On October 16th, 2015, the postgraduate MSc-Program Engineering Management celebrated its 20th “birthday” in Boecklsaal, TU Wien. Prof. Peter Kopacek (Academic Director) opened the ceremony and coridally welcomed the EM “family” consisting of participants, alumni and lecturers.

Then Janell Townsend, PhD (Oakland University) and Prof. Bob Martens, (Dean for Continuing Education, TU Wien) gave the guests a glimpse into the history of the EM program. In the festive speech Janell Townsend, PhD, stressed out the differences of similar programs in the US and Europe by highlightening the differences in objectives, content and conducting a postgraduate program.

In addition to the booklet, which was distributed to the participants during the event, Prof. Peter Kopacek provided the guests with some „insider“-information about the history of this MSc-Program, emphasizing the goals in the past and in the future facing a continuous „re-engineering“ of „quality over quantity“.

Both a retrospective to the past and a look at the future gave Dr. Anneliese Rohrer („Die Presse“) from the perspective of a journalist, Janell Townsend, PhD (lecturer, Oakland University) from the perspective of an academic lecturer, as well as Dr.-Ing. Thomas Duda (lecturer, Alstom Thermal Power) from the perspective of lecturers coming from industry and two graduates, Dipl.-Ing. Michaela Ragossnig-Angst, MSc(OU) (Self-employed, graduate) and Dr. Thomas Hrabal, MMSC PhD (independent architect).

The best present graduates of the Program were honoured:

  • Dr. Martin Zauner MSc (OU)
  • Dipl.Ing. Reinhold Bacher MSc (OU)
  • Dr.techn. Michael D. Fischer, MSc

as well as the best present lecturers of the programs 1995 – 2014:

  • Dr.rer.nat. Andreas Gottwald
  • Mag. Dr. Emil Hierhold
  • Dr. Lothar Hofmann, LL.M.
  • Dipl.-Ing. Alexander Scheidl, MSc (OU)

This Academic Celebration fulfilled its purpose: merging the EM family. This was fully met during the subsequent buffet and networking.
„Ad multos annos“ for the MSc Engineering Management.

On November 20th, 2015, the program will start again.