"Electrical engineering is my passion!"
37 participants in the 28th International Electrical Engineering Competition "Neisse-Elektronik" hosted by the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
On the first weekend in April, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences hosted the 28th annual Neisse-Elektro, a competition for high school students from Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany. In his welcoming remarks to all participants, Sebastian Gemkow, Saxony’s Minister of State and patron of the event, addressed the topic of living together in the border region: “Here in the tri-border area, you are immediate neighbors. You study and live in a shared region in the heart of Europe. For you, this is part of your everyday life, even if you speak different languages.” Referring to the war in Ukraine, he highlighted the event as an “occasion for international understanding.”
The competition’s invigilated (written) examination features problems in the field of electrical engineering. Current, voltage, power, and resistance are just a few terms that are familiar to the successful participants.
"Electrical engineering and IT are the basis for much of what makes up our modern lives." Sebastian Gemkow, Saxon Minister of State and patron of Neisse-Elektro
”Starting a career early can lay a good foundation for a successful professional life. “At Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences—and at other universities in the Free State of Saxony—you may find exactly the field of study that will help you lay the groundwork to change the world one day.”
After the 90-minute invigilated (written) examination was administered on April 2, the results were quickly evaluated: This year’s winner is from Löbau and his name is Kevin Andreas Schulze. He is currently taking the advanced physics course in 12th grade at Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium.
He says of himself: “Electrical engineering is my passion!” A good foundation for competing at Neisse-Elektro. Since 11th grade, he has taken advantage of his tutor’s offer and attended a weekly extracurricular club, which prepared him very well for the Electrical Engineering Olympiad. He made a conscious decision to join Neisse-Elektro after participating in competitions such as the Saxon Physics Olympiad and the Germany-wide Physics Olympiad in 9th and 10th grade. The Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in Löbau offers an in-depth education in mathematics and the natural sciences, which regularly sends successful students to national and international competitions.
“To prepare for the Neisse-Elektro, I mainly worked through all the previous years’ problems up to 2016, which can be found online on the Neisse-Elektro website,” Kevin explains. Was there a problem that the winner found particularly difficult? “The first problem looked like a ‘star-delta transformation.’ I skipped it at first. But in the end, I realized it was ‘just’ a voltage divider.” Since he tends to make careless mistakes, he went over all the problems three times, though he was quite confident in his technical understanding. He inherited his enthusiasm for the subject from his father and grandfather, who were both radio technicians. He is currently reading the book *Electrical Engineering* by Prof. Lunze, a recognized and widely used standard text in the field of electrical engineering.
This year, we held the 28th Neisse Electrical Olympics on Saturday, April 2, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
We congratulate the winners:
- 1st place: Kevin Andreas Schulze from Geschwister Scholl Gymnasium in Löbau (Germany)
- 2nd place: Patrik Danilevič from SPŠSE a VOŠ in Liberec (CZ)
- 3rd place: Matyáš Bennek from SPŠSE a VOŠ in Liberec (CZ)
We also congratulate all the other participants on their achievements. We wish them every success in their future endeavors and would like to remind everyone that the problems are at the level of the first semesters of an electrical engineering degree program.
The EI faculty congratulates the winners on behalf of the minister, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the schools, sponsors, and supporters (VDE Dresden, ATN Oppach, Würth Elektronik)! The top ten will be invited to the university in due course so that we can congratulate them in person. The invigilated (written) examination—like those from previous years—is available online.
