Team from the University of Kassel wins Hessen ideas competition

Science Minister Timon Gremmels congratulates the teams from the University of Kassel, Goethe University Frankfurt, TU Darmstadt and Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen. "The transformation of the economy is one of the key issues of our time and of our state government. Our Hessen Ideas initiative with the Hessen Ideas Competition shows the enormous potential at our Hessian universities - and we must use this to create sustainable jobs," said Gremmels. "The award-winning ideas address key issues of the future with technological ingenuity: sustainable management, environmentally friendly drives, ethical responsibility and demographic change. Every project presented here has the potential to make our society a little better. I congratulate the teams on their success and wish them courage and perseverance on their entrepreneurial journey."

The first prize of 10,000 euros went to Hüseyin Serbes, André Stelter and Alexander Metzker from the University of Kassel with "WaveVision - In-situ precision measurement technology for ultra-precision manufacturing". "The award ceremony yesterday was an indescribable and special evening for us and we are very happy to have brought the first prize to Kassel," says a delighted Hüseyin Serbes. WaveVision offers an innovative solution for the high-precision measurement of surfaces in the micro and nanometer range. The technology uses a special vibration monitoring system. This enables it to compensate for disturbances caused by vibrations, which often occur in production environments. As a result, the WaveVision measuring devices deliver the same precise results as in isolated laboratories, even under normal, uncontrolled conditions. Thanks to this technology, companies in precision manufacturing can check the quality of their products directly at the production site in real time. The jury particularly recognized the invention's potential for efficient management and sustainable production. In precision measurement technology, downtimes and material waste could be reduced. This opens up enormous application and cooperation opportunities in the mechanical engineering industry.

The project "MimoSense - Next Level Sensor Technology for Health Care, Machine Care and Climate Care" from TU Darmstadt, which develops highly sensitive, ultra-thin, fast-reacting high-tech force and vibration sensors, took second place with a prize of 7,000 euros. Third place and 4,000 euros went to a team from Goethe University Frankfurt for the idea "MODULUX 3D - 3D bio-printing for less animal testing". The group wants to offer an alternative to animal testing and has developed "LUMINATE", a 3D bioprinter. Due to the high quality of the ideas, the jury awarded an additional fourth place of 2,000 euros to a team from TU Darmstadt for "TwinWatt - Efficient vertical wind turbines". TwinWatt offers companies the opportunity to generate their own electricity efficiently using wind turbines. The audience award went to a group from the Technical University of Central Hesse for "Hybrid Launch". The team wants to set new standards in space travel with its hybrid rocket propulsion system. Their "Hybrid Launch" combines the advantages of liquid and solid rockets.

The "Hessen Ideen" competition for university start-up ideas took place for the ninth time this year; 37 teams from 13 universities were nominated. "Hessen Ideen" is aimed at university members with an affinity for start-ups who are still in the early stages with their idea for a company. Experts evaluated the projects, while users voted online for their favorite idea. In this way, 13 business ideas reached the final and presented themselves to a jury, which decided on the winners.

"Hessen Ideen" is an initiative of the state of Hesse and the Hessian universities, which is supported by Hessian companies. With the pillars Hessen Ideas Competition, Hessen Ideas Scholarship, Hessen Ideas University Network and Hessen Ideas Crowdfunding, entrepreneurial ideas are to be discovered and promoted at the universities.

The Hessen Ideen initiative is coordinated by UniKasselTransfer at the University of Kassel in cooperation with HIGHEST at the Technical University of Darmstadt. The state of Hesse is supporting the "Hessen Ideas" initiative with 5.4 million euros until 2025 through the Hessian Higher Education Pact.

Further information is available at www.hessen-ideen.de.