Volkswagen cooperation for practice-oriented qualification in the field of engineering informatics
Software is increasingly permeating all areas of life. This also applies in particular to the automotive sector. All major manufacturers are facing upheaval in the wake of new mobility concepts.
This ranges from electromobility and autonomous driving to new usage concepts. These challenges require bright minds who can think in an interdisciplinary way, have the will to break new ground and are always willing to combine practical requirements and theoretical concepts to create pioneering innovations. With this in mind, Volkswagen and the Faculty of Computer Science at Otto von Guericke University have introduced a new practice-oriented study and qualification concept as a pilot project for the 2017/18 winter semester. An individual curriculum is put together for each student from the range of computer engineering subjects, which can be adapted as required during the course of their studies.
A unique feature of this cooperation is that each student is assigned a mentor duo consisting of a professor from OvGU and a manager from Volkswagen. During their studies, university courses and practical assignments in the specialist departments complement each other.
This results in "synergetic effects of cooperation for both the university and Volkswagen," says Prof. Ortmeier. On the one hand, there is a direct transfer of knowledge from the university to the company. At the same time, the long-term cooperation also continuously brings new impulses and current research questions to the university. This mutual benefit is already so clear that Volkswagen intends to strategically roll out the pilot "practice-integrated studies" further and also establish it in other departments. "We are consistently aligning our training and degree course portfolio with the new digital requirements of the automotive industry. We are delighted that Otto von Guericke University is supporting us on this path with this new cooperation," says Andreas Strutz (Head of Training and Further Education at Volkswagen).
