Mechanical Engineering

Study Field Outline

Mechanical engineering and plant engi- neering account for Germany‘s largest branch of industry, consequently making it a decisive driving force for technical progress. Hence, the branch is one of the country‘s most important engineering disciplines. Mechanical engineering not only deals with machines in the narrower sense, such as heat engines and thermal- ly-driven machines, machine tools, pro- duction and processing machines, auto- matic machines, and robots, as well as vehicles of all kinds, traffic and transport

engineering, utilities engineering, process engineering (plant engineering), nuclear and reactor engineering, production and safety engineering as well as precision engineering products (electrical and elec- tronic devices of all kinds). Automation of the production processes and the growing significance of information technologies play an ever greater role in all fields, as does the field of mechatronics as a multi- disciplinary field built on the foundations of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science/infor- mation systems. This not only means making intelligent use of machines and

systems, but also and increasingly of ensuring the environmentally-compatible use of technology and engineering and of conserving resources through responsible action.

The diversity of the fields has resulted in a strong subdivision of subject areas within mechanical engineering. For more information, see degree programmes in print and media engineering and technol- ogy, automotive engineering plus traffic and transport engineering, precision and micro engineering, aerospace engineer- ing, mechatronics, production engineer- ing, materials sciences and engineering,

materials engineering, building materials, paper engineering.

There are also a number of method and task-orientated subject areas, such as general mechanical engineering, mechan- ics, structural engineering. The study of technical and economic contents is mainly provided by industrial engineering pro- grammes, with specialisation in mechani- cal engineering. The basic study stage in mechanical engineering programmes conveys the principles of mathematics, sci- ence and engineering in the various areas. Students only begin to specialise in the advanced stages of their studies.

Studies at Universities

Practical experience/internship: Depend- ing on the school/vocational qualifica- tions, a pre-study internship of between 6 and 8 weeks with relevant practical work experience is generally required. 6 to 14 weeks of practical experience (industrial internship) are required during the stud- ies.

Studies: Modules initially deliver the scientific, technical and methodological principles. Typical subjects include math- ematics, engineering materials science and testing, technical design theory, CAD, measurement engineering/metrology, thermodynamics, production, process- ing and process engineering, theory of electricity, technical information systems, experimental physics, work and opera- tional organisation/job planning.

Students then consolidate and extend their knowledge of the principles and (depend- ing on the courses that are offered) chose a consolidation area, such as general mechanical engineering, technical design engineering, production and manufactur- ing engineering, product development, energy, power and process engineer- ing, combustion engines, heat/thermal, power propulsion engineering, materials- handling engineering, machine tools, jet engines, turbines and flight propulsion systems, earth-moving and agricultural machines, materials flow engineering, transport and traffic engineering, aero- space engineering, plastics engineering. Students can also take specialist modules like power engineering, manufactur- ing technology, machine elements, fluid mechanics, numerical calculus methods, control engineering, simulation engineer- ing, industrial automation, light and light-

ing engineering, quality management. Complementary courses deliver general qualifications (e.g. foreign language skills, additional knowledge in project manage- ment, knowledge of economic and ecologi- cal frameworks, etc.).

Depending on the institution in question, studies may be divided into a basic and a consolidation study stage.

Programmes in this field

Aachen TH • Bayreuth U • Berlin TU • Bochum U • Braunschweig TU • Bremen U • Chemnitz TU • Clausthal TU • Cottbus TU • Darmstadt TU • Dortmund TU • Dresden TU • Duisburg-Essen U (Duisburg) • Erlangen-Nürnberg U (Erlangen) • Freiberg TUBergAk • Hamburg UBw • Hamburg-Harburg TU • Hannover U • Ilmenau TU • Kaiserslautern TU • Karlsruhe U • Kassel U • Lüneburg U • Magdeburg U • München TU (Garching, München) • München UBw (Neubiberg) • Paderborn U • Rostock U • Siegen U • Stuttgart U • Wuppertal U

Studies at Universities of Applied Sciences

Practical experience/internships: Depend- ing on the school/vocational qualifica- tions, a pre-study internship of several weeks of relevant work experience is gen- erally required in metal processing compa- nies. Practical phases of varying length are completed during the studies.

Studies: Initially, students acquire the engineering, mathematical-scientific and IT principles, much as in university stud- ies. They then take modules that deliver a greater understanding in areas like techni- cal design, calculation and computation, manufacturing, measurement engineer- ing/metrology, drive engineering, instru- ment and control engineering, and quality assurance. Students additionally work on practical projects. Depending on the courses offered by the university, applied core study areas such as development and

technical design, manufacturing, opera- tional and production/job planning, auto- motive engineering, energy/power engi- neering can be chosen. Complementary courses deliver general qualifications in English, business management/account- ing, communication and presentation techniques, plus law.

Depending on the university in question, studies may be divided into a basic and a consolidation study stage.

Study Field Outline

Mechatronic systems have long become a part of our everyday life. There would be no airbags, anti-lock brake systems, pho- tocopiers, CD players, driving simulators or ticket machines – let alone industrial robots – if several engineering disciplines had not joined forces to build and look ahead to the future. Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary field within engineering and builds on the three pillars of mechani- cal engineering, electrical engineering and computer science/information systems. To

develop new mechatronics products, sys- tems and production methods, engineers and scientists have to combine methods and tools taken from these classical indi- vidual disciplines. Only with such collabo- ration can sensors, actuators and informa- tion processing systems be integrated into a mechanical design and so benefit from a wealth of synergies. Thanks to electron- ics, microelectronics and computing, new mechatronics systems are constantly being developed. Yet, mechatronics is certainly not just restricted to specific areas of mechanical engineering; rather it influ-

Programmes in this field

Aachen FH (Aachen, Jülich) • Aalen HS • Albstadt-Sigmaringen HS (Albstadt) • Amberg-Weiden FH (Amberg) • Anhalt HS (Köthen) • Augsburg FH • Berlin bbw • Berlin FHTW • Berlin TFH • Bielefeld FH • Bingen FH • Bochum HS • Bochum TFH • Bonn-Rhein-Sieg FH (Sankt Augustin) • Brandenburg FH • Braunschweig / Wolfenbüttel FH (Wolfenbüttel) • Bremen HS • Bremerhaven H • Coburg HS • Darmstadt HS (Darmstadt, Dieburg) • Deggendorf FH • Dortmund FH • Dresden HTW • Düsseldorf FH • Essen FOM (Essen) • Esslingen HS • Flensburg FH • Frankfurt am Main FH • Furtwangen HS (Furtwangen, Villingen-Schwenningen) • Gelsenkirchen FH (Gelsenkirchen) • Gießen-Friedberg FH (Friedberg, Gießen, Wetzlar) • Hamburg HAW • Hannover FH • Heidelberg HS • Heilbronn HHN • Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen HAWK (Göttingen) • Ingolstadt FH • Jena FH • Kaiserslautern FH • Karlsruhe HS • Kempten FH • Kiel FH • Koblenz FH • Köln FH (Gummersbach, Köln) • Köln RheinFH • Konstanz HS • Landshut FH • Lausitz FH (Cottbus, Senftenberg) • Leipzig HTWK (Leipzig, Markkleeberg) • Lippe und Höxter FH (Lemgo) • Lübeck FH • Magdeburg-Stendal FH

(Magdeburg) • Mannheim HS • Mittweida HS (Mittweida, Roßwein) • München HS • Münster FH (Münster, Steinfurt) • Niederrhein HS (Krefeld) • Nürnberg HS • Offenburg HS • Oldenburg / Ostfriesland / Wilhelmshaven FH (Emden, Wilhelmshaven) • Osnabrück FH • Pforzheim HS • Ravensburg-Weingarten HS (Weingarten) • Regensburg FH • Reutlingen HS • Saarland HTW • Schmalkalden FH • Stralsund FH • Südwestfalen FH (Iserlohn, Meschede, Soest) • Trier FH (Birkenfeld, Trier) • Ulm HS • Vechta/Diepholz FHWT (Diepholz) • Wiesbaden FH (Rüsselsheim) • Wildau TFH • Wismar HS • Würzb.-Schweinf.-FH (Schweinfurt) • Zittau/Görlitz HS (Zittau) • Zwickau HS