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Dr. Marko Hennhofer: “Coming to Kazan is always an adventure for me”

06.10.2017

Mr. Hennhöfer, who received the award for the best German teacher of GRIAT in 2016, tells about his experience of working in Kazan.

The joint master program "Communications and signal processing" (CSP) is conducted jointly by KNRTU-KAI and our partners from the Technische Universität Ilmenau (TU Ilmenau) since 2013.

"This direction is very important and promising in the era of digital economy," says Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Radio-Electronic and Telecommunication systems, Director of the Institute for Radio-Electronics and Telecommunications Dr. Adel Nadeev. "The coordinator of the program on the part of TU Ilmenau is Professor Martin Haardt. He has a very strong team, which includes Marko Hennhöfer. Under the guidance of Prof. Haardt, promising developments are being carried out, which receive world recognition and well-deserved awards. In particular, in 2016, Florian Roemer was awarded the European Association for Signal Processing (EURASIP) award for the best thesis, which he defended under the guidance of Prof. Haardt. Our partners are wonderful people, good friends and teachers. In 2016, Marko Hennhöfer was awarded as the best teacher of the German-Russian Institute of Advanced Technologies (GRIAT)".

Mr. Marco Hennhöfer came to Kazan as part of the annual exchange of faculty with the support of the Algarysh grant sponsored by the government of the Republic of Tatarstan. In an interview with the staff of the Office of International Affairs, he shared his impressions of his work in the GRIAT project, students of KNRTU-KAI and about life in Kazan.

- Mr. Henhoffer, what is the name of the course that you are teaching here?

I am teaching a class on information theory and coding within the Master’s program for Communications and Signal Processing which is offered together by colleagues from university in Ilmenau and KAI.

- What can you say about Kazan students? Are they different from German students and are there any common things?

It depends on which groups of students you compare: with international students in Ilmenau or German students. First, of course, I noticed that the students from Kazan have similar background because most of them come from the same Bachelor’s program. It is different from the international students in Ilmenau since they come from all over the world with a very heterogeneous background knowledge. From the level of knowledge they are comparable with the German students. You also notice that students here already had a good Bachelor’s program in communications where they studied basic topics from communications and signal processing. I’m quite happy with their background knowledge so they know basic things also related to coding and information theory.

- And what can you say about the mentality, about the mood of Russian students?

I always noticed that they have a really high motivation to study. There is a lot of interaction in such groups, the students are not afraid to ask questions, you can explain things in details. You really feel that they want to know things and they ask if they want to understand something or if they want any additional knowledge in some direction. There’s a lot of fun in teaching in such a small group.

- What is your best and most interesting impression about Kazan?

Of course there are many impressions when you come as a foreigner to Kazan, especially when you come from a small city as Ilmenau (city of about 30 000 inhabitants, surrounded by hills and forests). Coming to Kazan is really like an adventure for me. What I noticed is when I walk through streets I see many people who are in good mood, smiling, so people in general seem to be very happy in Kazan. I also like the hospitality of people in Kazan, this is really amazing. For example, I noticed this the first time I came to Kazan four years ago when professor Nadeev and Arthur picked me up in the airport. For me it was quite unusual that a professor would come to the  airport to pick somebody up, in Germany, at least, it is unusual. If two people come to pick you up and one of them is the head of the institute – you are really welcome there. So this was my first impression, when I first got out of the airplane being picked up by two really nice and also important members of KAI.

- How did you spend free time in Kazan?

It is a very nice question. When I was free from preparing for lectures I often went to the shopping centers because in Ilmenau we do not have such big shopping centers and it is unusual to me. I like to wander around looking for souvenirs that I could bring to my family and friends. Besides, it was the first year where I actually took the chance to go for the bicycle tour around Kazan. My colleagues offered me to rent a bike and go cycling. Once I had a nice bicycle tour through the forest close to Kazan and we came to some beautiful lakes. It was very nice for me to see that Kazan is more than just a big city, it also has nice surroundings. And also colleagues from GRIAT organized a very nice party, the so-called Octoberfest. It was a very nice event where I met more colleagues from GRIAT which I did not know before. It was a great opportunity to get in contact with other colleagues. I really enjoyed this. 

 

 

- Would you like to come back here again?

As long as I get the chance to teach here like once a year I will really like to take this chance, I’m already looking forward to coming back next year. It’s always great to be here, I enjoy it.

- What do you think about this project between Germany and Russia – the GRIAT institution? Is it useful for Russian and German students?

That’s always a good question. Of course, it is good for students of Germany and Russia because it will open up their experiences a lot. The students here will see that in Ilmenau some teaching and working methods are different, especially when it comes to scientific work. They will really get a good insight into both sides on how the research is done.

As far as I know there are not too many German students coming to Kazan, but I would highly recommend it to everyone because it is a good opportunity to go to Kazan if they want to go to foreign countries. It’s really interesting to get to know people from Russia, because probably many people in Germany have a wrong opinion about Russian people. They know Russian people living in Germany who don’t usually have a good educational background. They would really recognize the great hospitality of Russians when they come to Russia.

- What about GRIAT project for teachers and professors?

It is also a great experience. Mostly, I think it is a good chance to improve lectures and the quality of lectures. With such students who are interested in learning so much and asking many questions I notice that my lectures are not perfect, I have to add materials, and I have to explain things in more details. Every day I tried to update my slides and add new information. I really used time in Kazan to work on it.

One more important part of this project is the benefit for universities. I am often being asked in Germany: “What is it good for? Why should the university spend so much money on sending professors to Russia and students to Germany?” The answer is not so easy. We have to spend a lot of efforts to keep this project running.

The answer is that it is important for Ilmenau University to have a good international network. It is important for all universities to have good international connections because it will also contribute to more international communities at the universities. Cooperation with Russia contributes to even better international network for the Ilmenau University of Technology. Moreover, it connects a whole group of German universities. For example, one of the significant connections for us is the cooperation with Magdeburg University that we did not know before. This project brought together several German universities and the international university like KNRTU-KAI. We are really looking forward to collaborating there and we also should always emphasize that it is not only exchange of students but exchange of researches. We notice that this project contributes at least partially to our scientific output. This helps both sides to get benefits.

- And the last question for you. What would you recommend, advise or wish the students of KNRTU-KAI?

Firstly, I wish students to pass exams successfully and complete their study program.

Secondly, my hope for all the graduates is to be open-minded personalities. I would like to add that studying is not only transferring knowledge from one brain to another brain. You should know that studying at the university is like forming of personality. The graduates should be personalities who know a lot to contribute their research to science and make good decisions in different cases of life.

Author:
International Affairs Office
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