AC21 – a vivid and active network between strong partners

Student delegation from the University of Minnesota visits the Chemnitz University of Technology on March 15, 2017

The Chemnitz University of Technology was very delighted to welcome a delegation from the University of Minnesota, consisting of 12 students and 2 lecturers, on March 15, 2017. The initiation of this visit was based on the close contact between the two universities as partners within the international university network “Academic Consortium 21” (AC21).

At first, the delegation was welcomed by the Chancellor and AC21-Coordinator of the Chemnitz University, Eberhard Alles, who introduced the Minnesotan guests to the university by giving an overview presentation and discussing ideas of further enhancement of the cooperation between the University of Minnesota and the Chemnitz University of Technology, especially in the field of student mobility.

After having lunch at the canteen Reichenhainer Straße, the delegation enjoyed a guided tour of the Technology Center of the Federal Cluster of Excellence “Merge Technologies for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures” (MERGE) of the Chemnitz University of Technology. Dr. Jürgen Tröltzsch, COO of the cluster, explained the overall objective of the cluster – saving energy thanks to loss of weight – to the students and encouraged them to come for a stay abroad to Chemnitz in the course of the multi-disciplinary Master degree program “Merge Technologies for Resource Efficiency” of the cluster.  

During the course of the agenda, the students learned more about the close cooperation between the Chemnitz University and neighboring extramural research institutions: they visited the “E³-Factory” at the Fraunhofer-Institute of Machine Tools and Forming Technology and were afterwards guided through the Fraunhofer-Institute of Electronic Nanosystems.

Finally, the visit ended with a guided campus tour where the students had the opportunity to get answers to all their questions in regard to student life at the Chemnitz University of Technology. The Minnesotan students were very fascinated about the strong interaction between studies and research at Chemnitz, they were enthusiastically thinking on planning a stay abroad here. In resume, the visit made a successful impression and is a good example for the vivid cooperation between the partner universities within the AC21-network.

(Author: Dr. Wolfgang Lambrecht)

Matthias Fejes
21.03.2017

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