Learning Factories: Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Industry

Online Public Lecture

“Introducing some concepts from the German model helps us tackle the issue of bridging the gap between academia and industry, as Germany is widely recognised as a leader in practice-oriented education,” Dr Carsten-Michael Walbiner, Director of DAAD Regional Office Cairo, stated in his introductory remarks to the public lecture “Learning Factories: Bridging the Gap Between Academia and Industry”. This event, taking place online on Tuesday, August 27th, 2024, was organised by the DAAD Regional Office Cairo in the framework of the project “Clusters of Scientific Innovation in the Middle East and North Africa” (COSIMENA) and gathered participants from various countries and sectors. Following the success of the COSIMENA & Ezz Steel Workshop held in January 31st, and February 1st, 2024, the lecture focused on the specific concept of learning factories as an innovative approach to bridge the existing gap between theoretical education and practical industry needs. During an enlightening two-hour presentation, M. Sc. Marius Knott, research assistant at the Chair of Production Systems (LPS) at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, offered a comprehensive exploration of learning factories, highlighting their principles, advantages, and best practices, particularly in the German context. Thanks to the online format, participants could also have a glimpse of this distinguished place of practical learning and research through a guided virtual tour, which stimulated an animated exchange in the conclusive Q&A session and paved the way for a discussion on possible ways to continue knowledge sharing on this topic in the future.

COSIMENA & Ezz Steel Workshop: “The Gap between Theoretical Education at Egyptian Universities and the Practical Needs of the Labour Market: A Search for Solutions”

COSIMENA

On January 31st and February 1st, 2024, several university professors and practioners from the industry from Germany, Egypt and the MENA region were invited to workshop on the topic “The Gap between Theoretical Education at Egyptian Universities and the Practical Needs of the Labour Market: A Search for Solutions” .

Meta-Conference: "Industry meets Academia: Industrialization of the African Continent - Prospects and Challenges from the Perspective of the Automotive Industry"

COSIMENA

Meta-Conference: Ensuring Climate Resilience through Climate Action

COSIMENA

On Monday, November 29th and Tuesday, November 30th, 2021, several researchers and scientists working in the field of climate change, meteorology, (renewable) energy and higher education from Germany, Egypt and the MENA region were invited to an online meta-conference discussing the topic of “Ensuring Climate Resilience through Climate Action”.

"Urban Resilience Through Inclusion: Factoring in the Social Elements"

COSIMENA

“Urban Resilience Through Inclusion: Factoring in the Social Elements” was the title of the urbanism meta-conference which shed light on the human factor in city planning and urbanism. The conference hosted various experts from fields of urban development, sociology and politics from Germany, Austria, Egypt and the MENA region. The event included different talks with the focus on project-specific presentations in the field of urban planning in correlation to inclusion/migration and heritage preservation as well as insights on enabling platforms and initiatives. The event took place online and welcomed about 40 guests online with the intention to offer a platform with a comprehensive view of exploring the dynamics of neighborhood change as well as the effects of this change on the city and region.

Meta-Conference SustaMENAbility

COSIMENA

COSIMENA brought together experts from Egypt, Germany, Sudan and Jordan for its 2nd Meta-Conference “SustaMENAbility” on 21 and 22 October 2019 in Alexandria.

Meta-Conference South-South and Triangular Cooperation

COSIMENA

From 24–26 November 2019 COSIMENA organised its third meta-conference of the year, highlighting South-South and triangular cooperation, with its specific role in higher education in the MENA region and Africa, through a scientific lens.