about the german working group
After the "1. International Workshop on Education in Mechatronics" organised by Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Bochum (Germany) on March 18 - 19, 1999 we founded the German working group "Mechatronics". The goal of this group is the exchange of experiences of the university teachers in the following fields:
- newly established courses in Mechatronics
- new teaching methods in Mechatronics
- new practical trainings and work in projects
- establishment of new bachelor / master-courses in Mechatronics in Germany in addition to the existing courses for the German "Diplom-Ingenieur"
- presentation and publication of these courses
This group is co-ordinated by Prof. Dr. Dudziak, Bochum University
of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bochum), and by Prof. Dr. Loose,
Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Brandenburg).
We meet twice a year and were established in September 1999 at
Fachhochschule Bielefeld. The following meetings took place in Weingarten,
Brandenburg and Kiel, Deggendorf, Heilbronn, Bochum, Pforzheim, Darmstadt,
Goppingen, Amberg and Wilhelmshafen.
If you are interested in being a part of the network, please sign in to
our German (Arkeitskreis)
mailing list or to the
(English)
internatinal mailing list.
The documentation of a lecture held on
"National and International Networks for the Education of
Mechatronical Engineers" at the conference "Education of Engineers
in the Future" in the Technische Fachhochschule Berlin,
November 9-10, 2000, can be found under the URL:
http://www.mechatronics-net.de/gerworkgroup/sonstiges/dudziak112000/index.htm.
Many discussions in our working group have dealt with the question of how
to integrate the topics mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and
computer science in one lecture course. One solution is the cooperation of
a student team in mechatronics projects, another solution is the cooperation
of three to four colleagues in one lecture course to show all aspects of the
development of a mechatronic machine.
In the field of internship (practical attachment) and studies abroad we
cooperate with universities and companies all over the world. For example
Bochum University of Applied Sciences exchanges students with
Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) for the practical attachment.
We also cooperate with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA (USA). In addition
Bochum has established joint courses with Université Blaise Pascal,
Clermont-Ferrand (France) and with Southbank University,
London (Great Britain) in Mechatronical Engineering. These courses include
one exchange year and graduates receive two diplomas from both institutions.
The students receive a good training for the European job market.
All participants of our working group are interested in establishing new
contacts for cooperation. We envision an International Network of
Mechatronic Universities. We see four fields of cooperation:
- the exchange of information
- exchange programmes for students and faculty members
- joint activities for public relations
- development of strategies in didactics and methodology of mechatronics teaching
We plan to establish this network with participants of the international
workshop. Participants are South Bank University, London (Great Britain),
Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand (France), Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg (Virginia, USA), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore),
Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore),
Institut Supérieur de Technlogie (Luxembourg),
Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), Technical University of Denmark,
Lyngby (Denmark), Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden),
Ecole Centrale d'Electronique, Paris (France), Istanbul University (Turkey),
Universita degli Studi della Calabria (UniCal) in Cosenza (Italy) and
University Linz (Austria).
University teachers of mechatronics or engineering who are interested in
joining this network should contact us under
reiner.dudziak@fh-bochum.de
and loose@fh-brandenburg.de.
Rev. 151 (4.08.2011)