The Department of Mechanics is a leading department for the "Polygraphy" specialty, responsible for ensuring the educational process with suitable instructors and educational-methodological laboratory facilities. The Department provides a significant part of the fundamental general engineering training for students from both faculties at TU-Sofia with a branch in Plovdiv. The Department provides education at all three educational and qualification levels: bachelor, master, and doctor.
"The Department of Mechanics" has scientific competence in announcing competitions for academic positions and obtaining scientific degrees in the following specialties:
- Theoretical Mechanics and Applied Mechanics in professional field 5.1. "Mechanical Engineering";
- Fluid Mechanics and Energy Conversion Technologies and Systems in professional field 5.4. "Energy".
In addition, the Department has scientific competence in announcing competitions for academic positions in "Polygraphy" in professional fields 5.1. "Mechanical Engineering" and 5.13. "General Engineering".
Currently, 3 full-time and 1 part-time doctoral students are studying at the Department, as well as 2 doctoral students in independent study, who are assistants at the Department.
Here, intensive scientific research is conducted in several scientific areas, the most important of which are:
- Applied Mechanics;
- Strength of Materials;
- Thermofluid Dynamics;
- Printing Technology;
- Engineering Design;
- Machine Dynamics;
- Synthesis and Precision of Mechanisms;
- Design of Machines and Structures;
- Computer methods in mechanics.
The scientific research work in the Department of Mechanics is: theoretical and experimental. The theoretical work does not require any special laboratory base except for computers. Computer equipment has been purchased with funds from the Branch and with funds earned through contracts. Experimental work is usually carried out in external organizations – in the country or abroad, and only a small part of it is financed by funds from scientific research projects with TUT and/or the Ministry of Education and Science.
The educational and qualification degree of "Bachelor" in the specialty "Printing" is accredited by the National Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation, with an assessment of "Very Good" in 2010 for a period of 6 years.
Training in the specialty "Printing" for the educational and qualification degree of "Bachelor" has a training period of four years.
Faculty members of the department conduct training in the following disciplines for the specialty:
- Fundamentals of printing;
- Color science;
- Mechanics;
- Materials for Graphic Arts I and II parts;
- Pre-press processes I and II parts;
- Printing machines I and II parts;
- Printing technologies I and II parts;
- Fluid mechanics;
- Copying and duplicating equipment;
- Heat engineering and thermal processes in graphic arts;
- Quality and reliability in graphic arts;
- Graphic Design
The training program in the specialty "Printing" for the educational and qualification level of "Master" has a duration of 1.5 years after obtaining the OQS "Bachelor". Faculty members from the department provide training in the following disciplines:
- Preparatory processes, Printing processes, Color and color reproduction, Quality and standardization in printing, Graphic design of wide-format images.
- Training in other specialties from FMU and FEA at TU-Sofia, Plovdiv branch.
Faculty members from the department provide the following disciplines: - Mechanics;
- Mechanics in English;
- Fluid mechanics;
- Fluid Mechanics in English;
- Heat Engineering;
- Heat Engineering in English;
- Strength of Materials in English;
- Technical Mechanics;
- Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer;
- Hydraulic and Pneumatic Drives;
- Selected Chapters in Mechanics;
- Selected chapters from dynamics;
- Machine mechanics;
Current PhD projects under NIS:
- Project under Contract No. 131PD0039-34 "Spatial vibrations of a forklift with a hydraulic manipulator having two translations and two rotations" supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Pepo Ivanov Yordanov and involving Senior Lecturer Dr. Eng. Deyan Vachev Zhelev;
- Project under Contract No. 132PD0023-24 "Design and investigation of a latent accumulator as part of a hybrid system for air conditioning" supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Aleksandar Georgiev Georgiev;
- Project under Contract No. 131PD0022-24 "Creation and investigation of a hybrid system with a ground-based thermopump" supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Aleksandar Georgiev Georgiev and involving Lecturer Emil Toshev Toshev.
Several contracts for joint cooperation have been concluded: with the Moscow State University of Printing Arts, with the Union of the Bulgarian Printing Industry, with the company "Avtoprint" EOOD Plovdiv, with the printing house "Delta High Print" Plovdiv, as well as bilateral agreements under the European Erasmus program with the University of Zagreb (Croatia), with ENSAM (Paris, France), with the University of Valencia (Spain); with the University of Hanover (Germany) and with the University of Göttingen (Germany).
Student internships: Students' practical knowledge in real technological and production conditions, in addition to the laboratories of the Branch, is acquired at various printing bases in Plovdiv, which are at a high modern level, where specific technological production schemes for all types of printing technologies current at the present moment can be seen – "Bulvest Print"-Plovdiv, "Rotoprint"- Plovdiv, "Avtoprint" EOOD Plovdiv, "Polygraph Commerce" EOOD Plovdiv, "Delta High Print", "Dunapak Rodina AD Plovdiv, "Ideal AS"-Plovdiv, "Zhanet-45" AD, Plovdiv, "Yuri Gagarin BT" AD, Plovdiv and others. In most of these enterprises, academic, academic-production, and pre-graduation internships for students are conducted. A Program and Regulations for conducting the internships have been prepared, and a lecturer from the department has been designated as the Internship Supervisor for the specialty.
The “Printing” program leading to a Master’s degree has a duration of 1.5 years following completion of a Bachelor’s degree. Faculty members from the department teach the following courses:
- Prepress, Printing Processes, Color and Color Reproduction, Quality and Standardization in Printing, Graphic Design of Large-Format Images.
- Courses in other majors offered by the Faculty of Media and Arts (FMA) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Automation (FEA) at the Technical University of Sofia, Plovdiv Branch.
- Faculty members from the department teach the following courses:
- Mechanics;
- Mechanics (taught in English);
- Fluid Mechanics;
- Fluid Mechanics (taught in English);
- Thermal Engineering;
- Thermal Engineering (taught in English);
- Strength of Materials (taught in English);
- Technical Mechanics;
- Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer;
- Hydraulic and Pneumatic Drives;
- Selected Topics in Mechanics;
- Selected Topics in Dynamics;
- Mechanical Engineering;
Current Ph.D. projects under the National Science Fund:
- Project under Contract No. 131PD0039-34 “Spatial Vibrations of a Forklift with a Hydraulic Manipulator with Two Translations and Two Rotations,” supervised by Assoc. Prof. Pepo Ivanov Yordanov, Ph.D., Eng., and with the participation of Senior Assistant Prof. Deyan Vachev Zhelev, Ph.D., Eng.;
- Project under Contract No. 132PD0023-24 “Design and Investigation of a Latent Heat Storage Tank as Part of a Hybrid Air Conditioning System,” led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Alexander Georgiev Georgiev;
- Project under Contract No. 131PD0022-24 “Development and Investigation of a Hybrid System with a Ground-Source Heat Pump,” led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Alexander Georgiev Georgiev and with the participation of Assistant Prof. Emil Toshkov Toshkov.
Several cooperation agreements have been signed: with the Moscow State Institute of Polygraphy, with the Union of the Bulgarian Printing Industry, with the company “Avtoprint” Ltd., Plovdiv, with the “Delta High Print” printing house in Plovdiv, as well as bilateral agreements under the European Erasmus program with the University of Zagreb (Croatia), ENSAM (Paris, France), and the University of Valencia (Spain); with the University of Hanover (Germany) and the University of Göttingen (Germany).
Student Internships:
In addition to the Branch’s laboratories, students gain practical knowledge in real-world technological and production environments at various state-of-the-art printing facilities in Plovdiv, where they can observe specific production processes for all types of printing technologies currently in use— “Bulvest Print”—Plovdiv, “Rotoprint”—Plovdiv, “Autoprint” Ltd., Plovdiv, “Poligraf Commerce” Ltd., Plovdiv, “Delta High Print,” “Dunapack Rodina” AD, Plovdiv, “Ideal AS”—Plovdiv, “Zhanet-45” AD, Plovdiv, “Yuri Gagarin BT” AD, Plovdiv, and others. Most of these companies host students for academic, academic-production, and pre-graduation internships. A program and regulations for conducting the internships have been developed, and a faculty member from the department has been appointed as the internship coordinator for the major.
