Training Workshop for Alumni of the Master´s Program Textile and Ready-made Technologies
The training workshop for alumni of the Master´s program Textile and Ready-made Technologies was held from December 2nd to 6th in 2008 in combination with the 2nd Aachen-Dresden International Textile Conference. Due to comprehensive funding through the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Auslandsdienst/German Academic Exchange Service) we could invite 10 alumni from Asia, Africa, and Southern America - 8 of them were actually able to join us for the workshop. Additionally, 4 alumni from developing countries, who stayed at ITB after completing their studies for their PhD, participated as well. We want to express our gratitude not only towards DAAD but also to Mr Kamruzzaman from Bangladesh, who made a gracious donation through his company Elbe International Dhaka and thus contributed substantially to the success of this event.
The participants had in the meantime assumed desireable job positions in their home countries after completing their studies or PhDs at ITB, e.g. as business owners, representatives of German companies or institutions, university lecturers or department heads.
By means of this workshop, a profound basis was established for further collaborations, the development of extensive alumni networks, and further workshops here at TUD.
In particular, we would like to thank Mr. Thomas Waldmann, director of the department of textile machines at VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau/ Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), who participated in the evening workshop. He provided our alumni with first-hand information, thus contributed to an extremely interesting discussion, and gave an overview regarding developments of the textile industry in various continents. This led to several personal conversations between alumni and Mr. Waldmann - plenty of business cards have been exchanged and agreements have been made regarding bilateral collaborations, e.g. in terms of VDMA events that regularly take place in developing countries.
Even though they are sometimes working in different disciplines, all alumni have stated that participating in the 2nd Aachen-Dresden International Textile Conference was a profitable experience.
The workshop also included various cultural activities, such as visiting the Historic Green Vault and the famous Dresden Striezelmarkt, which were very popular with our alumni and greatly contributed to the success of this event.
(Autor: Dr.-Ing. J. Arnold)