In mid-August, Mr. Luis Felipe Galindo Lopez defended his Bachelor thesis on robotics at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

He had come to Zittau as an exchange student with four other fellow students from the German-Mexican university "Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey" to study mechatronics for two semesters.

Luis Lopez was the first student from Mexico to complete his degree in mechatronics at the university. For his Bachelor thesis, he programmed a function module to control a robot - whereby the level of difficulty was increased by the requirement of a standardized later application to different types of robots.

Using simulation tests, he was first able to verify the function module, before putting it into practice and validating it using the robots of a large automation company in the region.

"The good support I received during my time at the university, the opportunity to get to know the country and its people and to work here in the field of research and development made my two semesters abroad a complete success," says Lopez. And he continues: "I am quite sure that I have become a new person through the entire exchange program and will remember every moment at the university."

Prof. Kratzsch from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Mr. Christian Vogel from the IPM provided support. In the 2019/20 winter semester, the university is once again expecting 13 students from Mexico to study mechatronics. Students from our university are also free to cross the Atlantic to broaden their horizons and expertise in Mexico.

Next semester, Mr Lopez will complete his studies at Tec de Monterey and then start his professional life as a highly trained specialist. His supervisors would be delighted to welcome him back to the region.