Company contacts, internships and joint projects: Paderborn University has agreed a cooperation with the Association of German Engineers East Westphalia-Lippe (VDI OWL). The aim is to promote exchanges between students and experienced engineers and to contribute to technological progress in the region.
"Shaping the sustainable world of tomorrow"
In addition to technical expertise, the common interest is to emphasize the social commitment of young engineers and to advance technological development in a balanced way between people, nature and technology. "At our Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, the focus is on providing students with a sound education that takes into account the conditions of the current and future working world. Through our close partnerships with industry, we open up unique opportunities for them to shape the world of tomorrow in a sustainable way," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Birgitt Riegraf, President of Paderborn University.
As part of the cooperation, students can take part in VDI OWL events or excursions to companies in the region and benefit from the resulting contacts with business and industry. They also receive support in starting their careers through various career events and job application training. In order to promote social and professional exchange, VDI OWL also has the "Young Engineers", a network for students, young engineers and career starters.
Students build environmentally friendly sailing boat
The partnership also focuses on joint projects. Together with the other universities in Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Paderborn students in the VDI OWL recently implemented the "sail.ing" campaign. They built a climate and environmentally friendly sailing boat across universities to take part in a regatta. "Sustainability, climate neutrality and the environmental compatibility of technical systems are established goals both at our university and at the VDI. It can be very exciting for students to experience this," says Dr.-Ing. Jens Pottebaum, Senior Engineer at the Product Creation Workgroup at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute and contact person for the VDI OWL at Paderborn University.
The potential of interdisciplinary networking
"The universities in the region, including Paderborn University, make significant contributions to the development of technology and society. As a technical-scientific network, the VDI therefore works closely with the universities to achieve common goals," says Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Hörstmeier, VDI OWL Advisory Board for Universities and Young Engineers. Klaus Meyer, Chairman of VDI OWL, highlights the potential of the collaboration: "The combination of different ideas, engineering milieus and fields of activity offers great potential for mutual support. We want to further strengthen this and make it more transparent." The close networking is to be further expanded in the future in order to promote sustainable and innovative solutions.
