIEW
BEST is a student organisation with
strong ambitions and a wide range of
activities. Therefore there is a need
for an adequate budget to support
the work and the development of the
organisation.
We are constantly working on fulfill-
ing our mission: developing students
and towards reaching our vision of
empowering diversity. In this sense,
we provide career support to our stu-
dents as one of our services. However,
through career support, we also man-
age to ensure our financial stability. In
order to provide the adequate services
to our students, we need to organise
several internal and external events,
and support a variety of projects, all
of which cost money. This money is
spend on ensuring the development
of the organisation through: travel re-
funds for BEST members, developing
the training system, maintaining our IT
systems, support for internal events
and the organisation of statutory
meetings where important decisions
about the future of the organisation
are made.
Therefore, in order to manage the
organisation and keep it sustainable,
BEST is closely cooperating with in-
dustrial partners, universities and Eu-
ropean institutions. The most signifi-
cant part of the income comes from
Career Support Partners, followed by
the contributions from the European
Commission (under a 3 year Frame-
work agreement, part of the Youth in
Action programme of the European
Union) and University Partners.
Considering the status of revenue
and expenses, we can conclude that
our organisation is in a stable finan-
cial position. The status and details
of the finances can be followed and
checked by each member in the ac-
counting tool available in our intranet.
The detailed financial report of BEST
for the 2013-2014 financial year is
available on request.

34
$REVENUES
7
%
9
%
6%
5
%
1%
31
%
41%
Framework
Agreement
Career Support
Partners
Corporate
Partners
Supporters
University
Partners
Project
Partners
Others
EXPENSES
$
7
%
4%
4%
1
%
2%
23%
31
%
14
% 10%
1
%
International
Teams
International
Management
Internal Events
Support
Administration
Internal
Training
Company
Trips
Marketing
Materials
Educational Events
Coordination
Competitions
Coordination
External
Relations
3%Unexpected
Expenses

35
” BEST - A SUCCESS STORY FOR
25 YEARS. AN ORGANISATION
INSPIRED BY CHANGE, YET ALWAYS
DRIVEN BY THE SAME UNQUENCHED
ELEMENT: BEST MEMBERS”

36
TRAINING SYSTEM
BEST - a success story for 25 years.
An organisation inspired by change,
yet always driven by the same un-
quenched element: BEST members.
These are unique individuals who
strive to acquire and develop useful
skills in order to be effective in the or-
ganisation and later on in their future
endeavours.
The body of BEST responsible for such
development of skills is the Training
Group. Being one of the six commit-
tees of BEST, the Training Group’s
mission is to provide adequate coor-
dination between the needs of Lo-
cal BEST Groups for training and the
trainers who are able to satisfy those
needs and deliver the required ses-
sions.The structure of Trainers’ Com-
munity comprises two elements:
Trainers’ Community is represent-
ed by an impressive number of more
than 400 trainers, who are also BEST
members. The primary role of trainers
is to deliver training. Apart from this,
they continuously share knowledge
and materials amongst each other,
support, give feedback and advise to
each other. This knowledge manage-
ment guarantees that BEST trainers
never stop their professional growth
and continually improve themselves
through cooperation.
Training Group members consist of
49 members of BEST who provide
the coordination of training to BEST
members in order to ensure they can
contribute to the organisation in an
effective way.
The Training Group’s daily activities
business revolves exclusively around
BEST members, as its mission is to en-
sure coordination of training in BEST.

37
QUALITY ASSURANCE IN TRAINING
Since the establishment of the Train-
ing System in 1999, quality assurance
has always been a hot topic. Over
the years, a few methods have been
established that assure the quality
of training as a service to all BEST
members on all levels. The following
methods have proven the most suc-
cessful and long lasting:
Train the Trainer Meetings
Second level trainer education is an
integral part of a trainer’s life cycle.
These three to four days events are
organised to prepare trainers for de-
livering topics requiring more refined
delivery techniques (e.g. communica-
tion models with a deeper psycho-
logical background).
Trainers Meetings on Trainer
Camp - TRAP
The education of trainers starts at
Trainer Camp, therefore the quality
assurance process starts already at
this level. In intervals of 3 to 5 event
editions (between 1,5 to 2,5 years),
the event is evaluated in all its as-
pects during a gathering of compe-
tent trainers (who either already de-
livered training at the event or have
relevant expertise). This ensures that
the knowledge and methodology
used and transmitted during this cru-
cial event stays up to date.
Quality Content Project
This project evaluates the relevance
and factual validity of knowledge that
has been gathered throughout the
years since the establishment of the
Training System. The working meth-
ods include literature research, shar-
ing and live, as well as online meet-
ings. The desired outcome is to have
up-to-date and professionally correct
content in our training material, thus
ensuring that the knowledge deliv-
ered to BEST members adheres to
high quality standards.

38
IT SYSTEMS
BEST relies on relatively complex IT
systems to support its activity. These
range from our own mail servers to
the application system, which help
LBGs process the thousands of ap-
plications received for seasonal cour-
ses. As a result of the efforts made by
the organisation, BEST currently has
strong internal communication and
knowledge management tools that
keep being further developed.

39
Private Area
Private Area is the internal informa-
tion system used by BEST. Its develop-
ment dates back to the mid-nineties
and it is the result of the unification
of the IT platforms that supported
the services of BEST. In essence, this
system is the link between all the on-
line tools of the organisation.
When it comes to documentation for
knowledge management, Private Area
contains the Document Archives and
the Wiki. With these two tools, all the
written knowledge of the organisa-
tion is properly stored and available
for the generations to come.
HR management is also an inher-
ent part of the system. By using the
HR tool and the Task Manager, BEST
bodies can easily overview and up-
date the progress and skills of their
members, as well as assign appropri-
ate tasks to them and keep track of
the work progress.
Private Area has undergone many de-
velopment and design phases culmi-
nating with its current version. Its us-
ability is constantly being improved,
and new features and tools are sys-
tematically planned, designed, imple-
mented and launched.
Some highlights of this year are im-
provements on data visualisation
(with a more graphical approach), the
redesign of the Task Manager tool and
the design of Innovation Platform.
Innovation Platform
One of the goals of this year’s man-
date was improving the innovation
process inside the organisation. As
BEST has grown, it has become hard-
er to keep track of and start working
on plausible ideas due to the increase
in the complexity of communication.
The newly planned Innovation Plat-
form aims to tackle this issue. This tool
has been defined to aid three areas of
the innovation process: brainstorming
and sharing, for presenting and devel-
oping ideas; storing and browsing, in
order not to lose ideas and keep track
of previously discussed topics; and
implemening these ideas.
This tool will take the shape of a
forum, including the complex func-
tionalities required to assist the in-
novation process. The development
started soon after the design was fi-
nalised after IPF Lisbon.

40
INTERNAL EVENTS
Over the previous pages, we have
been talking about the mission and
vision of BEST. About how BEST’s ac-
tivities and services aim to develop
students to empower diversity in the
future. But how is all of this managed?
The internal structure of BEST exists
to manage and support every service
that BEST provides to our stakehold-
ers and internal events play a key role
in this.
As an international organisation,
much of our work is being done on-
line, nevertheless, live events are an
inherent part of the working culture
of our organisation in order to func-
tion properly. Internal events fulfil
this need by providing the founda-
tion for developing our projects and
facilitating the discussion among the
members of our organisation. Last
year, 69 internal events contributed
to the achievement of BEST’s goals
for the year.
Having one of the most developed
internal training systems among stu-
dent NGOs in the world represents
not only a great asset for our organ-
isation, but also a great example of
what internal events are. BEST Train-
Shops gather selected members of
our local groups in a week-long in-
ternal event during which they get
trained on a specific topic related to
their current and future responsibil-
ities inside the organisation, such as
leadership, fundraising, graphic de-
sign, human resources management
or marketing. Over the next few pag-
es we will introduce other major in-
ternal events needed for the proper
functioning of our organisation, such
as General Meetings, which gather
members from every local group of
BEST or International Project’s Forum,
which is a clear example of BEST’s
working culture.
Presidents' Meeting Brno
Between 7th and 13th of November,
the 19th Presidents’ Meeting took
place in Brno, Czech Republic. It was
a chance for more than 160 students
from all Local BEST Groups as well as
partner NGOs of BEST to gather and
to discuss about the development of
our organisation.
From each Local BEST Group, one
delegate had the chance to represent
their group together with internation-
al committee leaders and delegates,
project coordinators, the International
Board of BEST and representatives of
our partner organisations. During this
event, they attended several train-
ing sessions, workshops, discussion
groups and above all, four full days of
plenary sessions.
Presidents’ Meeting Brno started with
an Official Opening Ceremony, held at
Brno University of Technology (BUT)
on the 8th of November. Participants,
together with 80 invited students
from Brno University of Technology,
listened to speeches delivered by Prof.
Michal Kotoul, Vice-rector of BUT; Mi-
chal Kotzian, PhD from the City Hall
of Brno; Prof. Ladislav Musílek from
SEFI; Mihai Tociu, President of the In-
ternational Board of BEST and Libor
Seda, the main organiser of the event.

41
The Official Opening was a perfect
place for interaction between stu-
dents and our partners: SKODA AUTO,
KTH, KIC InnoEnergy, Whirlpool, Vler-
ick Gent Business School and Brno
University of Technology. The day
was concluded with training sessions
on topics such as knowledge man-
agement, strategic networking and
communication and leadership all of
which were delivered by skilled BEST
trainers.
After Official Opening, four days of
plenary sessions followed during
which international teams presented
their ideas for developing our orga-
nisation and their working methods.
Likewise, the delegates had a chance
to express support and provide feed-
back for international teams.
For Local BEST Group Brno, it was the
biggest event they have ever organ-
ised and a great honour to host such
an important event in the decision
making of BEST as well as a possibil-
ity to present Czech culture and tra-
dition.

42
International Projects' Forum Lisbon
The international scope of work in
BEST is based on projects managed
by international teams or the Board.
Regardless of their nature or leader,
this is how the on-going development
in BEST is arranged; clustered in small
chunks, each with their own goal, hu-
man resources and usually a dead-
line. Most importantly, sooner or la-
ter, some project will cross paths with
others, influence them and cause a
snowball effect that will push BEST
forward.
Due to the geographical spread, col-
laboration in projects is usually done
through virtual communication chan-
nels. Nevertheless, some projects re-
quire in-person meetings of the team
working on it. Once per year a very
special event takes place to gather all
of international BEST in one place to
create a platform for them to discuss
and work: the International Projects’
Forum (IPF).
During the last IPF which took place
in February in Lisbon, Portugal, more
than 70 participants, including Board
members, committee members, re-
gional advisors and project leaders
met to work on high-priority issues
that concerned the whole organi-
sation. Important issues, such as the
evaluation of the structure of BEST,
Knowledge Management, Market Re-
search, the Public Website and the
BEST budget for 2014/15 were tackled
during the 45 sessions that happened
over the four days of the event.
From a planning and performance
point of view, IPF is more than an im-
portant milestone in the BEST calen-
dar. It is the personification of BEST’s
vision and mission, where people
from all corners of Europe meet to
work voluntarily on developing stu-
dents, share their passion and grow a
better tomorrow for the engineering
education world.

43
General Assembly Bucharest
Over time great organisations grow
and change is part of this process.
BEST, falling into this category, is no
different, much can change in any or-
ganisation in 25 years. Even so, there is
at least one thing that didn’t change:
the General Assembly of BEST. Every
year, members of the local groups
gather to discuss and vote the most
important aspects of the organisa-
tion. This year Bucharest, Romania
had the chance to host this event and
for one year, all of the members of
BEST Bucharest worked hard to make
this dream come true.
General Assembly of BEST 2014 star-
ted with a Round Table where dele-
gates from BEST and representatives
from event’s partners prepared the
Official Opening Day. Meanwhile, par-
ticipants of BEST Career Day and del-
egates from BEST arrived and went
for a city tour. The very next day, ev-
eryone put on their suits and attend-
ed the Official Opening Day. When
this day ended, the delegates and or-
ganisers headed off to Neptun, a city
250 km from Bucharest, for General
Assembly working days, where the
alumni were already waiting. After six
days of hard work and plenary time,
followed by social activities during
the evening, the event ended and
the time has come for another local
group to take up the dream of organ-
ising General Assembly of BEST.
To sum up the event, the numbers
were:
250 70 60
60 7
DELEGATES ORGANISERS
BEST CAREER DAY
PARTICIPANTS
ALUMNI DAYS
ONE DREAM

44
E X T E R N A L R E L A T I O N S
EXTERNAL
RELATIONS

45
YOUTHINACTION
Youth in Action is a programme creat-
ed by the European Union for the pe-
riod 2007-2013, aimed at developing
and supporting European cooperation
in the field of youth. The Education,
Audiovisual and Culture Executive
Agency (EACEA) is entrusted with the
implementation of the Youth in Ac-
tion Programme.
As a European NGO exclusively ded-
icated to youth, BEST activities have
been recognised by EACEA as con-
tributing to youth active citizenship,
mobility of young people, their inter-
cultural dialogue and mutual under-
standing. For the period 2011-2013,
BEST has put its focus on several key
development areas during this three-
year cooperation with EACEA under
the Youth in Action Programme. Ev-
ery year, the annual activity plan and
budget were submitted for evaluation
by EACEA.
In 2013, the final year of partner-
ship with Youth in Action, BEST was
granted with the maximum possible
amount (50.000 €) to support the an-
nual work programme for the period
2013-2014. The financial support from
the European Commission covered
planned operating expenses of BEST,
mainly related to travel costs of the
management, organisation of internal
events, marketing and administrative
expenses.
The renewal of the Framework Part-
nership Agreement is a strong pillar
for BEST, allowing the organisation to
strengthen its internal structure and
increase its impact among European
students of technology. This partner-
ship plays a major role in assisting
BEST internally and in gaining recog-
nition for BEST activities among its
stakeholders.

46
SEFI
It has been over 15 year that BEST and
SEFI has been collaborating. Through-
out these years, we have collaborat-
ed on many various projects and this
year wasn’t any different.
Continuing the tradition that started
in 2011 during the world’s first Engi-
neering Education Flash Week in Lis-
bon, Portugal, once again BEST and
SEFI came together in organising SEFI
Annual Conference: “Engineering Ed-
ucation Fast Forward 1973<2013<<”.
During this conference in Leuven, Bel-
gium from 18th to 20th September
2013, BEST had the responsibility for
the participating students as well as
contributing with workshops and ses-
sions for all other participants. BEST
was responsible for organising the
students’ participation in the confer-
ence by promoting the event to Euro-
pean students, organising conference
activities tailored to students needs,
covering multiple practical needs,
as well as organising a social pro-
gramme.
During this event, over 300 people,
students and professors, gathered
to discuss the latest trends and hot
topics within European Engineering
Education (EEE). Among all the topics
that were tackled during various ses-
sions, topics like sustainability of EEE,
physics in engineering and informa-
tion and telecommunication technol-
ogies were tackled. Moreover, a paper
reporting outcomes of Symposium in
Vienna 2012 “Importance of interdis-
ciplinarity” was presented, together
with several smaller presentations
conducted by BEST members as well
as a workshop: “Train the trainers” for
professors showing various teaching
methods that could be applicable in
lecture halls. Through this event, stu-
dents had an opportunity to not only
learn about developments in EEE but
also to start creating a valuable net-
work.
In addition to the conference, SEFI
representatives have collaborated
with BEST on an Educational Sympo-
sium in Madrid, Spain, that happened
during summer. More about that
event can be read in the article about
Events on Education.

47
FEANI
FEANI is a federation of professional
engineers that unites national engi-
neering associations from 32 Europe-
an countries. Thus, it represents the
interests of over 3.500.000 million
professional engineers in Europe.
Through its activities and services,
FEANI aims at facilitating the mutual
recognition of engineering qualifica-
tions in Europe and strengthening the
position, role and responsibility of en-
gineers in society.
The organisation is a founding mem-
ber of the World Federation of Engi-
neering Organisations (WFEO) and
collaborates with many other organ-
isations dealing with engineering and
technology issues, as well as engi-
neering education.
BEST and FEANI have been in contact
since 2006 and have identified the
need to increase the synergies be-
tween present and future engineers
thus creating a strong collaboration
between our two organisations. During
this 8-year-long cooperation, several
joint workshops on topics concerning
the mobility of engineering and the
exchange of representatives at both
of our organisations’ events have
been organised.
During the last year, this partnership
was strengthened with the transfer
of BEST’s headquarters to Brussels,
Belgium; directly under FEANI’s head-
quarters. This year’s focus has been to
identify potential joint projects which
both organisations can address.

48
PARTNER NGOS
Over the course of its existence, BEST
has developed strong bonds with sev-
eral other major student and youth
organisations. BEST fosters communi-
cation and a mutual exchange of best
practices with these partner NGOs,
enabling us to increase our organisa-
tional knowledge. In addition, a mu-
tual exchange of members between
our partners leads to new ideas and
improvement.
BEST has five official partners: AEGEE
(European Students’ Forum), bonding,
CFES (Canadian Federation of Engi-
neering Students), ELSA (European
Law Students’ Association) and ESTI-
EM (European Students of Industrial
Engineering and Management).
This year’s emphasis was on devel-
oping the partnerships we have and
disseminating the opportunities they
bring with them. This year that pro-
cess resulted in over 110 cases of del-
egates and participants being sent to
each other’s events, which led to the
sharing of a great deal of information
and knowledge.
AEGEE is Europe’s largest interdisci-
plinary student organisation. It pro-
motes cooperation, communication
and integration among young people
in Europe. It consists of 13.000 mem-
bers active in more than 200 univer-
sities.
AEGEE has been a partner of BEST
since 2010. Over the years, commu-
nication on topics like the dissemi-
nation of educational achievements,
grants, and quality assurance has
been established. Additionally, a joint
Youth in Action grant with AEGEE was
submitted in September 2013 and was
accepted, leading to a series of joint
training events over the coming years.
‘bonding’ is a student association that
bridges the gap between students
and employers. They offer German
students a broad range of projects
aimed at increasing student insight
into companies for their future career.
bonding has over 350 members and
local groups in 11 cities in Germany.
bonding has been a partner of BEST
since 1997. As a result, the exchange
of members between our organisa-
tions is still strong: in the course of
2013-2014 over 70 participants were
exchanged during various events.
bonding has also been supportive
of our new BEST groups in Germany:
Aachen and Erlangen.

49
CFES is a national bilingual orga-
nisation, representing approximately
60.000 engineering students across
Canada. CFES aims at providing op-
portunities for an all-encompassing
education for engineering students in
Canada to become unparalleled pro-
fessionals in their field.
CFES has been a partner of BEST
since 2000. This year, CFES’ organi-
sation of the first International Engi-
neering Competition (IEC) marked a
milestone in our cooperation. BEST
was able to send several participant
teams and therefore was mostly re-
sponsible for the participation of Eu-
rope in the IEC.
ELSA is the world’s largest indepen-
dent association for law students.
ELSA offers law students a perfect
platform to develop new and exist-
ing skills, and network. It has a mem-
bership of around 35.000 students,
spread around 300 universities in Eu-
rope.
ELSA has been a partner of BEST
since 2011. In previous years, BEST and
ELSA mainly exchanged legal and
technical advice, though now coop-
eration revolves about sharing best
practices on a variety of topics (such
as organisational structure, alumni
and grants).
ESTIEM is the organisation for Euro-
pean Students of Industrial Engineer-
ing and Management (IEM). Found-
ed in 1990, ESTIEM was established
in order to connect IEM students all
over Europe and provide them with a
unique platform to support them in
their personal and professional de-
velopment.
ESTIEM has been a partner of BEST
since 2011. This year, our cooperation
has strengthened significantly due to
increased participant exchange on a
variety of events. Contacts have been
initiated on matters of educational in-
volvement, marketing, alumni, compe-
titions and knowledge management.
Seeking additional opportunities,
BEST is also a member of IFISO (In-
formal Forum of International Stu-
dent Organisations): a platform of 21
international student organisations. It
enables its members to easily collab-
orate and strengthen their capacities.
The Ambassador of BEST is part of
the management organising the next
IFISO meeting in Utrecht, the Nether-
lands.

50
YOUTH FORUM JEUNESSE
YFJ (Youth Forum Jeunesse) or com-
monly known in English as the Eu-
ropean Youth Forum, is an interna-
tional organisation established by
national youth councils and inter-
national non-governmental youth
organisations in Europe. It strives to
be the voice of young people in Eu-
rope, where young people are equal
citizens and are encouraged and sup-
ported to achieve their fullest poten-
tial as global citizens. YFJ provides a
support platform for its 99 member
organisations and helps them devel-
op and become more recognised. YFJ
works closely with the Council of Eu-
rope, European Union and United Na-
tions.
Since April 2013, BEST has been an
observer member of the Youth Forum
and through this platform, BEST aims
to become further engaged in Euro-
pean matters such as youth employ-
ment, mobility, non-formal education
and much more. This year, BEST has
been able to be present at the YFJ
Council of Members which took place
in the European Youth Capital of 2014,
Thessaloniki, Greece and as well at
the ERASMUS+ event in Brussels,
Belgium. The opportunities of being
involved are abounding, therefore ex-
ploration are the next steps.
ROUND TABLE
Every year, BEST organises Round Ta-
bles in order to meet with our current
and potential partners in the technical
field. Representatives from compa-
nies, institutions, technical universities
and business schools have opportuni-
ty to get to know BEST more.
We present our services, activities
and ongoing projects of our organisa-
tion and hold discussions about how
to bring companies and universities
closer to talented, creative and inter-
nationally-minded students of tech-
nology from all over Europe. Another
important goal of our Round Table is
to talk about the needs and expecta-
tions of our stakeholders, ask for their
input to determine missing points in
our services and then work together
on finding ways in which BEST can
meet those expectations. This way,
we are able to develop our Career
Support service and provide a better
value for our partners and students.
This year, we organised two Round
Tables in different cities of Europe.
The first one was held in Brno, Czech
Republic before our Presidents’ Meet-
ing in November and the most recent
one took place in Bucharest, Romania
before our BEST Career Day & Gener-
al Assembly in April. Representatives
from BRD - Groupe Societe Gener-
ale, Deutsche Bahn, EIT ICT Labs, IE
Business School, FEANI, KTH - Royal
Institute of Technology, Misys, P&G,

51
Skoda, UPM - Technical University of
Madrid and Whirlpool were together
with us during these events.
These events give us the opportuni-
ty to discover new ways of improving
the cooperation with our participant
stakeholders and set the premise for
long-term and successful collabora-
tions.

52
PROMOTING VIRTUAL MOBILITY IN PLACEMENTS
Promoting Virtual Mobility in Place-
ments (PROVIP), is a project under the
Lifelong Learning Programme where
over ten partners from six different
European countries work together to
develop a new concept: virtual intern-
ships.
The project, coordinated by KU Leu-
ven, Belgium, is a follow-up to Enter-
prise-University Virtual Placements
(EU-VIP), which concluded in 2011.
EU-VIP focused on virtual mobility in
order to enhance the quality of inter-
national work placements, and aimed
to develop a framework which would
allow the three stakeholders: stu-
dents, companies and universities, to
conduct a fruitful virtually supported
internship.
The results of EU-VIP include guide-
lines and training material for these
stakeholders which were developed
over a number of pilot projects organ-
ised by business partners. Students
also provided input which was gath-
ered via two symposia that were or-
ganised by BEST in cooperation with
EU-VIP.
The same results helped to lay the
foundation of PROVIP, which start-
ed in October 2012 and will last un-
til November 2014. The main goal of
PROVIP is to disseminate the out-
comes on virtual mobility from EU-
VIP to numerous stakeholders, but in
particular to companies as it is com-
monly believed that virtual mobility
has a low impact for industry.
For PROVIP, several pilot projects and
training events are taking place to
raise corporate awareness. Moreover,
an online platform has been devel-
oped to provide stakeholders with the
tools needed to arrange and manage
virtual internships, including the pro-
motion of internship offers, an appli-
cation system, communication tools
between the interns, companies and
university and tools to gather feed-
back.
BEST is contributing to all areas of
the project coordinated by different
partners. Our main role in the project
is to provide student’s input via the
organisation of two Events on Educa-
tion. The first of these took place in
July 2013 in Timisoara, Romania, un-
der the the theme: “Bringing education
and entrepreneurship under students’
scope”. The event gathered extensive
input from students on their opinion
of virtual internships and internships
as a whole, in addition to evaluating
and providing feedback to the online
platform which has been developed
to support virtual internships. Topics
on entrepreneurship and its relation
with virtual internships were also cov-
ered, which presented new perspec-
tives on the subject.
The second Event on Education, “LINK:
Let’s Introduce the Network of Knowl-
edge”, will take place in Gdansk in July
2014. It will tackle the topics of virtual
mobility and continue to explore its
relationship with entrepreneurship.
From our cooperation with PROVIP,
BEST gains insight into future work
practices, provides students’ input for

53
the development of these projects
and makes sure students needs are
satisfied, while gaining knowledge
on exciting and relevant issues such
as virtual mobility. In this way, we are
able to keep improving the outcomes
of our events and present them not
only to PROVIP, but also the other
engineering associations, leading to
a better future for the students who
will have more options when taking
the decision of applying for an intern-
ship.
We are hoping to continue with these
fruitful collaborations and partner-
ships which benefits all of our stake-
holders.
INTEL BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Intel Business Challenge Europe (IBC
Europe) is part of Intel Global Chal-
lenge, which gives business develop-
ment opportunities to young entre-
preneurs and start-ups with potential.
The contest is supported by affiliate
networks and business experts across
Europe. Individuals and groups have
the possibility to develop their busi-
ness idea into operational start-ups
and co-create on a European and
global level.
BEST, by becoming part of the IBC Eu-
rope affiliate network with the 2014
edition, supports activities under IBC
Europe, as it is not only a competition,
but also a programme for the devel-
opment of skills for young people.
The role of BEST is to disseminate
information about the competition to
engineering students across Europe,
as well as provide feedback on cer-
tain parts of the competition. Involve-
ment in IBC Europe gives us access to
a broad network of institutions and
industry representatives, as well as
experts in the engineering and busi-
ness fields. Furthermore, as IBC is a
competition, we see cooperation as
a learning opportunity for both sides
to further develop our own competi-
tions.

54
WORLD ENGINEERING EDUCATION FORUM
Even if BEST has its European bound-
aries, external relations do not know
the definition of borders.
The International Federation of En-
gineering Education Societies (IFEES)
is an umbrella organisation that aims
to establish effective engineering
education processes of high quali-
ty around the world and to assure a
global supply of well-prepared engi-
neering graduates for the engineering
field.
In September 2013, BEST had the op-
portunity to attend a distinguished
event organised by IFFES, the World
Engineering Education Forum (WEEF)
in Cartagena, Columbia. The topic of
the event was innovation in Engineer-
ing Education as there is a general
need to search for innovated solu-
tions in order to help optimise pro-
cesses and services in the field of En-
gineering Education.
After the successful involvement in
WEEF, BEST is currently discussing its
involvement in the 2014 and 2015 edi-
tions which will take place in Dubai,
UAE and Florence, Italy, respectively.

55
INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION
The International Engineering Com-
petition (IEC) is an event organised by
the Canadian Federation of Engineer-
ing Students (CFES) of which BEST
was a partner, along with several oth-
er international partners. It seeks to
gather participants from all over the
world to compete in the categories:
Design competition and Consulting
competition. As in other competitions,
creativity and good teamwork are im-
portant factors to win, and students
learn by solving novel problems to-
gether in an innovative way.
In September 2013, the first ever edi-
tion of IEC was organised in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. It brought togeth-
er students from Canada, the United
States, and Europe, resulting in a total
of 16 teams. Shell was the exclusive
sponsor of the competition, therefore
its official name was the “Shell Inter-
national Engineering Competition”.
While the IEC is not officially linked to
any part of the EBEC pyramid, none-
theless several teams composed of
BESTies and EBEC participants trav-
elled to Canada in order to compete,
and as such BEST was responsible for
a large part of the European teams in
the event. One of these teams would
even go on to win the Design compe-
tition!
IEC is the main intercontinental proj-
ect that BEST is engaged in, and as
such its organisation (and the col-
laboration with CFES) forms one of
BEST’s most important projects. Both
CFES and BEST have already started
the preparation of the next IEC edi-
tion, currently scheduled for Septem-
ber 2015.
More information about the 2013
competition is available on: www.iec.
cfes.ca.

56
p u b l i c R E L A T I O N S
PUBLIC
RELATIONS

57
BEST, as an organisation growing day
by day, recognises the value of build-
ing a strong external image among its
stakeholders in order to assure that
all of the services produced by BEST
members are well-understood and
appreciated by the public. To this end,
the Public Relations Project strives
to monitor, assess and reinforce the
public image of BEST through the
use of social media channels, media
appearances and collaboration with
Local BEST Groups. Since 2009, this
project has ensured that BEST re-
mains a well-known brand providing
high quality services to European stu-
dents of technology.
Promotion of BEST services is a key
element for the public relations prac-
tices of BEST as they hold an impor-
tance in strengthening the public im-
age of BEST. Therefore, BEST courses,
European BEST Engineering Compe-
tition, career-related and educational
opportunities, together with internal
events such as Regional Meetings,
General Meetings and Training Events
are promoted through social media
channels and media coverage.
As a result of a careful planning, of-
ficial social media accounts of BEST
have been gaining the attention of a
great number of students, companies
and educational institutions. To illus-
trate, the official Facebook account
of BEST increased the number of its
fans by 47% in less than a year and
reached 11.407. Similarly, the official
Twitter account of BEST augmented
the number of its followers remark-
ably and reached 1.100. In parallel, the
official LinkedIn account of BEST saw
the number of 2.702 with an increase
of 63%.
Media coverage is also an integral
component of establishing a strong
relationship with the stakeholders
of BEST. Thus, a notable amount of

58
media companies were contacted
for possible media partnerships. The
biggest and most prestigious events
of BEST, namely General Assembly,
BEST Career Day, Presidents’ Meet-
ing and European BEST Engineering
Competition, were publicised through
a notable number of different me-
dia channels. Young Petro, an inter-
national student magazine focused
on the petroleum industry, was also
involved in this process by being the
media partner for General Assembly
Bucharest 2014 and European BEST
Engineering Competition Final Round
2014.
The Public Relations Project is de-
termined to continue its high-quality
and dedicated work in the following
years to make sure that BEST is in its
rightful place among its stakeholders.
7.759
3038
4341
3.731
5258
11.407
FACEBOOK
STATISTICS
SEASON
EVENTS
2013 2014

59

LBG Aalborg Daniel Hillerström Aalborg University, Aalborg Universitet
LBG Almada Tiago Cardoso New University of Lisbon
LBG Ankara Ahmet Mert Ozcelik Middle EastTechnical University (Orta DoguTeknik Universitesi)
LBG Athens Myriam Sarantea NationalTechnical University of Athens (Ethnico Metsovio Polytechnio)
LBG Aveiro Cátia Alves University of Aveiro
LBG Barcelona Albert Poti Jove Technical University of Catalonia
LBG Belgrade Daniel Mijailovic University of Belgrade
LBG Brasov Adrian Marcean Transilvania University of Brasov
LBG Bratislava Matej Čupka Slovak University ofTechnology, Bratislava
LBG Brno Jan Mazáč Brno University ofTechnology
LBG Brussels Laurens Raes Free University of Brussels (VUB)
LBG Brussels ULB Flavius Ivan University of Brussels (ULB)
LBG Bucharest Andrei Frincu Politehnica University of Bucharest
LBG Budapest Kristóf Andrzej Baran Budapest University ofTechnology and Economics
LBG Chania Aggeliki Marini Technical University of Crete (T.U.C.) (Polytehnio Kritis)
LBG Chisinau Dorin Russu Technical University of Moldova
LBG Cluj-Napoca Andrei Popa Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
LBG Coimbra Cristina Bento University of Coimbra
LBG Copenhagen Thomas Bruun Bertelsen Technical University of Denmark, DanmarksTekniske Universitet
LBG Delft Sebastian France Delft University ofTechnology
LBG Eindhoven Nawshad Chowdhury Eindhoven University ofTechnology
LBG Ekaterinburg ElviraYakupova Urals State University of RailwayTransport
LBG Ekaterinburg UrFU Ksenia Burlakova Ural Federal University
LBG ENSAM AntoineVan Der Borght Arts et Métiers ParisTech
LBG ENSTA ParisTech GrégoireVarillon ENSTA ParisTech
LBG Faro Algarve ArtemYultyyev University of Algarve
LBG Gdansk Maciej Kopania Gdansk University ofTechnology
LBG Ghent Eline De Buyser Ghent University
LBG Gliwice Mateusz Ryba Silesian University ofTechnology in Gliwice
LBG Gothenburg Mats Lindstrom Chalmers University ofTechnology, ChalmersTekniska Högskola
LBG Graz Philipp Miedl Graz University ofTechnology
LBG Grenoble Sylvain Bouvet Grenoble Institute ofTechnology
LBG Helsinki Timo Salo Aalto University, Aalto-yliopisto
LBG Iasi Mariana Doroftei "Gheorghe Asachi"Technical University of Iasi
LBG Istanbul Mertcan Öztürk IstanbulTechnical University (IstanbulTeknik Üniversitesi)
LBG IstanbulYildiz Tunc Sahin YildizTechnical University
LBG Izmir Veysel Anil Gunay Ege University (Ege Üniversitesi), Izmir,Turkey
LOCAL
BEST
GROUPS
UNIVERSITIES & PRESIDENTS

61
LBG Kaunas Justinas Mažonas Kaunas University ofTechnology
LBG Kiev Marina Shalko NationalTechnical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"
LBG Kosice Marcela Markovičová Technical University of Kosice
LBG Krakow Michal Kulbat AGH-UST - University of Science andTechnology
LBG Las Palmas Maria Ramos Las Palmas of Gran Canaria University
LBG Leuven Laurens De Smedt Catholic University of Leuven (KUL)
LBG Liege Anthony Marchand University of Liège
LBG Lisbon Ana Rita Medeiros University of Lisbon
LBG Ljubljana Tanja Abramovic University of Ljubljana
LBG Lodz MartaWadowska Lodz University ofTechnology
LBG Louvain-la-Neuve Louise Noël Catholic University of Louvain (UCL)
LBG Lund Ellen Persson Lund University, Faculty of Engineering, LundsTekniska Högskola
LBG Lviv Oleh Kozak Lviv Polytechnic National University
LBG Lyon Rémi Chateau INSA Lyon
LBG Madrid Pedro Garcia Chas Technical University of Madrid
LBG Madrid Carlos III Irene Romero Carlos III University of Madrid
LBG Maribor Katja Čuš University of Maribor
LBG Messina Giuseppe Sgrň University of Messina
LBG Milan Michele Damato Politecnico di Milano
LBG Moscow Pavel Sukhov Bauman Moscow StateTechnical University
LBG Mostar Nermina Baljic University "Dzemal Bijedic" of Mostar
LBG Nancy Adrien Carpinteiro University of Lorraine
LBG Naples Mario Salomone University of Naples "Federico II”
LBG Nis Pavle Djordjevic University of Nis (Univerzitet u Nisu)
LBG Novi Sad MarkoVasiljevic University of Novi Sad
LBG Paris Ecole Centrale Aiman Sokhal Centrale Paris
LBG Paris Polytechnique Boris Azimi Ecole Polytechnique
LBG Patras Anastasios Alexopoulos University of Patras (Panepistimio Patron), Patras, Greece
LBG Porto Felipe AfonsoVieira University of Porto
LBG Prague Adam Uhlíř CzechTechnical University in Prague
LBG Reykjavik Daniel EldjarnVilhjalmsson University of Iceland, Háskóli Íslands
LBG Riga Zane Feldmane RigaTechnical University
LBG Rome Tatiana Quercia Sapienza University of Rome
LBG RomeTorVergata Daniele Rossini University of RomeTorVergata
LBG Saint Petersburg Olga Osipenko Saint Petersburg State Polytechnical University
LBG Skopje Vesna Markovska University Ss. Cyril and Methodius (Univerzitet Sveti Kiril i Metodij)
LBG Sofia Dimitar Dimitrov Technical University of Sofia
LBG Stockholm Riccardo Borgani Royal Institute ofTechnology, KungligaTekniska Högskolan (KTH)
LBG Supelec Adam Smiarowski Supélec (Ecole Supérieure d'Electricité (Supélec))
LBGTallinn Andres Ruul Tallinn University ofTechnology
LBGTampere Emil Hagstrom Tampere University ofTechnology
LBGThessaloniki OlgaVrousgou Aristotle University ofThessaloniki
LBGTimisoara Paul Finta Politehnica University ofTimisoara
LBGTrondheim Franz LaZerte Norwegian University of Science andTechnology
LBGTurin Davide Modesti Politechnic ofTurin
LBG Uppsala Nemer Achour Uppsala University, Uppsala Universitet
LBGValladolid Álvaro Gutiérrez González University ofValladolid
LBGVeszprem Futó Dániel University of Pannonia
LBGVienna Bernhard Stecher Vienna University ofTechnology
LBGVinnytsia Inna Melnyk Vinnytsia NationalTechnical University
LBG Warsaw Pawel Kociuba Warsaw University ofTechnology
LBG Wroclaw Marcin Majczyk Wroclaw University ofTechnology
LBG Zagreb Vitka Gres University of Zagreb
LBG Zaporizhzhya Sasha Kravtsova Zaporizhzhya NationalTechnical University

63
SUPPORTERS
EDUCATIONAL PARTNERS
PRO
VIP
UNIVERSITY AND INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
CAREER SUPPORT PARTNERS
PARTNER NGOS
European Students’ Forum
With the support of the Youth in Action Programme of the European Union

With the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

Annual Report 2013-2014

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