Oerlikon Textile renews scholarship programme

21 Nov '08

4 min read

Oerlikon Textile, a segment of the Oerlikon Group and leading manufacturer of textile machinery and equipment, renewed the cooperation with the "Institute for Textile Technology at RWTH Aachen", Germany and continues the mutual scholarship programme for two more years. Thus practical support and the opportunity to establish early contacts with the textile industry are provided for highly qualified future managers.

The extension contract was signed in October by Dr. Carsten Voigtländer, CEO of Oerlikon Textile, and Manfred Nettekoven, chancellor of RWTH Aachen, in the presence of Prof. Thomas Gries, Head of the Institute for Textile Technology and of 20 scholarship holders. The conclusion of the contract took place in the scope of the traditional Oerlikon "evening chat", an occasion provided several times a year for the exchange of ideas between managers and students.

The permanent cooperation of science and industry is essential for both partners: "Today, successful technological companies are dependent on utilising all possible innovation potentials in a strategic manner as well as on developing new resources. In doing so, cooperations with universities and talent sponsoring play an important part. So we support talented students for the purpose of commitment and competitive orientation and introduce them early to our industrial requirements and problems", Dr. Carsten Voigtländer describes this.

Manfred Nettekoven, too, underlines the benefits: "Sponsoring and cooperation involve the industry-oriented profiling of excellent students. This improves the smooth change over from studying to making one's career and, last but not least, counteracts the generally bemoaned shortage of experts."

In the scope of the scholarship programme, talented students in mechanical engineering, specialisation textile technology, are supported in an ideational as well as financial manner. Scholarship holders benefit from intensive personal mentoring, a monthly subsidy and the participation in a well-aimed support programme which also comprises excursions to industrial plants of Oerlikon Textile or its partners and clients in Germany and abroad.

This enables the participants to establish contacts in commerce and industry. Thus many scholarship holders work in appropriate companies to write their seminar papers or degree dissertations or stay for an internship in the company, even abroad. Another integral part of the programme: training courses in soft skills with topics as "Cross-cultural communication" or "Team leadership training".

The highlight of this year's scholarship programme is the October excursion to China, including visits to the production plants in Suzhou, Jintang, and Shanghai. Apart from visiting Oerlikon and Trützschler plants, Chinese textile market leaders such as Jinsheng-Saurer, Jiangsu Sanfangxiang, WuJiang Shenghong, Ramatex and Zhangjiagang Yangtse Spinning are also included.

As a preparation for this 10-day trip including sight-seeing tours, Dr. Voigtländer in the scope of the "evening chat" emphasised the particular requirements of the Asian market for graduates in textile machinery engineering, outlined the current global market situation and showed the consequences for future managers.

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