First AEE International Student Chapter – China to Brazil

On July 8, 2019, Ali Aziz, a student from Pakistan, and Albin Zsebik, a professor in Hungary, organized the first general meeting of a new AEE student chapter in formation. Interest exceeded expectations. Twenty one students attended from seven countries, ranging from China to Brazil.

This will be AEE’s first “international” student chapter, meaning it is created especially to serve the needs of energy engineering students from multiple countries. Participants are all students at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary, but none speaks Hungarian. They study in English. This university already has a student chapter which conducts business in Hungarian, so there is a linguistic need for a second student chapter. The chapter mentor is Dr. Zsebik, member of the AEE Hall of Fame, founding member of the AEE Hungary Chapter and former Assistant Director for International Member Development in Central & Eastern Europe. He himself speaks six languages and, therefore, understands the need for such a unique chapter. The new chapter will invite international energy students from neighboring technical institutes to join, as well.

This activity sets new precedent for AEE.