"Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my first flight."
Would you be willing to fly with this pilot, who may be very well-trained, but whose exper-
ience has been limited to the flight simulator?
The same holds true in the area of electrical engineering and electronics. Here too the skills and expertise acquired working on real instruments and equipment are the basic prerequistes for future success at work.
Experimenting on didactically-optimised and safe equipment and systems not only provides an incredible boost to what is remembered but also leads to genuine, indepth and above all longlasting know-how.
Technical training is subject to constant changes. These are due on the one hand to rapid developments in the realm of electrical engineering and electronics, and, on the other, due to inroads in new interdisciplinary subjects of learning (e.g. mechatronics, IT and communications engineering) and new forms of training and education (e.g. practice-oriented hands-on instruction). These changes can only be dealt with adequately if theoretical instruction continues to be enhanced by more practical exercises in the laboratory.