------------------------------------------------------------------------ Photos from Goa's 2009 mando festival: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fn-goa/sets/72157622843319441/ Event on Wed, Thurs evening from 5 pm onwards, Kala Academy, Panaji-Goa
------------------------------------------------------------------------ An engineer's dream ... the Technical University of Berlin The Indo-German Friendship Society Goa (IGSG) under the leadership of Dr. Aurobindo Xavier is organizing the 2nd German Cultural Week in Goa from Dec 9 to 13, 2009 which includes the German Alumni Meeting and Technische University Berlin (TU Berlin) Alumni Meeting. This brief article is about TU Berlin, the internationally renowned education center located in Germany's capital city, in the heart of Europe. By Manuel Caldeira manuelstu...@hotmail.com Originally founded in 1770, in the time of King Friedrich II, the School of Mining was integrated into the Königlich Technische Hochschule zu Berlin (TH) in 1916. Prussian architect and painter Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Christian W. Beuth, the father of engineering, are some prominent representatives of that time. With the emerging 19th century trend to industrialisation, the need for trained engineers was on the increase. There were growing calls for engineers to receive more recognition from society and from the scientific establishment. TU Berlin is the first technical university in the German Reich to be granted such privileges, and engineers finally received the same formal recognition as did classically-trained academicians. The TU Berlin eventually became -- as the Association of German Engineers described it in 1906 -- an intellectual center. It turned into a much envied model and focal point of technical progress not only for Prussia and Germany, but for the wider Western world. A number of Nobel Prize winning scientists studied and taught at the TH Berlin well into the 1930s. These included the chemists Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber, as well as the physicists Gustav Hertz, Eugene Paul Wigner, Wolfgang Paul, George de Hevesy, Dennis Gabor and Ernst Ruska. In 2007 the chemist Gerhard Ertl received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. In November this year, the European Research Counsel (ERC) approved advanced grants of 1.85 million Euros to Berlin Mathematician Prof. Gunter Ziegler and 3.1 million Euros to TU Berlin Researcher Oliver Paschereit. TU Berlin became the first technical university in Germany to present a humanistic element in its scholastic profile. The aim was to breach the gap between technological research and social responsibility. The challenge of gaining an insight into the interaction between society and technology remains an important issue even today. Right from its inception, the TU Berlin was open to embracing reforms and innovations. Fundamental changes within the German university system eventually led to the student movements of the late 1960s. I graduated at TU Berlin in 1960s in Flugtriebwerksbau Aircraft Engine Design/Aeronautical Engineering including Rocket Technology subjects. It was a rare opportunity for to be a student of German scientists of the World War II, like Prof. Hertel for Flugkorperbau Aerodynamics, Prof. Koele for Raumfahrtantribe Rocket Technology and Prof. Rossow for Werkstoftechnick Material Technology It was a dream come true to study at TU Berlin, being part of education institution using latest sate-of-art technological facilities available anywhere in the world, including superb library resource essential for research and development. It was nostalgic for an Indian student to be part of fine German cultural life from both sides of Berlin Wall, something that was unique in Europe. At TU Berlin, research and teaching endeavors are characterized by a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, ranging from engineering science to natural science, planning science and economics, as well as the humanities and social sciences. It is the only university in the entire region to offer engineering sciences and in its role as a leading research university also promotes cooperation between science and industry, as amply demonstrated by the high volume of external funding received. A number of successfully implemented reforms have helped to craft a new image for the TU Berlin, distinguished by its exceptional course offerings and scientific orientation. In addition a comprehensive quality assurance program to monitor course content will serve to ensure the highest possible standards for its Bachelors and Masters programs. TU Berlin continues to be an education model of excellence, quality, continuous improvement and vision for future for a system that interacts between technological research and social responsibility. We engineers have great moral responsibility to use our knowledge for the benefit of society. My own dream is to implement Governance Engineering that presently I'm designing and developing, and help to rebuild Goa like the Germans have done to their country after the World War II. God gave us Goans rich natural resources essential for industrial development, that requires education with excellence and quality. The German model is a lesson to be learned in the drive to rebuild Goa. Engineered governance is one model designed to pioneer a new form of governance of every nation, every estate, every province, every city, and every village for the 21st century. During the last century, applied science and technology shaped mankind by providing tools and facilities. These, on the one side, are creating great benefits for a select group in power, but on the other hand are also destroying at a galloping rate the species and the balance of the planet, including promoting climate change to bring the planet back to the dinosaur's age. We need a model that aims at world peace and prosperity of mankind even while maintaining a sustainable balance of limited resources of our planet, by using engineering knowledge for governance. It is an urgent task, and one which promises to be beneficial to all stakeholders by reviewing the existing practices of governance of every nation, every province, every estate, every city, and every village . You must be the change you want to see in the world, said Mahatma Gandhi. Thank you TU Berlin, you are the birth place of engineering and a symbol of educational excellence, quality, vision and continuous improvement. -- ABOUT THE WRITER: Manuel Caldeira born in Chandor, Goa, gaunkari of Morombi-O-Grande, studied Civil Engineering in Lisbon, graduated in Aeronautical Engineering at TU Berlin is one of the first Canadian Software Quality Assurance Engineers, worked for multinationals including in management in Germany and North America for civil and military projects for Information Technology (IT), telecommunication, aeronautical and marine industry. Photos of Manuel Caldeira recent (lamp-design) work in Goa: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=manuel caldeira&w=17364099%40N00 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgfABCIW4JA Online link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_University_of_Berlin FACTOID: The Technical University of Berlin (Berlin Institute of Technology, TUB, TU Berlin, German: Technische Universität Berlin) is located in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1879 and, with nearly 30,000 students, is one of the largest technical universities in Germany. It also has the highest proportion of foreign students out of universities in Germany, with 20.9% in the summer semester of 2007, roughly 5,598 students. The university alumni and professor list include eight Nobel Prize winners. (Wikipedia) Homepage (in English): http://www.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/parameter/en/ Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha. Submissions of Goa-linked articles are welcome, and can be sent to f...@goa-india.org Suitable articles will be circulated via the Goanet network.