3D printing, design thinking or programming: The new DigiLab at the Mönchengladbach campus of the Hochschule Niederrhein opens up many new opportunities for students of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics and all university staff to acquire knowledge in practical application. The region also benefits from the new opening, as the lab is open to schools and cooperation with the adult education center is also under discussion.
Study programs at the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics have a fairly high theoretical component. Nevertheless, project initiator Prof. Dr. Detlev Frick is keen to ensure that students also have access to content beyond the curriculum. "In the DigiLab, there are things to touch, to grasp. Even if students don't have the relevant practical modules, they can come here and pick up a soldering iron or program a circuit."
"This is the future of teaching education and learning. Knowledge transfer is increasingly taking place outside the lecture hall. Students and lecturers can try their hand at DigiLab. Knowledge acquired in practice is fun and, in many cases, more memorable than pure theory," said Prof. Dr. Berthold Stegemerten, Vice President for Studies and Teaching Education, at the opening of the lab.
The DigiLab was set up under the direction of Dietrich Ushakov. "The space is set up so that we can host many different types of events and workshops with twelve workstations. We have high-performance PCs for 3D CAD design and rendering, 3D printers and lots of mobile equipment." Initial projects include smaller robots, vehicles and simple circuitry. But the open and flexible layout is also suitable for creating prototypes for theses. A total of about 45,000 euros has been invested in the setup.
The Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Prof. Dr. Michael Müller-Vorbrüggen, also sees great potential in the DigiLab to inspire future students. "Business Administration and Economics are difficult to present when schools visit, as there is a lot of theory involved. With the DigiLab, we now have the opportunity to provide insights into the practical applications of companies where our graduates usually work."
Further information and contact for the DigiLab:
www.hs- niederrhein.de/wirtschaftswissenschaften/digilab/
