University of Kassel honored in "Hessen Ideas" competition

A team from Kassel University received the second prize of 3,500 euros for the "Ackerwinde" project. Jan and Teresa Lanvers came up with the "Ackerwinde", an innovative construction for the vertical cultivation of vegetables, herbs and flowers. It multiplies the usable area for plant cultivation and at the same time impresses with its unusual design. A peat-free special substrate for vertical cultivation, an irrigation system and adapted planting instructions promise horticultural success for everyone.

Third place, worth 2,000 euros, was awarded twice and went both to a team from the University of Kassel for the "Straffr" project and to a team from Fulda University of Applied Sciences for the "Signum" project. With "Straffr," industrial engineers Stefan Weiß and Hanno Storz from the University of Kassel have developed a rubber sports band that uses sensors to record the strength, number of repetitions and speed of the exercises performed. The training results are sent to a smartphone and evaluated via a specially developed app. Computer scientist Martin Hanusch from Fulda University of Applied Sciences focuses on digitization in the humanities and librarianship with his "Signum Annotation Software."

First prize went to the "Reellity" team from Justus Liebig University in Giessen. Verena Krakau and Christian Hartmann are using augmented and virtual reality technologies to develop an analysis and training method for improving the cognitive performance of soccer players.

The audience award was won by the team from Philipps University Marburg for the idea "Edon". Anyone who buys clothes online can use the development of "Edon" to round up in the store and thus also give a piece of clothing to a child who needs it.

The jury was composed of: Helge Förster (Managing Director HÜBNER GmbH & Co. KG), Dr. Helmut Gold (Director Museum of Communication), Frank H. Wilhelmi (CEO Business Angel Beteiligungs AG), Dr. Karin Uphoff (Managing Director connectuu GmbH), Kerstin Bitterer (Head of Ideas and Innovation Management, Fraport AG) and Dr. Gerrit Stratmann (Hessian Ministry of Science Art).

The participating ideas not only receive a broad publicity through the competition, but also access to a state-wide support network of the Hessian universities as well as the Hessian economy. On behalf of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, the University of Kassel is responsible for coordinating the competition in cooperation with the Technical University of Darmstadt.

A total of 150 guests attended the award ceremony in Frankfurt to meet the young founders. After the award ceremony, guests and participants were able to exchange ideas and make contacts at a get-together. Numerous university and business representatives were on hand to share their knowledge and experience.

Each state and private, state-recognized university in Hesse can nominate up to three ideas each year. In the 2018 competition, a total of 28 ideas were nominated by 12 participating universities. In a pre-selection process, consisting of expert opinions from qualified start-up experts and a parallel online voting, 13 ideas were selected to move on to the finals. The finalists presented themselves to a jury, which decided on the winners. Since the jury awarded the third prize twice, four teams were ultimately able to enjoy the first three places.

In addition to the "Hessen Ideas Competition", start-up projects from universities in Hesse have also been supported by the "Hessen Ideas Scholarship" since the beginning of 2018. The scholarship supports start-up projects in early phases over a period of six months by providing a financial grant as well as accompanying coaching and workshops. In the first round of scholarships in spring 2018, 14 start-up teams were funded, and in the second round of funding starting in January 2018, 15 start-up teams will receive the scholarship. The new scholarship recipients were on hand at the competition's awards ceremony and were welcomed to the "Hessen Ideen" network by State Secretary Burghardt.

Information on "Hessen Ideen" and the participating universities can be found at:      www.hessen-ideen.de

Contact:

Annika Wallbach

Science Park Kassel GmbH

info[at]hessen-ideen[dot]de

0561 95379605