Read this newsletter here in Web format. 

In this issue

• Portrait of alumni Falko Schnelle and Johannes Mühlig-Hofmann
• The campus as "Safe Space"
• The commuter bike of the future
• Remembering Büsra G. on the Campus
• Michael Becker is Professor of the Year 
• Orientation semester at h_da
• Calls & Prizes
• Dates & Events​​​​​​​

Johannes Mühlig-Hofmann and Falko Schnelle (on the right) with a children’s toy they designed. Photo: private

It all started with a ball

Industrial designers Falko Schnelle and Johannes Mühlig-Hofmann develop pedagogically valuable and sustainable children’s toys, but also quite classic industrial elements such as lamps, measuring tools for the optical industry, or welding gear. They got to know each other during their studies at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt at the Mathildenhöhe location. In 2015, they realised their dream of operating their own studio as product developers. Read our double portrait here. 

Prof. Meron Mendel and h_da President Prof. Arndt Steinmetz. Photo: h_da

The campus as “Safe Space”

A great crowd wanted to hear the lecture by Prof. Dr. Meron Mendel at h_da. The Director of the “Bildungsstätte Anne Frank” [Anne Frank educational institution] in Frankfurt held his lecture in front of 150 listeners at the full lecture hall of h_da on the topic of: “The Campus as Safe Space? Racism, Anti-Semitism, and the Debate on the Gaza War.” You can stream the lecture here. Prof. Mendel called the attempt to provide and endure a plurality of opinions on campus while at the same time designing the University as a Safe Space, a space free of discrimination, a “tug-of-war between polarities”. Mendel took a stand for dialogue, for being prepared to enter into a real dialogue, and for the goal of making debates constructive. 

More dual options

From this winter semester, additional study programmes at h_da are open to dual students – Public Management and Plastics Engineering are the most recent of the now 30 dual and cooperative study programmes. In this way, a scientific study programme can be combined with practical experience while working in a company. Our University is working together with numerous cooperation partners. The bandwidth is considerable. Maybe a dual Master’s programme will prove interesting for you too as an alumna or alumnus? Or maybe you’re interested in cooperating as a partner for students? The centre for dual studies, the Duales Studienzentrum at h_da will be happy to help.

Public lecture series “Design the Future!”

The h_da fields of study “Digital Innovation”, “Mobility”, and “Sustainable Development” organize their own lecture series focusing on their interdisciplinary future topics. With a lecture on “Human freedom and unity in the financial system”, h_da financial mathematician Prof. Dr. Christoph Becker will speak on 16 January, starting at 4 pm. Learn more at https://h-da.de/en/studies/fields-of-study. 

YUBIZZ - The path to a successful start-up

Do you have an innovative business idea? YUBIZZ can help you make it happen! As a former h_da student, the start-up support programme YUBIZZ is also available to you after graduation. You might be particularly interested in the EXIST start-up grant: €30,000 in material costs for your team, a €5,000 coaching budget and use of h_da's infrastructure are just some of the financial support involved. Interested? Please contact yubizz@h-da.de. 

Prof. Tom Philipps (left) and Robert Toroczkay (on DaVe) from the study programme Industrial Design of h_da, and Stefan Gloger of Ca Go Bike. Photo: h_da/Samira Schulz

Commuter bike of the future

Its name is a clever abbreviation: DaVe, the Darmstadt Vehicle. It’s a new type of all-weather vehicle intended to offer commuters an alternative to using their car. This modern bike has just now been presented at our University as a prototype: It was developed by Prof. Tom Philipps and members of the Faculty of Design in cooperation with industry partner Ca Go Bike from Koblenz. The vehicle is a sort of mix of S-Pedelec, motorbike, and car and it’s powered with battery support. A cover against wind and rain lets its passenger arrive at their destination protected against inclement weather. Find out more about DaVe in this video. 

The team members (from left to right): Dr. Florian Renk (ESA), Prof. Dr. Andreas Weinmann (h_da), PhD student Patrick Bauer, Prof. Dr. Hichem Snoussi (UTT), and Dr. Marius Schwinning (ESA). Photo: private.

On the way to the Moon

When ESA will start their next Moon mission, h_da and the Université de technologie de Troyes (France) will also be on board. Both Universities are jointly working on this research project as part of the pan-European network EUT+, which brings together Technical Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences. For the first time, h_da is cooperating here with the European Space Agency (ESA). Thanks to state-of-the-art methods with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, the German-French research team has developed procedures which are to contribute to lunar probes landing safely on the surface of the Moon. More at https://impact.h-da.de/en/ai-for-the esa-moon-mission. 

Giant toy for racing games

Mommy’s or daddy’s e-car as a backdrop for sophisticated racing games? Two young h_da scientists have cooked up what could turn out to be a huge gaming fun. Computer Science PhD students Timm Lauser and Jannis Homborg have used their specialist know-how plus sophisticated technology to turn two electric vehicles into a computer game with a real driving experience complete with accelerator and brake pedals. Their project “Vehicle-to-Game” even delivers the how-to guide and the software for replication. The two h_da researchers even received an invitation to Las Vegas. Read the whole story at https://impact.h-da.de/en/car-hacking.      

Find out more about further exciting projects at impact – the magazine showcasing research results at h_da.

The Darmstadt MBA

Our renowned MBA study programme is available to you at an exclusive alumni discount of 20%. You will benefit from practice-oriented teaching content and intensive mentoring. You can thus acquire excellent leadership qualities and establish valuable networks for your professional career. 

At this edition of our alumni competition, you can win one of three vouchers for the h_da shop. First prize is a voucher worth 50 EUR, second and third prizes are worth 30 EUR each. But first of all you have give the correct answer to our question (and be quick): In which course of study did alumni Falko Schnelle and Johannes Mühlig-Hofmann graduate?

Please send your answer via email alumni@h-da.de. The winners will be drawn by lot. We wish you lots of luck! Please don’t forget to include your postal address. 

Remembering Büsra G.

h_da remembers our student Büsra G. who was killed on campus 15 years ago. In early November, students and staff congregated in the inner courtyard of the Mechanical Engineering building at the central campus Darmstadt in order to express their sympathy. Alongside President Prof. Arnd Steinmetz, speakers included Prof. Bernhard Schetter, who had known Büsra G. as a teacher during her studies; Madeline Götz, Board member of the Darmstadt women’s shelter; and Sarah Vessali, h_da student of Mechanical Engineering. Büsra G. who was 26 at the time of her death, was killed by her ex-boyfriend on 10 November 2009. This caused great distress at h_da and throughout Germany. Since then, there is a commemorative tree at the inner courtyard of the Mechanical Engineering building in honour of this student, which on the present occasion received a plaque of honour. h_da President Steinmetz emphasized that this femicide still causes grief to this day. He said that it is important for h_da to show “that we embrace even difficult and depressing topics as part of our culture of remembrance”.

University sports

There are still open slots for the University sports programme, and as an almuna or alumnus, you can even participate at a reduced rate. 2025 highlights include a little vacation programme (starting in mid-February) with try-out sports classes, and a sailboat trip on the North Sea in August. For information on how to apply, on prices and programme details, please click here.

h_da shop

At our University shop, you can browse through a high-quality selection of clothing, accessories, and stationery supplies. Just perfect for breathing a bit of University spirit into your everyday life. As an alumna or alumnus, you even get 10% off. Please contact alumni@h-da.de in order to receive your rebate code.

Elias Wenz. Photo:  h_da/ Sandra Schulz

h_da student Elias Wenz elected 

In October, Elias Wenz, Mechanical Engineering student at h_da, was elected Chairperson of the EUT+ Student Board at the EUT+ week taking place in Cluj-Napoca. EUT+ stands for the Alliance of European Technical Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences, where h_da is a member. It’s already Wenz’s third semester as a student representative for the EUT+ student body. In Romania, he and his fellow students now decided to make the work of the EUT+ Student Board even more professional: the Board just elected and installed for the first time is to coordinate and structure the work of the committee in order to present the topics and concerns of EUT+ students to the alliance in the coming years and to stand up for them with a strong voice. 

Michael Becker. Photo:  h_da/ Markus Schmidt

Michael Becker is Germany’s Professor of the Year 

Prof. Dr. Michael Becker from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering an Biotechnology at h_da is Germany’s Professor of the Year 2024 in the categories Natural Sciences / Medicine. The jurors of the “UNICUM foundation” thus honoured the practice-oriented teaching of this cell biologist and his commitment over and above academic teaching. In particular, the h_da professor strives for his students to gather practical experience and to thus get a headstart when applying for a good job. Professor Mathias Vieth, Vice President for Teaching, Learning and College Affairs at h_da, congratulated Becker on his success and thanked him for his commitment: “As a University of Applied Sciences, we offer our students practice-oriented studies taught by practitioners who can build bridges to carry them safely to the world of work. The honour as Professor of the Year gives proof of how successful we are in doing this.” Read more about this here. 

Hessian Film and Cinema Award 2024 goes to Hesam Yousefi

Hesam Yousefi, graduate of the Motion Pictures study programme at the Faculty of Media at h_da, has won the Hessian Film and Cinema Award 2024 with his graduation film. “Der Friedhof der Namenlosen” [the cemetery of the nameless] won in the category “Best university graduation film”. The jurors gave this reason: “In poetical audio and video shears, this film discusses the issue of what it means to fight for justice.”

DAAD award for h_da students

Nepalese Bigyan Lamichhane from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences has received the DAAD award 2024 by the German Academic Exchange Servce (DAAD). The award comes with 1,000 EUR in prize money and recognizes outstanding achievements by international students at German universities. The 30-year-old Bachelor student has finished his Technical Chemistry programme at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at h_da with great success. Alongside his studies, he is also a committed social volunteer. For many years, he was part of the programme “Wohnen für Hilfe” [rent in return for daily help], supporting a visually impaired elderly lady in her everyday life, also taking care of her apartment and taking over household chores.
 

Merck Award for Design for two female students

Emilia Funke and Lea Holaus have been honoured by the Merck Award for Design for the summer semester 2024. The award comes with 1,000 EUR each in prize money and recognizes design achievements at the Faculty of Design at h_da. The award is sponsored by the friends’ association of the Faculty, supported by the Merck company. Emilia Funke received the award for her diploma thesis “NotApp & NotBook” in the study programme Industrial Design. Her work showed the great potential for improving disaster protection waiting to be realised by way of improving warning systems for the population, self-help capabilities, and information. Lea Holaus was honoured for her diploma thesis “Greyline, Glossary of the Night” in the study programme Communication Design. She did research on the contrast between light and darkness which defines our biorhythm.