"The Aachen Way of Engineering" at Summer School "Production Technology meets Industrie 4.0"
For the first time a Summer School on “Production Technology meets Industrie 4.0” was organized by the Cluster of Excellence Production Technology together with the International Academy in August 8 to 26, 2016. In three weeks 34 international students expanded their knowledge of production-related topics such as additive manufacturing or trends in metal forming and plastics processing. Prajakia Chittawar (20) of Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in Nagpur, India, was thrilled: “RWTH Aachen teaches engineering in a completely different way. They have an AACHEN way for everything. This is very inspiring for young engineers like me.” A commonly perceived highlight was Professor Fritz Klocke’s introductory talk on advanced production technology. Chittawar commented enthusiastically: “It opened my eyes to the possibility of new heights engineering can achieve.”
However, not only the theoretical lecture program convinced, but also the practical transfer of knowledge: In the last week Smart Automation and Robotic Systems were covered. CoE-researcher Felix Bertelsmeier of the Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL) explained the hardware-technical handling of an ABB robot and first programming commands. Afterwards, the students started programming themselves – their task was to make the robot automatically drive a specified route on a sketch of the Hockenheimring racetrack. The students were surprised how fast the robot acted in automatic mode. Along with the practical and exciting course content, Summer School offered the opportunity to make friends with students from all over the world. The cultural program had a lot to offer: In addition to an Intercultural Workshop, the international students experienced culture in guided tours of Aachen, Maastricht and Cologne. The evening program attracted with joint cooking evenings, a football tournament and a visit to the traditional fair of Aachen "Öcher Bend". Summer School was a unique experience for all participating students. Mohamad (21) from Lebanon came to the conclusion that he would like to study at RWTH Aachen University for his master’s degree.