Adina Munteanu
Student Workshops @ UNESCO Chair Engineering for Society

Between November and December 2024, the UNESCO Chair Engineering for Society hosted a series of practical workshops designed to build transferable skills for students — the kind of skills that bridge formal academic training and the demands of professional life, but that are rarely covered systematically in a degree programme.

The series covered six topics, each delivered in an applied, hands-on format with small groups to allow direct interaction and feedback.

Workshop topics

Data work with Excel

  • Data Modeling with Excel — building structured spreadsheet models for analysis and decision-making
  • Data Analysis with Excel — using Excel as a data analysis tool, from pivot tables to formula-driven dashboards

Communication and presentation

  • PowerPoint: Formatting & Design — visual hierarchy, typography, and slide layout principles
  • PowerPoint: Discourse Structure & Visuals — how to structure a talk so the audience follows, and how to design visuals that support (rather than distract from) the message

Academic and professional skills

  • Academic Writing for Young Researchers — practical foundations of academic writing, from argument structure to citation discipline
  • Using the Agile Principles — introducing students to project management thinking through Agile, with applications in research and team work

The workshops were designed to address a consistent gap observed across student cohorts: technical competence in a discipline does not automatically translate into the ability to structure information clearly, communicate it persuasively, or organise complex work over time. By focusing on these specific skills, the workshops gave students tools they can apply immediately — in their thesis work, internships, and early-career projects.

Format and participation

Each workshop was delivered in a session-based format, allowing students to choose the topics most relevant to them. The small-group structure prioritised direct practice and individual feedback over passive listening.

Future sessions

If you are interested in joining future sessions of these workshops, fill in this form to be notified.

Related topics

12:54 PM 21Dec, 2025
Adina Munteanu
AVIONIC Project Closing Conference — Madrid, September 2025

On 19 September 2025, the AVIONIC project team gathered in Madrid, Spain for the closing conference of the Creative Digital Teaching and Learning for Green Air Transport and Logistics (AVIONIC) project. The event marked the completion of a multi-year collaboration between European universities and industry partners, focused on building modern digital tools for aviation education.

Launch of the Avionic Learning Platform

The headline moment of the conference was the official launch and demonstration of the Avionic Learning Platform — the central deliverable of the project. The platform brings together interactive teaching modules, digital case studies, and learning scenarios designed for higher-education courses in air transport and logistics.

Conference participants — including academics, project partners, and industry stakeholders — were guided through the platform’s features and the pedagogical reasoning behind its design. The demonstration confirmed that the platform is ready for integration into university curricula and for use by both students and faculty in the aviation field.

Project wrap-up and lessons learned

Beyond the platform launch, the closing event served as a moment to reflect on what the project achieved across its full duration:

  • a series of student and teacher workshops held across partner institutions
  • the development of digital teaching materials aligned with green aviation goals
  • partnerships strengthened between universities and aviation industry actors
  • documentation and dissemination of pedagogical methods that can be reused beyond the project’s lifetime

The closing conference brought the consortium together one last time in a formal setting, providing space for partners to discuss sustainability of the results and future collaboration opportunities.

Creative Digital Teaching And Learning For Green Air Transport And Logistics

The AVIONIC Project represents the kind of European-level cooperation that helps modernise university teaching in a sector — aviation — where the gap between fast-moving industry practice and traditional pedagogy can be wide. The closing conference confirmed that the project’s outputs will continue to be available to the wider academic community.

11:46 AM 25Sep, 2025
Adina Munteanu
Designing Learning Experiences: Competences in the Digital Era

As of March 2024, I have initiated a new research agenda, creating a dedicated project.

Scope of Research

This research project aims to develop a comprehensive structure of competences tailored for trainers and lecturers, focusing on the integration of digital skills and andragogic principles.

The scope encompasses the identification, analysis, and synthesis of essential competences required for designing effective learning experiences in contemporary educational settings, particularly in the context of online or remote training.

It will also address the challenges post COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to update teaching methods and tools to better cater to adult learners.

Target Audience

The primary target audience includes: trainers involved in corporate training programs, lecturers across various disciplines and professionals engaged in instructional design and educational technology.

Reaserch Objectives
 

Identify Essential Competences

Conduct a thorough literature review and empirical studies to identify the essential competences for designing learning experiences, with a focus on addressing challenges post COVID-19 pandemic and the shift towards online or remote training.

Develop a Competence Framework

Utilize the findings to create a structured framework outlining the key competences required by trainers and university lecturers, integrating updates to teaching methods and tools for teaching adults in online environments.

Validate the Framework

Validate the developed competence framework through expert review, focus groups, and pilot testing in real-world educational settings to ensure its applicability and effectiveness, especially in the context of remote or online training.

Create Training Materials

Develop training materials, resources, and tools aligned with the identified competences to support educators in enhancing their skills in designing engaging and effective learning experiences, particularly in online or remote settings.

Methodological Aspects

Data Collection from Practitioners

Gather data through surveys, questionnaires, and observations from practitioners actively engaged in online or remote training to understand their challenges, needs, and experiences.

Investigation of Online Learning Environments

Conduct a benchmarking analysis of existing online learning platforms, tools, and environments to identify best practices and innovative approaches in delivering effective online learning experiences.

Interviews with Professionals and Experts

Conduct interviews with professionals and experts in education science, instructional design, and educational technology to gather insights, perspectives, and recommendations for updating teaching methods and tools in the context of online teaching for adult learners.

As milstones are reached, parts of the research will be published. You want to know more? Drop me a line at: adina.munteanu [at] upb.ro

8:21 PM 22Mar, 2024
Adina Munteanu
AVIONIC Project

About the AVIONIC project

Creative Digital Teaching And Learning For Green Air Transport And Logistics – AVIONIC Project

 

 

Creative Digital Teaching And Learning For Green Air Transport And Logistics

The project activities are folded in three categories: sharing the knowledge on innovative methods for teaching and learning and identification of digital and green skills in air transport; developing new curricula and teaching and learning materials; developing new digital tools for interactive teaching and learning as OER. 

 

The implementation of these activities will be ensure through a solid project management and extensive dissemination of the results. 

More about the project here.

11:23 AM 26Feb, 2024
Adina Munteanu
Knowledge Alliance in Air Transport Project

The Erasmus+ project “Knowledge Alliance in Air Transport” (KAAT) coordinated University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest and involving 5 partners 11 associates from 5 countries.

KKAT Project Partners

One of the project deliverables was the Report on Qualifications in Air Transport which presents a state of the art on qualifications from air transport industry, including an analysis of 30 qualifications within the field. An important part of this work consists in clarifying the relationships between occupations, skills/ competences and qualifications.

The analysis on qualifications in aviation may be considered as “special” due to safety and security requirements and possibly the existence of environmental externalities. According to various economic studies, however, there is little or no evidence that aviation has unique economic and human resources characteristics, compared to other modes of transport and service industries. 

The key to addressing the dynamic and rapid transformations shaping the aviation sector is the establishment and application of good regulatory practices and, more broadly, good governance – the institutional, regulatory, and policy frameworks in which air transport is designed, implemented and managed.

11:22 AM 26Feb, 2024
Adina Munteanu
Published academic papers

As of February 2024, the list of my published articles is mentioned below. Whenever possible, I will share the link where the paper is available.

Should you have any questions on any of the papers, kindly contact me at: adina.munteanu@upb.ro

 

2023
  • COACHING AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING QMS IMPLEMENTATION – A CASE STUDY IN A SHARED SERVICE CENTER IN ROMANIA, Cross-Cultural Management Journal, Volume XXV, Issue 2 / 2023.  by Munteanu, A.R. & Pavel, A.P. ; link to paper  
2019
2017
  •  STRESS REDUCTION THROUGH INNOVATIVE TRAINING: DANCING WITH STRESS. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. ISSN: 2226-3624., 2017,  Vol. 7, Issue 3 pages 208-215 by Nutu, I. V. and Munteanu, A.R.
  •  THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC OPERATORS IN ROMANIA DURING 2012-2014. International Journal of Business and Management Invention (IJBMI). 2017, ISSN (Online): 2319 – 8028, Volume 6 Issue 3, pages 32-35 by Munteanu, A.R. and Nutu, I. V.
2016
  • A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIC BUSINESSES IN ROMANIA DURING 2012-2014 – International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts, SGEM2016, Albena, Bulgaria 22 – 31 August, 2016, by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE ORGANIC MARKET IN ROMANIA: DYNAMICS AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORGANIC OPERATORS DURING 2011-2014”, – International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts, SGEM2016, Albena, Bulgaria 22 – 31 August, 2016,  SGEM 2016 Conference Proceedings Book 2 vol. IV pp. 781-787, by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE PRICE DYNAMICS ON THE ORGANIC MARKET IN ROMANIA BETWEEN 2010 AND 2015, SEA – Practical Application of Science, ISSN: 2360 – 255, 2016,  Issue 12, pages 485-491, by Munteanu, A.R & Nutu, V.I. 
  • IMPACT FACTORS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN ROMANIA,SEA – Practical Application of Science, Vol IV, Issue 3(12) pages 471-478, by Nutu, I.V and Munteanu, A.R. & Pîrlog, R.N. 
2015
  • REVIEWING THE PERFORMANCE OF ORGANIC E-SHOPS IN ROMANIA. The 9th International Management Conference Bucharest, Romania5th– 6th of November 2015, Publicat in: The 9th International Management Conference Proceedings, 2015. by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE ETHICAL LAYER OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT- Intercultural Communications and the Future of Education, THE HUB- Fusion Between Social Sciences, Art, Theology, Engineering, and Management, Publicat în: Proceedings of „The 2015 HUB and the 8th International SEA Conference – Spirituality and Creativity, Brasov, Sambata de Sus, 23-26 October” 2015.  by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ORGANIC PRODUCTS. Network Intelligence Studies, ISSN-L: 2344-1712; 2015, pp.145-151. by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE DYNAMICS OF ORGANICALLY CERTIFIED OPERATORS IN ROMANIA BETWEEN 2012 AND 2014”. Ovidius University Annals, Series Economic Sciences. ISSN 2392-3127 (Online); 2015. Vol. 15 Issue 2, p306-311, by  Munteanu, A.R
2014
  • THE RISK MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS ALONG THE VALUE CHAIN, International Conference On Production Research Regional Conference Africa, Europe And The Middle East And 3rd International Conference On Quality And Innovation In Engineering And Management Publicat în: International Conference on Production Research – ICPR – QIEM 2014, 1-5 July, Cluj-Napoca , 2014 , by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE PLACE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE BUSINESS MODEL OF A SME. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol 4 No 5, pp.845-855. by Munteanu, A.R.
  • AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ROMANIA”. SEA–Practical Application of Science, Vol.(03), Issue 1. pp.371-382. by Munteanu, A.R.
  • THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF GROUP CERTIFICATION FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN ROMANIA”. SEA – Practical Application of Science,  Volume II, Issue 2 (4), by Munteanu, A.R.
  • INVESTIGATING POTENTIAL STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING TOURISM COMPETIVENESS AT THE BLACK SEA SHORE”. Amfiteatru Economic, 2247–9104, 2014,  Vol 16(8), p.1253. , by Munteanu, A.R., Rizea, R.D., Ilie, A.G. and Sarbu, R. ; link to paper
2013
  • DEFINING A COHERENT ORGANISATIONAL VISUAL IDENTITY–A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS”. Network Intelligence Studies, Vol (01), pp.102-117. by Rizea, R.D. and Munteanu, A.R.
  • ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING (EMA) IMPLEMENTATION: MOTIVATION AND EXPECTED RESULTS FROM A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE”. Romanian Journal of Economics, vol 37(2 (46), pp.164-173. by Munteanu, A.R.
10:45 AM 26Feb, 2024
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