Student Tech Track: Students present sustainable AI projects at TUM Campus Heilbronn

The campus’s open space served as the stage for the pitch event. Before the students gave their presentations, Jan Bastian, Student Program Manager at TUM Venture Labs, got the teams, the jury and the guests in the mood: “With the Student Tech Track, we want to offer students an opportunity that I didn’t have during my studies in Heilbronn.” The aim is to develop concrete solutions from ideas.

The start-up Isar Aerospace shows where this can lead. The company, which originated from TUM, launched its first rocket, Spectrum, in Norway in March last year. It was a project that paid off. This is precisely why Professor Ali Sunyaev, Vice President TUM Campus Heilbronn, encouraged the young thinkers: “Learn, fail, get back up and succeed. There is no such thing as a better next time – you are never at the end of your development.”

From the Lobby to Medical Office

But it all starts with an idea – and on this evening, there were five of them. That’s how the teams began their pitches. ‘Keyz’ is planning a mobile app that enables the optimal use of human resources in hotels According to the team, AI-optimised processes are expected to save 1,200 working days per year. The second team developed ‘Talent Map’, a dashboard designed to find the right leisure activities for children. This saves parents time and allows their children to do what they really enjoy.

‘Synapse’ aims to make everyday life in clinics easier by asking patients about their symptoms via a chatbot before they arrive at the practice. ‘Flowey AI’ offers a learning platform that focuses on the students way of thinking. Finally, ‘EcoAgent’ presented a real-time battery monitoring system that extends usage time by saving energy.

A Course Full of Insights

The Flowey AI team has already conducted an initial practical test at the Josef Schwarz School. It is thoroughly cross-functional: Jia Qi is completing a master’s degree in Management & Digital Technologies, Sinan Ugutmen is enrolled in the master’s degree in Management, and Vishnu Mehta is completing a bachelor’s degree in Information Engineering. Sinan particularly enjoys interacting with the young users: “The students were great and the feedback was consistently positive.”

But the platform is not only useful for students: “Teachers don’t understand how students arrive at their answers. We want to clarify the thought process,” says Vishnu. To find the ideal solution, the coaching provided by TUM Venture Labs during the semester was significant. Jia adds: “Every session was valuable, especially for setting the right focus and staying on track.”

After the Track is Before the Track

No winner was crowned that evening, but all teams received important tips from the jury and gained valuable experience. Although the projects do not earn any credits towards the students‘ degrees by now, they do provide them with skills and abilities that will help them on their way to launching their own start-ups. With a little luck, there may even be an innovation among them that will reach market maturity. The Student Tech Track will continue, with the third batch starting soon. Anyone interested can register on the website.