Adrian Ibric

The most relevant and main experience accumulated after graduating IMUAU has been 17 years of  management, mainly in the private sector (since 2007) and in academic research management since 2021.    In the private sector, this has been accomplished through working as Manager, Co-owner, and/or Managing Partner for my own companies in the field of Architecture and Design – DUO STUDIO, an architecture office and STUDIOPLOT, a design and advertising agency, participating during this time, as contractor and/or sponsor in the organisation of cultural and architecture events such as exhibitions from the Romanian Cultural Institute (2012-2015) or Biennales of Architecture (2012-2023).

       However, most relevant is that the teams that teams I have coordinated in these companies have also been involved in development and innovation research. Within the companies’ projects, I am responsible for research, innovation and development, in all phases – market study and technologies, concept, design, implementation, exposure, promotion. I am currently responsible for two new innovation projects in creative recycling processes through design  – TUBATECT and ECOMODUL. As part of the companies’ branding and corporate social responsibility, I have conducted research and innovation activities ioriented towards innovative and environmentally responsible design, office furniture, including 100% recycled materials, sustainability, waste management and overall ecological design, that led to the production of the TUBATECT upcycled furniture 100% ecological line made out of waste carton tubes from the printing activities in the offices, since 2010. The project won the Ecotic/Ministry of Environment National Environment Prize (the Award for a Clean Environment) in December 2016 for the Private Sector, opposite competitor companies such as Kaufland and Carrefour, for design innovation using waste as building and designing resources.

       By 2015, having trained younger generations in my private office, it led to the possibility of delegating, in part, some of the managing responsibilities of these companies. That allowed me to enter the academic sector by becoming a PhD Candidate in 2015, studying ecological and ecosystemic architecture, nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, ecosystem services, natural capital, circular economy in built environments, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and adaptation in practice. My thesis “Architectural Interfaces as Local Ecosystemic Tools of the Built Environment” was awarded in February 2020 with Summa cum Laude. Instrumental in achieving this was an earlier training at ROSTeu Romanian Office for Science and Technology to EU in Brussels and at IGLO – The Informal Association of Brussels-based non-profit R&D Liaison Offices in European Research and Funding in 2016-2017, which both helped me navigate my research towards novel international topics and spiked my interest in research, development and innovation.

       During my time as a PhD student, I have represented my PhD Candidates community in the IMUAU Senate and in the Council of Doctoral University Studies (CSUD). In myy capacity as both a PhD Candidate and as Manager of my private architectural office, I have coordinated the contest proposal “Showcase Măgurele- enLightening Laser Valley 2035” for the “Laser Valley – Land of Lights International Competition 2016. Our rendering for the proposed business district was selected as the cover image of the 2017 promotional album of the development of the region of Magurele as a research-oriented cluster area capitalizing on the ELI-NP laser facilities – “Laser Valley – Land of Lights – From Vision to Action”.

      Also during my time as a PhD candidate I have developed the ECOMODUL prototype, pilot case study of an Ecological Office Module integrated in nature and assembled in Breaza, Prahova; a small office unit of 8 sqm, adaptable anywhere, easy to transport, energy independent through the integrated photovoltaic system up the roof. Made primarily out of wood structural elements, it has an Ecosystemic Envelope made of several sections, with recycled materials or natural origin such as twigs, bark or straw, with green walls, vines, moss and lichens from the local forest, on the North facade. It also features a suspended garden with edible greens on the South facade and an area with local perennial flowering plants on the East fade, in pots recovered from PET-bottles. All this represents a support for the growth of biodiversity in the area and an example that a landscaped office can provide ecosystem services through its components.

       To follow up on my interest in research and institutional development in a more scientific manner, I became part of the IMUAU academic staff. Starting in 2019, I have written and won 9 FDI grants, 3 as Project Director and other as co-writer and Team Leader; 2 UEFISCDI funded projects as a PostDoc – one through the PCE 2021 Competitions and an international one through the JPI ERA-NET COFUND ENUTC 2021Competition; 1 PNRR grant for university digitalisation; and as team member, a Life+ project and a NetZeroCities funded project part of 100 Smart and Carbon Neutral Cities Mission.

        In 2021 I joined the Research Management Department at IMUAU, as a Scientific Researcher, where my primary focus has been supporting the growth of the overall research, as well as increasing national and international exposure of IMUAU research activity. Since 2021, that has been achieved mainly through the involvement of over 50% of the academic staff in FDI and FCSU competitions funded projects, the creation of institutional CVs, of individual 80 researchers’ web-pages, the annual organization of the INNOMINCU “Research Days at IMUAU” Conference series and of the IMUAU Research Networking Days event, exhibition and catalogue of funded projects, structured on six pillars of research expertise at the university.

      Development of Entrepreneurship among the student community, in line with the triple helix model of innovation, is a second area of activity in which I had a significant impact, having initiated and managed the IMUAU Programme “HUB UAUIM BUSINESS (H.U.B.)”, which has received funding annually from FDI. Through H.U.B, more than 800 students and graduates have received training in Creative Services Entrepreneurship through courses, lectures and events with selected IMUAU alumni, funding newsletters and guides, training videos and manuals developed with my team of IMUAU academic staff, PhD students and graduates that I have coordinated as Project Director since 2021.