The student initiative Blue Engineering Hamburg was awarded third place at this year’s Harburg Sustainability Prize. The award went to the project “Make Morals Great Again – Ethical Decision-Making,” which aims to encourage students to critically reflect on the societal impacts of engineering practices.
The seminar was founded on the students’ own initiative at the Hamburg University of Technology and has been offered as a Bachelor’s NTA course for two years now. It focuses on the question of what ethical, social, economic, and ecological consequences technical actions can have - and how aspiring engineers can assume responsibility in their future professional lives.
The course deliberately avoids traditional lecture-style teaching. Instead, students create space for discussion, reflection, and collaborative evaluation of complex decision-making situations. Various assessment and decision-making models help them systematically weigh the impacts of technical and professional decisions and critically examine their own expectations regarding career and responsibility.
In terms of its didactic design, the project is guided by the concepts of Blue Engineering, a Europe-wide network originating in Berlin that provides scientifically evaluated teaching modules for responsible engineering education. The initiative at Hamburg University of Technology is supported by, among others, the Institute for Ethics in Engineering, the Career Center, and the Center for Teaching and Learning (ZLL).
Vice President for Teaching Prof. Kern congratulated the project team on their success:
“Blue Engineering impressively demonstrates how committed students can actively shape university education. The seminar combines technical training with social responsibility and strengthens key competencies for a sustainable future. I am particularly pleased that this commitment has now been recognized with the Harburg Sustainability Award.”
The course was originally developed by Lina Jakubczick, Lorenz Wiesmeier, and Elisabeth Spiegl and subsequently passed on to a new generation of students. Currently, the seminar is being continued by Burak Büyükkaya, Eshan Kadam, and Maryam Abdi. This intergenerational approach is intended to ensure the long-term establishment of the project at TU Hamburg. The course is supplemented by an open Blue Engineering workshop, where interested students can gain initial insights into the topic.
The project received financial support from the Claussen-Simon Foundation, among others, as well as through funds from the Future Pact. Additionally, a tutoring position was established at the Institute of Ethics to support the long-term development of the seminar.
Contact: blueengineering@tuhh.de
