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Students Develop Future Workspaces
At the University of Siegen research group Institute of Advanced Studies "ForschungsKollegSiegen" (FoKoS), students from all four schools are developing innovative ideas for the work environment within the framework of the the FoKoS project "Future Workspaces".
Whether home office, desk sharing or digital nomadism, work is becoming more flexible, mobile and networked. What would the work environment of the future have to look like to meet the needs of tomorrow's professionals? Twelve students of the University of Siegen are studying and designing optimized workplaces in the interdisciplinary project "Future Workspaces". The students got to know each other in a kick-off meeting in May. In three interdisciplinary teams, the students will create modern workstations by autumn, which will meet the multifarious demands of the future working world. The final three prototypes will be presented at the FoKoS week in October 2017 and can be inspected and tested by all visitors. However, the models should not only be utilized by the research team at the University of Siegen, but also be adequate for use everywhere.
A special feature of the project "Future Workspaces" is the colorful mixture of participants who study, e.g., business administration, social sciences, business information systems, or industrial engineering. "Such a project, which unites all schools of the University of Siegen, offers the exciting opportunity to communicate and co-operate scientifically beyond the boundaries of one's own discipline," says Prof. Niehaves, head of the project.
During the kick-off meeting on Wednesday, the students, who were divided into interdisciplinary teams during the course, were able to exchange ideas and get to know each other. In particular, the opportunity to cooperate with experts from other subjects proved a motivation - for example for Andrej Grenz, who is a Master student in mechanical engineering in Siegen: "I am very much looking forward to the interdisciplinary team, which gives me further perspectives and new angles of product processing and product development. I want to take this opportunity and grow with the project."
For Sidney Hribersek, a student of business information systems, the project "Future Workspaces" is exciting because she can apply herself practically and actively shape the future: "Innovations need not only creative employees with futuristic visions, but also a work environment that promotes ideas as well as a flow of information, while at the same time creating the necessary space for development. Through this unique project of the University of Siegen, I would like to rethink and actively shape the jobs of the future."
In addition to the students, experts from the areas of architecture, business information systems, mechanical engineering, and sociology presented in short lectures their vision of a future workspace and the associated challenges and provided inspiration for such a transformation of the workplace. The Siegen company Hees Bürowelt, could be won as an external partner of the university. FoKoS Director Prof. Dr. Dr. Björn Niehaves expressed his gratitude for the support of the project.
When designing a modern, flexible, future-oriented and attractive office workplace, it is important to consider very different aspects. Some of these could already be identified during the FoKoS kick-off meeting: The active office concept, e.g., which offers possibilities for load change. The adaptability of the workplace to different users and tasks is also important, with a view to promoting health and well-being. Additionally, the office architecture of the future must allow collaboration, communication and concentration, support the flow of ideas, information, materials and documents in the workplace, and offer various possibilities of mobile networking as well as modern digital technologies.
The student groups are being attended by Dr. Susann Wagenknecht / Prof. Dr. Jörg Potthast (Faculty I, Sociology), Helga Schneider / Prof. Ulrich Exner (Faculty II, Architecture), Bastian Kordyaka / Prof. Dr. Dr. Björn Niehaves (Faculty III, Business Information Systems) and Dr. Mario Penzkofer / Prof. Dr. Karsten Kluth (Faculty IV, Mechanical Engineering).
Contact for further questions and interview
Institute of Advanced Studies "ForschungsKollegSiegen"
Vanessa Simon
fokos@uni-siegen.de
0271 740-3926
Sidney Hribersek studies business information systems at the University of Siegen:
"Innovations not only require creative employees with futuristic visions, but also a work environment that promotes ideas, enables teamwork and information flow, while creating the necessary opportunities for further development. Through this unique project of the University of Siegen, I would like to rethink and actively help shape the jobs of the future"
Andrej Grenz studies mechanical engineering at the University of Siegen:
"I am very excited about the interdepartmental team, which opens up wider and new perspectives for product processing and product development. I want to take this opportunity and grow with the project."