Convention'a 2016

The numerous and, above all, diverse activities offered by Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences once again delighted visitors of all ages at this year’s 15th Konvent’a.

Thanks to the support of the Fraunhofer Institute IWU and ATN Hölzel GmbH, the university was able not only to present its own practice-oriented degree programs but also to showcase further career and research opportunities. Ms. Nocke from the Fraunhofer Institute demonstrated the possibilities of 3D printing using sample pieces. She explained to visitors how the printing process builds the object layer by layer. Philipp Mössl from ATN Hölzel GmbH presented a robot that reacts to people. It measures the power required for its operations. If this limit is exceeded—for example, because a person is in the way—the robot stops.

Students provided a glimpse into their studies in ecology and environmental protection, electrical engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Dominik Feller, Gerrit Malaßa, and Lena Matthausch from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science showed younger visitors how different sounds can be produced using a circuit and a small speaker.

The Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences made seed balls out of clay and meadow flower seeds for visitors to take home and scatter, and demonstrated how to design a habitat for insects (an insect hotel). Biotechnology student Michéle Kayser gave interested visitors a cellular perspective using an electronic microscope.

The pumped-storage bicycle offered an “aha” moment for children and parents alike. By pumping water upward into a tank and then operating a water wheel with a generator, they themselves became part of an energy chain for electricity generation—the kind usually found only in large pumped-storage power plants. Students Sina Waidelich and Jennifer Mühle supervised this experimental station. Visitors were able to gain insight into our Energy Technology Cabinet via large touchscreens. Older visitors, in particular, still had good memories of the former teaching and research reactor. Using a model and a schematic diagram, mechanical engineering student Christoph Leichmann demonstrated how a combined-cycle power plant works.

Not only do we thank the Fraunhofer Institute IWU, ATN Hölzel GmbH, our students, and colleagues for their dedication, but the university itself was also honored with a small gift for its active participation in Konvent’a over the past 15 years.