Virtual Seminars by DCHAN Engineering in 2020
The German-Chinese Alumni Network "Engineering" Successfully Continues Its Work Virtually During the Pandemic
In 2019, the DCHAN Engineering Team had successfully organized three major events focusing on research, education, and business in Germany and China and had planned more events for 2020.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, all planned events had to be canceled for health and safety reasons, so DCHAN Engineering decided to hold the events in the alternative form of virtual seminars.
All cooperation programs and activities between German and Chinese universities and institutions were affected, especially exchange programs, such as the combined degree programs at RWTH Aachen University and TU Darmstadt.
How does one deal with the pandemic, how can German-Chinese cooperation continue under these special circumstances? Are there already ideas, experiences, or even solutions for this? The exchange of opinions and experiences of the German and Chinese alumni plays a very important role in this. For this reason, more than 30 alumni in Germany and China participated in the first virtual seminar held by DCHAN Engineering – Sino-German Universities and Institutions in COVID-19-Situation – on June 30, 2020.
The seminar was moderated by Tim Biermann, RWTH Aachen University, DCHAN Engineering Project Manager. After a short introduction of DCHAN Engineering by Dr. Jizu Zhang (RWTH Aachen, DCHAN Engineering), Professor Reinhart Poprawe addressed the participating guests and explained the latest development of German-Chinese cooperation from the perspective of RWTH.
Afterward, Peter Hartges (RWTH Aachen University, International Office) and Claudia Finner (TU Darmstadt, Asia Offices) presented the current challenges using the example of the cooperation activities between RWTH Aachen University and Tsinghua University as well as between TU Darmstadt and Tongji University respectively.
Ms. Jie Liu (RWTH Liaison Office in Beijing) then presented the solidarity between RWTH and Chinese partner universities as a good example of international mutual aid and cooperation..
However, institutions were not the sole focus of the seminar – Dr. André Temmler as a German scholar in China and Ms. Tingni Xu as a Chinese junior scientist in Germany presented their own experiences. Prof. Frank Kemper's vivid presentation about his business trip during this time from Germany to Hongzhou, China was also particularly interesting.
This virtual seminar provided an opportunity for our German and Chinese alumni to share their experiences of the COVID-19 situation in order to overcome this difficult time together.
This was the first attempt by DCHAN Engineering to organize an event in this new format.
3rd Virtual Seminar By DCHAN Engineering: E-Mobility on September 24, 2020
On September 30, 2020, RWTH Aachen University held the third virtual seminar as part of the DCHAN project on the topic of e-mobility. More than 60 alumni from relevant fields with German and Chinese backgrounds participated.
The virtual seminar was moderated by Mr. Tim Biermann (RWTH-Aachen University and project manager of DCHAN-Engineering). After a short introduction for DCHAN Engineering by Dr. Jizu Zhang (RWTH Aachen University, DCHAN Engineering), Mr. Harald Krüger (Managing Director of KC&C GmbH and former Chairman of the Board of BMW AG) gave a comprehensive presentation on the future of the automotive industry to the participants.
Mr. Krüger studied mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University and was also a member of the advisory board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management for a long time. Due to his extensive experience in the automotive industry and his overview of the global market, Mr. Krüger's presentation gave the audience a very good overview of the future development trends in the area of mobility, from political objectives to key technologies of e-mobility and challenges of industrialization and marketing.
Subsequently, Professor Stephan Rinderknecht (Head of the Institute for Mechatronic Systems at the Technical University of Darmstadt) presented current developments in the area of hybrid cars. As a speaker of the research network "Knowledge-Based Vehicle of 5th Generation" of TU Darmstadt and at the same time a visiting professor at the Chinese-German University College of Tongji University, Professor Rinderknecht has many years of research experience in hybrid operating systems, both in Germany and China.
In the last lecture, Professor Liangfei Xu (Vice Director of Vehicular Powertrain Engineering Institute, School of Vehicle and Mobility, Tsinghua University) presented the fundamentals and applications of fuel cell systems. As a former double Master's student of RWTH Aachen University and Tsinghua University and former research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Professor Xu still sees great potential for cooperation between Germany and China in the field of hydrogen technology. Furthermore, Professor Xu presented how China will use the public platform to demonstrate current opportunities in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this virtual seminar provided an opportunity for our Sino-German alumni to meet the opinions of high-ranking scientific and business alumni and exchange views on the latest developments and future trends. More virtual seminars on relevant topics will be held in the future to keep our alumni network active during this difficult time.