Professor Schulze, could you please provide us with more insight into your background and your role within FAU and IISB? 

I am a studied physicist and completed my habilitation in microelectronics and semiconductor physics. 

Currently, I am the head of the Institute of Electron Devices at FAU and Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB in Erlangen. The IISB is one of the leading European research institutions for wide-bandgap semiconductors and power electronic systems. The institute covers the entire value chain for next-generation power electronics: from material to chip and from module to system. 

You founded the ‘µe-bauhaus erlangen-nürnberg’ which aims to adapt the Bauhaus concept to engineering education. What makes this concept unique compared to standard engineering education? And why do you believe that future engineers need this different set of skills and mindset? 

Everyone knows the famous German Bauhaus in Weimar-Dessau-Berlin. Essential parts of their teaching concept—at their time for teaching future architects and designers—are the combination of theoretical and academic study with practical training, as well as the self-understanding that “teachers” and “learners” work together and jointly plan and realize extensive ideas and designs. I studied this concept and thought it would fit the field of Microelectronics perfectly. The theoretical study of natural sciences, electrical engineering, and information technology should run in parallel with practical training along the whole process chain, starting with the design of devices, their development, their production, right through to their validation, trial, and testing.  

Especially in the production of semiconductors using new materials, the clear distinction between engineers who design and the production workers who manufacture can lead to challenges. This is because we are still exploring the best methods, and unforeseen issues can arise during the production process 

That is why engineers need to have a better understanding of the actual production process, as well as production workers needing to understand the science behind it—so both can work together more effectively and come up with creative and collaborative approaches that we need for the future. 

And this is what ‘µe-bauhaus erlangen-nürnberg’ is trying to accomplish. 

You founded an EELISA community to spread the concept of ‘µe-bauhaus erlangen-nürnberg’ throughout Europe. Could you share your experiences within this community? 

When I first started with ‘µe-bauhaus erlangen-nürnberg’, I felt like an alien because nobody had ever heard of how the typical Bauhaus concept could be applied to other topics like Microelectronics. Within the EELISA network, I found like-minded colleagues from PSL (Université Paris Sciences et Lettres) who are applying the Bauhaus concept to modern management. We met several times, organized events, and participated together in conferences. EELISA opened that network for me, and since then the movement has been growing, also worldwide. 

Lastly, could you share what you find to be the most compelling aspect of EELISA for researchers? 

For me as a researcher, EELISA offers a special platform to not only exchange ideas about our research itself, but more importantly, to also exchange innovative teaching methods. I found colleagues within the EELISA community who have similar visions of innovative teaching—preparing the next generation for the future.