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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to identify the main social competencies that future engineers need to become recognized professionals. In the paper the key competencies for contemporary engineers are examined and the focus is given on the importance of social competencies for professional development. A competency research model is developed taking into consideration the current research published in scientific papers, gathered opinion of students from Technical University of Sofia and early-aged operating engineers. Design/methodology/approach: The raised research questions are: "Which social competencies do future engineers need to possess in order to be successful and self-efficient in their personal and professional development?" and "Does the set of essential social competencies vary in different scenarios of engineering practice?" Findings: The received results after detailed analysis of university students' vote and opinion of the operating young engineers about what kind of social abilities are important for a reliable and effective engineering practice point to social competencies like: communication, teamwork, networking and adaptability are among the competencies with highest priority. These competencies are pointed out by engineers from Philips ETG as very important for successful social behavior too. Among the highest scored ability according to the students' ratings is self-management of social activities. That means that they wish to know how to manage their behavior and what kind of tools to use in order to be successful persons in their career development. The performed investigation about the key competencies for engineers results in a social competency research model that could support the building of a reliable engineering profile together with the required specific technical competencies. Originality/value: Successful professional realization requires not only specific technical competences of engineers, but also suitable social behavior. In this work the essential social competences for engineers are investigated and a social competency research model is proposed after comparison of preliminary students' vote, rating of students working on projects and gathered opinion of early-aged engineers. (Contains 3 figures and 6 tables.)

This synthesis paper explores current leadership training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Bulgaria. The analysis begins with discussion of global factors influencing the implementation of leadership training in STEM education in general and then presents information about the current status of leadership training in Bulgaria with emphases on the country's economics, politics and geographical location as specific factors influencing leadership education. A short background of Bulgaria is presented with regard to population, gross domestic product, educational system, engineering force and possible need for leaders in industry in Bulgaria and the European Union. The paper provides an overall view about the current status of leadership training in all Bulgarian universities offering STEM education and concentrates specifically on two major universities by examining their currently offered programmes. As part of the discussion, similar training elements in other European countries and the USA are presented. (Contains 1 table.)

The current paper presents briefly and in general terms the horizontal geodesic survey done by angle measurement, as well as the engineering documentation of the results of the stage from the archaeological excavations of the site "Early (wooden) fortification" in the Inner city of Pliska in 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitalization of education is a continuously developing process, aimed at the use of information and communication technologies. However, engineering education utilizes several forms of learning, with laboratory experiments being one of them. The use of digital learning materials (DLM) in labs is still limited due to numerous existing factors. This study investigates students' acceptance of using DLM during laboratory exercises in three universities located in Turkey, Poland, and Bulgaria. A questionnaire was prepared, and a survey was conducted among 625 learners. They were divided into eight categories, based on their engineering area and country. The survey results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between the students' opinion on DLM and the use of DLM by their lab instructors, which means that their acceptance could be increased if more DLM are integrated in lab courses. The analysis of the questionnaire results also showed that there is a significant difference in the students' opinion on DLM, depending on the engineering area. Students of Food, Chemistry, and Electrical engineering rated the use of DLM quite high (above 4.0 out of 5), followed by the Civil engineering students with average results between 3.5 and 4.0. Respondents involved in Textile, Bio, and Machine engineering were the most skeptical (<3.5). Furthermore, their opinions covered a wide range from "Strongly disagree" to "Strongly agree." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitali Vitaliev tells us of the technology behind the world's wealthiest spot that he himself discovered in the Bavarian Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]