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Why did you choose Germany for Automotive Engineering?

Slightly away from the large metropolises but still right at the heart of Europe’s automotive industry, students at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences can participate directly in the innovation activity in automotive engineering. For Basti Anil Shenoy from India, too, this was one reason why he enrolled on the master’s course in “Automotive Systems” in September 2010 after graduation in Automobile Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University. “The location of the university, close to Stuttgart, makes it easy to establish contact with numerous automotive companies and suppliers in the surrounding area.” The many years of close links between the university and automotive companies in the region, including such global players as Audi, Daimler and Porsche or suppliers such as Behr, Bosch or Eberspächer, ensure that the degree courses have a strong practical relevance. “We are supported in our teaching by lecturers from industry, and advisory boards from industry provide us with advice on developing our degree courses. The students benefit from the resulting practice-oriented topics,” Director of Studies, Professor Erich Schindler, emphasises.

What did you specialize in an offbeat area such as Mechatronics within  Automobile Engineering?

Esslingen University of Applied Sciences offers “Vehicle Dynamics” and “Car Electronics” as major fields of study. Basti Anil Shenoy opted for a third major field – “SoftwareBased Automotive Systems”. “I already had experience in control technology, the construction of electronics architectures and simulations.”

A certain specialisation is necessary, as the automotive sector has become highly complex in both technological and organisational terms, and it is not possible to go into all of the drive components in detail during the three-semester master’s course. “However, in our degree course we teach the required control technology skills and the methods for developing such complex systems, for example in the ‘System Design’, ‘Simulation and Control’ or ‘Powertrain’ modules,” Professor Schindler explains and goes on to say that it is also no longer sufficient for an engineer to master just his or her subsystem or components. “Instead he must be able to define interfaces with other subsystems precisely, to assess possible interactions and to gain a feeling for the function of the overall system of the ‘automobile’,” the specialist for vehicle dynamics, active safety, chassis technology and vehicle control systems .

Can you explain any industry related projects that you are working on?

Basti Anil Shenoy is working in “Advance Engineering” as part of a cooperation with Bosch, and is currently writing his master’s thesis. In order to be able to build the cars of the future, he is dealing with simulations, for example when software for control units has to be tested in a motor vehicle. “At Bosch I have a suitable simulation environment with an entire vehicle at my disposal.” Systems developers have to communicate It is not only technical skills that are required, however. “Today systems developers have to communicate far more,” Professor Schindler continues. Lectures such as “Global Engineering” or “International Negotiations” and interdisciplinary and intercultural projects therefore impart management skills and social competence. Basti Anil Shenoy’s good German language skills helped him to find his way at Bosch: “Even though English is the working language in international teams, I made the experience that German is very important if you want to work in a German firm.”

Plans for the future?

His plans for the future? “First I want to work in Germany for a few more years and gather occupational experience, as Germany is the world leader in automotive engineering. In about five years’ time I’ll go back to India and work there,” the young engineer tells us. In reply to the question about what kind of car he will buy himself one day, he says, quite concisely: “A German car, I think.”