Bachelor Hydrogen Technology Transnational (BWTT)

Hydrogen - a fuel of the future ➝ Hydrogen engineer, a profession with a future

A successful energy transition requires the combination of environmental compatibility, supply security and affordability with innovative and intelligent climate protection. Therefore, alternatives to the currently used fossil fuels are urgently needed. In the context of the necessary cross-sector decarbonisation, hydrogen plays a central role in achieving the completion of the energy transition.
Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier. For example, it can be used as a basis for synthetic fuels or to generate electric energy directly through fuel cells. Furthermore, hydrogen represents an ideal storage medium for regeneratively generated electric energy from photovoltaic or wind turbines, as it enables flexible and long-term storage of energy. Hydrogen technology is a key technology and a pioneer towards a carbon-neutral era.
Due to the special physical and chemical properties of hydrogen, increased elaborateness in the development and, above all, the operational monitoring of facilities for hydrogen production, transport, storage, and utilization is essential. Therefore, highly skilled professionals are urgently needed who can meet the technical challenges of hydrogen in plant development and operation, thereby contributing to the increase in competitiveness in international energy markets. Hydrogen is also an important topic in education.
The Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) from Germany will offer a transnational bachelor's degree programme in Hydrogen Technology at the German Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman, Jordan, in order to educate engineers in Jordan and Germany for the design, construction, and operation of hydrogen facilities. First students will take courses at the GJU in a pre-year and then enroll at the THWS. They will graduate with a German university degree, which facilitates their permanent residence in Germany for an initial period of 1.5 years and their entry into a career as engineers in a company. The programme will start in autumn 2023.
In the pre-year the students will gain basic engineering knowledge by taking courses from GJU's Energy Engineering programme. After that, the students will enroll in the Hydrogen Technology Transnational programme at THWS, where they will be mostly supervised by professors from THWS. However, they will study the first four semesters at the GJU campus in Amman. Afterwards, the students will continue their studies at THWS in Schweinfurt, Germany, until graduation. Schweinfurt is an industrial city in northern Bavaria, with many contacts to leading industrial companies.
In addition to the technical courses, the students will learn German in parallel, up to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In order to assess the progress in German, the course contents of the first and second semesters will be taught entirely in English, while the course contents of the third and fourth semesters will be partly taught in German. In Schweinfurt, the students will attend the regular technical courses of the bachelor programme Hydrogen Technology, which are held in German.

Detailed and easier accessible info about the modules shown in the graphic above can be found at the page "Course of study".

Legend

The bachelor programme is scheduled for 7 semesters, including an internship semester. In the pre-year and the first two semesters, mainly fundamental subjects are taught, creating the prerequisites for successfully completing the advanced course content and the application project. This includes laboratory courses and student projects as a part of individual modules.
In the 6th semester, students complete the practical module as an internship in a company. This allows them to gain experience in professional practice and to build their first professional network.
In the 7th semester, students have the opportunity to write their bachelor's thesis either after the practical module or after the application project in collaboration with a company. This allows students to build on the activities in the practical semester or application project and gain a deeper insight into current research and development topics in the industry.
Graduates have a wide range of opportunities for further progression. These include opportunities in the field of energy technology, mechanical engineering, plant and process equipment construction, process engineering, energy economics, and sustainable resource management. With the close integration of general engineering competencies and competencies in the field of carbon-free energy carriers, graduates of the Transnational Hydrogen Technology programme are well prepared for the challenges of the energy transition. The programme provides a sustainable and future-proof foundation for further academic development.

Engineers in hydrogen technology make the most significant contribution to the necessary transformation of industry, transportation, and households towards carbon-free energy use, actively implementing the demands of the World Climate Council.
The DVGW e.V. (German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water), as the regulatory competence network for all questions related to gas and water supply, welcomes the practical-oriented bachelor's degree programme in Hydrogen Technology at the THWS and offers its technical support. The DVGW e.V. is increasingly dedicated to the technical issues arising from the growing use of hydrogen, for example in gas infrastructure. Further information on hydrogen research projects, publications, and events by the DVGW e.V. can be found on the DVGW website.

The Bachelor's degree programme in Hydrogen Technology - versatile and focused on the energy transition

The Bachelor's degree programme in Hydrogen Technology trains engineers who can systematically design, construct, and operate hydrogen plants and systems along the hydrogen value chain, independent of sectors, based on well-known technical processes. The focus is on academic content tailored to the topic of hydrogen and its associated process chain.
In addition to the technical content, the Hydrogen Technology programme also promotes the students' methodological and personal skills. The independent solution of application-oriented tasks in accompanying applied laboratory courses and student projects plays a significant role in the studies.

Professional competences

The study of hydrogen technology provides students with specialist competences from process engineering, thermodynamics, physics, chemistry and electro-chemistry in the overarching areas:

• Plant design and construction
• Plant operation
• Fuel cell technology
• Use of renewable energies for hydrogen production
• Hydrogen safety
• Hydrogen storage
• Hydrogen transport and distribution
• Hydrogen utilization
• Hydrogen economy

Professional applications

The potential uses of hydrogen as an energy carrier are extremely diverse and by no means limited to its use as a supplement to batteries in electric vehicles or as an alternative to fossil fuels. With the energy transition, the use of renewable energies is being pushed in all sectors. Therefore, graduates of the Bachelor Hydrogen Technology Transnational (BWTT) degree programme have a wide range of possible professional fields of application:

Production of plants and plant components

• Mechanical engineering
• Process equipment construction
• Electrochemical equipment
• Vehicle construction and technology

Plant operators

• Energy industry
• Chemical industry
• Pharmacy
• Food industry
• Industrial plants

Plant design and construction

• Engineering offices
• Energy industry
• Chemical industry
• Pharmacy
• Food industry
• Vehicle construction

Industrial product development

• Transport
• Energy technology
• Thermal engineering
• Infrastructure components