FHWN and Amateur Radio Association sign Cooperation Agreement

Marcella.Sigmund, October 14, 2020

The fact that the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt promotes both research and teaching in the field of aerospace has been well known since the sensational success of the PEGASUS project. To be able to penetrate into new spheres in the truest sense of the word, University management signed a cooperation agreement with the Amateur Radio Club Neunkirchen.

Wiener Neustadt, October 14th, 2020 – In the course of the existing activities of the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt in the field of space travel, especially in the development of micro satellites (also called CubeSats), the cooperation with the Amateur Radio Club Neunkirchen was fixed. The aim of this cooperation is to strengthen the teaching and research of the FHWN in the field of aerospace engineering and to provide a platform for amateur radio at the FHWN.

“Wiener Neustadt has always been a place of aviation pioneers. The study program Aerospace Engineering, whose graduates have been welcomed with open arms by the industry for years, is able to make the contents even more multifaceted through this cooperation and thus generate an absolute added value for the students. We rely here on the high expertise of an association as a partner in university research,” explains FHWN CEO Armin Mahr.

The amateur radio club is also pleased about the cooperation. “The cooperation is a very good opportunity to bring our many years of radio experience into satellite development. The amateur radio service is the basis for communication at CubeSats. This cooperation creates a wonderful platform for the education of young people”, says the chairman of the Amateur Radio Club Neunkirchen, Ing. Rudolf Pfeffer.

Ground station is being expanded

Furthermore, the existing ground station at the FHWN will be expanded within the scope of the cooperation. This ground station is currently used to operate the ongoing satellite mission PEGASUS of FHWN. The expansion should ensure that the ground station is ready for the next satellite missions of FHWN, such as the CLIMB project.

Dr. Carsten Scharlemann, head of the degree program Aerospace Engineering, emphasizes the positive effects of such cooperation: “The training of students in these topics has a direct effect on strengthening future-relevant competence in Austria as a business location – for example in the field of mobile and satellite communications”.

So nothing stands in the way of a successful and long-standing cooperation from which both sides can profit enormously.