By David Graff, AAU Communication & Public Affairs
Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication & Public Affairs
Photo: Anders Fast Nielsen, AAU Communication & Public Affairs

When they walk through the door of the auditorium along with family and friends on this grey Friday, still undeniably February, they are in principle still students. When they leave the graduation celebration a few hours later in the luminous Innovate building in Aalborg East, the world looks different.

A page has turned, student life is over, and when the party’s over, the labour market awaits.

Ready for the job market

With their formal competences on paper, the graduates are ready to head out on the job market as Bachelors of Engineering in e.g. electronics, global business systems, water and environment or roads and traffic. With MSc Engineering degrees in mechanics and production, energy engineering and production management. Or with a MSc degrees in science, economics or engineering.

"All over the world, significant technological development is underway in sustainable energy, defence technology, biofuels, novel foods and so on. Our graduates come with the necessary competencies to lead this development," says Olav Geil, Vice Dean for Education at the Faculty of Engineering and Science.

"And given our problem-based education model at Aalborg University, the graduates are trained to collaborate in a holistic way – there is also a need for that," he believes.

Graduations all over the country

Whether this is due to the more southern location or not, graduates emerged earlier as flowers ready to blossom in both Copenhagen and Esbjerg than in Aalborg. In Copenhagen, nine graduates received their diplomas on 29 January, while twice that number shook the dean's hand two days later in Esbjerg.

This Friday in Aalborg, the departments' heads of studies and vice deans of the two faculties will hand out diplomas and handshakes to 56 graduates. AAU Big Band provides the entertainment between the speeches and before the nibbles.

Henrik Andersen, CEO of Inropa A/S, is this year's specially invited keynote speaker, and he delivers the last piece of good advice the graduates receive while they can still call themselves students:

"When you leave this building, you not only have an education – you also have a responsibility to inspire and innovate when you have to solve – in collaboration with colleagues – the complex challenges you will face in a rapidly evolving world."

The last stop before the champagne and the hugs from friends and family is also a regular tradition: The Siemens Foundation scholarship awards. Two groups of students will receive scholarships in Aalborg while one group in Esbjerg gets the same honour.

• A group of nine students from the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience are receiving a grant for the purchase of genetic material for implementation in a microbial production strain for the production of a new type of sustainable organic thin-film solar cells.
• Four students from BUILD – Department of the Built Environment – are receiving a grant to acquire an air permeameter to revolutionize tests of the properties of bio-based materials.
• And finally, four students from the Department of Energy will be awarded a grant to purchase two modems for use in the development of an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle).