The MultiTouchCNME team from "Mihai Eminescu" National High School in Satu Mare is pioneering new approaches to education in Romania. They are participating in the "100 Youngsters for Romania's Development" campaign, which is being conducted at national level by the Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania. The young people are passionate about educational innovation and are coordinated by teacher Georgeta Cozma, who was a finalist in the "Exceptional Teachers League" contest organised by the Dan Voiculescu Foundation.
The success of the MultiTouchCNME team is contingent upon a meticulous organisational structure, which draws inspiration from the corporate environment. Each student is assigned a specific role, contributing to different departments: Creatives, Documenters, Translators, PR/Marketing and Software. Furthermore, senior students act as mentors for their younger colleagues, thus perpetuating the knowledge and values of the team. The team currently comprises Andrei Dragoș, Maia Simuțiu, Ruxandra Rața, Benjamin Secară, Alex Roman, Casian Dănuț and Ioana Milea.
Their educational approach is based on experimental transdisciplinarity and the study of complexity, integrated within the constructivist paradigm. This approach enables the creation of interdisciplinary connections and the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) projects that address contemporary challenges. Students investigate the equilibrium between reason and emotion, knowledge and creativity. Each project developed by the team has a specific objective, ranging from interactive educational software and robots to art portfolios and educational resources. Furthermore, integrating the arts into the educational process enhances students' emotional capacity, inventiveness and visual learning.
The MultiTouchCNME team has achieved considerable success in a number of high-profile international competitions over the years. In 2023, they secured gold and silver medals at the International STEM Innovation Olympiad (ISIO) in Indonesia, and in 2022, they were awarded bronze at the INTOC Global competition in Turkey. Their performance at the Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl in Hong Kong in 2021 was similarly noteworthy, resulting in the team being bestowed with the gold medal, which served to further substantiate the exceptional quality of their projects.
The MultiTouchCNME team addresses the challenges of a high-tech economy. The project encourages young people in Satu Mare to engage in a process of observation, investigation, experimentation and revision, allowing them to pursue and refine solutions to real-world problems until they find viable solutions.
By participating in the national campaign "100 Youngsters for Romania's Development," MultiTouchCNME seeks to motivate future generations and demonstrate that education can be a catalyst for change. The campaign, managed by the Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania, highlights success stories that are reshaping the standards of education in Romania, and the MultiTouchCNME team's narrative is undoubtedly one of the most illustrative examples of this transformation.
