Who am I? A hand tamper, a compactor or a heavy impulse compactor? - To find out, numerous children and adults came to the stand of the HTWK Leipzig geotechnics team and jumped into the interactive sandpit at the first all-Saxon science festival of SPIN2030. The geotechnics jumping box was one of many interactive exhibits and other offers such as workshops and discussion rounds at the science festival. A total of more than 50 scientific institutions from the Free State of Saxony presented their diverse research at the Technical Collections in Dresden on March 8 and 9, 2024.



HTWK Leipzig was also represented with several exhibits and two Meet-A-Scientist offers: Firstly, on the second floor in the special exhibition area, where the other universities of applied sciences (HAW) and the Saxony⁵ Transfer Network were also present. On the other hand, one floor below, in the so-called "Machwerk", there were further HTWK offerings to marvel at.



Exciting topics and interactive exhibits



The geotechnics jumping box was well received: "The public interest was consistently very high. Our app counted over 500 jumps by children and adults in our jumping box. It was great to see that so many people showed an interest in the topic of soil compaction," says Sophie Bachmann from the geotechnics team at HTWK Leipzig. The FLEX research group had its stand right next to it and presented the InNoFa 2.0 demonstrator - both hands-on and virtual. Using the node element, the researchers explained how a newly developed 3D printing process can be used to print more flexible, material-saving and therefore more resource-efficient steel structures. Finally, guests were able to see what a complete façade based on the principle of the InNoFa 2.0 demonstrator could look like as a hologram using AR glasses.



At the Meet-A-Scientist stand of Florian Junker from the Institute of Concrete Structures, interested visitors were also able to get their hands on something: a textile sliding layer, which is being developed in the SlideTex research project and is intended to reduce the risk of cracks in floor slabs. "Water-bearing cracks can cause considerable damage that can harm people, electronics and stored goods," explained Junker. Another exciting topic was that of Dr. Konstantin Weise, who holds the deputy professorship for the fundamentals of electrical engineering. He explained the role that electrical engineering plays in neuroscience, because without a fundamental understanding of electrotechnical phenomena, modern neuroscience would be inconceivable.



"HTWK Leipzig is great"



The HTWK stands on the first floor continued with an equally exciting question: "How do I get concrete to glow?" Many visitors asked themselves this question and tried out the illuminated concrete component developed by the Institute of Concrete Structures and the PAES | Institute for Process Automation and Embedded Systems. "The visitors thought the idea was very cool. Many of them immediately thought about what else could be done with it," says Tobias Rudloff from PAES. The special thing about it is the built-in structure, which was also on display.



While the adults in particular - including many people who work in the construction industry - talked about carbon sensors, functionalized components and research into the new material carbon concrete, the children and young people queued up for up to 20 minutes at some of the neighbouring stands: The Institute of Concrete Structures, for example, still had VR goggles with them, where those interested could take a look at the CUBE in Dresden, the world's first house built from carbon concrete.



Children's eyes also lit up next door at the HTWK Robots: the Nao robots usually play soccer independently against teams from all over the world and playfully test approaches to artificial intelligence, but at the science festival in Dresden, anyone interested was able to control the soccer robots themselves. Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer did not miss this opportunity. "HTWK Leipzig is great," was his conclusion from his brief visit on Friday afternoon. The HTWK Robots team also had the honor of performing at the Science Night on Friday evening and explaining how soccer and artificial intelligence are connected in front of a packed hall with around 200 guests. The message from HTWK Robots was clear: they want to become world champions in human soccer in 2050 with the Nao robots.



The background



With the campaign "SPIN2030. Saxony - Land of Science" campaign, the Saxon Ministry of Science aims to communicate the diversity, excellence and attractiveness of Saxony as a research location to a wide audience. Universities, universities of applied sciences, the Berufsakademie Sachsen and non-university institutions from all over the state are taking part.



published on 04.04.2024, by Dr. Franziska Böhl