Offshore Wind Energy MBA offers introductory course for Japanese students

The expansion of offshore wind energy is a building block for achieving global climate targets. Countries that still have little experience and knowledge of renewable energies can benefit from an international exchange with experts. The Offshore Wind Energy MBA at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences recently offered an introductory course for Japanese students for the first time under the title "Introduction to Offshore Wind Energy for Japanese undergraduate and graduate students". The content will soon be made available online to interested students in Japan. "We are delighted with the great interest shown by our partners in Japan and are optimistic about the next steps in this successful cooperation," say Prof Dr Holger Lange and Prof Dr Dominic Kudlacek from Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences.

In contrast to the usual topics of the Offshore Wind Energy MBA, which is designed to qualify managers, this time the programme focused on the basics. University lecturers Dipl.-Ing. Uta Kühne and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Fichter as well as Dr. Wolfgang Lukas, who continues to support the programme as a former professor at the university, provided the participating students with technical basics, information on the generation and distribution of renewable energy as well as topics relating to the energy transition and political backgrounds. In addition, the current and future new modules of the MBA programme were presented by the lecturers. Mr Toshikazu Mito, coordinator for cooperation between industry and universities at the Kitakyushu Foundation for Advancement of Industry, Science and Technology, played a key coordinating role: "The four-day session went very well. We thank the university for their great contribution."

Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences has been working with Kitakyushu University since 2017. Since then, several joint conferences and online events have been held. Most recently, Japanese scientists were guests in Bremerhaven at the Japanese-German Symposium on Renewable Energies in November 2023. Students from Kitakyushu are also enrolled at the "Hochschule am Meer". In February 2022, a team from the Offshore Wind Energy MBA offered an online seminar that was attended by more than twenty academics from eleven Japanese universities. This resulted in a cooperation between five Japanese universities and five Japanese energy companies with the aim of developing the qualification concepts required for the development of offshore wind energy in Japan. This also includes the introductory course for students. According to Prof Dr Yoshiaki Ushifusa from the University of Kitakyushu, this was a "good experience for us and the students". Prof Dr Koichi Inoue from the University of Kitakyushu said: "The participating students found the course extremely useful for their future learning at university and their future career choices. I would like to thank all the Europeans who participated in this project. We hope to continue this valuable relationship."

The Offshore Wind Energy MBA is a continuing education MBA programme run jointly by Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences and the Business Academy Southwest. It has been offered since WS 2021/22.