engineering

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The lack of engineers in Germany could become an impediment for the economical growth. The “Association of German Engineers” (VDI) is going to publish a topical report concerning the economical situation of Germany related to the engineering branch. The report says the lack of engineers in Germany might become a serious problem.

The problem of skills shortage over years can cause a certain damage for the German economy in the future. According to the VDI, 69.000 engineers are missing to fill vacant positions in Germany. And the problem of skills shortage will significantly intesify the current situation until 2020.

A solution for this problem could be a higher number of engineering alumni. The VDI calls for a consistent policy of education for Germany. Currently, every German state makes its own decisions concerning the education policy.

From 4th to 9th September 2011 the “Worlds Engineers’ Convetion” (WEC 2011) takes place in Geneva. Under the topic “Engineers Power the World – Facing the Global Energy Challenge”, engineers, politics and exponents of research and industries are going to discuss innovative solutions for a endurable handling with energie.

The program includes the seven topics Global Challenges, Education in Engineering, Mobility and Transport, Buildings and Megacities, Powerplants and Networks, Renewable Energy and Storage as well as Rational Enduse and Large Consumers. The WEC 2011 will contribute to make the achievements of engineering more public. An other aim of the convention is to give decision makers an understanding of how important the accomplishments of the engineering branch are. The WEC 2011 is a tribute to the goods and services of the engineering branch, too.

Especially the young generation of engineers should be encouraged to tackle the environmental- and energetically-problems.

On the occasion of the WEC 2011 the „Best Energy Practice Award“ will be conferred. The “World Federation of Engineering Organizations” (WFEO) is planning to advance effective energy-applications and introduce them to the public. An international jury will choose 20 finalists whom’s projects will be presented at the WEC 2011. The first three places are awarded with 30.000$ prize money. Until the 20th of april all projects need to be given in on www.wec2011-award.org. The award ceremony will take place in Geneva.

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.

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.

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

Personnel service Hays (www.hays.de) conducted a survey asking 161 department manager in the engineering industry about their views on the use of external engineers.

The overall image: External engineers have good chances – no matter the size of the company.

Technical expertise, project-related experience and the ability to work in a team are the core capabilities that companies require.

The current situation in Germany is as follows: Every second company in Germany likes to outsource, because the use of external resources helps them to survive hard times and times of high orders. Two-thirds of respondents said that external engineers were a good and cheaper alternative to permanent positions. The companies could resort on special knowledge in limited time again and again without hiring permanently, because the external engineers are only needed for one project. The result is a high-level flexibility, which contributes a lot to a successful work.

However employing freelancers is also holding challenges for the companies:

62 % of the respondents see a challenge in the long learning curve of external engineers. Moreover, according to a third of the respondents the cost-benefit ratio might also argue against freelancers instead of permanent employees. However a work council veto decides only at 5% of the respondents against employment of an external engineer.

In cooperation with external engineers it is important that a willingness to integrate is found on both sides – freelance and permanent members of the team.

It is important that they show a will of integration inculding that the fixed employed team accept the freelancers. About 82% of respondents like defined processes and rules in dealing with external engineers and see them as an important factor for success.

Does this survey fit into your experience in practice? We are looking forward to your feedback.

Today, the Volkswagen group announced their ambition to manufacture and sell annually over two million cars until 2012. This would imply a severe rise of the market share which currently is at around 17 percent of the most populous country in the world.

With four new factories the company will try to achieve their primal target already six years earlier than originally planned. The main reason for this optimistic forecast are numbers of sales of this year’s first four months which brought a sales rise of over 53 percent compared to 2009.

The 1.4 million cars sold last year could easily be exceeded with an average growth of over 20 percent supported by an investment of over six billion Euros.

Source: hindustantimes.com