For most german industries the crisis seems to be overcome. But in the construction industry demand still decreases. This mainly affects the order figures.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, in September 2010 there were 1.1 percent less orders compared to 2009.
Indeed in construction work above groundlevel the demand increased by 1.2 percent but, in civil engineering underground the demand decreased by 3.2 percent.
In September 2010, the industry reached a turnover of 8.3 billion Euros, 1.6 percent more than in September 2009.
At the same time 1.7 percent less employees were engaged.

According to the latest economic survey of the “Zentralverbandes des Deutschen Baugewerbes” the companies in public construction are in a rather bad mood when talking about the current situation. In commercial construction, however, the mood is balanced. Despite of a weak September in 2010, the sector counts better order rates in the first nine month of 2010 than in 2009. However, a satisfying sales volume wasn’t achieved. According to the statistical figures, the number of orders increased by 2.3 percent whereas the total sales volume decreased by 4 percent.
In October 2010 the “Zentralverbandes des Deutschen Baugewerbes” expected a sales drop of 1.5 percent for the whole year 2010. In the beginning of the year 2010 the association assumed a constant development.

Do these figures meet your experiences? Do you see the current situation as a threat or rather as a chance?

Based on Manager Magazin

Technology seems to be all around us. All parts of our life are swayed by technology e.g. cooking, cleaning, cell phones and energy for our homes. No wonder that the engineer is the most sought profession the past few years. However, graduates from university or engineering schools still have difficulties finding a job.

It is important to know how and where to search for engineering jobs. An engineering job in the USA requires that the graduates have a good degree or a diploma in engineering from a recognized university or college. Many graduates end up with a degree, diploma or certificate which is not accepted in the USA for various reasons. This can be an insuperable barrier during the job hunt, even with excellent grades.

The market for alternative energy sources for electricity generation does not lose its relevance. Renewable energy resources are primarily wind energy, hydropower, geothermal energy and solar energy.

By 2030 a quarter of the energy consumed should be covered by renewable energies, predicts the International Energy Agency (IEA).

For the photovoltaic sector (photovaltaic = the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy using solar cells) new countries such as India get in focus. With about 300 sunny days a year, the construction of solar systems seems to be indispensable. For German suppliers of the machinery and plant construction the ambitious plans of India imply an enormous potential, because plants and machinery “Made in Germany” are still standing for high quality and reliability. Already in 2013, the first renewable energy projects should be realised, says the Secretary of the Indian Ministry of Energy, Deepak Gupta.

Those who are ready for these projects but still need resources for it, might find a suitable freelancer on projektwerk engineering Get an overview of freelancers and projects in the plant construction.

The first electric cars are driving on German roads. Over the next few years the number will mount up to approximately one million – according to the Federal Government this will be the case by 2020.

At Volvo, as well as Renault and Tesla Motors, the research and development activities are in full swing. The drive systems are manifold: while Tesla is based on pure electric power, Toyota and Honda develop hybrid cars. The fuel cell is already used in the Hamburg public transport buses of Mercedes Benz. Mercedes wants to prove that this technology is already fully developed with a test drive: in 125 days, 30.000 km will be covered.

All around the project “electric car” new issues are arising: e.g. e-mobility is an important topic for Siemens or RWE. It is less about the vehicle itself, but rather about the information system, charging stations, billing systems, electricity prices etc.

A completely new industrial sector is evolving here – with it new opportunities, projects and a demand for specialists and freelancers.

What opportunities and risks do you view in respective to the electric car – not only ecologically but also economically?

After the collapse of world trade last year, the order books for German companies in the machinery, automobile and consumer goods industries are filled again. Particularly, German exporters with high quality and technically sophisticated products profit from the increasing export economy, such as pipeline tubes or special presses.

The seal “German Engineering” is not only popular in the U.S. and the EU. Also emerging countries such as the BRIC countries have an increasing demand for German engineering products – the decisive factor is the quality.
For German companies, it seems to be time for seeking new markets and business areas.

Now, if the companies expand their international business, does it mean at the same time that the use of freelancers “on site” is also increasing – as well as the international project work? Or is there little “know-how export” in the sense of local engineers being trained and rather german specialists  are being sent abroad for the duration of the project, e.g. to build a power plant? Looking forward to hearing about your experience!

Kolja Ehmling currently works on different startup projects based in his own coworking space. Originally he was studying Economic Engineering and MBA. After his Diploma, he started to work within the Airbus organisation as business Process analyst and system designer for 3 years. He was doing 2 projects there to create Transparency in the configuration management in A380 Electric. Afterwards he worked in Procurement Controlling and Reporting for 2 years at Jungheinrich, where he changed the xls based reporting to databases. He realized that traditional hierarchy organisations do not fit his needs and so he became freelancer. In parallel he started up his own coworking space.

What was the most interesting project you have implemented?
This is my current project. As of beginning of this year, in February, I was standing in the rooms we are currently using for our coworking space. At that moment I knew I had to bring this vague idea of creating a coworking space to reality. Right beside Hamburg Central Station with over 300 square meters. Together with my business partner, Harald Helmchen, we were opening doors within 2,5 months.
Another very interesting project was to create a configuration control tool for Airbus A380 Electric Quality in 2006/7. It required a lot of process analysis and system archeology to get to the core and deriving transparency.

What was the most difficult experience you have had with a customer?
We were having a customer, who was (and still is) a notorious helper, but in the end making things worse.

What was the biggest challenge that you had to face?
Realizing that my ideals of Transparency, Argument based Decisionmaking and Cooperation are not always asked for in bigger organisations.

Are there customers for whom you would not work?
Sure, there are. Bt luckily, I didn’t meet them yet.

Who is the client of your dreams?
Open people, who say what the like and (more important) what they dislike.
Ideally they are working and living by the KISS principle.

I just visited the  Royal Jordan Automobile Museum.

They show a large collection of royal cars and motorcycles. Most of them are luxury cars starting with a Cadillac Type53 from 1916 with wooden wheels.  There are also several modern classics build in a limited edition like the Porsche 959, Mercedes SLR Sterling Moss or the Ferrari Enzo.

As King Hussein was interested in rallycars, you can also take a look on some of the cars he drove himself such as a 1992 Ford Escort Cosworth, with which his majesty dominated the 1996 Rumman Hill Climb.

If you are in Amman, the museum is worth visiting.

The L.A. Autoshow opens today, November 19, 2010 . The Show becomes more important and competes with the Detroit Motor Show starting in January.

European premium brands dominate the show and present new cars such as the Mercedes CLS 63 AMG, Porsche Cayman R or the new designed VW Eos.

The crisis of the American automobile industry seems to be forgotten. The Americans are interested in big SUVs, sports cars and pick ups. The cars can be “green” but they have to be spacious. Lexus calls it “the darker side of green”

Will you visit the show? We would be happy to receive inside views.

On 2 December 2010 automotiveIT, the University of St. Gallen and T-Systems invite to the second cross-industry Automotive Open Space in Stuttgart, Germany.

Who wants to discuss on topics such as development, customization of vehicles or which apps in the car are needed, can easily sign up on Facebook.

Since we can not make it ourselves, we are pleased about guest bloggers who report on the Open Space here on our blog. If you are interested please get in contact with us via e-mail (engineering@projektwerk.com).

In spite of the crisis the branch of renewable energy has asserted itself in Germany.

The number of open positions has risen within one year by 46%.

The job market all around water, wind and sun is in need of engineers.

The requested qualifications concentrate on technical, engineering and scientific skills.

Read more (in german) http://www.vdi-nachrichten.com/vdi-nachrichten/aktuelle_ausgabe/akt_ausg_detail.asp?cat=1&id=50239&source=rubrik