For the first time, teachers from the three departments offered a joint project week. This meant we were able to significantly expand the range of topics available to students
says Prof. Sung-Won Choi.
The students were able to choose from almost 100 offers, which represented a diverse selection of exciting projects and took both technical and social aspects into account. These include excursions to companies, research institutions and cultural institutions such as Airbus, DESY, Volkswagen Plant Wolfsburg, Elbphilharmonie and PwC Hamburg. From a visit to a sugar factory to a golf taster course to an escape room adventure, (almost) everything was included.
Excursions offered the opportunity to get to know companies up close. The participants not only gained valuable insights into the world of work, but were also able to make important contacts in direct conversations with employees and managers.
Participatory projects offered practical experience and often served as a starting point for acquiring new soft skills. They created an active platform to bring in creativity, gain new perspectives and engage intensively with the project content.
Lectures rounded off the diverse offering and provided valuable insights and background knowledge on current topics and trends. They promoted interdisciplinary exchange and offered inspiration for future challenges.
Great interest: 534 bookings within 15 minutes
As early as 2023, the departments of applied sciences and mechanical engineering and economics joined forces to organize a joint week. The registration numbers in 2024 speak for the project week. In the first 15 minutes of the registration phase, the organizers already recorded 534 bookings.
Dialogues at the cheese counter
We use the week to work on our listening project
says Jonas Baumann. The hearing acoustics student visited the project with his fellow student Nicholas Merscher Interactive chatbots based on artificial intelligence of AI and Education Professor Dr. Sebastian Hobert. For our project we want to set up a voice bot that simulates simple conversations. For example, a dialogue at the cheese counter
says Mersch. The problem: Hearing aid wearers usually do not test different models at the same time under the same conditions. With the voice bot we want to make it possible to always get the same voice with the same tonality in order to offer a direct comparison.
In Prof. Hobert’s chatbot course they received valuable tips for their project.
Plan a solar system for your own house roof
It was just as practical to use Planning a photovoltaic system with PV*SOL with Professor Carsten Lüders and Lorenz Roeßner. The students were able to take a closer look at a balcony power plant and even plan it themselves. Student Ali Yildiz didn’t have to be told twice. The electrical engineering student in the third semester set out to equip the roof of his parents’ house with 24 panels using the PV*SOL program. He was able to take the results home with him.
Using an online tool from htw Berlin, the students also calculated how much electricity and money they would use Plug-in solar device save on the balcony, on the roof or on the wall of the house. The calculator is publicly accessible and free of charge: https://solar.htw-Berlin.de/rechner/stecker-solar-simulator
Promptly like a pro
Students from three departments took part in the course Prompt Like a Pro Professors Niklas Rauber and André Drews. After a short introduction, the professors presented, among other things: Chatbot Kira from the TH Lübeck and gave various suggestions. For example, you could try to tell the chatbot via a prompt that it should put itself in the role of a certain character. A student shared his results with the course, which were written in the style of the Joker and reported on a typical day for the anti-hero.
Further results: the current Chat-GPT model reveals a lot of information about the user through the queries. The course also created flashcards that a student could create using the techniques learned and a lecture script.