A new way of making presentations at the Department of Electrical Engineering – a student reports on his placement semester in Silicon Valley

(mk) Whilst a number of students filed - some still rather sleepily - into lecture theatre H 1.16 at just gone eight in the morning on 4th June, their fellow student Timo Bolse was wide awake in front of his computer in California, although there it was just before midnight on 3rd June: He awoke the interest of students and lecturers alike with what he had to say on multimedia interface technology. The presentation was transmitted live to Düsseldorf UAS via Skype link.
Timo Bolse is now in the sixth semester of his communication engineering studies, specialising in information technology. As part of his thesis, which he is writing under Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lux at the Faculty of Electro-technology, he is currently on placement for a semester in Volkswagen's American office in Palo Alto in California. "Even as a child, I was fascinated by both information technology and Silicon Valley", Timo remembers his first vague desires of turning this fascination in reality later on in his life. It is, of course, a happy ending that the motivated student can now dedicate himself to research in the fields of electronics, sensory systems, multimedia interface engineering and navigation systems - with the self-chosen focus on Internet connections in vehicles - in the Electronic Research Laboratory. There he can actively assist in the research work and thus experience at first hand the exceptional drive for innovation, still very much alive despite the economic crisis, in America's most innovative technology development region. Apart from these insights into the research work of an international corporation, he passed on a number of insider tips on preparing and applying for and financing such a sojourn abroad to those who might like to follow in his footsteps.
Sonja Meier, a graduate translator responsible for the English courses at the faculty and thus always interested in foreign contacts for the students, was likewise delighted by the feedback from this presentation: "Particularly as the presentation was held in English, it is certainly a good way to generate interest among other students for a stay abroad."