On May 17, 2025, the Polytechnic University of Timisoara, through the UPT Technical Museum and the ID/IFR and Digital Education Department, Multimedia Center and together with the cultural project Spotlight Heritage Timisoara were part of the program European Museum Night 2025.

Also offering a program of guided tours, the UPT Technical Museum came alive throughout the evening and invited visitors to discover the fascinating history of information technology. Over 400 people came to see MECIPT-1 - the first Romanian university computer (1961), as well as the latest virtual reality and mixed reality applications.

The event was designed for all ages, offering participants the chance to interact with engaging edutainment applications developed by UPT students and professors within the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara project. A major highlight was the latest Spotlight Heritage Timisoara virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (AR/MR) Spotlight Heritage Timisoara virtual reality (VR/MR) applications, through which the audience could explore a complex real-virtual world, using state-of-the-art digital technologies to showcase Timisoara landmarks and national heritage objects from the collections of the National Museum of Banat, a partner in the project.

The UPT Museum brought together a wide range of participants, from enthusiastic children and curious youngsters to seniors eager to reminisce, as well as a group of young people from social welfare services, who explored the exhibits with fascination.

Visitors included Ion Cotârlă, based in Detroit, a former student of the Computer Department of UPT (class 1970-1975), an effervescent period marked by the development of MECIPT. Mr. Cotârlă, who had the privilege of knowing Vasile Baltac, but also Iosif Kaufmann and to practise on MECIPT during their studies, before a long career at the computing center of General Motors, visiting Timisoara, found the opportunity to share precious memories about the pioneering Romanian computer science.

Visitors also discovered unique digital installations combining art and technology, such as:

• Interactive educational and fun apps for children, developed within the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara project

• The latest realizations of the Spotlight Heritage Timisoara project in the field of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR/XR), offering sophisticated ways of interacting with significant landmarks of Timisoara, mediated by state-of-the-art digital technologies.

• A documented incursion into the history of information technologies, including a visit to the MECIPT-1 prototype, the first university computer in Romania, together with a relevant collection of technological equipment illustrating the evolution of the sector.

• The "Bell Labs Expo" VR application, created by UPT students at the Nokia Bell Labs 100th Anniversary, dedicated to the development of communication equipment, from the first transistor to today's phones

• Patterns of Poetry: an interactive installation (artist: Marius Jurca, 13m10j) that proposes an exploration of the Timișoara landscape through the synergy between poetry and chromatic elements, inspired by the literary creations of the writer Robert Șerban, gathered under the title "Poems about Miss Timișoara", part of the project Heritage under the spotlight.

• A collection of original digital installations, materializing the fusion of artistic expression and technological innovation:

• Physic AI Garden: a dynamic virtual ecosystem populated by virtual botanical and mycological entities (artists: Anna Dumitriu & Alex May, in collaboration with CAPABLE Project and BioArt Revolution, with the support of Romanian Science Festival). This installation provides insight into the growth and interaction processes of virtual organisms, as well as the impact of pharmacological agents on their development.

• Games based on augmented reality (AR) that facilitate an immersive interaction with urban cultural heritage artifacts.

The European Night of Museums 2025 took place on Saturday 17 May, marking its 21st edition. Eagerly awaited every year, the 21st Museum Night ran throughout the day and late into the night, in synchronization with similar events across Europe.

Spotlight Heritage Timișoara / Patrimoniul sub reflectoare is a digital cultural initiative of the Politehnica University of Timișoara realized in partnership with the National Museum of Banat, part of the Cultural Programme Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture. Cultural project co-financed by the Center for Projects of the Municipality of Timișoara, Timiș County Council, Ministry of Culture, Romania, EEA and Norway Grants.