News Overview

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Helga Kromp-Kolb Opens the University Certificate Programme in Sustainable Construction

One of the most famous climate scientists of our time has chosen to lecture in the university certificate programme, which just kicked off for the 6th time.

It’s not every day that you have the chance to meet people you know mainly from the media. For this reason, we are very pleased that Dr. Kromp-Kolb agreed to serve as a lecturer for the University Certificate Programme in Sustainable Construction. As an internationally renowned scientist in the areas of meteorology and climatology, she is one of the leading experts on the topic of climate change. In her keynote speech entitled "Sustainable Developments", held at the first course session on October 20, she emphasised that we can only fully address the climate crisis if everyone works together, both internationally and nationally. 

In this spirit, we wish all participants a good start in the programme and for a successful period of continuing education!

See and Understand: Examples of Sustainable Buildings and Energy-efficient Building Technology

On the basis of 3 practical examples, the participants of the University Programme in Sustainable Building were introduced to modern building services systems in Graz during a city excursion.

Not only building construction, but also building operation plays a decisive role in achieving climate goals. Heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and electrical equipment are responsible for a large proportion of the energy consumption. The course participants were taught how building technology can be used in a way that conserves resources as much as possible during visits to the Med Campus, Joanneum Quarter and Kunsthaus facilities.

During the visit to the Cosa Science Centre with its interactive zones and augmented reality rooms, a focus was placed on the topic of energy, and the participants were able to determine their personal energy consumption and explore the potential for improvement.

Learn more about the University Programme in Sustainable Building

Welcome to the MBA Programme Leadership in Digital Transformation! 

They are mastering the digital transformation: On 19 September, course director Stefan Vorbach welcomed the first 12 participants of the new master's programme.

The students are already in the middle of the first online phase and are steadily building up their first business knowledge base through self-study, independent of time and place. The topics of General and Strategic Management are presented first, and the students are supported by receiving weekly plans and instructions. At the end of each week, students have the opportunity to reflect upon and discuss the acquired content in a joint online session with Prof. Vorbach.

After the four-week online phase, a one-week attendance phase will take place, followed by a transfer phase. This enables practical issues to be dealt with individually and in ways that are suitable for each student's professional field of application.

Kick-off for the Paper and Pulp Technology Programme

Are you are interested in the University Programme Paper and Pulp Technology? Have you already registered or are planning to register for the programme? Then this kick-off event on 16 September 2022 is where you want to be!

The paper and pulp industry is incredibly diverse and so are the career opportunities for course graduates: Not only paper and pulp, but also bioproducts like sugar for chewing gum and vanilla flavouring come from the paper industry. This industry also plays an important role in times of climate change. You can learn how to make active contributions to climate protection, ranging from the sustainable use of wood to the production of green electricity.

Kick-off event for the university programme, which begins in October 2022:

• September 16, 2022, 4 p.m.
• Institute of Bioproducts and Paper Technology, Inffeldgasse 23

From West to East and North and South: A Tunnel Road Trip

Students of the NATM Engineering master’s degree programme were on the road for about a fortnight with the aim of exploring tunnel construction sites in Austria, South Tyrol and Germany.

While theoretical foundations are important, they are just that, theoretical. What can be better than getting a “hands-on” experience of implementation in a real-world environment? And so the international participants of the NATM Tunnel Construction course set out in mid-June to familiarise themselves with Austrian tunnel construction practices by viewing numerous construction sites. Among the locations on the itinerary were the Brenner Base Tunnel, Trunk Line 2 of Munich’s S-Bahn, the Zentrum im Berg Leoben test and research facility, Linz urban motorway, the Tauernmoos pumped-storage plant and a new underground railway in Vienna.  With the opportunity to make lots of new contacts, the participants will also have great memories of various activities on the social programme. 

Salut et bienvenue: SpaceTech in Toulouse

Participants in the second in-person unit of the SpaceTech master’s degree programme finally had the chance to get another taste of space in France in July.

As always, the two-week in-person unit was packed with activities: besides courses on “Earth Observation” and “Business Engineering”, a lot of work was done on this year’s Central Case Project (CCP), with a presentation of the first ideas via a live video link from the ESA “Space4Innovation” event at ESTEC Noordwijk. The students got a behind-the-scenes look at space travel on a tour of the facilities of the French Space Agency CNES, the launching site of numerous satellites. The participants also had a lot of fun at the “Cité de l’Espace” theme park, where visitors can marvel at a full-scale replica of the 55-metre-high Ariane 5 rocket.

Inno-EBS event: from getting to know one another to building towers

Featuring a diverse programme, the first networking meeting of corporate and scientific partners took place on July 4 as part of the Inno-EBS innovation course.

Have you ever tried to build a tower as high as you can using only 20 pieces of spaghetti, a string and an adhesive strip…and then tried to place a marshmallow on top?

Although this sounds like something the office staff might get up to on hot summer days, the participants at the first Inno-EBS event took up this challenge, getting to know one another in the process and, of course, trying to achieve success! In addition, numerous presentations were given and discussion rounds were held on "Electronic-based Systems". The main topic was the shortage of skilled workers and how this can be addressed by promoting "women in technology" and offering specific training courses.

Learn more about the innovation course

Business administration knowledge as a career building block for technicians

Improving your knowledge of business administration to supplement your engineering degree programme can open up interesting leadership and management positions in promising industries.

From September 2022 and on, the following courses will be available for everyone who has already received an introduction to the area of administration and now would like to further develop their skills:

• Fundamentals in Management, starts on 19.9.2022, 20 ECTS
• General Management for Engineers, starts on 19.9.2022, 10 ECTS
• Business Administration for Engineers, starts on 14.11.2022, 10 ECTS

Once you’ve completed the course successfully, you will receive a certificate from TU Graz and possess valuable knowledge that will support you in your career, for example, as an entrepreneur, digitalization expert, or innovation manager.

Questions? Helmut Aschbacher is looking forward to hearing from you!

CompElev: Networking, Exchanging, Getting to Know One Other and Making Contacts

The first networking meeting organised by the CompElev qualification network took place in a relaxed atmosphere on 17 May.

The qualification network is funded by the FFG programme "Research Competences for the Economy". One of the network objectives, in addition to supporting professional qualification in the Smart Factory and Cyber Security subject areas, is to support the establishment of sustainable cooperations. For this reason, corporate as well as scientific partners were invited to share their experiences and competences with one another in an informal event. There was a lively exchange, for example, on the topic of "digital twins" and the different implementation statuses in the respective companies. We are particularly pleased about the fact that, overall, we received a lot of positive feedback about the training programme as a whole.

Learn more about the CompElev qualification network

We Are Happy to Introduce: GRETA - Green Tech Academy Austria

The new non-profit association for the promotion of green competences for business and society was presented at a press conference held at TU Graz on 24 May.

Based on the Erasmus+ project "Greenovet", the Green Tech Academy Austria (GRETA - Austria for short) was founded as the first Austrian centre of excellence for vocational training for green innovations by Green Tech Cluster Styria, WKO Steiermark, TU Graz, FH JOANNEUM and PH Steiermark, and the administrative office was set up at TU Graz. ‘We see ourselves as providing a bridge between education providers and interested companies and individuals,’ says Ernst Kreuzer, GRETA managing director and head of TU Graz Life Long Learning. The focus is directed toward "green change": Innovative products and services should contribute to reducing the burden on our environment.

GRETA website

Link to the press release