Practical and Efficient Education of Students (University of Osnabrück, Germany) Background Numerous companies renowned and specialized in agricultural engineering are headquartered in Osnabrück Land, as agriculture represents an important economic factor for the region. Correspondingly, there is a high demand for qualified junior staff. At the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, – the largest and most performant university of applied sciences in Lower Saxony, – the education of junior staff in agricultural engineering represents an essential element of the program offered. Providing practical experiences for students Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences has been using Automation StudioTM for almost 10 years in its labs for agricultural engineering and mobile work machines. The software is used mainly to support lectures and labs offered to engineering students. Currently, the university has 23 Network licenses, which allow students to use Automation StudioTM on their own and 24/7 from any given computer room. It is also possible for a student to borrow an individual license to work from home on a given project. In order for students to gain more practical experience, Professor Bernd Johanning lets them simulate smaller projects using Automation StudioTM in groups of 5 people. “Automation StudioTM is great to explain basic hydraulic concepts”, says Professor Johanning. “With this tool, I am able to build hydraulic drive trains very quickly and integrate the created simulation into my lectures. This lets me explain functionalities and hydraulic operating variables to students in a very vivid way, which helps ease the lecture.” Supporting Project Work Professor Johanning’s research assistant, Maximilian Kleingräber, offers to his students the opportunity to use Automation StudioTM for their project work included in the curriculum of the 4th and 5th semester. “The students have to accomplish their projects in one semester and they are using the tool independently during that time, working directly from the university or from home”, explains Maximilian Kleingräber. One example of such a project is the conceptual design of a hydraulic brake van for lab usage. A 5th semester student of mechanical engineering who is currently part of the project group describes his experience with Automation StudioTM: “I was happy when offered to use Automation StudioTM for my project. I first sized the pumps and motors of the system and then recreated the schematics using the software. When I compared the values obtained in simulation, using the measuring instruments integrated in Automation StudioTM, with my hand calculated values, I found that they were almost identical. Generally, everything fitted quite well. In our next semester, we will be building the braking system based on our design.” Maximum Usage “By using Automation StudioTM we, as lecturers, save a lot of time and are able to offer higher-quality and entertaining classes to our students. By working with the software, students have more opportunities to exercise their understanding for hydraulics and system design”, says Maximilian Kleingräber. “During the next summer semester, we are looking to integrate Automation StudioTM to our drives’ lab. Our goal is to have all students use the software during their bachelor engineering studies, to help reinforce their practical training. The students will be required to measure real values from the hydraulic systems present in the laboratory, calculate these values by hand and simulate the system in Automation StudioTM. Furthermore, we will try to integrate the Kinematic part of Automation StudioTM in the practical training.” Synergies with the Regional Agricultural Engineering Industry “By using a design and simulation software at our university, which is also being used by well-known agricultural and construction engineering companies in the area, we are preparing our students in the best of ways for a position in these companies”, adds Maximilian Kleingräber. Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Johanning / Maximilian Kleingräber M.Sc. Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering and Mobile Machinery University of Osnabrück, Germany www.hs-osnabrueck.de