A delegation of American academics and students from various engineering degree programmes at the University of Florida (UF) visited our university last week to gain an insight into university education and to strengthen cooperation in research and teaching.

The group, which was made up of students from mechanical engineering, medical technology, aerospace engineering and other engineering disciplines, was led by Professor Diba Mani from UF. The visit took place as part of the cooperation agreement concluded last year between HTWD and the University of Gainesville.

An intensive exchange between the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at UF and the Faculty of Agriculture/Environment/Chemistry at HTW Dresden has already existed for several years. The cooperation agreement was initiated by Professor John Schueller and Professor Karl Wild. After previous research projects between the university partners, this visit was seen as an opportunity to further intensify the collaboration and explore new opportunities for cooperation.

"Meeting the researchers and discussing common research interests opened up new perspectives for us and strengthened our conviction that our collaboration will be of mutual benefit," says Professor Mani, summarising the visit. This visit marks an important step in a long-term partnership and emphasises the commitment of both institutions to engineering education and research.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

The University of Florida in Gainesville is one of the top universities in the USA. It offers over 300 different degree programmes in a variety of disciplines. UF has outstanding faculties consisting of more than 4,000 professors. With over 50,000 students, the university is one of the largest educational institutions in the country. UF is also a centre for cutting-edge research, with annual research spending of more than 800 million US dollars. It has over 100 research centres and institutes. The university has produced many outstanding alumni, including several Nobel Prize winners and many CEOs of major companies.