World Wide Alumni neWs Announcements | service | Jobs

While larger cities such as Berlin, Munich, and even Düsseldorf are known for having large American ex-pat communities, Dortmund does not usually make this list. To hear English on the streets of Berlin is commonplace; in Dortmund, it is a rarity. However, anyone who has taken a class in the Language Practice (Sprachpraxis) department of the Institute for English and American Studies at TU Dortmund University in the past several years has probably noticed something – there are lots of Americans around! Native speakers working as instructors in the Language Practice department is nothing new at TU Dortmund University, but a specific group has developed over the past two years: young, recent university graduates from America, who have all somehow found their way to the TU and now enjoy the chance to teach at the university level. I myself am one of them – Katherine Kerschen, originally from Spokane, Washington, USA, instructor in the Language Practice department since 2011. In addi-tion to myself, there are two other Americans cur-rently working in the same department: Christopher Dierich from Menomonie, Wisconsin, and Amy Lynne Hill from Nashville, Tennessee. The three of us are often asked, “Why are you here? Why Dortmund?” For us the answer is clear: because TU Dortmund University and Dortmund itself have captured our hearts. As Fulbright Teaching Assistants the three of us found our way to Dortmund; for Chris and me it was our first time living in the Ruhr region, but for Amy, who had studied abroad at TU Dortmund University in the 2008-09 academic year, it was like coming back to her second home. As Teaching

Assistants we were placed in secondary schools in the area, and each fell quickly in love with the idea of working in English education. As our Fulbright grants drew to a close we each made the decision to pursue teaching English at the university level. The three of us agree the move to university teach-ing supported our future career goals. Amy says, “I have always dreamed of becoming a professor and teaching at this level.” Like Amy, Chris and I also see ourselves working as full-time lecturers and profes-sors in the future. Our new roles as English instruc-tors are not simply helping to shape our futures but also those of our students. We are not just native speakers of English, who have the technical lan-guage know-how to support our students, but we are also a source of cultural knowledge. Our stu-dents, who often want to pursue careers in the field of English education or academia, are interested, fascinated, and excited to be able to learn and exchange cultural knowledge within the classroom. Also pulling us to remain in Dortmund, instead of re-turning to our home towns in the USA or elsewhere in Germany, is the city itself. Amy says, “Dortmund is like my German home, I truly can’t imagine living anywhere else right now.” Chris also adds, “Dort-mund being located in the Ruhr region has great advantages, there are so many great cities and opportunities so close by. Hiking, city tours, theater, history, it’s all here!” Like Dortmund, TU Dortmund University itself offers a wealth of opportunities. The academic offers are extensive and the many job op-portunities have proven appealing to young univer-sity graduates from all over the world.

From Fulbright to Full-time teAchers - three young AmericAns cAll dortmund their “home”

looking For Jobs? ruhr FelloWship progrAm

Apply noW!did you know that tu dortmund university provides its very own job data base? called “stellenwerk”, the data base hosts job openings not only at the uni-versity but also at companies in dortmund and the ruhr region. so if you are thinking of moving back here, make sure you have a look at stellenwerk’s website: http://www.stellenwerk-dortmund.de/

if you are looking for jobs abroad, check our alumni website’s newsfeed. We update job announcements as they come in from international companies. recently, Accenture is looking for employees for their office in Warsaw, poland. Jobs are available for junior or experienced candidates with foreign language skills for different consulting positions. polish is not required. more details:

http://www.aaa.tu-dortmund.de/cms/en/interna-tional_office/Alumni_international/index.html

please get in touch with us if you are interested in promoting open job positions at your company through our alumni network.

e-mail: alumni.international@tu-dortmund.de

After a highly successful Ruhr Fellowship program held at TU Dortmund University this past summer, the University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr (UAMR) partners have the planning for next year’s program well under way. Ruhr University Bochum will be the host in 2013. The program, sponsored by the Initia-tivkreis Ruhr, invites 15 American ivy-league college students to the Ruhr area for a two-part program from early June through July. Students from Harvard University, Princeton University, the MIT, and the University of Pennsylvania are able to participate in a four-week academic and cultural summer school and then spend the remaining four weeks interning at one of many of the Initiativkreis’ company mem-bers. The fellowship positions are primarily intended for students in the engineering and natural science fields. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until January 21, 2013. For more information on the program, and application process please visit the ConRuhr New York website: www.conruhr.org (under the US-Students section).

Welcome message // my second chapter in dortmund

gold medal Athlete new star on campus// special needs a special part of dortmund’s campus life

Science without Borders - brazilian scholars // tu - driving Force in electromobility

From Fulbright to Full-time teachers

looking for jobs?// ruhr Fellowship Applications

InternatIonal alumnI newsletter

international alumni newsletter 12/2012international alumni newsletter 12/2012 5 6

imprint neWsletterpublished by tu dortmund universityinternational office, emil-Figge-str. 61 44221 dortmund | germany

edited by Anna-Julia toll+49(0)231-7556351annajulia.toll@tu-dortmund.de www.aaa.tu-dortmund.de

translations by barbara pinello

photos: Jürgen huhn, barbara pinello, initiativkreis ruhr gmbh, Accenture

layout: it & medien centrum

thanks to dAAd for supporting this publication

november 2012 november 2012

wHere Is tu For You?

november 2012

technische universitätdortmund

Alumni international

Welcome back!

On and around campus

Conferences

World Wide News

Announcements

World Wide News Announcements

on And Around cAmpusWelcome bAck! conFerences, cooperAtions And co.

At the age of 25, Richard Schmidt has accomplished what so many young people can only dream about: he has become an Olympic gold medalist. Schmidt is a member of Germany’s eight-person rowing team, which has won three consecutive World Champion-ships and took gold this year at the London Olympic Games. Yet, Richard is not just an athlete, he is also an academic at TU Dortmund University where he is working on his bachelor’s degree as an industrial engineer. Q: What do you think is special about rowing?

A: It tends to look easy on television, but in reality it is extremely

difficult and physically draining. Races start and end at a high

tempo; often after 1000 meters our bodies are exhausted, but we

keep rowing, nevertheless.

Q: What motivates you to keep going?

A: I started rowing at the age of eight and relatively quickly was

competing at high levels. When you reach such levels you are

always “hungry” for more. Besides, it is amazing to be on the canal

at sunrise during the summer months.

Q: What did you experience at the Olympic Games, and how has

your life changed since?

A: We went into the Olympic Games as the absolute favorite team

in rowing. This put a large amount of pressure on us to take home

the gold medal. As we did, our fame increased quickly. However, it

was only short lived. As soon as the soccer season started again,

we were old news. But no one rows to get rich or famous.

Q: What do you have to give up for your athletic career? A: I am from Trier, so I am only able to see my friends and family

occasionally, once a month if I am lucky. Also, my bachelor degree

is simply spread out over a longer period of time. When my peers

take eight final exams, I can only take four. Sometimes I have the

feeling I have my feet in two different worlds.

As summer has faded into fall one notices too that winter is on its way. As the seasons gradually change it is the perfect time for us to reflect on the months past and those to come. The summer and fall months were filled with international bustle. TU Dortmund University welcomed Ruhr Fellows, new Brazilian “Science without Bor-ders” scholars, and students from all over the world arrived in Dortmund to begin their study abroad experiences. This edition of our news-letter includes an exclusive look at on-campus programs, such as “Music Inclusion”, an exhibit centered on the inclusion of the special needs community into music culture, and “Dortmunder-AutoTag”, a two-day event presenting innovations in electromobility. We also will introduce this winter semester’s diverse new group of Brazilian scholars and young American teachers. Beyond that you will find details for the 2013 Ruhr Fel-lowship Program, as well as job and scholarship opportunities in Poland and Germany. We hope that you have noticed our increased social net-work presence, and we welcome you to become a part of our ever-growing virtual alumni network on Facebook. You can find us under: TU Dort-mund Alumni International! We are always eager to hear from you! We are continually looking for alumni article entries and would be grateful to hear all about where you are now! Please visit our website and fill out an alumni profile, send us an e-mail, or write to us on Facebook.

Season‘s greetings!

The Ruhr region gained a bit more southern influ-ence as it welcomed over 70 Brazilian scholars on academic exchange to its three Ruhr Metropolis universities: Ruhr University Bochum, University of Duisburg-Essen, and TU Dortmund University. The exchange program “Science Without Borders” is one portion of the Brazilian government’s new initia-tives to foster cultural understanding and aca-demic growth through intercultural exchanges. The program will seek to send over 100,000 Brazilian scholars around the world in three years, 10,000 of whom will be in Germany and up to 900 of whom will call the Ruhr region their home for a year. Within this first year of the program North Rhine-Westphalia is host to the highest number of Brazilian students, whose year long exchange began in early August. Intensive German language courses were the first portion of the scholars’ stay in the Ruhr region be-fore they dove into their respective academic fields of study. While on exchange the students are recom-mended not to fly home. The exchange allows each new Brazilian student to experience the academic and cultural life on campus and the city first hand. Yu Kawahara from Sao Paulo says, “In Brazil we are all crazy about soccer and everyone knows Borussia Dortmund’s star players.” For TU Dortmund Univer-sity, which welcomed 13 of the chosen scholarship holders to its campus, the increased number of Brazilian students has been regarded as a wonder-ful addition to the cultural diversity on campus.

Since 1992, Prof. Irmgard Merkt has been working progressively in the field of rehabilitation sciences at TU Dortmund University, and this past October she, along with her staff, presented a progressive research exhibit for university students, staff, and community members. The exhibit entitled “Musik Inklusiv” (Music Inclusion) focused on the practi-cal inclusion of those with special needs into music culture. Through photos, videos, and texts the exhibit displayed the concert series that was a central part of the university team’s inquiry into music inclu-sion. Programs such as ‘InTakt’, ‘ Europa InTakt’, the concert series ‘ Konzerte an besonderen Orten’ and ‘Dortmunder Modell: Musik’ were all portions of Prof. Merkt’s and her associates’ work and exhibited in October. Within the last 20 years, the concept of musical inclusion for persons with special needs has become an area of increasing interest for research-ers within the rehabilitation sciences. Through this exhibit TU Dortmund University’s Faculty for Reha-bilitation Sciences depicted not only their monumen-tal research in the area, but also conveyed the long standing tradition of special needs inclusion at the university. 35 years ago, influenced by the advance-ments in the USA, Dr. Birgit Rothenberg helped to initiate the establishment of Dortmund’s Center for Special Needs (Dortmunder Zentrum Behinderung und Studium, DoBuS). With the opening of the center in 1977, Dortmund became the first university in Germany to systematically take strides for its special needs student population. The center is now a fun-damental part of TU Dortmund University’s campus life.

My Dortmund story began five years ago when I was an exchange student for six months while complet-ing my bachelor’s degree at Canisius College. I was young, had never lived in Germany before, and quickly learned that the Swiss German I was familiar with wasn’t going to cut it in the Ruhr region. Yet, as the first chapter in my Dortmund story drew to an end, I had gained an incredible group of international and local friends, had made significant strides in learning “high German,” and had fallen in love with the indus-trial charm that sets Dortmund apart from so many other German cities. After living and teaching English in Schleswig-Holstein for two years on Fulbright and PAD grants, I knew that I wanted Germany to be my new home. I was ready to settle down and there was only one place I could see myself doing it: Dortmund. And that is where I find myself now, writing the sec-ond of hopefully many more chapters of my Dortmund story. I was initially drawn back to Dortmund for the familiarity of the university and the city itself, and though the campus has made extreme bounds both academically and aesthetically since my first time here, it remains just as diverse, progressive, and wel-coming as ever. Though these changes are nice, the people here are what truly connect me to Dortmund. In making the transition back to Dortmund I recon-nected with several friends and professors from my stay abroad. Without this network of people my tran-sition would have been nearly impossible. I encour-age each one of you to reach out and connect with TU Dortmund University’s international alumni. Together we are a wonderful and invaluable network of people and opportunities.

This past September TU Dortmund University’s Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, in collaboration with the Dortmund Chamber of Commerce, held the seventh annual “DortmunderAutoTag”. During the two-day event researchers had opportunities to present as well as discuss perspectives and innovations in electro-mobility and advanced driver assistance systems. Discussions touched on topics such as demograph-ic adjustments with relation to traffic psychology and human interaction with new mobility systems. As our traditional idea of traffic vehicles gradually transforms, electronically powered vehicles are be-coming increasingly common. The “DortmunderAu-toTag” has been a staple at TU Dortmund University since June 2006. As an adamant research contribu-tor in the electromobility field, TU Dortmund Univer-sity hosted guest speakers from some of Germany’s and America’s most renowned automotive compa-nies including Audi, BMW, and Ford. The event came just days after the official opening of a new technol-ogy platform by the Center of Electromobility Exper-tise. The platform was created to help researchers as well as businesses test out new technologies for the future. The collaboration for the new platform can largely be attributed to TU Dortmund Univer-sity’s Professor Andrzej Górak, who is also an avid figure in the research being done on campus. Both the new platform opening and the “DortmunderAu-toTag” are symbolic for TU Dortmund University’s innovative research and practical opportunity for its students and the community.

gold medAl Athlete And AcAdemic neWest stAr on cAmpus

DearInternatIonalalumnIanDFrIenDs, Science without BorderS brings brAziliAns to ruhr region

tu dortmund university A driving Force in electromobility

speciAl needs A speciAl pArt oF dortmund’s cAmpus liFe

my second chApter in dortmund By BarBara Pinello

international alumni newsletter 12/2012 2 3 4international alumni newsletter 12/2012 international alumni newsletter 12/2012

november 2012

september 2012August 2012 september 2012

october 2012

Welcome back! On and around campus Conferences