New at HNU: Prof. Dr. Al­ex­an­der Bar­tel

It all started in the mid-90s with a personal computer (Commodre PC-10) and a floppy disk with Prince of Persia on it. That was my entry into the digital world. This was followed by a time when I got more and more involved with computers and started writing code or screwing on hardware. After graduating from high school, it was clear to me that I would like to stay in this domain, which is why I studied business informatics at the University of Applied Sciences in Kempten. I gained my first professional experience in software companies for automation technology, logistics and banking. After my bachelor studies, my later supervisor offered me a job in the BMBF research project EVELIN, within which I also completed my master's degree in electrical engineering and information technology at Coburg University of Applied Sciences and gained teaching experience. During my research in the project, which was mainly about game-based teaching-learning arrangements for the teaching of software engineering, I realized that there were still several research gaps in this field. I got the opportunity to do a PhD in Media Informatics at the University of Regensburg, which I completed in 2018. In it, I developed a domain-specific modeling language that makes it possible to model game-based teaching-learning arrangements and generate an executable learning platform from them at the push of a button. I then joined T-Systems as an IT architect, where I designed software systems in the context of environmentally sensitive traffic management and implemented them in international DevOps teams.

I find the topics of software engineering and software architecture in connection with new technologies very exciting. I also represent these in teaching. However, from my time as a research assistant in the EVELIN research project, I know that teaching these subjects is not always easy and that there is a great need for appropriate didactics. To further explore the already existing ideas and concepts for subject didactics is certainly another field of interest of mine. In addition, as part of a think tank, I think about how technology affects our society, both positively and negatively. A current example of this is the issue of privacy and how society deals with it. In addition, we as a society have challenges to master, such as climate change, in which the use of technology will certainly be an indispensable and essential component. Thinking about the "how" of this and actively participating in it is also one of my interests.

Working with students has always given me a lot of pleasure, as has teaching or scientific work. It motivates me to be able to give something to other people, but also to learn from each other (in my opinion, learning can never be understood in only one direction). It was clear to me that I wanted to do something professionally for which I like to get up in the morning and where I have to deal with current technologies. Furthermore, we live in very exciting times, whether technologically or socially. To be able to contribute to shaping these times - even if only in a small way - is something I find desirable. For me, the profession of a professor combines precisely these aspects.

To start at HNU, I am offering two courses: Case Studies in Object-Oriented Design and Business Information Systems. The first course deals with advanced programming concepts in Java, the modeling of software using UML, and the principles by which software should be modeled and implemented. The second course deals with relevant information systems that are frequently used in a business context, their architectures and current trends and developments (e.g. cloud computing).

I received a very warm welcome from both students and colleagues, which I was very pleased about. Even if a start in a new context is always exciting and accompanied by one or the other question, I always had the feeling that the circumstance was met very benevolently and helpfully. I was also a bit lucky that lectures can be held in presence or hybrid again, which I personally like more than pure online teaching.

I already knew HNU as a project partner from the EVELIN research project in which I worked. The impressions I got back then were consistently positive. For me, HNU was always "alive" - something was happening, whether in research or teaching. That struck me as very positive and fit very well with the context in which I would like to work. And as someone who grew up in Kempten and worked in Ulm and has had very close friends in Ulm for decades, you do know the region quite well.

My wife and I enjoy being out in nature with our son. To get to the next mountain, we have a walking distance of just under an hour from our front door. We use this possibility very gladly and frequently. To clear my head, I like to torture my running shoes or go fishing.