Study

First degrees in diploma course mechanical engineering

In the winter semester 2017/18, the first students were enrolled at TU Ilmenau in the pilot program of the diploma courses electrical engineering and information technology and mechanical engineering. By the end of 2021, the first two students will have successfully completed their diploma education.

After a twelve-year break, ten semesters of continuous education for diploma students in two degree programs at the TU Ilmenau - electrical engineering and information technology and mechanical engineering - began again in fall 2017 as part of a pilot project. The two diploma courses are an accompanying offer parallel to the established bachelor and master degrees. The legal basis is the "Thuringian ordinance on the testing of undergraduate diploma dourses within the framework of a reformed Hhigher education model at Technische Universität Ilmenau" of August 9, 2016.

Now the TU Ilmenau was able to release a first graduate of the model program into practice. Michelle Kuhaupt and Marius Reiche successfully completed their diploma studies in mechanical engineering in December 2021, earning the academic degree of Dipl.-Ing. Professor Klaus Zimmermann, who was instrumental in setting up and implementing the mechanical engineering diploma program, explains how they managed to do this despite the fact that with a study duration of ten semesters and a start date in fall 2017, graduation would be possible in summer 2022 at the earliest in purely mathematical terms:

Both had the desire and also the courage to change from the bachelor's program to the new diploma program and to have achievements already achieved recognized in the process. I am very grateful to the students for their decision, as it gave us responsible parties the opportunity to test new training content, regulations and processes even before the actual first diploma matriculation in 2017.

Dipl.-Ing. Michelle Kuhaupt has now signed a contract with Parker Hannifin Manufacturing Germany GmbH & Co. KG. Parker is one of the world's leading suppliers of drive and control technologies and offers precision-engineered solutions for the industrial manufacturing, mobility and aerospace sectors. Born in Hessen, Michelle Kuhaupt's place of work is Erfurt in Thuringia, which, according to Professor Zimmermann, is not the norm when Ilmenau mechanical engineering graduates start their careers. Michelle Kuhaupt will prepare for the company-specific tasks as part of a trainee program. So she has again chosen first to learn and then to do something new. She turned down an employment contract with firmly defined, manageable work tasks in another company that was also available to her.

Both characteristics, firstly to take advantage of opportunities for further qualification and secondly to stay in Thuringia, also apply to Dipl.-Ing. Marius Reiche. His first employer is his old training center: Technische Universität Ilmenau. Here, he has moved from learner to teacher. In the Technical Mechanics Group headed by Professor Zimmermann, he will continue his research from his diploma thesis on the topic of magnetically controllable, intelligent materials as a Dokorand.

Funding for the doctorate via funds from the German Research Foundation DFG was obtained by his supervisor Dr. Tatiana Becker. Marius Reiche will also participate in education as a seminar leader in the subject of technical mechanics.

A total of 219 students are currently enrolled in one of the two diploma courses at the TU Ilmenau. A number that shows a good demand for a diploma education within the framework of the model experiment of the TU Ilmenau. In the summer of 2022, students from the really first matriculation from both study programs will then receive their diploma certificates.