Blog

During the COVID-19 pandemic the International Office like other members of the HWR Berlin has had to rethink how it engages with our international partners and incoming exchange students. Thankfully the virtual tools at our disposal have meant that we could engage in creative solutions for the onboarding of students involved in online international exchange. The HWR Berlin’s participation in the UAS7 Virtual Academy has also allowed us to continue international exchange activities online with partners from countries where in-person exchange was unfeasible during the pandemic.

April 2021 was an intense month of learning and cross-cultural interaction for students of the course Different Approaches to Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility in the US and the EU at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (HWR Berlin). Students joined selected counterparts from the University at Albany in the US for a month-long interactive online course that placed international collaboration at its heart.

As part of the UAS7 Virtual Academy Bremen University of Applied Sciences and the University at Albany held a joint seminar entitled “Air Pollution Control for Environmental Engineering” for majors in the summer semester of 2021. The seminar was offered as an elective module for students in their seventh semester in Bremen. During the seminar, students conducted case studies on the air quality of US and German cities before and during the Corona lockdown. The results from German cities were then compared with cities from the other continent.

The course Air Pollution Control, part of the UAS7 Virtual Academy, was a transatlantic a cooperation between Bremen University of Applied Sciences and the University at Albany. The key goals of the joint course were to engage students in solving real-world air pollution problems through project-based learning. In doing so, they learned to foster collaboration, relationships and networks with fellow international students and their instructors.

Students from several engineering and computer science programs at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and at University at Albany conduct experiments on artificial intelligence and develop their own products for the Internet of Things. They exchange ideas in transatlantic teams and give each other feedback on their project ideas.

The mid-point in the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (HWR Berlin) and University at Albany (UAlbany)‘s COIL project on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility was marked with a rather unique session that led to students reflecting on a range of cultural and legal aspects.

Back in February 2021, Professor Mechthild Schrooten from the Bremen City University of Applied Sciences (HSB) and Professor Rita Biswas from the University at Albany (UA) started a joint transatlantic teaching project as part of the UAS7 Virtual Academy. On April 12th, the third joint session took place, which was a highlight of the course for teachers and students alike.

As part of the UAS7 Virtual Academy pilot phase Dominik Hammer of Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences (HM) and Martha Asselin of the University at Albany (Ualbany) are co-teaching a virtual course on interdisciplinary leadership with a focus on decision-making processes in crisis situations. On April 7, the transatlantic class was joined by high-ranking experts of both institutions who shared valuable insights into their own leadership experience in crisis situations.