THWS Vice President visited GJU in April to expand the academic offer of the Hosted Programmes

At the end of April, Prof. Dr. Achim Förster, Vice President for International Affairs at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt, visited the German Jordanian University (GJU), a strategic partner. He was accompanied by Dr. Monica Heitz, director of the transnational Campus GATE project.

The primary goal of the visit was to explore the new ‘Advanced Materials Engineering’ degree programme in greater detail, which is set to launch in October 2025. GJU will host the THWS major, making it the second hosted programme to be inaugurated under this collaboration, following the successful implementation of the ‘Hydrogen Engineering’ programme in 2023.

On the 29th of April, the official agreement for the new major was signed by GJU President Prof. Ala’aldeen Al-Halhouli and THWS Vice President Prof. Dr. Achim Förster. Meetings were also held with the School of Applied Technical Sciences at GJU, where the new hosted programme will be based, to finalise the remaining details ahead of the October launch. A significant topic of discussion was the ‘Advanced Materials Hub’ meeting, which is scheduled to take place between the 16th and 18th of June at THWS. This event will welcome representatives from both Jordanian and German industries related to the field, as well as academic representatives from GJU. Furthermore, the THWS delegation was delighted to meet Mr. Tobias Schwiertz from the company Hadi Plast, one of the closest industry partners and a key supporter of the new Advanced Materials major, who will also be joining the hub in June.

Another essential part of the THWS delegation’s three-day visit included meetings with international high schools in Amman, namely the Amman Baptist School and College de La Salle Frère. Memorandums of Understanding were signed with both institutions, marking the beginning of new and strengthened collaborations, a process initiated in April 2024.

A particular highlight of the delegation’s visit to GJU was a meeting between the THWS Vice President and the students of the GJU ‘Hydrogen Student Club’. Officially established at the beginning of this year by students from the first and second cohorts of the Hydrogen Engineering programme, the club members enthusiastically shared their progress and future plans. In return, the THWS delegation announced an upcoming mobility opportunity to Germany for some of the club’s students in June. This exchange will allow them to collaborate closely on their projects with THWS students, visit industry partners and practise their German language skills.

The visit concluded with a dinner invitation from Mr. Hanna Zaghloul, CEO of Kawar Energy, who had previously travelled to Schweinfurt for the first annual meeting of the German-Jordanian Hydrogen Hub in early April.

Having made noticeable progress in the Hosted Programmes, strengthened industrial relationships in the fields of both THWS majors at GJU, as well as established promising new collaborations with schools in Amman, the THWS representatives returned to Germany after another brief but successful visit to Jordan.