UNIKAT ideas competition: Multifunctional nursing chair awarded as best idea

More ideas than ever before were submitted to the eleventh edition of the UNIKAT ideas competition at the University of Kassel. Products, services, the utilization of research results, initiatives or simply an idea - a total of 83 sketches were submitted for this year's edition of the UNIKAT ideas competition. This once again surpassed the record of 78 entries from the anniversary year 2018. Employees, students and alumni of the university as well as members of the Student Research Center North Hesse were called upon to submit their contributions.

The most convincing idea in this round of the competition was the "Dignee nursing chair". The idea's creators, Mario Strahl and Joshua Graf, are addressing the growing needs and requirements in the field of outpatient care with their idea. Dignee is a multifunctional care chair, the purposefully the physical strain and the time expenditure in the care everyday life minimizes and by its product characteristics a dignified and stress-free maintaining, transferring and transporting in the ambulatory care ensures.

The jury awarded the second prize of 2,000 euros to Aaron Schlitt, a member of the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen, for his "cryptStick" idea. The cryptStick can replace classic passwords with a secure and convenient pocket-sized encryption system, thus contributing to data security in private and professional environments.

The 3rd prize of 1,500 euros was accepted by Sebastian Menn and Boris Kulig, both employees in the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences/Fachgebiet Agrartechnik, for their idea "OptiHuhn". "OptiHuhn" is a further development of mobile housing, especially for poultry farming. A fully fenced, covered run rotating around the coop provides better land use, lower parasite pressure, full protection from predators and improved nutrient distribution.

The prizes were made possible and ceremoniously presented by Mr. Karl Tent, Hübner GmbH & Co. KG (1st place), Mr. Marc Finke, Kasseler Sparkasse (2nd place) and Jörg Froharth, University of Kassel (3rd place). The North Hesse Business Association dedicated its special prize of 1,500 euros this year to the idea of "PEERSCOPE" by Prof. Dr. Kilian Singer and Dr. Samuel Dawkins, both employees in the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Kassel. The PEERSCOPE presentation system optimizes the technology for video conferences or presentations. Users are virtually on two sides of an interactive glass screen, so that all non-verbal signals can be transmitted in real time and misunderstandings can be minimized. The award was presented by Thomas Meyer, 1st Vice Chairman of the Association.

This year's audience award went to the team from "Flick it"; Hendrik Rudolph and Abdullah Bachtari had presented their idea of a repair kit for clothes with full physical effort. The top 12 ideas of this year's competition had pitched live on stage for the audience award. Around 200 guests attended yesterday's closing event.

The UNIKAT ideas competition serves to support the ideas and start-up culture at the University of Kassel. Each year, a network of experts consisting of company representatives from the region evaluates the submitted idea sketches. In addition to sound feedback, participants receive access to Kassel's start-up network and advice from UniKasselTransfer Incubator, the university's start-up support service.

The award ceremony was opened by Dr. Oliver Fromm, Chancellor of the University of Kassel. He and Dr. Hans-Otto Maier (B. Braun Melsungen) began the event by congratulating landscape architect Dr. Kerstin Zimmer, who researched the movement patterns of visitors to Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe as part of her doctoral thesis and is now supported with a postdoctoral UNIKAT Fellowship. The UNIKAT Fellowship is funded by B. Braun Melsungen AG and includes a full-time position for a period of twelve months as well as material resources of 5,000 euros. Postdocs are given the opportunity to develop novel social applications based on their own research results. These can be technical, social, ecological or cultural innovations. The results are to be the basis for business start-ups, marketing activities or cooperations with companies or organizations.

Three startup teams from Kassel University (deltaEmpower, Shards and Straffr), which are currently being supported by the university's startup support, presented their current developments and passed on startup tips to the teams in the ideas competition.

The awards ceremony was accompanied by the opening of a poster exhibition showcasing this year's idea sketches to the public. In addition, a yearbook was published in which the idea sketches of this year's competition round were presented in short form.

The event took place at Science Park Kassel, the start-up and innovation center on the university campus. Following the official program, participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas with experienced founders at the Ideas Party.

The next round of calls for the Ideas Competition will start in spring 2020, and applications for the next Postdoc-UNIKAT Fellowship are still open until Nov. 15, 2019(www.uni-kassel.de/go/graduiertenakademie).

Contact:
Sandra Wilhelm
University of Kassel
UniKasselTransfer | Incubator
Tel.: 0561 804-7252
E-mail: sandra.wilhelm[at]uni-kassel[dot]de