The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences and MAN Truck & Bus SE in Salzgitter have been jointly training mechanical engineers for 25 years. On the anniversary of the signing of the cooperation agreement, representatives of the company and the university have now toasted this special partnership in Wolfenbüttel.
In 2000, commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN was the second company after Volkswagen to offer a dual study programme with Ostfalia University. In this training-integrated model, students acquire a vocational qualification as an industrial mechanic in addition to their university degree. They spend the entire second and fifth semesters at the partner company, and the bachelor's thesis also usually deals with practical work-related issues.
Dr Uwe Jens Unger, Senior Vice President at MAN Truck & Bus SE in Salzgitter, praises this integrated dual vocational and university education: "For many years, this collaboration has enabled top knowledge transfer in theory and practice. Many of these people are now in management positions at MAN or have successfully chosen careers in other companies. The combined degree programme is a successful model."
Today, 90 graduates of the mechanical engineering degree programme are working at MAN. Volker Küch, full-time Vice President for Human Resources and Finance at Ostfalia, points out the boom in dual study programmes: "In 2024, there were 1,824 dual study programmes nationwide with a good 113,500 students. More than two thirds of these are enrolled at universities of applied sciences or universities of applied sciences." For Ostfalia, which currently offers 19 Bachelor's degree programmes with a practical component, dual study programmes are an important strategic field for the future. "They stand for sound scientific and practice-orientated training and offer young people clear career prospects. In view of the many crises in recent years, the need for security is growing."
Dennis Wrobel was one of the first graduates of the mechanical engineering programme in the practical partnership with MAN in 2006. Today, the graduate engineer heads the axle assembly department in Salzgitter. He praises the clear structure of the degree programme in the practical partnership: "The binding and plannable alternation between the plant and the university provides orientation. Whether on campus or at MAN - it always felt like coming home. In Salzgitter we were part of the lion's pride, in Wolfenbüttel part of the university. Burkhard Dube, the long-standing head of the training workshop at MAN, took particular care of the so-called StiPse - the students in the practical network: "He was like a father to many of us," says Dennis Wrobel.
Prof Dr Udo Triltsch, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Ostfalia, adds: "Through this cooperation, our university gains highly motivated, very well prepared students who start their studies with exceptional practical relevance. The committed and cooperative way in which MAN has been shaping this model with us for 25 years is a benefit - both in terms of organisation and on a personal level."
