Fachhochschule Technikum Wien

Robotics for Industry and Agriculture: Completion of the first Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP)

Interdisciplinary and intercultural project work: For the first time, the UAS Technikum Wien carried out an Erasmus+ funded BIP together with Lapland UAS and Fontys UAS.

Objectives

Interdisciplinary and intercultural project work: for the first time, the UAS Technikum Wien conducted an Erasmus+ funded Blended Intensive Programme together with the Finnish Lapland UAS and the Dutch Fontys UAS. The aim was to develop robot systems for use in the industrial or agricultural sector. In addition to the development of innovative learning and teaching methods and online collaboration, an important focus of the program was on interdisciplinary and intercultural cooperation.

Background

In May 2022 the first Erasmus+ funded Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) was concluded at the UAS Technikum Wien. Together with the UAS Technikum Wien, Lapland University of Applied Sciences and Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands were involved in the international student project. The Kick-Off Week took place in mid-February in Rovaniemi, Finland, and for the closing event in May, the 21 international students came together again for a week in Vienna.

(Implemented) Activities

As part of the BIP, the participants worked for a semester on projects focusing on “Smart Manufacturing in Agriculture or Industry 4.0”. The student teams started the Wrap-Up Week in Vienna with a presentation of the current status of their projects. During the week, the groups were able to work together on the finalization of their projects. In between, the participants enjoyed a professional and leisure program in Vienna and at the UAS Technikum Wien. In addition to a city tour under the motto “Classic Vienna with a twist”, there was a guided tour of the Digital Factory at the Technikum and a visit to the VR Playground in Vienna’s 9th district. The week ended on Friday with the presentation of the projects to a jury of experts.

Results

On the one hand, this project strengthens cooperation between the partner universities. On the other hand, it offers students the opportunity to acquire intercultural skills through Internationalisation@home and to carry out project work in an international context. Students are thus given an insight into a different everyday university life, which can also result in potential further stays abroad.

Lessons learned

According to the participants’ feedback, the first Blended Intensive Programme was a complete success: In a survey after the end of the project, all students said that they would participate in a BIP again. There was also a lot of positive feedback about the cooperation in the internationally mixed project teams. When asked “What did you learn from working with your colleagues?” one participant answered: “That there are a lot of different ways of doing a project.” And when asked what they liked best about the project week, one student said: “The time you could spend with people from a completely different culture and work with them.

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