engineering education

The volatility of economic conditions and rapid technological progress require production sites to be constantly adapted and improved. This needs highly qualified factory planners who can use digital planning tools efficiently. The best qualifications emerge from closely interlinking the teaching of planning methods and the application of these methods in a planning project according to the principle of “learning by doing”.

Within the last few years there was a growing trend at universities to establish so called Virtual Reality laboratories as special work places. This trend follows the need for better visualisation, both of research findings and of teaching content. The use of Virtual Reality systems for educational purposes at universities improves the imparting of complex issues and therefore enables a faster and more purposeful expert education. The visualisation of the relevant teaching content, using the virtual-interactive environment in combination with practical training, will help to improve the training results [1]. This paper outlines the potentials of the Virtual Reality technology for the university education.

Expert knowledge is doubtlessly the basis of all industrial activities - but it is no longer sufficient for professional success. Capacity for teamwork, interdisciplinary thinking and purposefulness often have the same significance. Many entrants will experience this in industrial practice - graduates of Hanover University have the chance to learn this as part of their studies. This paper presents the interdisciplinary Cooperative Product Engineering Project (KPE) and features last year’s participants’ results and success stories.

The Bologna process requires all European universities to establish a bachelor-master system for their curricula. For the theory-laden Diplom curriculum of the German technical universities this restructuring poses problems as well as it provides chances for a renewal of their worldwide respected engineering education. acatech has analysed the current situation together with universities and industry organisations. While acatech recommends keeping the master as the paramount goal of universitary education, our analysis also shows how the often neglected soft and language skills can be integrated into the new standard curricula, thus increasing transparency and internationality.