"On the way to my lectures, I often look like the main representative for aqua gymnastics at Fachhochschule Dortmund," says Prof. Dr. Andrea Schütze. In fact, many people have probably already seen the professor walking across the Sonnenstraße campus to Building F with colorful pool noodles.
The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering is based there and Professor Schütze does not use the pool noodle in the pool, but to explain the forces of mechanics in a vivid way. She could hardly drag a steel beam into the lecture hall. Logical.
These lively insights into teaching practice shaped the "shift change" on December 4, 2025 from the Welcome Prof 360 Grad and Perspective Management project. For the first time, the inaugural lectures of newly appointed professors were combined with a ceremonial farewell to deserving lecturers. Prof. Dr. Tamara Appel emphasized the idea behind this in her welcoming address: "We are shaping the university together. The alumni have left their mark on the UAS over many years, the newly appointed professors will do the same - always with the claim: "We focus on students".
Six newly appointed professors presented their main areas of work at the shift change and provided insights into their academic passions. For example: Prof. Dr. Paul Schneider, who has been teaching business administration with a focus on business informatics since the summer semester 2025. He is dedicated to software-based decision support and reflects with his students not only on the "how", but also on the socio-cultural "how it works". At the UAS, he wants to advance his research into technology perception and specifically address the question of what might prompt parents to delay buying their children their first smartphone.
Three new professors from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering presented themselves with different areas of focus. Prof. Dr. Peter Börsting deals with design and product development and has witnessed the transformation of the industry in his professional career. In the beginning, he drew his ideas on paper, today he develops 3D models. His credo: "I don't just want to impart knowledge, I want to impart skills."
Colleague Prof. Dr. Andrea Schütze wants to awaken her students' enthusiasm for mechanics, just as one of her professors once did. Andrea Schütze actually wanted to study logistics, but then became interested in mechanical engineering through mechanics. Her favorite subject is the service life of components. She spent a long time working on this at a major car manufacturer. "The key question is: when does something break?" she emphasizes. This is why she is currently setting up the laboratory for structural mechanics and simulation at the UAS. Prof. Dr. Henning Kalis also comes to Fachhochschule Dortmund directly from the field. His passion is optics. At ASML, he worked on highly complex machines that use extreme ultraviolet light to print tiny patterns on silicon wafers in order to produce modern microchips.
Prof. Dr. Theresa Kotulla from the Faculty of Architecture has been enriching the university since October with her expertise in construction management, project management, contract awarding and costing. Topics that do not immediately excite every budding architect, but are the foundation of a successful construction project. The youngest of the newly appointed is Prof. Dr. Lara Schlaffke from the Faculty of Information Technology. At the shift change, she was only in her ninth week at the UAS and yet has already acquired a HIFF project (internal university research funding). In it, she wants to shed more light on the connection between the blood sugar curve and brain activity. She is also researching how imaging techniques can be used to detect muscle diseases without operating on patients.
Appreciation and farewell
After the inaugural lectures, the focus was on saying goodbye to five retired professors, who were honored by their colleagues with highly entertaining video greetings. Prof. Dr. Johannes Ecke-Schüth from the Faculty of Computer Science may have started his professional career with punch cards (Opens in a new tab) , but he also took part in a VHS event back in 1987 with the question: "What is artificial intelligence?" Prof. Dr. Klaus Eden from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, who worked at the university for more than 30 years, received a special compliment from his former dean: "You can not only calculate tensions, you can also reduce them". He will remain at the university as a lecturer, as will Prof. Dr. Wilfried Fischer, who has taught in mechanical engineering since 1997 and described his 28 years at Fachhochschule Dortmund as "a very, very nice time".
The tribute by Prof. Dr. Ursula Gröner from the Faculty of Business Studies, who looked back on the achievements for women at the UAS, was particularly moving. When she started in 1989, she was the only female professor in her faculty and, as a mother, still had to justify her part-time employment every semester. Unthinkable today. "We have achieved a lot," she says. And Prof. Dr. Luitgard Franke (Applied Social Sciences) was optimistic about the future: "After the presentations I've heard here today, I have every confidence in the new generation."
