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Vom 8.-13. September 2019 fand zum zweiten Mal die Praxiswoche für Studierende des Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems statt. Neben dem Angebot eines Praktikums in Deutschland von fünf oder neun Wochen, ist dies für die online-Studierenden aus der ganzen Welt eine Möglichkeit verschiedene deutsche Forschungs- und Industriestandorte der Windenergiebranche kennenzulernen.

Der Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems (wes.online) ist ein Masterstudiengang, welcher vollständig in virtuellen Klassenzimmern in englischer Sprache angeboten wird. „Wir möchten unseren Studierenden mit der Praxiswoche die Möglichkeit geben sich persönlich kennenzulernen und sich fachlich sowie inhaltlich analog auszutauschen“ sagt Studiengangskoordinator und Projektleiter Dr. rer. pol. André Bisevic. „In dieser Woche bietet sich den Studierenden die seltene Gelegenheit sich mit Forschern an verschiedenen Fraunhofer Instituten und Unternehmen der Windenergiebranche zu vernetzen“ fügt Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Detlef Kuhl hinzu, Leiter des Studiengangs sowie Fachgebiets für Baumechanik und Baudynamik der Universität Kassel.

Während ihres Deutschlandaufenthaltes begingen die Studierenden gemeinsam die Laboreinrichtungen verschiedener wes.online-Lehrender an der Universität Kassel sowie die Forschungslabore zur Netzintegration von Windenergie des in Kassel angesiedelten Fraunhofer IEE. Im Windpark Söhrewald im Kasseler Umland besichtigten die Studierenden zunächst einen Windtower. Bei ihrem anschließenden Besuch des 200 Meter hohen Messmasts in Wolfhagen-Nothfelden erfuhren sie von den Forschern des Fraunhofer IEE Einzelheiten über die Besonderheiten von Windparks in unebenem Terrain.

Bei dem größten deutschen Hersteller für Windenergieanlagen Enercon in Aurich wurden die Studierenden über ihre Karrieremöglichkeiten am Unternehmen informiert und erhielten eine exklusive Führung durch die Produktionshalle der Rotorblattfertigung. Am Forschungsstandort des Fraunhofer IWES in Bremerhaven besichtigten die Studierenden die moderne offshore Windturbine des spanischen Herstellers ADWEN sowie das Rotorblatttestzentrum, in welchem Ganzblatt-Ermüdungstests durchgeführt werden. Einblick erhielten die TeilnehmerInnen der Praxiswoche ebenfalls in das dynamische Gondeltestlabor DyNaLab des IWES. Auch der Besuch des interaktiven Museums Klimahaus in Bremerhaven war Bestandteil des Programms und informierte die Studierenden über Wetter, Klimazonen sowie Ursachen und Konsequenzen des Klimawandels.

Die Praxiswoche fand ihren Abschluss auf dem Recruiting Day der nationalen Windmesse in Husum. Auf der Husum Wind präsentieren sich im Zweijahrestakt Unternehmen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette und des Lebenszyklus' von Windturbinen. Damit bietet die Messe ihren BesucherInnen die Gelegenheit sich weiter zu vernetzen und sich über berufliche Perspektiven und Karrieremöglichkeiten zu informieren.

Die teilnehmenden Studierenden bewerteten die Praxiswoche als bereichernden und lohnenden Zusatz zum Onlinestudium. „I travelled from Buenos Aires to Kassel for the WES study trip and would do it again. I believe that the possibility to meet your fellow students and professors is very enriching for the online study program. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to meet the professionals and visit the laboratories that are at the vanguard of the wind energy industry. This combination of technical and social aspects makes the study trip really motivating for the people who are passionate about wind energy and technology. I would definitely recommend everyone to participate", ist das Résumé des Argentiniers Pedro Grasso und die Iranierin Anahita Rahmanian sagt: „The study trip was a good opportunity not only to meet some professors and students of the program, but also to learn some facts about the manufacturing, testing and validation process of wind turbines and related subjects in the wind industry. Many thanks for the organisation!"

Der Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems ist Ergebnis einer Kooperation der Universität Kassel, den Fraunhofer IEE und IWES sowie verschiedenen Vertretern der Windindustrie. Der Pool der Lehrenden setzt sich aus allen drei Bereichen zusammen. Gefördert wurde die Praxiswoche vom Stifterverband und der Fraunhofer Academy.

From 8-13 September 2019 the second practical week for students of the Online M.Sc. Wind Energy System took place. Besides the offer of an internship in Germany of five or nine weeks, this is an opportunity for online students from all over the world to get to know different German research and industrial locations of the wind energy industry.

The Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems (wes.online) is a Master's program offered completely in virtual classrooms in English. "We want to give our students the opportunity to get to know each other personally during the practical week and to exchange professional and content information analogously," says course coordinator and project manager Dr. rer. pol. André Bisevic. "During this week, students have the rare opportunity to network with researchers from various Fraunhofer Institutes and companies in the wind energy sector," adds Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Detlef Kuhl, head of the course of studies and of the institute for mechanics and dynamics at the University of Kassel.

During their stay in Germany, the students jointly visited the laboratory facilities of various wes.online lecturers at the University of Kassel as well as the research laboratories for the grid integration of wind energy of the Fraunhofer IEE in Kassel. At the Söhrewald wind farm in the Kassel region, the students first visited a wind tower. During their subsequent visit to the 200-meter-high measuring mast in Wolfhagen-Nothfelden, researchers from Fraunhofer IEEinformed them about the special features of wind farms in uneven terrain.

At Enercon, Germany's largest manufacturer of wind turbines, in Aurich, the students were informed about their career opportunities in the company and were given an exclusive tour of the rotor blade production hall. At the research site of Fraunhofer IWES in Bremerhaven, the students visited the modern offshore wind turbine of the Spanish manufacturer ADWEN and the rotor blade test center, in which full blade fatigue tests are carried out. The participants of the trip also gained insight into the dynamic nacelle testing laboratory DyNaLab of the IWES. The visit to the interactive museum Klimahaus in Bremerhaven was also part of the program and informed the students about the weather, climate zones as well as the causes and consequences of climate change.

The practical week ended with the Recruiting Day at the national wind fair in Husum. Every two years, companies along the entire value chain and the life cycle of wind turbines present themselves at Husum Wind. Thus, the fair offers its visitors the opportunity to network further and to inform themselves about professional perspectives and career opportunities.

The participating students rated the practical week as an enriching and rewarding addition to their online studies. "I travelled from Buenos Aires to Kassel for the WES study trip and would do it again. I believe that the possibility to meet your fellow students and professors is very enriching for the online study program. Furthermore, we had the opportunity to meet the professionals and visit the laboratories that are at the vanguard of the wind energy industry. This combination of technical and social aspects makes the study trip really motivating for the people who are passionate about wind energy and technology. I would definitely recommend everyone to participate" the Argentinian Pedro Grasso sums up the experiences of the week. The Iranian Anahita Rahmanian reflects: "The study trip was a good opportunity not only to meet some professors and students of the program, but also to learn some facts about the manufacturing, testing and validation process of wind turbines and related subjects in the wind industry. Many thanks for the organization!"

The Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems is the result of a cooperation between the University of Kassel, the Fraunhofer IEE and IWES and various representatives of the wind industry. The pool of lecturers consists of all three areas. The practical week was sponsored by the Stifterverband and the Fraunhofer Academy.

From September 24th to 28th 2018 students of the Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems (WES) at University of Kassel were invited to Germany to visit its wind energy industry and research locations. Alongside the option of doing a 5- or 9-week internship, this trip provides WES-students with another opportunity to get in contact with several companies and work locations in Germany.

During this practical phase, WES-students visited research labs in wind energy and grid integration at University of Kassel as well as the research institute Fraunhofer IEE. Furthermore, a planning engineer of Städtische Werke AG presented measurements of planning, construction, operation and management at the example of the wind farm Söhrewald – including 3 MW wind turbines from Vestas – before taking the students there for a visit.

At Enercon, the largest producer of wind turbines in Germany, students learned and talked about their career opportunities at the company before they received a guided tour through the production hall of rotor blades. The next day began with a tour through the rotor blade testing facilities at the research location of Fraunhofer IWES in Bremerhaven. Furthermore, they got the chance to visit their nacelle testing lab DyNaLAB and a modern 8 MW wind turbine from ADWEN, a Spanish wind turbine producer. After lunch, the students visited an exceptional museum – Bremerhavens Klimahaus (house of climate) – where they learned more about the climate overall, the weather as well as climate change.

At their last day, the students could obtain information about career prospects and opportunities at the so-called Recruiting Day of the WindEnergy Hamburg. This fair is a gathering point for people working in the wind energy sector across the globe.

The project-week was perceived positively and informative by the participating student. Moreover, including a project phase into an online-study program established an unique selling proposition on the education market in the wind energy sector. For these reasons, we want to integrate this project phase in Germany permanently into the Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems.

The research institute Fraunhofer IEE is a scientific cooperation partner of the Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems and some courses are being taught by their scientists.

The project phase has achieved financial support by the Stifterverband and the Fraunhofer Academy Strategyfunds. More information about the project week can be found at our website on the <link>project phase.

This year’s theme of the International Summer University (ISU) was “Engineering Science of Wind Energy Systems – Fundamentals, Technology and Practical Investigations”. Eight students from five countries around the world – Australia (Queensland), Turkey, South Africa, USA (Massachusetts) and Germany - came together at the University of Kassel.

The head of the institute of mechanics and dynamics and academic director of the ISU Prof. Dr.-Ing habil. Detlef Kuhl is pleased about the success of the course and thanks all students and lecturers for their participation.

wes.online participated successfully in a competition promoted by the “Stifterverband“, “Daimler-Fonds“ and “Daimler und Benz Stiftung“ with the project WindMINT. In this project a practical phase in Germany will be integrated in the online master’s program. The practical phase will be divided in two parts:

- a study trip week with stops in Kassel (University, Fraunhofer IEE), Bremerhaven (Fraunhofer IWES), Aurich (ENERCON) and Hamburg (Hamburg Wind Trade Fair)
- the offer of internships (5 or 9 weeks) at Fraunhofer Institutes, the University of Kassel and other business partners

The Team wes.online is already working on the realization of this project and looks forward to offer a trip to Germany and interesting business contacts to the online students.

Vom 24. – 28. September 2018 fand erstmalig für die Studierenden des Uni Kassel online-Masterstudiengangs Wind Energy Systems eine Exkursion zu Industrie- und Forschungsstandorten der Windenergie in Deutschland statt. Diese einwöchige Praxisphase stellt für die online-Studierenden - neben dem Angebot über fünf – oder neunwöchige Projektphasen - eine Möglichkeit dar, um Standorte und verschiedene Unternehmen der Windindustrie in Deutschland kennenzulernen.

Während dieser Praxisphase besuchten die wes.online Studierenden die Laboreinrichtungen zur Forschung in der Windenergie und deren Netzintegration der Universität Kassel sowie des Fraunhofer IEE in Kassel. Des Weiteren wurden die Maßnahmen der Planung, des Baus, des Betriebs und der Wartung eines Windparks durch den Planungsingenieur der Städtischen Werke AG am Beispiel des Windparks Söhrewald mit sieben Windturbinen der 3 MW-Klasse von Vestas vorgestellt, der anschließend auch besichtigt wurde. Der Besuch des 200 m Messmasts des Fraunhofer IEE in Wolfhagen–Nothfelden erläuterte die Standortbewertung für die Planung eines Windparks.

Bei der Firma Enercon in Aurich wurden den Teilnehmenden die Karrierechancen am Unternehmen vorgestellt und die Technologie der Enercon-Rotoren bei der anschließenden Führung durch die Produktionshalle der Rotorblattproduktion näher gebracht. Am Forschungsstandort des Fraunhofer IWES in Bremerhaven besichtigten die Studierenden das Rotorblatttestzentrum sowie den dynamischen Gondelteststand DyNaLAB und eine moderne 8 MW Windturbine von ADWEN, einem spanischen Windturbinenhersteller. Nachmittags fand mit dem Besuch eines außergewöhnlichen Museums – dem Klimahaus in Bremerhaven – ein ansprechendes Begleitprogramm zu den Themen Klima, Klimawandel und Wetter statt.

Am sogenannten Recruiting Day der WindEnergy Hamburg, dem internationalen Treffpunkt der Windenergiebranche, konnten sich die Teilnehmenden am letzten Tag der Exkursion weiter über berufliche Perspektiven und Karrierechancen in der Windindustrie informieren.

Die einwöchige Exkursion zu Standorten der Windenergie wurde von den online-Studierenden als insgesamt positiv und sehr informativ beurteilt. Die Einführung von Praxisphasen in ein online-Studium ist ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal auf dem universitären Weiterbildungsmarkt im Bereich der Windenergie. Es ist das Ziel, Praxisphasen in Deutschland in das Studiengangskonzept Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems mit aufzunehmen, um internationalen Studierenden praktische und fachliche Erfahrungen an Windenergiestandorten in Deutschland zu ermöglichen.

Das Fraunhofer IEE ist wissenschaftlicher Kooperationspartner in dem Studiengang Online M.Sc. Wind Energy Systems. WissenschaftlerInnen des Fraunhofer IEE sind in die Lehre des Studiengangs eingebunden.

Gefördert wurde die Praxisphase durch Mittel des Stifterverbandes und durch den Fraunhofer Academy Strategiefonds.  Nähere Informationen zu der Praxiswoche finden Sie auf unserer Seite zur <link>Projektphase.

After four years of collaboration between the University of Kassel and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES), the international M.Sc. in Wind Energy Systems program was officially launched in November 2015. Students from Germany, Turkey and Switzerland enrolled in the program in the first semester.

The director of studies, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Detlef Kuhl, said that “The English-language program is particularly targeted at international students who wish to further their education in the field of wind energy systems, while working at the same time”. Dr.-Ing. Kurt Rohrig, who is the wes.online project director at the Fraunhofer IWES, and also a lecturer for the course 'Economic Aspects of Grid Integration' in the degree program, sees the launch of the online M. Sc. Wind Energy Systems as a great chance to take action against the urgent need for skilled workers in the growing global market for the onshore and offshore wind industry.

The goals of the program are achieved thanks to collaboration between the University of Kassel, which provides the basic knowledge necessary to the program, and Fraunhofer IWES which offers support in the areas of applied research, as well as the experience of industry experts. As a result of this collaboration, students may choose to participate in three different modules in the first semester. These modules include <link>Electrical Engineering, <link>Design of Mechanical and Electrical Components, and <link>Mathematics. These modules are taught by professors from the University of Kassel, employees from Fraunhofer IWES, and employees from the company SMA.

For more information about the program, please visit <link>www.uni-kassel.de/wes, where you will find information on the structure and content of the study program. The University of Kassel contact Daniela Gleim may be reached at <link mail>daniela.gleim@uni-kassel.de and the Fraunhofer IWES contact André Bisevic may be reached at <link mail>andre.bisevic@iwes.fraunhofer.de.

Engineering Science of Wind Energy Systems – Fundamentals, Technology and Practical Investigations war das Thema der diesjährigen International Summer University (ISU). Acht Studierende aus fünf Ländern – Australien (Queensland), Türkei, Südafrika, USA (Massachusetts) und Deutschland – kamen für zwei Wochen an der Universität Kassel zusammen.

Der Studiendekan des Instituts für Baumechanik und Baudynamik sowie Leiter der ISU Prof. Dr.-Ing habil Detlef Kuhl ist erfreut über den Erfolg und dankt allen Studierenden und Lehrenden für ihre Teilnahme.

wes.online hat erfolgreich mit dem Projekt WindMINT an einem Wettbewerb gefördert durch den "Stifterverband", den "Daimler-Fonds" und die "Daimler und Benz Stiftung" teilgenommen. In diesem Projekt wird eine Projektphase in Deutschland in das Online-Masterprogramm integriert. Die Projektphase wird in zwei Teilen angeboten:

- eine Exkursionswoche mit Stationen in Kassel (Universität, Fraunhofer IEE), Bremerhaven (Fraunhofer IWES), Aurich (ENERCON) und Hamburg (Hamburg Wind Messe)

- das Angebot eines Praktikums (5 oder 9 Wochen) an einem Fraunhofer Institut, an der Universität Kassel oder einem Unternehmen

Das Team wes.online arbeitet bereits an der Realisierung dieses Projekts und freut sich den Online-Studierenden einen Ausflug nach Deutschland und interessante Geschäftskontakte anbieten zu können.

After four years of collaboration between the University of Kassel and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology (IWES), the international M.Sc. in Wind Energy Systems program was officially launched in November 2015. Students from Germany, Turkey and Switzerland enrolled in the program in the first semester.

The director of studies, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Detlef Kuhl, said that “The English-language program is particularly targeted at international students who wish to further their education in the field of wind energy systems, while working at the same time”. Dr.-Ing. Kurt Rohrig, who is the wes.online project director at the Fraunhofer IWES, and also a lecturer for the course 'Economic Aspects of Grid Integration' in the degree program, sees the launch of the online M. Sc. Wind Energy Systems as a great chance to take action against the urgent need for skilled workers in the growing global market for the onshore and offshore wind industry.

The goals of the program are achieved thanks to collaboration between the University of Kassel, which provides the basic knowledge necessary to the program, and Fraunhofer IWES which offers support in the areas of applied research, as well as the experience of industry experts. As a result of this collaboration, students may choose to participate in three different modules in the first semester. These modules include <link>Electrical Engineering, <link>Design of Mechanical and Electrical Components, and <link>Mathematics. These modules are taught by professors from the University of Kassel, employees from Fraunhofer IWES, and employees from the company SMA.

For more information about the program, please visit <link>www.uni-kassel.de/wes, where you will find information on the structure and content of the study program. The University of Kassel contact Daniela Gleim may be reached at <link mail>daniela.gleim@uni-kassel.de and the Fraunhofer IWES contact André Bisevic may be reached at <link mail>andre.bisevic@iwes.fraunhofer.de.