Honored for excellent and creative teaching

"Good teaching is not a matter of course and depends on lecturers not simply passing on their knowledge, but conveying the teaching content creatively and tailored to the needs of the students," said Vice President for Teaching and Learning, Prof. Anja Geigenmüller, on the occasion of the award ceremony at TU Ilmenau. Anja Geigenmüller, on the occasion of the award ceremony during the ceremonial enrolment of new students at TU Ilmenau: "Above all, this means inspiring students with their own enthusiasm for the subject and giving them the necessary impetus so that they can deal with teaching content independently and in a self-determined manner, achieve good learning outcomes and apply their knowledge to complex situations." Last but not least, teaching well also means remaining curious and finding your own style.

The ten award-winning lecturers at TU Ilmenau have implemented this in various ways: they show new, alternative ways of solving problems, develop hybrid teaching formats, enrich their courses with current application examples from research and industry, promote students' practical skills and thus ensure an excellent, lasting understanding of the learning content.

According to Prof. Geigenmüller, they are representative of all teachers who, thanks to their high level of commitment and wealth of ideas, succeed time and again in developing their teaching in innovative ways. In addition, they are involved in committees for the further development of degree courses, are active in the subject advisory service and inspire prospective students for STEM subjects. "We cannot appreciate this commitment highly enough, and our heartfelt thanks go to all of them for their dedication."

Electrical engineering and information technology

Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. habil. Dr. h.c. Andreas Bund - Electrochemistry and Electroplating Group

Prof. Bund's teaching is of a high quality in various areas. His teaching concept is based on a broad presentation of information and the consideration of problems and various concepts - for example from energy technology - from different perspectives. By explaining the concepts presented, from theory to practice, structures and interrelationships are always apparent, resulting in an excellent understanding of the content of the lectures. In addition, Prof. Bund always gives students food for thought to do their own research, introduce their own topics into the courses and integrate them into the overall concept.

He also uses various didactic measures in the modules to promote not only theoretical but also practical skills (e.g. through practical experiments) and in-depth research (e.g. in preparation for a specialist presentation in the seminar accompanying the lecture) among the students. Furthermore, Prof. Bund also shows students new, alternative ways of solving problems - for example using methods from the world of computer science. Smaller scripts are presented during lectures, but also on the learning platforms, and made available for independent work.

He also uses multimedia teaching methods and not only holds live lectures, but also records them. This means that course content can be repeated at leisure after the lectures or missed lectures can be reworked.

Dr.-Ing. habil. Ulrich Lüdtke - Group of Electrothermal Energy Conversion

Dr. Lüdtke's teaching is always of a high quality. In his lectures, he places great emphasis on understanding. Dr. Lüdtke fully explains all formulas that are important for understanding the lecture and thus makes it possible to comprehend the content. In the lectures, the content is dealt with in a thematically consecutive manner, whereby the foundations laid in the previous chapters can be consolidated and deepened.

The exercises are either used to consolidate the content or to put it into practice with the help of suitable simulation software, as is the case in the "Numerical Simulation in Electrical Process Engineering" module, for example. Dr. Lüdtkes also uses the seminars to show students some application examples from research or industry and to explain the background to the simulation and calculation techniques used. He encourages students to ask questions in all courses and thus creates a productive learning and working atmosphere. This atmosphere is also conveyed in the examination discussions, which are very well prepared by the lecturer.

In addition to his teaching activities, Dr.-Ing. Lüdtke is also a member of the course commission for the Master's degree course in Electric Power and Control Systems Engineering, to which he contributes his many years of experience at Ilmenau University of Technology.

Computer Science and Automation

Dr.-Ing. Peter Amthor - Distributed and Operating Systems Group

Dr.-Ing. Amthor has been recognized for his commitment to maintaining compulsory and elective teaching in the field of distributed systems/operating systems. Only one year after his doctorate in 2018, the professorship became vacant, which led to a vacancy that lasted until recently. During this time, Dr.-Ing. Amthor took on the teaching duties assigned to the group largely independently, enabling teaching to run smoothly. This is particularly remarkable, as one could not necessarily expect the necessary experience from a scientist immediately after completing his doctorate.

Dr. Kai Wulff - Control Engineering Group

Dr. Wulff has been recognized for his great support of students in courses on control engineering that are perceived as very demanding. This applies both to the exercises for the compulsory courses for which the Control Engineering Group is responsible and to lectures, exercises and practicals for elective courses. His commitment to providing electronic teaching materials of excellent quality should also be emphasized, both in the phase of corona restrictions and their continuous further development in the period afterwards.

Mechanical engineering

Dr.-Ing. Christoph Weigel - Microsystems Engineering Group

Dr. Weigel has shown far above-average commitment to teaching for many years, even during the coronavirus pandemic. Following the departure of the previous Head of the Microsystems Engineering Group in 2017, he helped to shape and actively shape teaching, initially as a doctoral student. Dr. Weigel is continuously expanding his courses and topics - including digitally. Particularly noteworthy is the consistent integration of current research topics in his courses, which significantly increases students' interest in research, innovation and their studies.

The lecturer continuously publishes in renowned journals and involves students in his research. An article with several student co-authors was recently published repeatedly as part of final theses and student research projects under his supervision. Most recently in the journal Advanced Engineering Materials (IF 4.122). (vgl.: doi.org/10.1002/adem.202201873).

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Husung - Product and Systems Engineering Group

With his appointment on January 1, 2021, Prof. Husung began to reorganize the entire teaching of the Product and Systems Engineering Group in order to achieve a further improvement in the quality of teaching and to further increase the attractiveness of the teaching content for students. In addition to the complete digitalization of teaching content, the development of new forms of teaching and learning should also be mentioned. Prof. Husung would like to establish a hybrid learning environment for virtual product development. To this end, TU Ilmenau is working together with the University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen on a joint project. This will be funded for one year with personnel and material resources by the eTeach network Thuringia. The project also involves the implementation of innovative digital tools that contribute to the didactic enrichment of teaching and learning in the real and virtual world. Once the project has been successfully completed, the new learning environment will initially be implemented in Ilmenau and Nordhausen for the Bachelor's and Master's degree courses in mechanical engineering. At the same time, the pilot project represents the starting point for adaptation in other degree courses and universities in order to enrich the teaching and learning opportunities here with modern forms.

Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Jun.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Christian Dreßler - Group of Theoretical Solid State Physics

Prof. Dreßler shows great commitment and inventiveness in networking TU Ilmenau with regional and national schools. Through teacher training, lectures and workshops, he draws attention to the "Technical Physics" course and convinces pupils to study physics. Against the background of declining student numbers in science subjects throughout Germany, these activities are of great importance for the Institute of Physics and the entire Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Dr. rer. nat. habil. Nikos Tsierkezos - Teaching Group Chemistry

Dr. Tsierkezos has rendered outstanding services to the conception and implementation of the Bachelor's degree course in Biotechnical Chemistry. In addition to his scientific activities, Dr. Tsierkezos is also intensively involved in the training of students from all disciplines as head of the Teaching Group Chemistry. The entire basic practical courses in general chemistry were planned with his help in terms of content and organization and have been supervised by him since the winter semester 2013. Dr. Tsierkezos is willing to take on responsibility at any time, as evidenced by the numerous optional seminars for students, the supervision of pupils and his commitment to the university. Dr. Tsierkezos has proven his pedagogical aptitude through many years of teaching. He makes a significant contribution to complementing the cross-faculty teaching offered by the Chemistry Group. Dr. Tsierkezos is highly appreciated by the students for his ability to explain complex issues in chemistry in an understandable way. He is able to motivate and inspire students.

Economic Sciences and Media

Dr. rer. pol. Daniel Fischer - Group for Information and Knowledge Management

In his lectures, Dr. Fischer likes to give students the best possible insight into topics using practical examples. Topics and issues are also highlighted by means of examples and discussed on request. This ensures that the students' interest is aroused.

Through his work as a course advisor in Business Informatics and the good cooperation with the first-semester tutors in Business Informatics, Dr. Fischer accompanies the first-year students from the very beginning of their studies. In smaller feedback rounds between the tutors and their first-semester students, Dr. Fischer is mentioned positively for his assistance in this position. In addition, Dr. Fischer offers a so-called mentoring session every semester. This gives students the opportunity to raise their questions and problems in an informal atmosphere.

In his lectures, Dr. Fischer appears professionally knowledgeable. In certain sub-topics of his courses, he is able to share knowledge from his practical experience, which is well received by the students. When questions arise, he endeavors to answer them carefully. If it is not immediately possible, he takes them with him and answers them at the end of the course.

Dr. Fischer and his group have made a good transition to digital teaching during the pandemic. They have largely adapted and even improved their teaching and examination formats to a reasonable extent. In some of his courses, Dr. Fischer makes sensible use of external teaching sources to consolidate and expand the content of the corresponding course.

Dr. rer. pol. Magnus Richter - Group for Sustainable Production and Logistics Management

In his lectures, Dr. Richter is always motivated and committed to incorporating practical examples in order to arouse students' interest in the respective subject and subject area. Dr. Richter is a mentor for the International Business Economics course. This means that he is responsible for and open to students' questions right from the start of the course. Dr. Richter responds to questions in an open-minded and helpful manner. Dr. Richter is also a familiar face to many students thanks to his welcoming speech at the Faculty of WM during Freshers' Week. Through his activities on university committees, Dr. Richter has been involved in the creation of a framework for meaningful international degree courses and is very knowledgeable in his lectures. Thanks to his practical and business experience, he is always able to refresh his courses with knowledge and information.

Dr. Richter and his group have made a good transition to digital teaching during the pandemic. His colleague Deborah Stuhlinger and his colleague Prof. Rainer Souren (as well as Dr. Richter himself) should also be mentioned here, who provided positive feedback from students during this time by making exercise and lecture content available as video-on-demand. This created a further opportunity for students to work on and understand the content of the courses. In addition, the department enabled a flexible digital form of examination in the Master's program.

Dr. Richter and his department have adapted their course offerings well to the new teaching from 2021, and they are also represented on the committees at various points in the adaptation and improvement of the course offerings.