Lively Alumni Network
RWTH Alumni Association Founded in Shanghai
With around 50 alumni, the founding ceremony of the Shanghai RWTH Aachen Alumni Association, which is now also a member of the Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars Association (SORSA), took place on April 1, 2023 at the Home of Overseas Returned Scholars in Shanghai. After the foundation of the first RWTH Alumni Association in Beijing in 2008, there is now a second RWTH alumni organization in China. The ceremony was attended by the director of the membership department of SORSA, Chen Yanqiang, the renowned researcher Liu Yanlin, the president of the German branch of SORSA Li Zhenyu and Zhou Weidong, president of the Hamburg alumni association of SORSA.
The First Board
Chen Yanqiang, Director of the Membership Department of SORSA, then read out the “Official Approval of the Establishment of the RWTH Aachen Alumni Association under SORSA” and the list of members of the first Board of Directors. Dr. Tao Xuening will serve as the founding president for the first term. He will be assisted by Chen Min and Tao Xiangqing as vice presidents, Liu Guozhen as secretary general, and Zhang Xi, Li Fan, Zhang Jiaosuo, Jiang Wei and Xu Xiaoqi as advisory board members. At the end of his speech Chen Yanqiang handed over the foundation certificate to the responsible persons of the RWTH Aachen Alumni Association Shanghai.
Congratulations and Good Wishes
In a video speech, Wu Zhiqiang, Executive Vice President of SORSA and senior academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, first congratulated them on the establishment of the new alumni association and expressed his expectation that the association would help to intensify alumni activities. In other congratulatory speeches, Li Zhenyu and Zhou Weidong expressed their hopes for the positive development of the new alumni association.
Professor Bernd Markert, Rectorate Representative for RWTH Aachen University Alumni, Dietrich Hunold, Coordinator of the Central Alumni Network, Professor Guo Yubao, Professor of Mathematics at RWTH Aachen University and Academic Director of the RWTH Aachen University Liaison Office, Du Shengyong, Vice President of the German-Austrian branch of SORSA and Secretary General of the RWTH Aachen Chinese Alumni Association in Beijing, were present via video. Professor Markert congratulated on behalf of RWTH and encouraged the alumni association to cooperate with many activities that will strengthen the alumni's contact with their alma mater.
Thanks from the Board of Directors, Technical Presentations and Discussions
Tao Xuening, the first president of the RWTH Aachen Alumni Association Shanghai, thanked all congratulators and alumni for their trust on behalf of the board. He said that the alumni association will work hard to push forward the goals that have been jointly agreed upon.
After two technical presentations, there was finally a lively alumni discussion on the topic of “freedom of expression”. The event ended with a joint group photo.
– Author: RWTH Aachen Alumni-Verein Shanghai
Atlanta – ‘City in a Forest’. North America Alumni Gathering, September 28 to October 1, Atlanta, Georgia
During the pandemic period of the last few years, North American alums were able to use online meetings to maintain their connections with each other and to stay in touch with their alma mater in Aachen. Now many of them are looking forward to their next opportunity for a face-to-face meeting, which is scheduled for September 28 to October 1 in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta is the U.S. state of Georgia’s capital and the economic center of the southeastern U.S., but it has even more to offer than that. So a trip there is always fun and interesting – a fact that will be well reflected in the alumni meetup’s agenda.
Back in 2008, North American RWTH alumni had met in the former Olympic city once before at a gathering organized by alumnus Dr. Gerd Schroth. He is again part of the organizing team this year and can highly recommend a visit to Atlanta: “Atlanta is the ‘City in a Forest,’ the home of 16 Fortune 500 Companies, the ‘City Too Busy to Hate,’ and it is Martin Luther King's hometown. What’s more, it boasts the largest airport in the world, with an annual passenger volume of 97 million and five daily nonstop flights to Germany. That is certainly one of the reasons why more than 500 German companies have settled in Atlanta and Georgia. Both Mercedes and Porsche have their North American headquarters in Atlanta.”
On the morning of Friday, September 29, the group will visit the Georgia Institute of Technology, with which RWTH has maintained a university-wide partnership in the form of a student exchange program since 2010. In the afternoon, a tour of the test center of TK Elevator Corporation, formerly thyssenkrupp, is on the agenda.
The agenda (subject to change):
- Thursday, September 28: Arrival and dinner together
- Friday, September 29: Visit to RWTH partner university Georgia Tech, company tour of TK Elevator Corporation (Supervisor Test Tower) and tour of the Atlanta Airport
- Saturday, September 30: City tour/sightseeing tour by minibus, tbd e.g. City Overview, Buckhead residential district, Olympic/Centennial Park, possibly Coca Cola Museum and downtown walking tour; final dinner together at the Halle-Stiftung
- Sonntag, October 1: Breakfast together and departure
Current information is published on our RWTH Alumni webpages as well as in the LinkedIn group “RWTH Alumni America”.
As soon as all the details surrounding the meetup are finalized, we will contact and invite all alums living in North America via our alumni network. Don't want to miss the email? Then please check that you are listed in our Alumni Portal and have entered your address correctly. We will provide you with information on offers in your region based on this information.
Click here to go to the Alumni Portal: alumni-portal.rwth-aachen.de/alumni (de) or alumni-portal.rwth-aachen.de/alumnien (en)
– Author: Dietrich Hunold
A Flying Visit to Seoul
Her research commitments led Professor Ute Habel to travel to Seoul, South Korea, at the end of March. As vice-rector for international affairs, she also used this visit to maintain and establish further university contacts. She was accompanied by the Head of the RWTH International Office, Dr. Henriette Finsterbusch, Professor Manfred Martin, and Professor Thomas Gries. Executive Vice President for Research Affairs at Seoul National University (SNU) Jae Young Kim welcomed the group to discuss new activities related to their scientific partnerships.
The RWTH delegation also accepted a kind invitation from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). In addition, the guests from Aachen were able to strengthen diplomatic ties with Dr. Josef Kim, alumnus and RWTH Representative for Korea, at a lunch at the German Embassy. Finally, a dinner with board members of the Korean Alumni Association nicely rounded off the RWTH delegation’s visit.
– Author: Dietrich Hunold
RWTH Alums Visit Transport for London (TfL)
Following an extended break due to the pandemic, international alumni meetings can finally take place again! On March 24, RWTH alums in London had the opportunity to join Professor Bernd Markert, RWTH's Rector's Delegate for Alumni, at Transport for London (TfL). After an informative talk with experts there, the alums were given insights into the multimodal traffic data centers for road and subway traffic. Initial ideas for potential future collaborations between RWTH and TfL were also sparked at the event.
The social aspect was important too, of course: The previous evening, some London-based RWTH alums met at “Ye Olde Cock Tavern” where they talked about possible future alumni activities. For example, the London-based alums would like to promote the option of studying at RWTH at German Saturday schools and other German-speaking groups in the future and provide information about the prerequisites for pursuing studies there.
Our thanks go to RWTH alumna Rana Ilgaz for kindly organizing the two events!
– Author: Dietrich Hunold
Alumni Meeting in São Paulo
Networking is, after all, one of the fundamental reasons for alumni activities in the first place. We aim to build and further develop the connections of the University and its alumni for the benefit of all. For example, Dr. Marat Shardimgaliev, coordinator for international strategic networking at RWTH's International Office, took advantage of a trip to São Paulo where he attended a meeting of the local German Centre for Research and Innovation (DWIH) to meet a group of Brazilian RWTH alums. Thanks to the support of alumna Professor Dr. Anna Luiza M. Ayres da Silva, the alums could network over dinner, talking about their time studying at RWTH and their experiences in Germany. Some of the alums present had completed a double master's degree in electrical engineering at RWTH just five or six years ago. So the memories were still fresh in their minds. The Brazilian alums were pleased to welcome a representative of RWTH in São Paulo. They were naturally interested in news from their German alma mater.
– Author: Dietrich Hunold
Alumni Gathering in Vienna
At the suggestion of alumnus Christian Benten, the first Vienna RWTH Alumni Gathering had already taken place back in 2019. Then came COVID ... Finally, this spring, the Viennese RWTH alumni could meet again for the first time after the pandemic, picking the traditional restaurant “Der Bettelstudent” for their meetup. They decided on the date to be able to include two members of the RWTH Alumni team – Siba Fitzau and Dietrich Hunold – who were in town for this year's annual conference of “alumni-clubs.net,” the association of alumni organizations in German-speaking countries. The participants certainly had a lot to talk about after the long break and were happy to exchange the latest news or reminisce about their time at RWTH, all while enjoying tasty Austrian fare. It was also a great chance to get to know each other better and spend some time networking. The meeting was a great success, and it was determined that regular events shall now be held in the Austrian capital.
Do you live in Vienna or the surrounding area and have an idea for a joint activity with RWTH alums? Feel free to write to us at alumni@rwth-aachen.de.
– Authors: Dietrich Hunold, Siba Fitzau