Third VDI Day for Doctoral Candidates
The Association of German Engineers (VDI) and the RWTH Center for Young Academics organized the recent Day for Doctoral Candidates. More than 100 prospective doctoral candidates, current doctoral candidates, and postdocs attended the event. VDI Director Ralph Appel and Professor Sabine Brück-Dürkop, RWTH Vice-Rector for Human Resources Management and Development, welcomed the participants to the virtual event.
With its theme of Sustainability in Doctoral Education, the event was focused on the question of how career paths and research can be made sustainable. The responsibility engineers have when it comes to dealing with the ecological, economic, and social challenges facing society as a whole was particularly emphasized. One example of innovative technologies in environmental protection was everwave. The association, founded by RWTH graduates, uses innovative collection technologies to reduce plastic waste in the oceans. Sustainable living must grow out of the vision of engineers, says Professor Achim Kampker. He reported on the holistic urban and mobility project Humanotope.
The Dr.-Wilhelmy-VDI Prize was awarded to RWTH graduate Dr.-Ing. Julia Bavendiek for her dissertation on Microfluidic Chips for Measuring Calcification Risk. The VDI and the Dr. Wilhelmy Foundation jointly support young women doctoral candidates in engineering. The award is given for dissertations that are of great significance for science and for Germany in its position as a technology leader.
The attendees enjoyed different workshops and networking opportunities in the afternoon.