Amman- 20 June 2021
Five universities on three continents that are united by a desire for innovation and the idea of international cooperation: Together with project partners from South Africa, India, Jordan and Croatia, the Graduate Campus at Aalen University has launched the new “Innovation Specialist” certification course to help specialists with further training on a transnational basis. To this end, those responsible for the project have now signed a memorandum of understanding that sets out the content and goals of the course. Prof. Gerhard Schneider, Rector of Aalen University, explains: “We have set ourselves the task of promoting entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation, because these skills are needed in industry and business everywhere in the world. The new offer from the Graduate Campus and the international cooperate enrich educational services far beyond the region.”
In addition to the Graduate Campus at Aalen University, the cooperation also includes the German Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman, Jordan; the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, South Africa; the Vern University in Zagreb, Croatia; and the Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology & Rajagiri Business School & Steag Centre for Smart City Technologies in Kerala, India. The “Innovation Specialist” training forms part of a concept by Aalen University’s Graduate Campus that won the competition “Smart Qualifiziert”, bringing it EUR 100,000 in funding.
The new “Innovation Specialist” training offer is a blended-mobility training course that combines e-learning units and a short programme on site at one of the partner universities, as well as practical projects. The advantage is that the participants benefit from the expertise of international teaching staff, can learn independently at their own pace, form international contacts and always have a local contact person.
Dr Alexandra Jürgens, Managing Director of Graduate Campus Hochschule Aalen, is proud of this success: “We are very happy to be able to initiate this international project. Our digital learning team and the professors are working very creatively and diligently to develop extensive digital teaching and learning material for the teaching units. Around a third of the modules are already finished.”
The prize-winning course from the Graduate Campus at Aalen University is aimed at professionals in all fields. Working in international teams, the participants digitally develop the principles and methods of innovation management using the teaching and learning material developed, which is made available online. Specific questions from companies are addressed in interdisciplinary teams.
Participants from all around the world implement their product and service ideas together and build program prototypes. Together with the energy company STEAG, the participants in the first blended-mobility course will develop specific solutions for a smart city. Participants will travel to India for a project week as soon as this is possible again.
The international partners agree that the course will provide significant added value for everyone involved, as innovation specialists are urgently needed internationally.
Prof. Ingo Scheuermann, who is driving the project in technical terms, is pleased about the signing of the contract: “New ideas are required everywhere, particularly in the era of digitalisation, in order to advance processes in an agile way and develop innovative products. We want to give the course participants the necessary tools to be able to implement all steps at the company, from developing ideas to implementation to evaluation.”
GJU’s Vice-President Prof. Dr. Ralf Rosskopf signed the MoU on behalf of GJU’s President Prof. Dr. Manar Fayyad during the online ceremony, which was also attended by Ms. Britta Kähler, Director of GJU’s Office for Industrial Links and the Director of the International Office, Ms. Stefanie Kirsch and representatives of the international partner consortium.
The “Smart Qualifiziert” funding programme focuses on various aspects of training at universities up until 2021. With this programme, the donors’ association and the Daimler fund together help universities develop strategies and measures that place the future requirements of the digital working world at the heart of their own development.
For more information, please contact:
Hochschule Aalen GmbH, Dr Alexandra Jürgens | Managing Director
Alexandra.Juergens@hs-aalen.de
Press release in German: https://www.hs-aalen.de/de/news/3837