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Students get to know business practice
• Voith Industrial Services sponsors 2 students
In cooperation with Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW Dresden) and in connection with the “Deutschlandstipendium” project, Voith Industrial Services in Dresden supports two students for a year. On November 26, 2015, “Deutschlandstipendium Day”, the scholarship certificate will be handed over at HTW. Subsequently, scholarship students and sponsors will have the opportunity to get to know each other. For the academic year 2015/16 HTW Dresden awards 36 scholarships.
This first personal contact is the foundation for future mutual projects, which may either lead to an internship, a thesis written at the sponsoring company or a job directly after graduating. The “Deutschlandstipendium” at HTW Dresden provides the transfer between university and company: with the scholarship, universities make practical experience possible and companies counteract the increasing skills gap. The students benefit from valuable contacts and financial support irrespective of grants awarded under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) and income. Not only academic achievement, but also personal social commitment is among the selection criteria.
The career fair at HTW Dresden at the beginning of November 2015 is also part of the cooperation program. At the fair, Voith Industrial Services presented its competences in rail vehicle component development as well as projects in automotive development and manufacturing to the students. In addition to this, the industrial services provider informed the students about job vacancies at its locations in Dresden, Chemnitz, Leipzig, Hamburg and Stuttgart. At these places, the company would like to recruit graduates or interns as design engineers, electrical engineers or development engineers. Falk Rosenlöcher, Site Manager Dresden at Voith Industrial Services: “We are very pleased about the cooperation with HTW Dresden. It is greatly beneficial for everyone involved.”
The cooperation between the university and Voith Industrial Services is rounded off by the Dresden Industry Days organized by the German “Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft” (Association for Mid-sized Businesses) Saxony, an event of the Centre for Medium-Sized Enterprises as well as the expansion of the mentoring network and a bachelor thesis a student will write in the field of rail vehicle engineering from January 2016.
3 questions to Prof. Dr. Ralph Sonntag, Vice-Rector of Student Affairs and Teaching at HTW Dresden:
1. What is the benefit of the “Deutschlandstipendium” from your point of view?
Ralph Sonntag: “The “Deutschlandstipendium” supports talented and committed students. When selecting the students, not only academic achievement is considered. Social commitment, for example, plays an important role too. The “Deutschlandstipendium” helps companies raise their visibility at universities and with students. That way, the sponsors are always present with the students and companies show that they too actively invest in education and that they are socially involved and committed.”
2. What is particularly important for you concerning the cooperation with companies?
Ralph Sonntag: “We are a university of applied sciences and actively search contact with companies. We see ourselves as partners to companies, from everyday tasks in the company, mutual research and innovation activities to establishing contacts between students and companies. Every company looking for a university to partner with and wanting to work on projects with students is welcome.”
3. Why have you decided to cooperate with Voith Industrial Services?
Ralph Sonntag: “Voith Industrial Services is both an international and a regional company. Both aspects are very important for our university and our students. Voith also stands for innovations and the commitment to sustainability. This is exactly the entrepreneurship we convey to our students, thus Voith is an ideal partner for our university.”
About Voith Industrial Services:
Voith Industrial Services, a Group Division of Voith GmbH, is one of the leading providers of technical services for key industries such as the automotive, rail, energy, chemical and petrochemical industries and of engineering services. In 2013/2014, the company generated sales of €1.18 billion with about 18,500 employees at more than 170 locations worldwide.
About Voith:
Voith sets standards in the energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive markets. Founded in 1867, Voith has about 39,000 employees today and generates €5.3 billion in sales. It has locations in around 50 countries worldwide and is one of the large family-owned companies in Europe.
