Karl-Otto Edel

Karl-Otto Edel, 2010

Karl Otto Edel (born December 19, 1939 in Breslau ) is a German engineer and was professor of technical mechanics at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences .

Life

After engineering studies at the University of Rostock Karl-Otto Edel in 1968 with a thesis on "stress state circular perforated disc stripes with stiffened edges" doctorate . In 1987 his habilitation (B doctorate) took place at the Technical University of Magdeburg with a thesis that was published under the title "Investigation of the fracture behavior of railway rails and solid wheels".

Since 1992 he has been professor for technical mechanics at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences and focuses on fracture mechanics . In particular , Edel's commitment also made the test laboratory of the University of Applied Sciences interesting for industry and later, as a result of improved economic efficiency, it became a competence center for materials testing with a nationwide presence. Edel became known nationwide among engineering students after he published a basic material science script on the Internet.

Bologna process

Since 2004, Karl-Otto Edel has been giving lectures, including a. “Bologna and the Consequences” (2004), and publications, a. a. "Ein teutscher Baccalaureus" (FAZ, 2006), critical of the study structure reform that is being carried out as part of the Bologna Process, position. In the following years he also made a number of lectures, “Bologna and the change in academic education” (Vienna, 2013), “Bologna - Myths, Illusions, Facts” (Frankfurt am Main, 2015), as well as written contributions, “The 'Dipl.-Ing.' as an intangible world cultural heritage? ”(Die neue Hochschule, 2018/2, page 32) repeatedly expressed about the Bologna Process.

It is noteworthy that he is one of the few to reject the Bologna Process as such. Edel justifies his criticism, among other things, with the experiences in Denmark and Finland : that the total duration of studies is lengthened, costs rise and the development of science does not take place through top-down control.

Furthermore, Edel pointed out again and again that in the field of engineering courses in the USA , Great Britain and India efforts have been underway for several years to introduce single-stage master’s courses, in which the content of the German diploma courses is expressly taken as a model.

Even after his retirement in late 2008, Edel continued to publish on the problem of the Bologna reform. Besides Marius Reiser , he is the only German university professor who rejects the Bologna Process in principle and takes a public position against it. Since Edel is now considered to be an extremely knowledgeable critic of this study reform, he is the only university professor to have an essay published in the 2009 Bologna Black Book.

Publications (selection)

The German Language in Science , Paderborn 2015, ISBN 978-3-942409-44-5 .
The power of language in science , Paderborn 2010, ISBN 978-3-942409-08-7 .
Bologna and the consequences. Notes on the Bologna Process and its instrumentalization , Brandenburg an der Havel 2005 (PDF; 9.5 MB) .
Transverse cracks in the wheel rim of block-braked full freight car wheels , Verlag FH Brandenburg, Brandenburg an der Havel 1995.
Live with cracks? , Verlag FH Brandenburg, Brandenburg an der Havel 1993.
Investigation of the fracture behavior of railway tracks and solid wheels , Magdeburg 1987.