Dr. Heydari, in a conversation with the university's public relations department, congratulated all students, faculty, and staff on the New Year, stating: In 2019, significant strides were made in improving the quality of educational services and applying industrial research through systematic planning and effective collaboration of the diligent managers and experts in the educational and research departments, as well as the efforts and dedication of the esteemed faculty members. In this context, he presented a summary of the main actions undertaken in various sectors of this department in the fields of education, research, and industry relations in 2019, detailed below.
In the field of education, with the aim of increasing the satisfaction of students and faculty, effective planning and actions were taken to improve the quality of educational affairs through the enhancement of infrastructure, recruitment of distinguished faculty members, digitization of processes, continuous monitoring and evaluation of faculty performance, and the implementation of incentive policies for excellent faculty members, along with planning for the improvement of teaching quality. The key actions undertaken in this area include:
1- The development of 520 square meters of educational space through the construction of a new building for the Faculty of Engineering with 10 appropriately equipped classrooms, which, in addition to concentrating the educational classes of this faculty, improved the quality of educational spaces.
2- The approval and issuance of the model educational faculty regulations to encourage and appreciate the valuable efforts of esteemed faculty members in the field of education and to honor exemplary educational faculty members of the university.
3- Completing the digitization of the university's educational processes in the ERP system to provide an electronic service desk and eliminate paper from processes.
4- Eliminating printed theses and replacing them with electronic versions starting from October 2019 as part of the Ministry of Science's policies to reduce costs, conserve paper consumption, and achieve the goals of green management programs.
5- Attracting 9 new faculty members from among the elites and graduates of top universities in needed fields, to enhance the quality level of education and improve the student-to-full-time faculty ratio.
6- Initiating preliminary actions to obtain necessary permits to establish an international student admission section.
7- Adding the profile of Qom University of Technology to the reputable Top Universities website affiliated with QS to promote the university globally.
8- Increasing the share of master's degree students to 50% of the university's incoming students.
9- Monitoring the delivery of courses and approving the necessity of course outlines by faculty members.
10- Serious oversight on the optimal delivery of courses by faculties.
Furthermore, at the end of the year and after the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, the educational sector faced a serious challenge with the announcement of the National Coronavirus Headquarters regarding the suspension of in-person classes. Thankfully, due to round-the-clock efforts and actions, we emerged from this challenge with great honor. In this regard, to ensure the continuity of the university's educational programs, all necessary coordination for conducting classes electronically was completed immediately and in the shortest possible time. So far, virtual links have been defined for over 80% of university classes on the university's electronic education platform, which has received favorable responses from dear students.
In the field of free education, due to the planning and efforts undertaken, we have successfully held various training courses for organizations and provided laboratory and workshop services to universities across the region. Additionally, pursuing the establishment of a skill management and career counseling center through the General Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education of Qom Province and the final follow-ups to obtain virtual section permits are other noteworthy actions in this sector.
In the fields of research and technology, with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of research activities by faculty and students and developing research infrastructure, appropriate policymaking and successful actions were implemented. With the actions taken in this sector, the growth of scientific activities and the production of research products have intensified. In this regard, the number of published ISI articles from the university has increased by 20% compared to the previous year. Additionally, citations for ISI articles have grown by 45%. The h-index of the university, which is one of the most important indicators for assessing the quality of scientific articles, also experienced a 35% increase last year, indicating an improvement in the quality of published articles by the university's researchers. Other important actions and achievements in this area include:
1- Obtaining permission and establishing Qom University of Technology Publishing.
2- Issuing a permit for the first scientific journal of the university entitled "Mathematics and Computational Sciences" and sending out a call for articles.
3- Requesting a permit for a journal titled "Mechanics of Smart Structures" and initial actions to obtain permits for three scientific journals titled "Production Engineering and Industrial Safety," "Polymers and Composite Processing," and "Power and Information Processing."
4- Doubling the incentive coefficient for the articles of the university's faculty.
5- Holding the fourth Iranian Mathematical Physics Conference.
6- Conducting an enhancement and empowerment course for faculty members titled "Research Methods and Management" in collaboration with the Office of the Supreme Leader's Representative at the University.
7- Registering 4 patents in technical and engineering fields by faculty members.
8- Selecting a university faculty member as the best innovator of 2019 in Qom Province.
9- Equipping the university's central library with the Sena 2 digital library.
10- Achieving a 30% increase in the number of books in the central library.
11- Preparing a special research grant guideline for the faculty members affiliated with Qom University of Technology.
12- Allocating a foreign currency budget of €103,000 and a budget of 2 billion and 128 million rials for the purchase of laboratory equipment from domestic exhibitions.
13- Signing a reciprocal cooperation agreement with laboratory centers in region 4 and providing discounted services to each other.
14- Increasing laboratory and workshop areas by approximately 600 square meters and improving the laboratory-to-student space ratio.
15- Constructing an electrical workshop and a research laboratory with a remodelled space of approximately 100 square meters.
16- Relocating and allocating new and suitable spaces for the research laboratory of the chemistry department, general physics laboratories 1 and 2, and the optics and plasma laboratory from the engineering physics department.
In the field of industry relations and entrepreneurship, after establishing the first innovation center in region 4 by Qom University of Technology and launching 12 innovative projects by faculty members, in 2019, by creating a Startup Empowerment Club (Beta), a suitable platform was provided to support innovative and technological ideas of students and faculty and to encourage applied research projects that lead to wealth creation. Also, the university's innovation center, following the continuous efforts of the esteemed president of the university, Dr. Rezaei Noor, succeeded in attracting financial support from the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, becoming the first university innovation center in Qom Province and is soon set to inaugurate its new space in a 600-square-meter area equipped with modern co-working spaces aimed at fostering collaboration between the university and knowledge-based companies. With the actions taken, the necessary groundwork has been laid to support proponents of innovative and technological ideas at the university's innovation center, allowing them to utilize the co-working space at a reasonable cost. Additionally, through signing a memorandum of understanding, they will benefit from services provided by the Startup Empowerment Club (Beta) in terms of consulting, training, and attracting investors. Furthermore, Qom University of Technology, which is facilitating student employment while studying through the Industry Helper program, has also made another honor in entrepreneurship with an 80% graduate employment average by participating in the Job Monitoring project. Other actions and achievements in the area of industry relations and entrepreneurship include:
1- Offering two entrepreneurship courses titled: "Fundamentals of Starting New Ventures" and "Designing and Formulating New Businesses" by the university's entrepreneurship center experts.
2- Signing four research contracts between faculty members and industries valued at 1,850,000,000 rials.
3- Approving and issuing guidelines for faculty members' study opportunities in industry to facilitate their presence in industries and utilizing their consulting services to address technical and scientific needs.
4- Establishing the Iranian Patent Center's partner office at the university to facilitate registering foreign patents for esteemed faculty and students, along with a request for one foreign patent.
5- Signing cooperation agreements with the National Oil Products Distribution Company, Jihad University, the Elite Office of Shahid Fahmideh Qom, the Marine Corps Research Office, and the Fadak Farm Qom, and preparing drafts for five cooperation agreements with Manganese Mining Company, Arin Paj Rolling Company, the Urban Studies Office of Tehran, the National Gas Company of Iran, and the Water and Wastewater Company.
6- Holding an Innovation Café meeting in student dormitories organized by entrepreneurship experts.
7- Forming a student robotics team led by one of the faculty members and sending this team to the Robochallenge exhibition of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund.
8- Conducting skill enhancement workshops titled idea generation workshop, personal and social skill workshops, and idea market events.
9- Conducting a panel for familiarization with actors in the innovation ecosystem with the participation of regional and national entrepreneurs.
10- Participating in the Technology Market Exhibition during Research Week and introducing products from university startups at this exhibition.
In conclusion, the university's educational and research vice president expressed hope that with the round-the-clock efforts undertaken and the support of officials, especially the esteemed university president, we will witness the elevation of Qom University of Technology's position among industrial universities in the country in the near future.