Science festival by the lake

The second edition of "Explore Science" in Friedrichshafen attracted dozens of school classes and thousands of visitors to the shores of Lake Constance.

Where people normally take a relaxed stroll along the lakeside promenade, it was a state of emergency from Thursday to Sunday: a total of 26 "hands-on stations" from colleges, universities, research and educational institutions, a varied stage program and workshops for schoolchildren transformed the lakeside promenade into a real science festival, in which RWU Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences also played a prominent role.

Experience RWU

Although it rained on the first day of the event, the students were not deterred from flocking to the festival grounds. The original Formula Student racing car from 2023 could be admired at the RWU hands-on station. The driving simulator of the racing team from Weingarten, in which students develop and build a new vehicle every year, was also in great demand. Over the summer, they then use it to compete against other colleges and universities across Europe at racing events, for example at the Hockenheimring.

Professor Dr. Jan-Marc Hodek, Head of the Bachelor's degree course in Health Economics, offered a workshop for school classes on the first day, in which he addressed the special connection between health issues and economics and presented it in a way that was equally skillful and flexible for different age groups.

Professor Dr. Saskia Brugger and Katrin Merk were also delighted with the great response to their experiment, in which children and young people made their own lipsticks. "The participants are made aware of the combination of different ingredients in a very vivid way and at the same time develop a feeling for how proportions and different melting points influence the consistency of the lipstick," reports Saskia Brugger, who heads the Master's degree course in Environmental and Process Engineering at RWU.

Robotics and AI

Visitors to RWU's Institute for Artificial Intelligence were also able to take part. Deputy Institute Director Benjamin Stähle and his team had some service robots with them and presented the work of the institute in a visual and understandable way. In addition to humanoid robots, the visitors found the integration of AI, for example in service robotics to facilitate communication or to provide various forms of assistance to people with disabilities, particularly exciting.

Professor Dr. Markus Pfeil was delighted to see two full rows at his "Science and Magic" program. The Professor of Embedded Systems, who also teaches scientific work at RWU, is researching the question of whether magic can help people to better understand scientific methods. To this end, the amateur magician has developed an entertaining and interactive stage program in which no seat was left empty.

What is Explore Science?

Explore Science is an interactive series of events organized by the Klaus Tschira Foundation, which primarily gives children and young people the opportunity to experience science, mathematics, computer science and technology through their own experimentation and discovery. The event took place for the second time this year on the waterfront promenade in Friedrichshafen.