Continental Automotive Systems invests 180.000 euro within the “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu

Continental Sibiu will invest 180.000 Euro in the next three years. The two partners plan to work together in order to increase the number of budgeted places for bachelor programs at the Engineering Faculty.

Continental, one of the leading automotive suppliers worldwide, plans to invest 180.000 euro, in the next 3 years, at the “Lucian Blaga” University in Sibiu. The money will be used for equipping laboratories and classes, supporting competitions, events and other University initiatives dedicated to develop the knowhow and competencies of technical students from the Engineering and Sciences Faculties.

Based on the development plans and the recruitment needs of the Company for the next years, the two institutions agreed to work together in order to increase the number of students at several programs at the Engineering Faculty that are relevant for the automotive industry. The plan is to supplement the number of budgeted places at the respective bachelor programs in order to have more graduates with the competencies required by the market. Continental and “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu, within a frame of public-business partnership, will address this issue to the Education & Research Ministry in Romania.

In this regards, the company and the University elaborated a new collaboration contract that was signed during an official ceremony. It took place on the 9th of March, 2016, at the Rectors’ Building, in the presence of Mrs. Astrid Fodor, mayor of Sibiu, University representatives, as prof. univ. dr. ing. Ioan Bondrea, Rector of Lucian Blaga University, prof. univ. dr. ing. Liviu Ro[ca, Dean of the Engineering Faculty, conf. univ. dr. Angela Banaduc, Dean of the Sciences Faculty and Company representatives: dr. Sami Krimi, General Manager of Sibiu location, L`cr`mioara Daraban, Human Relations Manager and dr. Liviu Balan, Sibiu Location R&D Coordinator.

“For us is very important to contribute to the development of the job market in Sibiu, in this way, we are sure that we will not only have a good pool of candidates right now, but we also build up the future generation of specialists. Investing in the University and high schools is one of our priorities in this direction. The Lucian Blaga University has been always a reliable partner, open to our ideas and during the many years since we have been collaborating, we managed to achieve great things. Now is the time to take some steps ahead and find ways to improve even more our collaboration.” Dr. Sami Krimi, General Manager of Continental Automotive Systems Sibiu

„I have allways supported the need for corelation and connection of the universities to the real business environment. The partenership that we have build in Sibiu together with Continental is the most eloquent exemple of how the academic environment and a company are abel to generate projects and add value to both parts and also to the entire community. We are glad that we managed to find in Continental Sibiu a reliable partner for developing programs that offer the students real career perspectives, declared Prof. Univ. Dr. Eng. Ioan Bondrea, rector of the “Lucian Blaga” University. Continental developed a successful partnership with the “Lucian Blaga” University since the company was settled in Sibiu, in 2003. This partnership included equipping the laboratories, organizing special courses for the automotive area and offering many opportunities for the professional development of the students, mostly for the Engineering Faculty. In this regards, the previews collaboration contracted stated an investment of 150.000 euro for these activities. The new contract includes an amount of money dedicated to activities in the Sciences Faculty. Continental develops intelligent technologies for transporting people and their goods. As a reliable partner, the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner provides sustainable, safe, comfortable, individual, and affordable solutions. In 2014, the corporation ge nerated sales of approximately €34.5 billion with its five divisions, Chassis & Safety, Interior, Powertrain, Tire, and ContiTech. Continental currently employs more than 208,000 people in 53 countries. Through the end of 2014, Continental invested € 1 billion in its Romanian operations. All the corporation’s five divisions are represented in Romania. Continental has seven production units and three research and development centers in the cities of Timisoara, Sibiu, Carei, Nadab, Bra[ov and Iasi. Continental cooperates in a joint venture in Slatina and has a tire distribution center for Eastern Europe in Sacalaz. Continental employed by the end of 2014 over 15,000 and will continue to hire over 1500 new employees in Romania. Continental Sibiu has invested over 279 million euro since 2003 until present. The company has 3,200 employees and their number will increase in the coming years with another 500, according to the midterm strategy. Here are produced annu- ally about 30 million car control units. Some of the products designed in Sibiu are intelligent braking system, driver assistance systems and accelerator with speed limit in case of obstacle detection in front of the vehicle.

Contact for Journalists: Alice Nistor, Employer Branding, Sourcing & Communication Team Leader, Continental. Address: Salzburg Street, no. 8, 550018 Sibiu / Romania. Phone: +40 369 433053 / +40-756-017-905. E-Mail: alice.nistor@continental-corporation.com Online Media Database: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com Homepage: www.continental-corporation.com