In July, Trakia Economic Zone is sending two students from the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch to specialized training in Asia. Where does this opportunity and need come from? Plamen Panev, Executive Director of Trakia Economic Zone, explains: "It comes from the increasingly high level of technical education in Bulgaria and from the 'business-education' link that we have established with the team. When this link was weaker, we could not derive sufficient benefits from the overall improvement in our level to establish high-tech production in Trakia Economic Zone. All of this is possible, however, when we have better education in Bulgaria."
And so: times have changed. For the past 7-8 years, foreign investors have been coming to Bulgaria and, in particular, to Trakia Economic Zone, not to seek cheap labor. They are looking for engineers and programmers of the highest level for their high-tech production. It is precisely such personnel that the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch is producing. Elena Karakasheva and Petya Hristova are fourth-year students majoring in "Computer Systems and Technologies" at the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch. Both girls are top students. They have been selected to undertake a specialization at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute. The costs of travel, training, and the 30-day stay are covered by the program Taiwan-Europe Semiconductor Training Program. Emil Yankov – "Business Development" Manager at Trakia Economic Zone, recounts: "Our students will be trained in chip design. The lecturers are people from the business sector. The training takes place in Hsinchu city, where the country's microelectronics industry is concentrated. At the end, our two students will take an exam and receive a certificate of the level of knowledge acquired. In Bulgaria, they can build a career in companies related to electronics and robotics."
= This is just the beginning =
The Director of the Technical University – Plovdiv Branch, Associate Professor Dr. Nikola Shakov, is convinced that the upcoming training of the top students from the university is only the first step towards more effective cooperation with Taiwanese scientists and entrepreneurs. "At first, we will exchange students, then professors. Then, logically, joint scientific projects will follow. It is possible to create a specialized master's program, in which professors from Taiwan will also participate," comments Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shakov.
Petya Hristova fondly recalls that the upcoming specialization was quite ... sudden. "The Technical University – Plovdiv Branch warned the management of the company where we currently work to select top students. As far as we understand, the candidates must also have hardware knowledge."
I believe we are among the chosen ones because we have excellent academic performance and for 2 years we have been studying while simultaneously working in a large specialized electronics company. Elena and other employees and I verify the upcoming chip designs. This means that first, a project for the chips is written, and programmers describe how they want them to behave during operation. We theoretically test various scenarios to confirm that the chip will function as intended.
Elena Karakasheva shares that she and her fellow student had the opportunity to independently choose their training program in Taiwan. They will study the latest trends. in operational amplifiers – how they are programmed and how they are built. Why are these devices valuable? „Computers work with voltage differences to record information in a binary system composed of zeros and ones. A logical zero has a low voltage, while a logical one has a slightly higher voltage. Amplifiers will transmit this data more accurately and without distortion. Because when the signal travels through conductors, there is a lot of noise and it can be lost. The operational amplifier is a miniature device – a collection of transistors. We expect to see and study the smallest such devices in the world. They have applications in computers, phones, robots, etc. This program will allow us to have more knowledge and skills in our work, as so far we have always described the behavior of chips. Now we will have knowledge that will allow us to assess where a given problem arises.“ – concluded the excellent student.
12.06.2025
plovdivnews.en
