Since 2016, ITQ GmbH's Smart Green Island Makeathon has been offering committed students the opportunity to work together on innovative, sustainable solutions to current challenges - not only across disciplines, but also internationally. Over the course of four days, creative minds from over 40 nations dedicated themselves to this year's topics of smart farming, smart green energy, smart green mobility, smart automation, IoT, robotics, smart production, smart shipping and the circular economy and built their first prototypes.
Getting fit for Makeathon challenges: Systems Engineering degree programme
A group of students from the Systems Engineering degree programme, which HNU offers in cooperation with Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and Kempten University of Applied Sciences, were part of the large Makeathon 2024 community. "Interdisciplinary expertise in mechanical engineering, computer science, robotics and project management, systematic problem-solving and agile teamwork are key cornerstones of the training on this course," explains Prof. Dr Jürgen Grinninger, contact person for the course at the Leipheim University Centre and Scientific Director of the Technology Transfer Centre, which is also based in Leipheim. "Taking part in the Smart Green Island Makeathon was an ideal opportunity for our team to demonstrate these skills."
AI support for the Canary banana
Together with practice partner Fruchthof Nagel from Neu-Ulm, the students took on a challenge in the field of smart farming. At the centre of their project work: the Canarian banana. Although they are famous for their special flavour, they are not as well known as their counterparts from Latin America due to their comparatively high cost. During on-site visits to a farm and a cooperativa, the team analysed the entire process from harvesting to shipping in refrigerated containers and identified four problems that stand in the way of the Canarian banana's success - including a lack of digitalisation in the administrative process and manual work that is too labour-intensive and not ergonomic. To remedy this, the students developed a mobile app that farmers can use to digitise all the necessary paperwork such as delivery notes, an AI-supported washing and cutting robot to sustainably reduce water consumption and a production flow simulation to reduce downtimes in quality control and packaging and thus increase the efficiency of the entire process. HNU President Prof Dr Uta M. Feser was impressed by the high level of innovation of the solution presented. "I am so proud of our students. The week in Gran Canaria was very labour-intensive and the pressure on the team was high. The developed solution is convincing in theory and practice and shows once again what it means to study at HNU: intensive exchange of ideas and experiences.
Kick-off for the German-Canarian university partnership
The project should now bear further fruit - this would be possible, for example, in cooperation with the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. HNU President Prof. Dr Uta M. Feser met with the Rector of the university, Lluís Serra Majem, and the Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, Mobility and International Projection, Jin Taira, during her stay on the Canary Island and signed a Letter of Intent and an Exchange Agreement. "With these agreements, we have created new opportunities for student exchange," said the President. "Especially in the field of technology, there are many points of contact for enriching cooperation in teaching, research and transfer."
To the website of the Smart Green Island Makeathon
https://www.itq.de/smart-green-island-makeathon/
Contact
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Grinninger
