Shanghai-Hamburg College Shanghai-Hamburg College

The cooperation agreement between HAW Hamburg and USST has been in place since 1985. In the beginning, instructors from Shanghai and Hamburg visited the partner institutions. Each year, two students from Hamburg also had the opportunity to work at a company in Shanghai during their internship. In 1997, HAW Hamburg's Chinese colleagues expressed their wish to develop joint four-year degree courses in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. One part of the curriculum was to be covered in German by instructors from Hamburg. The instigator of the project was the vice dean for electrical engineering, who had come to know and appreciate practice-oriented education through numerous stays at our university in Hamburg. Our Chinese partners recognised the following elements as particular benefits of this type of degree course:

• Increased practical orientation of degree courses at a Chinese university
• Intensified contacts with industry and business
• Enhanced student creativity
• Improved linkages between lab experiments and theoretical lectures

In May 1998, a delegation from Hamburg travelled to Shanghai. There the two parties agreed on a curriculum that formed the foundation for the current degree courses:

• Four-year degree course in Electrical Engineering (Automation Technology) with TestDaF (B.Eng), Mechanical Engineering (Manufacturing Technology) with TestDaF (B.Eng.) and Foreign Trade / International Management with TestDaF (B.Sc.)
• One year of German language training
• Testing of German skills through the Goethe Institute (Zertifikat Deutsch) after one year
• Completion of TestDaF exam prior to internship phase
• Three-year subject-area degree course including 18-week internship in industry
• Thirty-five per cent of degree course taught in German

In September 1998, the joint degree courses were launched in Shanghai, with 90 students initially admitted to the Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering courses. It became clear that the students were very motivated, and after one year the first instructors travelled to Shanghai to teach there. Since 1999, two professors from Hamburg have taught 10 hours per week for eight weeks in each degree course. The German training is carried out by native-speaker instructors together with the Chinese teaching staff.

In the years 2002 to 2006, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supported the project with the proviso that accreditable joint Bachelor's degree courses based on the degree courses launched in 1998 be established. At the same time, the Foreign Trade / International Management degree course with TestDaF began. In 2001, the project was awarded the city of Shanghai's Magnolia Award, the top prize for 'foreign experts'. In Hamburg, too, the project was recognised by politicians and anchored in the memorandum between the partner cities Hamburg and Shanghai.

In 2004, both of the engineering degree courses were accredited by ASIIN. The curricula from 1998 had been revised for this purpose. In 2010 this accreditation was renewed, and the Foreign Trade /International Management course was accredited for the first time.

Graduates of the degree courses have since received a Bachelor of Engineering or, in the Foreign Trade course, a Bachelor of Science. Quality control is carried out by a joint commission consisting of an equal number of members from each institution, including the subject-area coordinators of the three degree courses, and led by a vice president from the USST. The deputy chair is the HAW Hamburg project head.

In 2009, the Shanghai-Hamburg College (SHC) was founded as an independent unit at USST. Since then, 300 students have received their Bachelor's degree there. The SHC currently has approximately 300 students. The degree qualification enables graduates to work in companies that either have a strong connection to Germany or operate worldwide.

The nature of these degree courses requires a global approach that transcends cultural borders. The courses are characterised by the language element (TestDaF and Goethe Zertifikat B2) and the significant share of practice-oriented training (German university degree with a strong laboratory element – for the engineers – and an internship semester). The business degree course includes a canon of subjects specifically oriented towards practical application and the professional fields. The engineering degree courses are the first accredited degree courses offered by a German university in China that take place completely in China.

At a celebratory commemoration to mark the 20-year anniversary of the Electrical Engineering (Automation Technology) and Mechanical Engineering (Manufacturing Technology) degree courses at Shanghai-Hamburg College (SHC), HAW Hamburg and USST paid tribute to their successful joint engineer training and ventured a look into the future.

The day-long event on 22 October 2018 was marked by congratulatory wishes from all of the institutions involved in the SHC. Alongside representatives from the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the German consulate in Shanghai, the Hamburg Liaison Office in Shanghai, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Goethe Institute, the USST vice president for international affairs and the HAW Hamburg vice president for digitalisation, Prof. Dr. Olga Burkova, also offered their congratulations.

In her welcoming speech, Prof. Dr. Burkova expressed her thanks on behalf of the HAW Hamburg Executive Board to all the instructors and staff who have made the SHC what it is today: a prime example of international university cooperation and a wonderful educational and cultural bridge between Hamburg and Shanghai. Prof. Dr. Burkova emphasised the cultural openness and collegiality of our Chinese partners as a central pillar of what is now a very strong partnership. 'As a member of our university's Executive Board, I am very impressed and owe you all my greatest respect. To start a project full of euphoria and ambition is one thing, but to do it with such a high level of quality and to then increase this quality and maintain it over all the years is an enormous achievement,' the vice president said.

The degree courses at Shanghai-Hamburg College were successfully reaccredited in 2018. Six representatives of the ASIIN accreditation agency reviewed the three degree courses in April of that year and were enthusiastic about the successful, long-term cooperation between HAW Hamburg and USST. For the two engineering courses, this was the second reaccreditation process. The Foreign Trade / International Management Bachelor's degree course was reaccredited for the first time.

For the on-site assessment, HAW Hamburg president Prof. Dr. Micha Teuscher, a six-person German project team, and a representative of HAW Hamburg's quality management team travelled to Shanghai. The HAW Hamburg professors in Shanghai to teach also supported the reaccreditation assessment process. In the closing discussion, the assessment team emphasised the outstanding quality of the self-evaluation report, the well-functioning Career Center and the excellent quality of teaching at Shanghai-Hamburg College. In September 2018, the ASIIN accreditation council decided in favour of reaccreditation.