Training and education in machine vision software – best directly from the manufacturer
Machine vision offers enormous opportunities for increasing production efficiency. While the operation and handling of machine vision software are becoming increasingly user-friendly, the technology still requires a certain amount of basic knowledge. MVTec aims to make getting started with or transitioning to industrial machine vision as easy as possible. That’s why the company has established a campus program and its own academy. Franziska Hartl and Dr. Martina Hänle are responsible for the MVTec on Campus program and the MVTec Academy within MVTec. In this interview, they explain what the programs have to offer, who they’re designed for, and why it’s best to sign up earlier rather than later.
Why does MVTec maintain a campus program and an academy?
Franziska Hartl: Proximity to science is embedded in our company‘s DNA. MVTec was founded in 1996 as a spinoff of the Munich Technical University and the Bavarian Institute for Software Systems in Technical Applications of Computer Science (FORWISS). We trace our origins back to scientific endeavors and continue to maintain close ties to universities. We’re also fortunate to have our own research department, where we test new technology and prepare it for use in our software products. Through these connections, we stay in close contact with universities and, of course, also keep tabs on the students. Our campus program is designed to provide practical support for young scientists.
Dr. Martina Hänle: Our MVTec Academy basically builds on the campus program. In other words, we provide a learning opportunity for people who have already embarked on a career and would like to learn more about machine vision. We see the academy as a service for our customers, offering support through courses on how to use our products and technologies in their work. The program is also aimed at people who haven’t yet had any contact with machine vision – for example, career changers. The focus is on lifelong learning. We wanted to provide an easy way to enter the world of machine vision: Just sign up and get started!
What specifically does MVTec offer?
Martina: The academy is centered around a learning platform with online courses. The key benefit is that users can access our courses from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We launched the program in the summer of 2023 and currently offer around 20 courses, ranging from beginner courses on our software products and various technologies to advanced training. Topics include deep learning, matching, and process integration. Users who successfully complete a course receive a digital certificate.
Franziska: Through the campus program, we grant licenses for MVTec‘s HALCON and MERLIC software to students, doctoral candidates, and instructors anywhere in the world. The software is generally used for thesis work, teaching, self-study, and research.
So can students, doctoral candidates, and instructors work with the MVTec software free of charge?
Franziska: Absolutely. But our MVTec on Campus program isn’t just about granting licenses. When it comes to supporting the next generation of scientists, we take a comprehensive approach. We sponsor university projects such as makeathons and research initiatives. We also actively support symposiums such as the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) and the German Conference on Pattern Recognition (GCPR) in connection with the Dissertation Award presented by the German Association for Pattern Recognition (DAGM). In addition, our colleagues regularly give guest lectures at colleges and universities.
How do you ensure the quality of the academy’s courses?
Martina: This is where our inherent advantage comes into play. The courses come directly from the software manufacturer. They’re all prepared by MVTec employees from various departments. This is how we ensure a consistently high level of quality in our courses. In addition to content, we also emphasize teaching principles and interactivity. Our courses are intended not only to convey knowledge but also to be fun, which is why we didn’t limit ourselves to a video portal. We decided to go with an effective mix of different media formats that alternates between interactive software simulations, exercises, quizzes, and videos.
What kind of experiences or feedback do you get from the participants?
Franziska: The feedback from both students and instructors who use our software in different ways is positive. Compared to open-source software, the unrestricted software products from MVTec provide entirely new ways to use machine vision in the university setting. In addition, the datasets developed by our research department for training deep learning algorithms are very frequently used in the academic world. Finally, we also maintain a presence on LinkedIn and are building a machine vision community. Moreover, we want to offer a platform for networking and sharing materials relevant for research.
Martina: Customer feedback is very important to us and we actively solicit it with course surveys. We ultimately want to offer only those courses that represent genuine added value for our customers. So far this seems to be working. The feedback confirms our belief that we’re on the right track. In one specific case, we even enabled a customer to plan and implement a complex application successfully, using the knowledge acquired at the academy.