AQ Austria accredits Smart Building Technologies

Success story at MCI: The Board of the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) has accredited the dual bachelor program Smart Building Technologies. Therefore, the first dual degree program in the European region of Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino is about to launch. Young people can thus ideally combine their studies with a career.

Focus on sustainability

The Smart Building Technologies bachelor's degree program will start in September 2021 and is aimed at school leavers as well as people already in professional life who are interested in smart infrastructure solutions of the future. Digitization, automation and information technology, the comprehensive field of heating, air-conditioning, ventilation, sanitary engineering and lighting technology, as well as the "human" component of well-being in rooms and building complexes that derives from it, offer excellent prospects for the future. The technological content is rounded off with courses from the fields of economics, management and social skills.

The goal of relying on technological innovations to reduce the ecological footprint cost savings in building maintenance and improved well-being in spaces convinced the commission during the accreditation process. Werner Stadlmayr, head of the Smart Building Technologies Department, is pleased: "The Smart Building Technologies program creates a network with the teaching of intelligent building technology in which individual technology elements communicate with each other." Light switches automatically detect the position of the sun to save electricity, refrigerators adjust the cooling to the stored weight and thus the total volume, and the heating system communicates with the smartphone and thus knows when people are present in the house and regulates the heat in the building accordingly. Teaching this forward-thinking building technology thus creates a well-rounded education for much-needed skilled workers in the construction industry.

Study and work at the same time

In order to ensure ideal hands-on experience, the dual study model was chosen. This means that students apply the knowledge they acquire at school directly in practice and are employed by a partner company for the entire duration of their studies. The Smart Building Technologies training concept is supported by well-known partners from a wide range of industries involved in the smart building technology of the future, which promotes interdisciplinary exchange and networking between students throughout their studies.

Andreas Altmann, Rector of MCI, explains: "The dual bachelor's degree program Smart Building Technologies sets a new course in the higher education landscape. The cross-border orientation and the fact that the study program is now recognized in Italy offers massive advantages for companies and students in the Euregio.