On 19 June 2025, the Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” of Iași (TUIASI), in partnership with the Technical University of Moldova (TUM), officially launched the project CROSSCOMP 2.0 – Upgrade of the Cross-Border Regional Hub of Competences for the Automotive Industry for Green and Digital Emerging Trends.
The event, held in Iași, gathered representatives of the two universities, industry partners, and members of the academic community.
Funded by the Interreg VI-A NEXT Romania–Republic of Moldova Programme, with a total budget of €849,991.49 and a duration of 24 months, the project aims to modernise and expand the cross-border regional hub of competences in automotive engineering, in line with the industry’s growing demand for sustainability, digitalisation, and energy efficiency.
The opening was marked by addresses from Professor Irina Lungu, Vice-Rector for International Relations at TUIASI, Professor Daniela Tărniceriu, Dean of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology at TUIASI, and Associate Professor Dumitru Ciorbă, representing the Faculty of Computers, Informatics and Microelectronics at TUM.
Project coordinator Associate Professor Nicolae Lucanu presented the main directions of CROSSCOMP 2.0, including the development of a joint educational strategy to integrate green and digital trends in technical training, the creation of a joint double-degree Master’s programme in Applied Electronics, the modernisation of specialised laboratories in both universities, and the strengthening of cooperation between academia and industry in preparing the future workforce.
A key highlight of the event was the participation of representatives from the private sector. Adrian Zaharia, from Continental, and Dumitru Simion, from Schaeffler, emphasised the importance of aligning university curricula with the real demands of the automotive industry. They welcomed the practical and collaborative nature of CROSSCOMP 2.0, underlining that it offers concrete opportunities for graduates to enter a sector undergoing rapid technological transformation.
Closing the event, project coordinator Nicolae Lucanu stressed the continuity and evolution from the first CROSSCOMP initiative:
“CROSSCOMP 2.0 continues a successful initiative launched under the previous programme, advancing the vision of a cross-border educational hub centred on innovation, relevance and genuine collaboration with industry. It is a natural and necessary evolution, as the transformations in the automotive sector call for new competences, developed quickly and anchored in the economic and technological reality.”
