The Chair for Building Physics at the University of Stuttgart ranks among the prizewinners of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas“. In the competition “Excellent Places 2015: city, country, network! Innovations for a digital world”, a “Virtual Laboratory Building Physics“, developed by the team reporting to head of department Professor Schew-Ram Mehra, was distinguished; this idea offers a new flexible form of learning and achieves an added value associated with this in terms of education and profession. The “Virtual Laboratory Building Physics” enables building physics measurements to be performed irrespective of real measurement chambers. Up to now these were only limited for students in terms of time and place and possible in small groups with an enormous effort as far as personnel and technology are concerned. The laboratory concept, the unlimited repeatability and independence of location for the measurements lead to a better understanding of building physics processes for students and trainees in building professions.
After the jury had reached its decision, Professor Schew-Ram Mehra was pleased that the Chair for Building Physics has now already become the prizewinner for the third time in a competition by “ Germany – Land of Ideas” after having won in the year 2008 for establishing the Master online study course Building Physics and in 2009 for inventing inflatable sound barriers. Mehra underlined the role model effect of the project for other didactical scenarios and said: “I hope that the successful implementation and application of the Virtual Laboratory Building Physics by the team Online Teaching in our department will inspire fellow campaigners from other faculties to likewise design and realise virtual laboratories. The virtualisation of real laboratories for teaching and learning purposes will make a lasting contribution to learning culture and consequently to the future sustainability of Germany.“
The award ceremony takes place on 20 th June 2015, on the day of Science at the University of Stuttgart, in which over 120 institutes and facilities from the university present themselves to the public annually. The realisation of the Virtual Laboratory Building Physics was funded from resources provided by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and from the European Social Fund of the European Union.
Further information:
Prof. Dr.-Ing.Schew-Ram Mehra, Head of the Chair for Building Physics, University of Stuttgart, Tel. 0711/685-60412, Email: mehra [at] lbp.uni-stuttgart.de
Dr. Hans-Herwig Geyer, Head of University Communication and Press Spokesperson, University of Stuttgart, Tel.: 0711/685-82555, Email: hans-herwig.geyer[at] hkom.uni-stuttgart.de
