Excursion Takes Students to World's Largest Mobility Trade Show

Students at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences' Munich campus recently had their first industrial excursion in two years - a visit to the world's largest mobility trade show, the 2021 IAA Mobility. Restrictions in Germany as a result of COVID-19 made excursions like this almost impossible after March 2020.

This year was the first time the show was held in Munich. It has also undergone a facelift in the sense that while it was previously known as '"the world's largest car event", organisers have now made an effort to include all stakeholders dealing with the challenges of mobility. 

This year, the automotive industry wanted to present itself as part of the solution to these challenges and has thus enlarged the circle of participants of the show. Apart from the car manufacturers, they also invited about 70 bicycle manufacturers, IT companies, tech start-ups in the mobility sector, suppliers that are contributing to more sustainable mobility solutions, as well as government representatives, such as the City of Utrecht - in other words, players who offer holistic solutions to the urban mobility challenges that modern societies face.

The students were accompanied by the managing director of New European College, partner institute of Wittenborg in Munich, Sascha Liebhardt. Bachelor's student Joshua Kraft said: “It was a great experience, and interesting to see what electric cars have to offer, especially seeing the attempts of greenwashing in the automotive industry.”

Master's student Parsa Motamedi said: “The event showed me how intensely and quickly corporations will react to public protests and demands, as protests against the combustion engine and the IAA's corroboration in this matter began taking place a couple of years ago. This year's IAA began with a strong support for environmentally friendly and sustainable automotive vehicles, yet inevitably led to its most popular attraction, the combustion engine vehicles, portraying signs of greenwashing by the IAA.”

WUP 24/9/2021
by James Wittenborg
©WUAS Press