A cooperation module: Manufacturing Processes Students at the two-year vocational school for engineering technology attend lectures, exercises and practical training courses on the ‘Manufacturing Processes’ teaching module together with students from Aachen University of Applied Sciences.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics at FH Aachen and the Mies-van-der-Rohe School in Aachen are embarking on a new path together. In the winter semester 2024/25, pupils from the two-year vocational school for engineering technology joined students from FH Aachen for the first time to complete the lectures, exercises and practical trainings for the "Manufacturing Processes" teaching module. The Mies van der Rohe School Aachen is the vocational college for technology in the Aachen city region and offers various training programmes.

The target group for this new collaboration are pupils on the two-year full-time school programme with an engineering focus. After gaining their entrance qualification for a university of applied sciences, many of them begin training as skilled workers. "If, after a few years of work experience, they wish to pursue further training, their path should lead them back to FH Aachen," says Prof Dr Kristian Arntz, Dean of the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics and responsible for the subject area of manufacturing processes.

After training as a skilled worker, however, many do not have the confidence to study - partly because they would be the first in the family to pursue an academic education. The cooperation aims to break down these inhibitions, promote the vocational skills of the students at the Mies van der Rohe School and give them an insight into higher education. The cooperation gives the UAS the opportunity to present its programmes to the pupils. "We are very happy to accept applicants who already have a vocational qualification," says Prof Arntz. "They not only bring valuable practical work experience with them, but also a very goal-orientated way of working that helps them through their studies."

For the Head of the Mies van der Rohe School, Guido Gehre, the added value of the cooperation lies above all in the application-oriented approach - and he quotes Goethe: "It is not enough to know, one must also apply; it is not enough to want, one must also do."

"The subject area of manufacturing processes is well suited for cooperation because there are many overlaps between FH Aachen and vocational training," emphasises Lutz Thelen, teacher of engineering technology at the Mies van der Rohe School in Aachen, who initiated the collaboration with Andreas Gossens, Head of Section at the two-year vocational school for engineering technology. "We can also credit the practical elements of the module to our students' required internships," says Andreas Gossens, "and the online-based exercises for the courses and lectures will be completed at the school with the support of subject teachers."