Nothing is too severe for the engineer

The old saying "Nothing is too severe for the engineer" (I think this was often uttered by Gyro Gearloose from Micky Mouse) is still a type of road map for student training at INP. In addition to the theoretical fundamentals mainly taught at the university, the goal of a successful engineering training should be to learn how to solve technical problems of all kinds. The important part here is not to find the solution itself, but to eliminate the problem in some sensible way. Whether this is thought through, read ("googled"), copied, or discussed is not relevant. It will always be a mixture of everything.

Since the universities provide almost only theoretical foundations, internships in companies under the most realistic working conditions are a suitable method to prepare an engineer for his future profession. Each college and university has different rules for the practical application. At the forefront of theory and unbeatable in practice: This is the motto of the dual university. This type of university, which exists only in Baden-Württemberg, divides the 3-year course into approximately equal parts of theoretical and practical phases. Due to these practical phases, the students cannot simply enroll at the university; first, they need to establish a contract with an accredited company.

After the conclusion of such a contract, the business then registers the students at the dual university. This type of study is also preferred by INP: Each year, one to three such openings are awarded, mostly for the field of electrical engineering, but also in the business sector or in business engineering. On the other hand, studying at an "old-school" university only provides one practical semester during the entire study period. This so-called 100-day internship is also available at INP; in the course of one year, we support one to two such internships. And before each graduation, a bachelor's thesis or, in the case of further study courses, a master's thesis, is still required.

For the students of the dual university, the last practical phase is equivalent to the writing of the Bachelor's thesis, so it always takes place in the company setting. Students from other colleges or universities can choose whether they want to complete their thesis at the university or in a company.Very often, students who have completed a 100-day internship with us, then also write their Bachelor's thesis with us.

Not to be ignored is the opportunity to work as a trainee at INP for college or university students who want to experience more than the prescribed practical performance (and still want to get some financial support). This includes lecture times at the business one day a week, and daily during semester breaks. That's not quite as bad as it sounds: Of course, there are also a few vacation days in it.

We don't train our students only for the sake of education or for cheap labor. Our goal is always to eventually employ them as motivated engineers, who are now well integrated into the peer group, and who are familiar with the work at INP.