Exactly 16 months after construction work officially began, the Black Forest Campus in Freudenstadt was opened in the presence of Theresia Bauer, Minister of Science, Research and the Arts of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Prof. Hansgeorg Binz, Vice Rector at the University of Stuttgart, described the Black Forest Campus as a flagship for the wide range of courses offered by the University. “The Black Forest Campus enables us to merge industrial practice and university teaching in a special way, which results in a unique learning and research environment which is conducive to research-oriented teaching and teaching under real-life conditions.”
At the Center for Teaching, Research and Technology Transfer for the mechanical engineering and manufacturing industry, research and teaching go hand in hand. The buildings consist of a block of lecture halls for master’s degree students at the University of Stuttgart, as well as a development laboratory directly next to it, in which state-of-the-art machines and facilities are on hand for practical use. In addition to this, there are premises which start-ups can hire at cheap rates to fully concentrate on their business idea. The first lectures were held in the new rooms at the start of November 2019 in the specialist subject of “Digitalized and sustainable value creation” in the Mechanical Engineering master’s degree program at the University of Stuttgart.
This proximity of theory and practice is unique for a study program at master’s degree level. “The last few weeks and months have been particularly frantic, which shows the dynamism that’s gone into the whole project”, says Stefan Bogenrieder, who has been Director of the Black Forest Campus since 2017. “The fact that a construction project of this size and this quality has been finished on time emphasizes how we can take a leading role in the big issues of the future, both in Baden-Württemberg and in the whole of Germany.” This claim is being strengthened by the ongoing funding project “5G Transfer Center”. As part of this, the Black Forest Campus is one of a total of four regional test fields for 5G applications in Baden-Württemberg. “We’re offering local small and medium-sized enterprises a unique opportunity to understand results from the research into 5G which is currently being done, and to experiment with different uses”, explains Bogenrieder. And last but not least, the first start-up company has moved into an office on the campus, which leads the Director to believe that “the concept of an ‘excellent’ triad of research, teaching and technology transfer is really flourishing”.
The campus: Sustainable – even in its construction
The Black Forest Campus buildings are spread over a 3,200 m² area at Herzog-Eberhard-Straße 56, not far from the main railway station. It includes conference rooms for courses, laboratory halls, a cafeteria for students and teachers, co-working zones as well as offices for professors and staff. Flexible walls and furniture among other things also provide the option of creating different room concepts inside. The furniture makes use of the industrial character of the former EnBW building and consciously combines it with its Black Forest location. Heavily varnished wood, wall panels in silver fir as well as blue tones result in an atmosphere which is both technical and warm at the same time. A total of 45 car parking spaces are available outside, with two charging stations for electric vehicles to follow. The heat is generated by a gas-fired combined heating and power (CHP) station and a wood chip heating system.
Campus Days on 6-7 December
The two Campus Days on 6 December (2 pm to 6 pm) and 7 December 2019 (9 am to 4 pm) offer a glimpse behind the scenes of the Black Forest Campus. Experts in mechanical engineering and the manufacturing industry will be on hand in the campus laboratory and the lecture halls to talk about future trends. The cooperating companies, the UHK and the University of Stuttgart will be present at the accompanying campus fair.
About the Black Forest Campus
The Black Forest Campus was created in 2016 as a joint initiative between the University of Stuttgart and companies based in the Black Forest. The cooperation partners are ARBURG GmbH + Co KG, Robert Bürkle GmbH, EMAG eldec Induction GmbH, codeunity GmbH, erfi GmbH, fischerwerke GmbH & Co. KG, HOMAG GmbH, KOCH Pac-Systeme GmbH, LEUCO Ledermann GmbH & Co. KG, Nedo GmbH & Co. KG, Oest GmbH & Co. Maschinenbau KG, PSI Automotive & Industry GmbH, J. Schmalz GmbH and Gebr. Schmid GmbH, Woodward L'Orange GmbH, 51nodes GmbH. In addition to these are the IHK Nordschwarzwald, the District of Freudenstadt as well as the City of Freudenstadt. The campus will meet the challenges of the future in mechanical engineering and the manufacturing industry by combining university teaching and practice-oriented research. Through the cooperation with the University of Stuttgart, individual lectures in the Mechanical Engineering master’s degree program at the University of Stuttgart can be offered at the Black Forest Campus. The focus here is on the digitization, leadership and sustainability. Since the winter semester 2017/18, lectures in the specialist subject of “Digitalized and sustainable value creation”, developed together with the companies and the University of Stuttgart, have been incorporated in the program of lectures given by the University of Stuttgart, and will now take place in Freudenstadt after the opening of the Black Forest Campus. The facilities of the participating companies are provided in the 800 m² of laboratory space at the Black Forest Campus. www.campus-schwarzwald.de