The Department of Automotive and Aeronautical Engineering at HAW Hamburg has been expanding its international university contacts to prepare students for an international career in the aerospace industry. Since 2008, the most important strategic overseas partner has been the renowned Virginia Tech on the east coast of the USA. The partnership is also one of the four strategic partnerships defined in the university strategy 'HAW goes USA 2020'.
Prof. Dr. Jutta Abulawi has been the ISAP project leader since 2018 and works closely with Virginia Tech, especially in the context of the Joint Virtual Design Team project. 'The cooperation with Virginia Tech is very important for our department's international orientation and offers students and faculty on both sides of the Atlantic the opportunity to exchange ideas, to work together, to make international friends and, above all, to broaden their horizons.'
ISAP projects, 2018–2021
With the ISAP funding from 2018-2022 HAW Hamburg was able to finance full scholarships. These and the associated credit transfer of courses have further strengthened the existing student exchange and put it on a solid footing. In 2019, the 'Junior Spring Semester Abroad' model was developed with Virginia Tech. Through this programme, credits for HAW Hamburg courses transfer back as credit to Virginia Tech, so that students can study abroad in Hamburg and not extend their time to graduation. In 2021, another type of cooperation was established. Max Schmidt became the first Master's student from HAW Hamburg to write his Master's thesis at Virginia Tech, as part of Prof. Dr. Mike Philen's research.
