On the 9^th of December 2019, WU Vienna awarded Dr. Wilfried Stoll the title of ‘Ehrenkonsul der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien’. Dr. Stoll is the first person awarded with this highest non-academic honor of WU in recognition for his long-standing support of our university.

During his speech, he also mentioned the close relationship between the Festo Group, the world-leader in automation and technical training systems founded by his father, and the E&I Institute. In recent years, E&I and Festo partnered in a project to research Social Online Learning, i.e., the introduction of elements such as chatrooms and group projects into conventional online courses to increase participation and reduce drop-out-rates. Earlier this year, the E&I Institute and Festo Didactic launched a new project on New Learning Technologies. As part of this project, more than 20 E&I students are currently working on projects to support the company’s introduction of technologies such as virtual reality in technical education. Project staff and students had a chance to meet Dr. Stoll during the honor ceremony and listen to his visions for the education of the future.