Setting the course together

The HSZG has close ties with the University of Applied Sciences in Erfurt. For over 10 years, the two universities of applied sciences have been collaborating in the field of Control and safety technology in the railway sector. As a result, students in the Erfurt degree programme in Industrial Engineering with a focus on Railways, as well as students in the dual degree programme automation and mechatronics (HSZG) benefit from professional exchanges and participatory teaching units offered at both campuses. In addition, the HSZG participates in the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt’s certificate course “Digitalization in the Railway Industry.”

Consequently, the Rector, Prof. Alexander Kratzsch, and the Chancellor of the HSZG, Ms. Karin Hollstein, were particularly pleased to welcome their guests from Erfurt at the end of January:

Prof. Frank Setzer, President of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt,

Prof. Stefan Landwehr, Chancellor of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt, and

Ms. Stefanie Bauer, Executive Director of the Executive Board of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt.

In a collegial professional exchange, they discussed current issues of higher education policy and strategy that are of equal concern to both the University Executive Board of the HSZG and the Executive Board of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt.

The highlight of the meeting between HSZG and the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt was the visit to the Zittau Süd training signal box. Volker Brade and Patrick Hornung, staff members of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at HSZG, demonstrated the railway-specific control and safety technology that students from both Erfurt and Zittau are learning. This allowed the guests to get a firsthand look at the practical aspects of the curriculum by setting the switches themselves. The experience was capped off with a ride on the Zittau narrow-gauge railway.