Mechanical Engineering Degree Program Opens the Door to the Future

The implementation of course-integrated learning objects, an e-learning tool in the Technical Thermodynamics module, and a concept titled “Nurturing the Next Generation of Mechanical Engineering Professionals in a Time of Structural Change” —these and other results were presented by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) at the closing workshop of the Maschinenhaus Transfer Project. The goal of the VDMA’s Maschinenhaus initiative is to increase academic success in engineering and to advise and support universities in their teaching efforts.

How can academic success be further improved? And how can we ensure a new generation of skilled professionals in the engineering field? These are just two of the key questions discussed during the transfer project in several roundtable discussions with program directors, faculty, students, and companies. The project at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences was supported by experts from the VDMA and the HIS Institute for Higher Education Development (HIS-HE).

Uwe Krüger of HIS-HE sees a “major challenge for universities” in the fact that mechanical engineering programs must continue to offer incoming freshmen study options “that open up sustainably good career prospects.” “And this against the backdrop of, in some cases, rapid advances in technical capabilities—think Industry 4.0—as well as the ongoing differentiation of business sectors and job profiles, ” adds Michael Patrick Zeiner, project manager of the VDMA Maschinenhaus Initiative.

Ensuring a New Generation of Skilled Workers

As part of the project, three core measures emerged, and implementation has already begun. To support interdisciplinary thinking, the teaching method of cross-module learning objects was adopted, and an initial learning object was developed, which serves as a model example across various academic disciplines.

To support students in self-directed learning and to help them reflect on their own level of knowledge, an e-learning program was further developed within a foundational module. Last but not least, to ensure a supply of young professionals—particularly in the region—and to guarantee that graduates are professionally qualified, an action plan was developed to further strengthen the HSZG’s collaboration with companies, educational and research institutions , and other key organizations such as the VDMA, to foster results-oriented collaboration.

In his speech at the closing workshop, Michael Patrick Zeiner, project manager of the VDMA’s Maschinenhaus Initiative, praised the project’s achievements: “Companies are looking for entry-level professionals who, even while still in school, have already begun tackling real-world professional tasks with an increasing degree of personal responsibility for problem-solving and results. I am therefore very pleased that such opportunities are now being made possible in Zittau through great dedication—including teaching modules and e-learning offerings, as well as by leveraging corporate contacts.” As an award for successful participation in a transfer project and in recognition of the commitment of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, he subsequently presented the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences with the VDMA “Maschinenhaus Certificate.”

In his welcoming remarks at the certificate presentation, the president of Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alexander Kratzsch, emphasized the university’s importance as a STEM hub: