Dominik Emonts, Engineering Management
Work experience was particularly important to me after leaving school. That's why I decided not to go straight to university after my Abitur (university entrance qualification), but to pursue vocational training first. After a shortened apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic, I began my bachelor's degree programme in Mechanical Engineering at FH Aachen. It was relatively easy to choose Aachen as my place of birth, partly due to Aachen's excellent reputation as a place to study, but also for social and family reasons. The choice between RWTH and the University of Applied Sciences was again in favour of the University of Applied Sciences, as a high level of practical relevance, which emerged from discussions with former students from both universities, was the decisive factor for me in the end.
After successfully completing my undergraduate degree and what I felt was already a high level of technical training, I personally missed the business aspects. I didn't want to see and understand technical systems through purely "engineering glasses", but in the context of an overall organisation. This appeal was reinforced by several company start-ups in my personal environment. I switched to the Bachelor's degree programme in Engineering Management and completed the degree programme with my practical project or Bachelor's thesis in a medium-sized company in Chicago Illinois.
Based on my positive experiences in the Bachelor's programme, I also chose to do a Master's in Engineering Management at the University of Applied Sciences. At this point, I should mention that I was able to successfully apply for a research scholarship at Auburn University in Alabama through the Office for International Affairs. I used this to further hone my intercultural skills and complete my Master's thesis in the highly technical field of computational fluid dynamics.
Looking back, I would do the programme again at FH Aachen. The modular composition of the degree programme was always appropriate, the options were varied and the lecturers were very committed. To summarise, however, I would like to say two more things to future students:
- As an industrial engineer, you are trained as a technical generalist. You are given a very good overall view and are primarily prepared for interdisciplinary work. Accordingly, the focus of both the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes is on breadth rather than depth.
- We live in an age of change, which is characterised by increasing digitalisation. In the field of production technology in particular, many established technical solutions and business models are constantly being overtaken as a result. In my opinion, this was only partially taken into account in the relevance of the programme content, despite continuous improvements. Some of the content taught was outdated or even contradictory. This could be better implemented in the future design of the degree programme.
However, my conclusion is that the university cannot necessarily be held responsible here. You hear similar feedback from other universities. The design and adaptation of degree programmes takes time - it is not always possible to adapt the content immediately, given the rapid pace of change. Accordingly, students should be sensitised to this and follow certain research topics and trends beyond the lecture hall and in their own research.