Automotive Skills Alliance
Pact for Skills large-scale partnership for the automotive-mobility ecosystem and organiser of the Skills (R)Evolution series.
Past conference · 2026
Skills (R)Evolution 2026
Connecting automotive-mobility and semiconductor skills ecosystems through strategy, collaboration, good practices and networking.
20–21 April 2026Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaAutomotive + semiconductors
This conference has concluded. The former registration call and outdated copied travel links have been removed; the programme and event context are preserved below.
Conference focus
Cross-sector skills strategies for Europe’s industrial transformation.
The 2026 edition brought the automotive-mobility and semiconductor ecosystems together around the Union of Skills, Pact for Skills actions, workforce transformation, sectoral skills intelligence, education and training, and regional implementation.
Hosted in Cluj-Napoca, the event combined policy dialogue and industrial perspectives with Blueprint project results, Romanian good practices, university showcases and networking.
Programme archive
Agenda
Monday 20 April 2026
Laboratory visit and welcome reception · Cluj-Napoca
14:00
Visit to the Laboratory
- Hydrogen-to-wheel Hardware-in-the-Loop test environment
- Integrated fuel-cell, drivetrain and dynamometer validation chain
- Emulated real-world testing for 50–100 kW e-drives
- Visit to ART TU Formula Student team
18:30–21:30
Welcome reception
- Liviu Purtator, Cluj-Napoca Municipality
- Bianca Muntean, Transilvania IT Cluster
- Jakub Stolfa, Automotive Skills Alliance
Tuesday 21 April 2026
Conference day · HUB UTCN · 09:00–22:00 EEST
08:30–09:00
Registration
09:00–09:10
Welcome from the host
- Daniela Popescu, Vice-Rector, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
- Emilia-Alina Botezan, Cluj-Napoca City Hall
- Video message from Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca
- Bianca Muntean, Transilvania IT Cluster
- Jakub Stolfa, Skills (R)Evolution Conference Series Chair & ASA President
09:10–09:30
Delivering the Union of Skills
- Jakub Stolfa, Automotive Skills Alliance
- Victoria Cummings, SEMI Europe
09:30–10:15
High-level fireside chat: Skilled People Powering Europe’s Innovation and Competitiveness
- Victor Negrescu, Vice-President, European Parliament
- Adrian Sandu, Secretary General, ACAROM
10:15–10:30
Coffee break
10:30–11:35
Panel I: Industrial Jobs in the Spotlight
- Dan Ghirisan, Ford Otosan Craiova
- Ovidiu Maghear, Bosch Engineering Center Cluj
- Gabriela Pontos, Nokian Romania
- Andrei Badea, Infineon Romania
- Aurora Rossi, IndustriALL
- Rolf Schreuder, STEM Coalition
11:35–12:40
Panel II: Joint Action for Competitiveness
- Cristian Nevzoreanu, Renault Group Dacia Romania
- Silvan Morariu, AROBS Transilvania Software
- Isabel Sorino Mate, Ceemet
- Viorel Baltaretu, former Secretary of State, Romania
- Matei Arghirescu, Chips Joint Undertaking
- Alexandru Roja, The European DIH in Transilvania
12:40–13:40
Lunch and group photo
13:40–14:20
Skills Transformation in the Automotive-Mobility Sector via TRIREME
- Elisa Pagliaroli, SPIN360 – research and skills-transformation findings
- Joao Alves, ATEC – competence matrix and job roles
- Manuel di Frangia, ADECCO & Marek Spanyik, ASA – training, education and recognition
- Jiri Kubec, ACEA – sectoral skills strategy
14:20–14:45
Skills Transformation in the Semiconductors Sector via ECS Academy
- Victoria Cummings – sectoral skills strategy
- Oliver Krammer – training development
- Octavian Axinte – student ambassador network
14:45–15:20
Skills (R)Evolution? Expected impact and roll-out of Blueprint projects
- Anna Spechtenhauser, WRS Stuttgart Region
- Oliver Krammer, Budapest University of Technology and Economics
- Victoria Cummings, SEMI Europe
- Jakub Stolfa, Automotive Skills Alliance
15:20–15:45
Coffee break
15:45–16:00
Connecting Innovation Ecosystems in the Danube Region
Liviu Purtator – SPIN-IT, Cluj-Napoca Municipality
16:00–17:25
Hands-on Regional Level and Romania – Good Practice Examples
- RO-SMARTSYS – Carmen Moldovan
- Transylvania Energy Cluster – Oana Raita
- Technologies of Interconnections in Electronics – Paul Svasta
- BMW Group TechWorks Romania – Emil Petru
- NewCar4Future – Florin Dehelean
- Solis-EV UTCN – Petre Dorel Teodosescu and Vlad Marian
- Applied Research Center for Electric Mobility – Bogdan Varga
17:25–17:30
Closure, summary and future outlook
Jakub Stolfa, Skills (R)Evolution Conference Series Chair & ASA President
19:00–22:00
Networking, social activity and dinner
Venue
HUB UTCN, Cluj-Napoca
Str. G. Baritiu nr. 4, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Local host ecosystem
The conference was hosted with Transilvania IT Cluster, Cluj-Napoca Municipality and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca.
Organisers & partners
European and local collaboration
TRIREME
Erasmus+ Blueprint project supporting sectoral skills intelligence, education and training, recognition and regional rollout.
SEMI Europe & ECS Academy
Strategic conference partners connecting the semiconductor skills ecosystem and European Chips Skills Academy.
Transilvania IT Cluster
Local conference partner and regional innovation ecosystem.
Cluj-Napoca Municipality
Local public-sector partner supporting innovation, skills and regional collaboration.
Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Host university for the conference, laboratory visit and technology showcases.
European context
Automotive and semiconductor ecosystems in one skills conversation.
The 2026 edition was organised in the framework of TRIREME and in collaboration with the European Chips Skills Academy. It reflected the growing convergence between automotive-mobility and semiconductor value chains and the need for coordinated European skills strategies.
The conference supported Pact for Skills collaboration by bringing together large-scale partnerships, projects, industrial stakeholders, regions and education providers.
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