The milestones include the placement of NUST students in credible German civil engineering industries and consulting firms for their Work Integrated Learning training, as well as equipping the Materials Testing Institute (MTI) from which appropriate academic and field research works of students, staff members and external civil engineering industries are carried out.
Furthermore, four candidates are currently pursuing their doctoral studies through this partnership.
During the event, the Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, Honourable Alpheus !Naruseb, highlighted that ultimately every nation aims to be self-reliant, therefore he applauded the Institution’s contribution to the engineering sector.
!Naruseb further encouraged the participation of women in this field. The Deputy Head of Mission of the German Embassy, Ullrich Kinne, emphasised his government’s commitment to improving teaching and learning in Namibia.
The NUST Vice-Chancellor, Dr Tjama Tjivikua said: “These initiatives were fully funded by the Federal Republic of Germany through the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. For example, an estimated sum of N$7 million was spent in establishing the MTI laboratory.“ Tjivikua further expressed his gratitude for this valuable support.
The collaboration dates back to 2006, when a partnership was established between DCEE and the University of Applied Sciences Aachen (FH Aachen) through the signing of a detailed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The MoU provided the framework for amongst others, FH Aachen to support the Department in the provision for professors to lecture in specialised courses of which expertise could not be easily sourced.
The strengthening of the DCEE materials laboratory, development of appropriate curricula, and the creation of an effective and efficient students exchange programme were given high priority.
