Technical University Berlin

The course gives an overview of the main topics of environmental and resource economics. Good prior knowledge of microeconomic fundamentals is required. The following topics are covered: fundamentals of welfare theory, social welfare function, Welfarism, Pareto principle, principles of justice; external effects and market failure; classical approaches to internalization, Pigou Tax and Coase Theorem; Environmental Liability Law, indebtedness, danger liability; Price Standard Approach I, conditions and levies; Price Standard Approach II, the certificate market; The EU CTS (European Certificate Trading Scheme) 8th Merit order effect; Policy Mix, consequences of combining different instruments (coal paradox); Green technology policy; International Environmental Policy I: Trade and Environment; International Environmental Policy II: Environmental Agreements; resource management, exhaustible and renewable resources.

“Community spaces with refugees” is a small-scale but high potential building project for and with refugees in Berlin. The refugee community are the clients and actively participate in guiding the project from the design phase to on-site construction. The participants get insight about the challenges refugees are facing by designing and building together. The final design results from a competitive workshop where the most feasible solution is based on context analysis of the needs and dialogue with the clients. The building of the winning project is carefully performed under the guidance of a craftsman and in collaboration with the users. The challenge integrates low-cost and high efficiency solutions with considerations for sustainability, aesthetics, appropriateness, participation and education. The course is carried out in an academic environment, engaging in interdisciplinary collaboration between students of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Civil Engineering, Product Design, and all others who are interested in actively taking part. In addition to enormous gains in professional knowledge, the goal of the course is to make participants more sensitive to the social, cultural and ecological implications of their work.

The platform is the dominant business model of digitization. The most successful companies in the world like Google, Amazon or Facebook, but also many tech startups, are platforms. However, the often acclaimed model brings with it a series of problematic developments: the undermining of labor standards, economic concentration of power and monopolization, new threats to privacy and autonomy. The class first takes a theoretical approach to this topic and then examines alternative concepts and case studies. Finally, students develop their own project ideas. These can range from ideas for a platform cooperative to alternative data governance concepts all the way to new strategies for industrial action and social movements.

The following topics are covered in this course on functional analysis: topological spaces; metric spaces, Baire's theorem; normed spaces; compact and convex sets; linear operators, dual space; Hahn-Banach theorem and corollaries; open mapping, closed graph, and Banach-Steinhaus theorem; weak convergence and weak topology; Hilbert Spaces and Riesz Representation theorem; orthogonality and bases; compact operators; the spectrum of an operator; spectral theory for compact operators.

This course on complex analysis covers the following: theory of functions of complex variables, analytic/holomorphic functions, Cauchy integral theorem and formula, null spaces, singularities, analytic continuity, Riemann mapping theorem.

The lecture covers the following topics: the basic equation of remote sensing, types and classes of remote sensing sensors, electromagnetic waves, basic radiometric and photometric parameters, signal and systems theory basics, optical space sensors, infrared sensors, far-infrared space sensors, microwave sensor and SAR, systematic data processing and classification.

This course covers topics within aviation with a focus on developing projects in the future. The respective design specifications of the design project are elucidated on the basis of current research projects e.g. specified in the area of CleanSky and Aviation 2050. Through literature research and group discussions, a valid draft according to the specification is developed and evaluated. During the presentation, the procedure, results, and ideas are discussed and solutions are developed.

In this course students learn the theory of elasticity for composite materials used in lightweight structures such as airplanes, race cars, and laptop covers. Students write their own code and simulate deformation in composite materials and work on solving engineering problems in elasticity in a small team. The emphasis of this course is on a theoretical understanding of problems in continuum mechanics, especially elasticity of composite materials. Participants understand elasticity theory, laminate theory, and apply it by solving various engineering examples with open-source codes in Python. Lecture topics include: composite materials, manufacturing of composites, tensor algebra, theory of elasticity, laminate theory, anisotropy, analytical solution of simple structures, continuum mechanics, finite element method, Python. As a prerequisite students should have completed one of the following courses: Introduction to Solid Mechanics, Mechanics of Materials, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Programming Methodology (or worked with any programming language).

Students learn to participate actively in discussions on various topics, to give their opinion, to negotiate solutions in small groups and to find compromises. They acquire language structures and skills to reproduce information and present clearly structured presentations. In addition, students train to extract important information and detailed statements from texts on different academic fields. Using videos and listening exercises, students learn to understand longer academic texts and to filter for information on specific aspects. Regular writing exercises help students practice to present and justify their opinion on current topics, and to write personal accounts and commentaries. The class discusses current events in German society and in Berlin and examines news and points of view surrounding the topics of university, academic research, and international exchange. Finally, students also analyze language itself: learning German, language usage, communication, and intercultural aspects. The B2 level is split into two consecutive courses, the B2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the B2.2 course covers the second half of the level.