Washington, DC – The Hungarian American Coalition (Coalition) received a $275,000 grant from the Charles and Lisa Simonyi Fund for the Arts and Sciences. The grant will be disbursed to the following four programs and institutions: $150,000 will be donated to Károly Simonyi Technical and Vocational School; $50,000 will go to Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) Károly Simonyi Student College of Advanced Studies; $50,000 will be given to Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) Children’s University and $25,000 will be provided to the Foundation for the Preschool in Egyházasfalu.
Charles Simonyi
The Károly Simonyi Technical and Vocational School is named after Charles Simonyi’s father and is located in Pécs, Hungary. It is one of the largest secondary vocational training institutions in the county with around 1200 students. Its students can choose from the professions listed in the Hungarian National Training Register. Effective teaching and learning is supported by computer-equipped classrooms, a video system, a studio and a language lab, and all students obtain basic computer skills. A fourteen-thousand-volume library and collection of periodicals and phonographs is also available to help students learn about scientific achievements and cultural values. More information: https://simonyi.edu.hu/
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) Károly Simonyi Student College of Advanced offers students of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics of BME the opportunity to gain further professional knowledge in addition to their university studies. The College took the name of Károly Simonyi, after Charles Simonyi’s father, the Faculty’s admired professor, in 2003. The aim of the College is to provide its members and the students of the Faculty with the opportunity to acquire knowledge complementary to their university education. To this end, it organizes courses, conferences and other professional events and provides infrastructure to support students’ independent professional work. The aim of the College are to publish the results achieved by its members as widely as possible, and to make the work of the College known to other units of Hungarian higher education and to professionals. They are also organizers of the so-called ‘Simonyi Conference’, Hungary’s largest annual technology conference organized by university students. More information: https://simonyi.bme.hu/
The Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) Children’s University (funded through Pro Progressio Foundation) is an annual, five-day summer camp held at BME University for children between the ages 8-14 where they can get a glimpse into university life, attend special lectures in real lecture halls, and do mind-blowing experiments in small groups. Lectures and small group sessions are given by university lecturers. The Children’s University summer camp is held in two sessions, the first session is for children in 2-5th grades, and the second is for children in 6-8th grades. Between lectures, children can participate in various activities and games. More information: https://gyerekegyetem.bme.hu/
Charles Simonyi’s father, Károly Simonyi was born in Egyházasfalu, Hungary which is a small village in Western Hungary close to the Austrian border where this preschool is located. The Foundation for the Preschool in Egyházasfalu has the following goals: improvement of the equipment of the preschool, acquisition and operation of modern preschool equipment (such as toys, equipment for the development of movement, equipment for the development of intellectual abilities etc.) and furniture. It also aims to support preschool events and excursions, and improve the quality of the children’s living conditions by modernizing the environment in the preschool. More information: https://www.facebook.com/egyhazasfalu.ovoda